Howard-Bury is represented in this project by three manuscripts; a diary kept from 29 May – 8 September 1916 (MS 10821); a diary kept from 1 November 1916 – 25 September 1917 (MS 10822); and a memoir. It is clear that only the first of these is a true diary in that it was written in pencil on 60 loose sheets of army-issue notebook paper. The second ‘diary’ is a typed transcription of an original; there are 40 foolscap sheets, stitched into a paper cover with a title on it, and it has been lightly proofed.
Diary 29 May – 8 September 1916
Diary 1 November 1916 – 25 September 1917
- We left Charing Cross soon after 7 am in a train crowded with officers.There must have been between five & six hundred of us.
- All the luggage was dumped down into one placeso there was much trouble in finding it in the dark.
- I objected to the language of the N.C.O’s towards officers& the way we were generally treated.
- There was a big steamer on the sands, broken in halfprobably torpedoed & then beached.
- It was quite like a picnic in peace time.I met several old friends of Pindi days.
- We went off to Paris Plage for the afternoon.It was blowing a gale & the surf there was very fine.
- There are one or two very interesting churches in the townespecially St Walpurgis which dates from about 1500 A.D.
- I walked up to the trenches which were about 6 miles awayto have a look at them.
- It amused me to watch all the schoolchildren here going to school,each carrying a satchel with a gas helmet, instead of copy books.
- After a very wet night, it rained most of the day& the mud is almost worse than Sheppey mud.
- There are not many of its original inhabitants left,but the few that there are make quite a good thing out of it.
- I did not rise early after our nights work,though the guns were rather more active than usual.
- We made our way first to the Cathedral, which has suffered terribly.Except for one arch the whole of the roof was gone.
- There was a great deal of shooting,a Boche aeroplane squadron & one of ours were having a fight up in the air.
- We had one man killed by a sniper early in the morning,otherwise the morning was quite peaceful.
- At night we had patrols out in front of the line& parties mending barbed wire.
- All the enemy’s missiles started to come over & made sleep impossible.Our retaliation was I am afraid nil.
- We had only one man killed & another injured,which was very lucky as many fin bombs landed in the trenches.
- The poppies are wonderfully pretty in the communication trenches& in some of the deserted trenches they hang right down the sides.
- I shall be glad to get rid of the gas from our trenchesas I was always afraid of a shell hitting one of the cylinders.
- It is more merciful than the German gas as it is so deadly& there is very little suffering or struggling for breath with it.
- Two or three miles away I could see a gas attack going on,clouds of gas & smoke rolled along like a great fog over the enemy’s lines.
- We had a disturbed night, as at midnight our guns opened rapid fireon the enemy’s trenches & then put a barrage behind them.
- A very quiet night to be followed by a strenuous day.In order to frighten the Boche we were told to send over a smoke cloud.
- The Boche opened rapid fire with rifle & machine gun& all his artillery on our fire trenches & supports.
- The poppies everywhere on either side were lovely.In the evening there was quite a good regimental concert.
- After lunch our trench mortars started firingwhich caused the German ones to reply.
- I bless our steel helmets every day,which have saved my head many a time from bumps.
- The wind was blowing from the S.E. today, so we had a gas alert,but it luckily changed to S.W soon after.
- As soon as it was dark we sent out two officers patrolsto try & capture a Boche.
- We went out from the gap into No Mans Landwhere we remained over two hours.
- During the night we sent out a raiding partyto try & get into the German lines.
- We had luckily a very quiet day, scarcely any shelling& life was quite pleasant.
- Hear the pleasant news that we are to be relieved tomorrow.This means however that we are destined for the big show further South.
- I was awoken at 7 am by three large shells falling close to our house& sending fragments all round.
- We are to move out tomorrow to be fattened up for the push.No one is particularly pleased but realize that it has got to be done.
- The billets were very poor & most of us slept on the floor of a shedwhere the rats were very lively.
- Ivergny was a charming spot, lovely gardens & orchards& the house quite hidden under big shady trees.
- Late at night orders arrived that we were to move on tomorrow.I wish we could have stopped longer in this pleasant valley.
- It is extraordinary how they keep the ground so clean & free from weedswith all the male population away at the war.
- There was a very pretty old chateau therewith a beautiful park behind. I stopped in to dinner.
