| Lieut
George E Wood Diary Enlisted as a Private
and later Commissioned
Donated by Matt Wood Transcribed by Christina Wood Proof Reading by Rob Wood Additional Comments by Al Lloyd in
italics
|
| Day of leaving
England |
At 7.30 P.M.
after much hurrying around preparing to leave England etc. we were lined up on parade.
After a short speech from the Colonel, cheers from the members of the 21st and
a few civilians, who were present to see us leave, we moved off at 8 P.M. to the music of
our band. We marched to Folkestone from Sandling, a distance of six (6) miles, passing a
home for disabled soldiers on the way, where we were heartily cheered. Our tramp was
whiled away by people following us all along the port and frequently sweethearts namely
breaking the ranks to kiss a lover good-bye. The
latter half of our march was through a pouring rain and before the tramp was over we were
wet, miserable and tired on account of the heavy loads we were carrying. We were cheered
though to think that we would soon be face to face with the men who had insulted the laws
of humanity and God. On arriving in
Folkestone harbour we immediately went on board and started across the channel at 11 P.M. We had only
crossed about half way when a destroyer suddenly loomed up beside us and out of the mist
and darkness a gruff voice told us that the way was mined and that we would have to return
to Folkestone harbour for the present. We were in by 12.30 and as there was not sleeping
accommodation on (? te **) for us all, a few of us myself included, went on board another
vessel that was anchored along side of us. I did not notice her name. Note during
our short trip in the channel while sitting with my back against the bulwark a chap who
was sea-sick near one went to vomit over the side but the wind catching it blew it in my
face. September 15th About half
– past five we were wakened and hurriedly packed our things which a few of us had
unpacked the night before to enjoy a good though short nights rest. By 6.15 A.M. we were
all on board the Iris (the
ship’s name was the St Seirol) again and she immediately pulled out of harbour
again for France. We had a
very quick pleasant trip across this time and were anchored in Boulogne-Sur-Mer harbour by
9 A.M. We were immediately disembarked and lining up marched through the town up a very
long and steep hill into some fields overlooking the town and channel. Here we
rested all day till 7 P. M. when we fell in again and marched four (4) kilometers to a
station, the name of which I did not learn. Here thirty of us were bundled into small
ordinary box cars. We were so crowded that there wasn’t much over standing room for
us, besides we had our full equipment, rifles etc. We had a journey of we know not what
length, ahead of us, so we were in a perplexing position to know what to do, especially as
we were completely “fagged out” and badly in need of a rest. Personally I could
hardly keep my eyes open and I thought my legs would give away under me. After some deliberations and planning we got
settled. The following is how I was “fixed” and will suffice as a good example
for all of us. I got
cramped; the blood stopped circulating; was numbed from a chilly wind that came through
cracks in the car; while I was wet and miserable from a rain that had come on about half
an hour before we entrained. It was impossible to sleep under these conditions but I did
manage to doze. Some fellows
were better off than this; others were worse but we all kept our peckers up, so to speak
with the thought that we were soon going to meet the foe. We fully determined that he
should get all that was coming to him for causing us to undergo such privations. Note: I now think (March 6th) and have
thought so long before this that the authorities that were responsible for that train
journey of the 21st Canadians ought to be heartily ashamed of themselves. I
really believe that if things had been insisted on, that the French government would have
run that troops that were coming to fight for her, would have traveled with just a little
more comfort. September 16th, At 3 A.M.
this morning we arrived at a French town by the name of Saint-Omer, Here we detrained
marched eight miles in full kit and then had breakfast. After breakfast we marched another
eight (8) miles in full kit bar our blankets which were carried by the transport as some
of the men were pretty tired and footsore, due to our late experiences. This eight
(8) miles being over, we were billeted in a farm at a place named (? Tagelbronch). On
finding that the barn was overcrowded by all staying in, several of us received
permission, myself included and slept out in an orchard adjoining the barn. At this
place we could hear the noise of the guns in the distance, and one couldn’t help
imagining what all manner of things there might be in store for us. September 17th
To-day we
had inspections, both medical and military. A
great many of us needed our feet attending to as they were blistered and foot-sore from
the recent marching. Every man had to soak his feet in a tub of water with a solution in
for hardening our feet which Dr. Cooke supplied. This day we
had a swim in one of the pools of water that are so frequent in France and Belgium. It was
cool, refreshing and clean and made a new person out of a fellow after our recent
exertions. September 18th After breakfast to-day we went on the march again, and were marching till noon, when we had lunch. After lunch we were on the march again and were marching the greater part of the afternoon. I could not say the distance we went, but it must have been in the neighbourhood of seventeen (17) or eighteen (18) miles. To top this off we had an inspection soon after arriving at some camp, (do not know name) by Major-General Alderson.September 19th
In the
forenoon of this day we had a short march of seven or eight miles to a small Flemish
village called Dranouter. Here we were put in tents and had nicely settled when word came
that two of the companies were to go to the trenches. At first it was not known what two,
but we were not kept long wondering when word came that No’s 1 and 3 Co’s were
going. As I was a member of Number 4 our curiosity was satisfied and our minds set
somewhat at rest. September 20th
To-day I
rested and wrote a few letters, the first I wrote after landing in France. It seemed ( ?
