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Thursday 13 January 2011

Diary Entry - 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 21st, 22nd and 23rd January, 1916

All these days have been much the same, with drill, either physical (Swedish) or infantry, at eight thirty, then a trip into the country by motor lorry. When we go out in the lorries, we usually get out about two miles and have some great infantry attack on a fosse, which needs a lot of imagination, for the Infantry men, and a hell of a lot for me, as I know nothing about it. We usually lunch at an estaminet and lay wire entanglements or build parapets in the afternoon, returning home about three thirty. Another lecture at five thirty ends the day. I went to several divisional shows, after the music hall type, and they were really quite good and the band they have there is very good. The division run two of these shows, one at the theatre, and one on the Choque road. The former place is a very fine building. But I believe it had a shell through it a couple of months back, probably a lucky one. The school finished up practically on Sunday, with a harebrained defence of a village to the north-west of Béthune, where the S I H are billeted.

(Next post: a letter home on 17th January.)

5 comments:

  1. I gather a fosse is a pit or a ditch or a gulf of some sort. I have added Choques to the map.

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  2. I have a vague memory that it means ditch in French, so I'm assuming that's it.

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  3. Could have been a dance step ... *sorry* ...

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