- There were 4 guns which fired 40 rounds in under half a minute& made a deafening row.
- We have orders to be ready to move at three hours noticeas the attack on Guillemot has apparently failed.
- There was an unfortunate accident to D Coy in the afternoon.A rifle grenade exploded at the muzzle of the rifle & killed two men.
- Fricourt, Mametz Contalmaison & the other villages are absolutely flat:there is literally not one brick left upon another.
- No attempt is made at concealment& it looks far more like proper warfare.
- Some 11 inch shells fell within a few hundred yards of us.The Church Spire with the leaning virgin was a very curious sight.
- After dark we had a wonderful display of Bosche fireworks again,all colours & also a kind of golden rain.
- The stench was too awful, we kept digging up corpses,they were lying every where, ours & Boche dead.
- Everything was horribly slippery & muddyas it was raining steadily the whole night.
- The night was a very noisy one& Howitzers kept on firing at intervals.
- While we were having breakfast, several Boche aeroplanes came over& had the impertinence to drop a number of bombs on the camps all round.
- I saw a few old friends there, but how many more had gone.Their stories of High Wood were very gruesome.
- Three of the company commanders were killed & the fourth wounded& almost every officer that was up with the Battalion was hit.
- The row was absolutely deafeningso much so that I became quite sleepy from the awful row.
- A thunderstorm came up so rapidly that the balloons had not time to come down& to my horror I saw two of them struck by lightning.
- My insides are all wrong & so did not enjoy life.The roads & tracks were horribly muddy.
- There is a town crier who goes about with a drum crying out the price of eggs.
- In the evening it poured with rain & streams came down in torrents.How thankful I am that I am not in the trenches.
- Arrived at Fontainebleau at 2 am & had to climb over the palisade to get into the Hotelas the outer bell would not ring.
- The crossing was a rough oneand the deck was a very wet place.
- I put up a woodcock, a jack snipeteal and two water rails.
- We had a very cheery dinner partyand did not go to bed till past one.
- Xmas Day. A very showery day.The mud in the trenches was very bad.
- In the evening we had our Xmas dinnerpork and fresh vegetables, plum puddings and beer.
- A dug out fell in and buried several men.The trenches are very wet again.
- A very cold and slippery ride to Simencourt.It snowed most of the day.
- More firing than usual during the nightand the Boche Trench Mortars opened fire.
- Now I shall have nothing to doand may very well go on leave.
- A most incompetent ass as Town Mayorwho was constantly causing trouble.
- I spend some time exploring these caveswhich can hold 7 or 8000 troops.
- After many tumbles in shell cratersI got home about 2 a.m.
- A whole Brigade is billetted in the cave to-nightand it drips everywhere from the roof.
- It was an awful scene of desolationdead horses all over the road.
- The ground is white everywhereand there seems to be no spring at all in this country.
- The Brigadier protested that Hill 90 must be taken firstand that it was sheer murder to send us on.
- We found one man stuck in the mud and unable to moveand brought him along with us.
- Not one stone remains standing upon anotherevery fruit tree or tree by the roadside has been cut down.
- In this chaos of shell holesthere is not much chance for things to grow.
- Am feeling very stiff and rheumaticfrom living in these deep dug outs.
- Another prisoner of 8th Regt captured.He was seen in No Man’s land and chased.
- Certain places the Boche shells regularlyand some batteries have had a very poor time.
- An orderly of ours was shotstanding at the top of our dug out.
- Bombs began to drop around usand we had to put all our lights out.
- Hear that I am to go on leaveto-morrow morning early.
- We were woken up during the night by bombsbeing dropped on the Station.
- Everyone was very pleasedat meeting so many old friends.
- Providence is certainly on the side of the Boche.I had a very wet drive to Hazebrouck.
- It was a sad sight to seeall the women and children fleeing.
- Some mustard oil shells came overand we all had to put on our respirators.
- During the night many German aeroplanes came overand bombed the camps behind.
- We however manage to exist and try and be cheerful.and the sentry was blown to pieces.
- The whole day we sat under a hurricane of shellsexpecting that the dug out would be blown in.
- Our champagne supper was rather interruptedwhich we had arranged for the night we came out of the trenches.
