Sunday March 17th, 1918
Me & Charlie Wild were warned for transport fatigue.
Went to service with transport. Nice morning ride in sunshine but awful jolting road.
Transport & Service
Frank and Charlie are on transport fatigue today. As we know, the term ‘fatigue’ is used for any non-combat duty that the soldier is expected to perform.
The good news is that Frank, probably because of these responsibilities, gets a ride to the Divine Service. The bad news is that roads barely existed on the British front in Salonika (and those that did were built and maintained by the BSF) so the journey was ‘jolting’. This photograph shows a Holt tractor drawing tree stumps while road making in Salonika in January 1917.*
Everyone who ever wrote about Salonika mentioned the state of the roads, including Lieutenant Victor E. Borgonon (1882-1966) who recalled a trip in mid-September 1918: ‘Next morning our orders arrived to report to 12th Corps at Guginishci [sic], so we had a very interesting trip in motor lorries over ground that lorries had never been over before. It’s impossible to describe the sensations of this journey to anyone who has not actually experienced a similar ride.’¹
Top Brass Visit
The BWD makes an almost passing remark that ‘the GOC with Infantry Brigade Brigadier General Montague Bates‘ visit the Battalion today. The General Officer Commanding XII Corps was Lt General Henry Wilson (1859-1941). Coming from an Army family and marrying into another, Henry Wilson had impressive connections across the British Army. Like many of his peers he served in the UK, India and the Boer War. During the early days of WWI, both he and Frank Montague Bates saw distinguished service at Ypres. In recognition of this, in summer 1915, Wilson was knighted and became Lt General of the newly organized XII Corps. Under his command, XII Corps moved from France to Salonika later that year.
Montague Bates (1876-1954) was also transferred to Salonika, holding various positions until in November 1916 he became Brigadier General, commanding the 66th Brigade of the 22nd Division of XII Corps. He held this position until the end of the war. According to the East Surrey Regiment: ‘He … had scant regard for foolhardy behaviour by either his subordinates or superiors, being variously described during his life and career, as “Prissy”, “difficult” , ” a madman”, “an excellent soldier”, “the best tomato grower on the Peninsula”, and an “Officer who was fair and always gave the troops he commanded a second chance”.’²
More information on the structure of the BSF can be found here.
13th (Service) Battalion War Diary – 17th March 1918 – No 1 Sector, Olasli
Divine Service (voluntary) in Recreation Tent at 11:00 hrs. Company League Football commenced. 4 OR having rejoined are taken on from 17-3-18. 13 OR (Reinforcements) having joined are taken on from 17-3-18. The GOC with Infantry Brigade Brigadier General FS Montague Bates CMG DSO visited the Battalion.
References & Further Reading
¹’Diary of Lt. Victor Edward Borgonon (1882-1966)‘
² Brigadier General Montague Bates of East Surrey Regiment
³ Lt General Henry Wilson on Wikipedia
* Photograph Q32713 from collection of Imperial War Museums