War Diaries Talk

Direct Hit! New Facebook Post

  • ral104 by ral104 moderator, scientist

    https://www.facebook.com/OperationWarDiary/posts/737636642986597:0

    D Battery, RHA survives devastating shellfire.

    Posted

  • cyngast by cyngast moderator

    D Battery seems to be having its share of adventures! First they arrest the butler as a spy, then they get direct hits on their observation posts. I've been working my way through this diary and later on they get more direct hits and take it as a compliment that they are drawing so much attention from the Germans!

    I'm currently in June 1916 and the battery is setting up the 2nd Army Artillery School at Tilques.

    There is also a fascinating private diary included, sandwiched between Dec. 1915 and Jan. 1916. However, its author, Lt. Walrond, wasn't actually with D Battery at that time. He had been, but had been transferred to act as captain to another battery sometime in the late summer or fall of 1915. (I don't remember exactly when.) His private diary includes an extract of a letter written by a German officer on 25 Sept. 1915, which was the beginning of the Battle of Loos. (I hashtagged this as #letterextract for the two pages it covers.) There is also a harrowing account of efforts to move a gun across a muddy trench bridge: horses fell into the trench, got tangled in their harnesses, ended up on their backs and one horse started to slide down into a dugout! And all the time it is pouring rain. It was all hashtagged as #privatediary by 141Dial34, who is working ahead of me.

    Posted

  • ral104 by ral104 moderator, scientist

    Yes, I've been reading through Lt. Walrond's diary too. It's fascinating, but I also saw how it ended. I find that the hardest thing sometimes - finding extracts which are so full of somebody's personality, and then finding out what happened to them.

    Posted

  • cyngast by cyngast moderator

    The very first diary I tagged here had an adjutant who had a sense of humor and also managed to rejoice at every bit of good news. It was a marvelous read, but unfortunately now, nearly a year later, I do not remember which diary it was other than it was an infantry unit. This adjutant was killed on 10 November 1918. It really just broke my heart and seemed particularly unjust.

    Posted

  • DZM by DZM admin

    Could someone please tag as #dailyzoo the stuff with the butler being arrested as a spy? And/or point it out to me here?

    That's just too wonderfully cliche not to make a Daily Zooniverse post about. 😃

    Posted