- I was sniped with whiz bangswhich luckily missed me.
- Mosquitoes are troublesome herebreeding in the water in the shell holes.
- The Doctor next door snored so loudlythat sleep was difficult.
- We walked through miles of ruined streetswithout meeting a soul.
- A “dud Archie” landed on their signallers’ hutkilling and wounding fourteen signallers.
- The only two nights I have spent in Londonthere have been air raids.
There must have been between five & six hundred of us.
so there was much trouble in finding it in the dark.
& the way we were generally treated.
probably torpedoed & then beached.
I met several old friends of Pindi days.
It was blowing a gale & the surf there was very fine.
especially St Walpurgis which dates from about 1500 A.D.
to have a look at them.
each carrying a satchel with a gas helmet, instead of copy books.
& the mud is almost worse than Sheppey mud.
but the few that there are make quite a good thing out of it.
though the guns were rather more active than usual.
Except for one arch the whole of the roof was gone.
a Boche aeroplane squadron & one of ours were having a fight up in the air.
otherwise the morning was quite peaceful.
& parties mending barbed wire.
Our retaliation was I am afraid nil.
which was very lucky as many fin bombs landed in the trenches.
& in some of the deserted trenches they hang right down the sides.
as I was always afraid of a shell hitting one of the cylinders.
& there is very little suffering or struggling for breath with it.
clouds of gas & smoke rolled along like a great fog over the enemy’s lines.
on the enemy’s trenches & then put a barrage behind them.
In order to frighten the Boche we were told to send over a smoke cloud.
& all his artillery on our fire trenches & supports.
In the evening there was quite a good regimental concert.
which caused the German ones to reply.
which have saved my head many a time from bumps.
but it luckily changed to S.W soon after.
to try & capture a Boche.
where we remained over two hours.
to try & get into the German lines.
& life was quite pleasant.
This means however that we are destined for the big show further South.
& sending fragments all round.
No one is particularly pleased but realize that it has got to be done.
where the rats were very lively.
& the house quite hidden under big shady trees.
I wish we could have stopped longer in this pleasant valley.
with all the male population away at the war.
with a beautiful park behind. I stopped in to dinner.
& made a deafening row.
as the attack on Guillemot has apparently failed.
A rifle grenade exploded at the muzzle of the rifle & killed two men.
there is literally not one brick left upon another.
& it looks far more like proper warfare.
The Church Spire with the leaning virgin was a very curious sight.
all colours & also a kind of golden rain.
they were lying every where, ours & Boche dead.
as it was raining steadily the whole night.
& Howitzers kept on firing at intervals.
& had the impertinence to drop a number of bombs on the camps all round.
Their stories of High Wood were very gruesome.
& almost every officer that was up with the Battalion was hit.
so much so that I became quite sleepy from the awful row.
& to my horror I saw two of them struck by lightning.
The roads & tracks were horribly muddy.
crying out the price of eggs.
How thankful I am that I am not in the trenches.
as the outer bell would not ring.
and the deck was a very wet place.
teal and two water rails.
and did not go to bed till past one.
The mud in the trenches was very bad.
pork and fresh vegetables, plum puddings and beer.
The trenches are very wet again.
It snowed most of the day.
and the Boche Trench Mortars opened fire.
and may very well go on leave.
who was constantly causing trouble.
which can hold 7 or 8000 troops.
I got home about 2 a.m.
and it drips everywhere from the roof.
dead horses all over the road.
and there seems to be no spring at all in this country.
and that it was sheer murder to send us on.
and brought him along with us.
every fruit tree or tree by the roadside has been cut down.
there is not much chance for things to grow.
from living in these deep dug outs.
He was seen in No Man’s land and chased.
and some batteries have had a very poor time.
standing at the top of our dug out.
and we had to put all our lights out.
to-morrow morning early.
being dropped on the Station.
at meeting so many old friends.
I had a very wet drive to Hazebrouck.
all the women and children fleeing.
and we all had to put on our respirators.
and bombed the camps behind.
and the sentry was blown to pieces.
expecting that the dug out would be blown in.
which we had arranged for the night we came out of the trenches.
which luckily missed me.
breeding in the water in the shell holes.
that sleep was difficult.
without meeting a soul.
killing and wounding fourteen signallers.
there have been air raids.