Monday April 22nd, 1918
Got in safe, thank God. Stood down 5:30. Breakfast and down to it as usual. Had four letters and paper from home. Wrote home. Made a remittance of £5 to wife. Hot day but cooler towards tea time. Stood to 7:30 Post F4. Very quiet, no gun fire. A few rifle shots & bombs at our patrol. Rained very hard 3:30am. Wet through.
Letters & Money
I am totally confused about Frank’s finances. A few days ago he was paid just less than £1 equivalent in Drachmae. He also said that he got a £1 postal order from the postman. I assumed that he was sending money home but perhaps this was being sent to him. Certainly he had been short of money for several weeks, maybe his family were taking pity on him.
He sells his rum ration, but even if he manages to do this daily, the sums don’t really add up. As a Salvationist, he won’t be indulging in the popular pastime of gambling at cards. Ideas?
After yesterday’s artillery fire, it sounds like a quieter day today, though wet.
Wounded Bulgars
The Allied bombardment seems to have been accurate and wounded Johnnies are being evacuated from the enemy lines. Some are being carried on stretchers, many more are walking wounded. A fleet of covered wagons is also spotted and assumed to be ambulances.
This seems to tally with the writings of Captain Dark, an Australian doctor with the RAMC. ‘It may be as well to explain that of any number of casualties on a rough average about a quarter would be dead, about a quarter of the rest would be stretcher cases, and the remainder walking wounded.’ ²
The following short extract from a film by British Pathé shows a man on a stretcher being loaded into a horse-drawn wagon in an exercise at Aldershot in the UK. A link to the complete video is provided at the foot of this post.
Arthur Linfoot references ‘stretcher drill’ as a frequent activity while in France with the RAMC, particularly during November and December 1917 when back from the line. Whether it looked as leisurely and orderly as that captured on video is anyone’s guess.³
13th (Service) Battalion War Diary – 22nd April 1918 – Crow Hill
At 03:45 hrs our artillery heavily bombarded the Pip Ridge. Enemy put up red lights (including one from Krastali) and his barrage came down at once. The extreme right of his barrage ceased. The bombardment became fierce on both sides in Nos 1,2 & 3 sectors but all was quiet in our own (No 4). Everything had quietened down by 05:15 hrs. For the rest of the day our artillery showed their usual activity, but enemy batteries were inactive on the sector. In the forenoon there was aerial activity on both sides. Our planes carried out a bombing raid in what appears to be the Cerniste region.
2Lt De Jongh and 4 OR at 20:30 hours proceeded to Anvil Hill via Lancaster Hill W. The trench on Anvil is 2 feet to 2.5 feet deep, this was followed to bank of Shem Ravine which was followed to pt 1824/1204 (where a proclamation in Bulgar and Jewish tongues was pinned up). Two bombs were thrown from an enemy post at pt 1824/1202 approx. (NB this post is marked on the Pobreg Edn 2A map). The patrol then withdrew along west slope of Anvil. On getting back to the trench on Anvil enemy opened rapid fire (about 20 rounds per man), threw two bombs and put up light white very lights, from post at pt 1827/1204 approx. (This post is also shown on map mentioned above.)
The patrol then withdrew via Shem Ravine, which is very deep in places and has very precipitous banks. A party of 4 OR which, placed on notice on the east of Goldies I in view of both lines saw 4 of the enemy near old trenches on Goldies I. It worked around the reverse slope, but saw and heard nothing of the enemy.
At 07:25 hrs 12 stretcher cases and a considerable number? of men walking were seen proceeding from ravine at foot of west slope of Spotted Dog through the trench across the Spur, after which six stretcher cases were seen being evacuated immediately west of Devedzelli village. At 10:00 hrs a convoy of wagons with white covers (possibly ambulance) was observed moving NW on main road across the Vardar. The usual movement in trenches was seen and reported to the artillery who stopped it.
Anti-malarial work will commence tomorrow. Coys will sanitize the streams and cut brushwood in the areas allotted to them. The work will continue daily (Sundays excepted) until 30th inclusive. The work must be finished by that date, and should Coys find they cannot do so they will employ extra men to get it done.
References & Further Reading
¹ ‘Stretcher & Bandage Drill (1914-1918)‘ copyright British Pathé
² The Military Memoirs of Captain E.P. Dark. 1915-1919‘, by EP Dark, copyright his son, John Oliver Dark
³ ‘The diary of Arthur L Linfoot‘ Linfoot was from Sunderland and served with the RAMC in France.