Saturday July 6th, 1918
Lovely scenery en route. Passed through Loggia tea time. We had tea and wash. Poor sleeping room. We reached Adriatic sea coast at midnight.
Journey through Italy
Over the next four days, Frank and the Battalion will travel by wagon train up through Italy and into the South of France. From Taranto, the journey across the border into France is about 1,200 km.
The first hundred kilometres seems to take a very long time as the BWD recorded that they stopped in Bari for breakfast having entrained the previous evening at 20:15. Frank noted they reached the Adriatic coast around midnight – perhaps they were shunted into a siding until breakfast.
The map shows the route that the Battalion took through Italy. The train stopped at least three times a day. This allowed the men to stretch their legs, eat, drink, wash and use the latrines. In crowded wagons, in hot weather, this must have been essential.
Bari
The Battalion’s breakfast stop is in Bari.
Bari and Taranto had been linked by road since the days when the cities were known as Barium and Tarentum respectively.
In Roman times, Bari was both a strategically important port and a junction between the coast road and the Via Traiana.
Its location and harbour ensured Bari’s continued importance in both the World Wars.
13th (Service) Battalion War Diary – 6th July 1918 – Bari, Italy
Arrived 07:00 hrs stopping for breakfast.
References & Further Reading
¹ Bari on Wikipedia
* Q 37454, copyright Imperial War Museums
** Google Map of the journey through Italy