***) to have to take our letters and have them read by an officer (censoring) before being
sent on their way to the friends and loved ones. At midnight
or perhaps a little later, the rest of the battalion after lining up for prayer by the
Chaplain and a speech from the colonel, went to the trenches. The same procedure was gone
through when No’s 1 & 3 COs went to the trenches yesterday. It was a
very excitable trip for us all, especially the last half mile or so. We began ducking when
half a mile away even when we were behind sandbags, at the crack of a rifle. We did some
excitable sprints at places, at others we crouched low and for every flare that went up we
either dropped flat or huddled together like lost sheep. Note:
Luckily the Germans were not on the offensive this day. September 21st
I was posted
on sniping this day but did not see anything to shoot at except a line of sandbags until
the Colonel came along with his field glasses in hand and said that he would see the face
of a German through one of their loop holes. He enquired for the sniper and as I was the
one for that section of the line, he pointed out the place and lent me his glasses to have
a look. [We were not fitted with telescopic sights then] I could plainly see the
man’s face through the glasses so taking careful aim I fired, myself being fired on
once during the priming making me duck as I was very nervous, besides it was the first
time that I had “drawn a bead” on a human being. The Colonel who was watching
through his glasses says he thinks I killed the man as he lurched back but was not sure
Anyway my shot made him and all others keep clear of the loop-hole which was filled during
the day. While on
duty in the afternoon Pte. A. J. Brooks (59099) was brought past on a stretcher. He had not been
hit by the enemy but in the act of cleaning his rifle he had fired it the bullet smashing
his foot along his toes. By some mis-arragement after sniping all day I was put on night sentry and had to do two hours of duty and four off all night. When not on duty we had to “perch” ourselves on the fire-step the best way we could and rest the best way possible. The crack of bullets kept me awake nearly all night as I had not yet got my nerves accustomed to rifle and machine- gun fire, let alone shell fire.Note –
This part of the line that we are in at is opposite the town of Messines. The Germans are
at the bottom of the hill from the town, which they hold. September 22nd
To-day the
Germans gave us a shelling, principally with coal four and whizz – banger (12 in
& 3 in shells) When the shelling started we were rushed into what was then known as
“feathers”. These were underground trenches leading off a communication trench.
We considered them as a death-trap as here was only a thickness of about two or three feet
of earth over head. They were not proof against a whizz-bang, let alone coal drops. All
that they were proof against was flying pieces of shrapnel. We hated being sent there for
fear of being buried alive, as did sometimes happen to men. Two of our lads were wounded
by shrapnel to-day. I was on
night sentry again to-night having been taken off sniping , through some mis-arrangement. Food was
very scarce to-day. We hadn’t anything but a few hard-tack biscuits which came up and
some bully beef, which was left behind by the Sussex regiment which we relieved. We were
only allowed half a pint of water, for drink. September 23rd I sleep
during the day now and am on night sentry. By the way I cannot get much sleep. Though as
every time the Germans begin bombarding which they generally do soon after noon we are
either rushed to the “feathers” or take shelter against the parapet, as we are
afraid of being buried alive by a heavy shell in a dug-out.
Our artillery is not as efficient or as heavy as the Germans. When ours does open up, the Germans reply with
redoubled energy, but in spite of theirs being far superior to ours, ours
“plugs” gamely away. There has
been a lot of machine-gun and rifle fire during the night making us keep pretty low at
times. During the
twenty-four hours we had two more casualties. Sept. 24th
At 8 P.M.
this evening we left the trenches being relieved by the 20th Battalion. For
some unknown reason partly due to stupidity on some of the Q.C.P’s part we were a
long time in relieving and at one time there was so much excitement on that the enemy
suspected what was up and redoubled their fire, making the matter of relieving much more
difficult. After being relieved we proceeded as rapidly out as possible and went into reserve at a place that was called Souvenir farm. This was in reality a large Belgian farmhouse with a courtyard in Immediately on arriving, I spread my sheet on the barn floor unpacked and turned in as I was fairly tired from some recent running around that I had had to do.September 25th
& 26th For these
two day we were at Souvenir farm and there isn’t much to relate, except that the
Germans occasionally “dropped” a shell in the neighbourhood of the farm
buildings when we would immediately “bolt” for some shrapnel proof shelters that
were near the buildings. Practically
all we had to live on while we were here was bully-beef hard tack and water. The greater part of the bully beef we dug up,
which some previous regiment had hidden, our cooks put their heads together and made some
very palatable food out of the hard-tack and “bully” Note –
Our cooks deserve a great deal of praise for knotty problems in the cookery line and
scarcity of “grub” which they solved more than once. The Belgian
village that this farmhouse adjoined with, was called Wulverghem. September 27th
At 9 P.M we
left Souvenir farm for our rest billets or camp. It
was a very tiresome tramp though not a long one but as there is an ending to all things
except God and man’s soul we arrived in camp at 11 P.M. Eight or ten
men were put in each tent and such were our resting billets at that time. In fact it was a sort of a stationary (? ****)
except that different regiments or the brigade in that area occupied them. As I was in the last group to come in five of us
were stationed off in a tent by ourselves so we were luckily not crowded. September 28th
There
isn’t anything of much interest to speak about on this day. We had a bath and a
change of underwear which we badly needed. The
rest of the day was either spent in roaming around or writing letters. For my part I took “things” easy for the
day and devoted most of my time to letter writing. September 29th
On this day
I was writing letters and took short walks around and saw some of the countryside and
tried to strike up a conversation with a few Flemish people. As we are
receiving very short rations we bought some very large loaves of bread from some of the
Flemish people who seemed to predominate over either the French or Belgians in this
locality. Near camp there was a small village where we could saunter around and see things that were odd and at a variance with our Canadian custom. In this
village there was a Y.M.C.A and writing room with canteen attached for soldiers. We could spend our Time there if we had no other
place to go. September,
30th There
isn’t anything to note on this day except that we were paid (30) thirty francs in
French money equal to about six (6) dollars in Canadian money without knocking off the
rate for exchange. A great number of the fellows immediately went and spent their money in estaminets (liquor houses) The miser ones spent some on food and a few comforts and laid the remainder to one side for the same use in future. |