Saturday March 2nd, 1918
Ate breakfast 8am. Sick with sore feet. Left 10:30, 15 miles – terrible march. Never forget it. Met Bob Prenty. Raining hard but cleared up. Arrived about 5:30 tired out.
Marching
Once again Frank’s and the Battalion’s diary sync up very neatly today. After a long march last night south east from the front lines to Rates (south of Lake Dojran), the Battalion is on the move again. It is heading north east to Olasli. As the crow flies, it looks like about 6 miles on the map. However in a terrain of peaks and valleys, where some signposts provide distances in hours not miles, it is a long and arduous journey.
As G Ward Price reported, “MACEDONIA is a country of big horizons, a bare and treeless land with monotonous stretches of plain, covered with thin grass, and ranges of hills that are masses of evergreen scrub. Its most characteristic features are the frequent nullahs that make it a most futile thing to attempt to cut straight across what looks like an open stretch of country; the steep and narrow little ravines are not to be seen until you are right upon them, and if you scramble in and out of one in the hope that it may be exceptional you only find that you have let yourself in for a very slow and laborious journey.”¹
During the arduous march a couple of men, suffering from malaria, have to be carried the last stretch of the way. This photograph shows a likely form of transport for them. The donkey is shown carrying two wounded Scottish soldiers along a winding road in Salonika.
After months moving between the front and reserve lines, the Battalion, and the Brigade, is heading for a period of rest, military training and games. Two officers are appointed to represent the Battalion on the Brigade Committees for Recreational and Military training which will establish the programmes for the men over the next few weeks.
When Frank arrives he is pleased to meet up with Bob Prenty again.
13th (Service) Battalion War Diary – 2nd March 1918 – No 1 Sector, Rates
The Battalion marched to OLASLI by platoon and 10 minute intervals. The Battalion got along very well until it reached the steep track up Hill 588 which cam as a severe trial for the men after a long march straight from the trenches. The Battalion was all in by 17:00 hours and only two men and to be carried in on horseback, both fever cases with high temperatures who only gave in on reaching the hill. Routine from tomorrow will be, Reveille 07:00 hours, Breakfast 08:00 hrs, Dinner 13:00 hrs Tea 16:30 hrs. Staff Parade 21:00 hrs. Lights out 21:15 hrs. The undermentioned officers will represent the Battalion on the Brigade Committee for Military and Recreational Training Capt WR Batty (Recreation), Lieut W Wallwork (Military Events). Battalion Rested.
References & Further Reading
¹ ‘The Story of the Salonica Army’ 1915-1917. Written mid-1917 by G. Ward Price, an American war correspondent.