War Diaries Talk

2nd Cavalry Field Ambulance (RAMC), 2nd Cavalry Division

  • CoxJul by CoxJul

    For anyone else tagging this book a key piece of information is the name of the Commanding Officer and author of the diary as his undecipherable signature is on every page so far.

    His name is Major Langford N Lloyd; his signature is undecipherable, but I tagged the opening pages when he reports taking command of the unit and some research soon identified him. I believe he survived the war.

    His spelling of place names is atrocious - as they're on the move so much I've found following the unit on Google Maps is useful to search for correctly spelled place names that are picked up better by the software.

    Other officers mentioned include:
    Lieut. Littlejohn
    Lieut. MacFladan (? not sure of this spelling)

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  • Malarkey56 by Malarkey56

    Thanks. I had been doing some of his diaries. As you say, terrible writing! He also mentions the death of Prince Max of Hesse, the Kaiser's nephew, on 12th October 1914 when he was brought into his Field Ambulance near Mont des Cats. I googled Prince Max and found a New York Times report that the Prince had been shot in the back by his own troops, stripped and left in the field. Obviously untrue as Major Lloyd reports an abdominal wound and that he took his body to the Church at Caestres. Fascinating stuff!

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  • BobHovercraft by BobHovercraft

    I found a reference to Major LANGFORD LLOYD on the following website detailing the RAMC in WW1: Not a lot of information there, but some nonetheless!

    RAMC in the Great War

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  • Ex103 by Ex103

    I've found a few books written by folks as well about the battles around Ypres. Some published just after the war (1919) some a bit latter.

    One book I came across was "With a Reservist in France" (A Personal account of all the engagements in which the 1st Div 1st Corps took part, Mons, The Marne, The Aisne, First Battle of Ypres, Neuve Chapelle, Festubert, and Loos. by F. A. Bolwell (he dedicates the book to The Late Colonel Knight and officers of The Loyal North Lancashire.)

    Another I came across is more of a guide to the battlefields apparently produced by the Michelin Tire Co. in 1919!!!
    Titled "Ypres and the Battles of Ypres."

    It has a ton of old pictures in it showing before and after shots of the more famous buildings and some towns. It's quite a interesting read - tour guide sense it was done soon after the war was over and has maps in it that list the names of towns during that time. It's generally interesting to see a small village like St Eloi still prominent in those maps (while Google maps only shows the position of a crossroads!)

    Just thought I'd throw that out there for those curious in seeking more information.

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  • charcinders by charcinders

    I did some of his diaries. I learned to recognise his shorthand signature, it looks like LuL.

    The Lieut. Littlejohn you mentioned is Charles William Berry Littlejohn who rowed for Oxford in the boat race and won a silver medal rowing for GB in the 1912 Olympics.

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  • wlcounsil by wlcounsil

    I've grown affectionate for Langford Lloyd after tagging his diary pages. He really likes his men. Googling him is interesting, too. Though I can't find any descendants pursuing genalogy--too bad, for they'd love this information.

    And I've seen worse handwriting, including by some who replaced him.

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  • BobHovercraft by BobHovercraft

    I must admit I got very confused with all the 'LuLLs' written in the diary, which I initially thought were 'lulls' in the gunfire until I realised it was Langford Lloyd's shorthand signature... slaps forehead

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  • ww1chaplain by ww1chaplain scientist

    Three chaplains wrote books about their experiences with FAs in August. Ben O'Rorke was captured and recounted the early days in his 'In the Hands of the Enemy.' Spencer Watkins and Winnifrith served in the dame FA and both wrote about their experiences.

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