Wednesday April 10th, 1918
Drill parade morning till 12:30. Finished for the day. Warned for Battalion Quarter Guard. Cleaning up till late. Very warm. Parcel from A.C. Sutton very welcome.
Drill Parade
Watch these two short clips of film, copyright British Pathé, showing ‘British Recruits Joining Up (1914-1918)’¹. The first shows recruits on Drill Parade. You will notice that some of the recruits are still dressed in civilian clothing. The sheer volume of recruits in the early days of the war strained the supply chains for both uniforms and equipment. While it is not possible to see in this film clip, it is likely that some of the ‘guns’ the men are using were wooden mock-ups.
The second shows the men being taught how to hold their weapons in parade. Note the diligence of both the officer and NCO in ensuring that the men are holding weapons and positioning their arms and feet appropriately. These extracts are parts of a much longer, interesting film, the link to which is provided below.¹
It is nine months since Frank did his basic training in Yorkshire, so presumably Drill Parade was a doddle. It is also over three months since he arrived in Macedonia. Therefore a package from Abram Clegg Sutton, his brother-in-law, would be welcome.
13th (Service) Battalion War Diary – 10th April 1918 – Saida
Work and training as per programme (App No 2). Ref work, Trench L has now been filled in, Trench A-B has been marked out with traverses and fireballs and down to about 1 foot. From B around to C and D the rock drill will have to be used as this region is all solid rock.²
One belt of divisional pattern wire is completed from where the proposed wire crosses the existing wire on the right of L on the map (App No 1) to its junction with the proposed wire from P to O, also on the map. Long and short stakes have been put up as far as where the proposed wire on the map crosses R6. The trench E on the map, has been marked out and will be dug where E1 is shown on the map and not where E is shown. The pencilled wire on the western slope of Le Commandant, passing through P and on to O is an existing wire which was missed out on copying the tracing.
The Coys at work were able to work for about an hour and a half on wiring this morning as low clouds of mist hung over the Pip Ridge covering the enemy’s OP. This cleared later and the men had to carry on with work in the trenches.
References & Further Reading
¹ ‘ British Recruits Joining Up (1914-1918)‘ copyright British Pathé
² ‘April 6th Post’ shows related diagram