Royal Field Artillery
First World War Diary with Anecdotes
The diary and anecdotes of John Price Nunn who was a Driver and Signaller for the 2nd East Lancashire Division.
The diary and anecdotes of John Price Nunn who was a Driver and Signaller for the 2nd East Lancashire Division.
In the diary entry of Wednesday March 14th 1917 I have stated that the horses were put 8 in each horsebox and 2 men to look after them for the whole of the journey. None of us knew what length of journey we were to make or where we were heading for. It was 9 o’clock at night when we had all entrained; so it was dark.
The French railway horseboxes were different to the English type, although they were of similar size. In the French type the horses were installed 4 at each end of the box with their heads facing inwards to the centre. The space between them in the middle of the box was for the housing of a sack of oats and a bale of hay, also the horses harnesses as well as our own equipment. Access to the box was by sliding doors at the ends of the space. The Diagram shown explains this better. The amount of space in the middle after depositing hay, oats, harness and our own equipment had also to accommodate the 2 drivers either by sitting on the bale of hay, which of course would diminish during the journey, or the floor. There was certainly no room for sleeping in a lying down position. The horses were tethered to hooks, in the ceiling, with a sufficient length of rope to allow their heads to be in the normal position.
Jimmy Maguire and myself were in charge of one of these horse boxes. The horses themselves were remounts which implied that their training had been hurried and that many of them were still inclined to be fractious. From the minute they were entrained until the train began to move these horses were quarrelsome with each other, attempting to bite each other, stamping their fore and hind feet, and generally in a very unsettled state.
Within 10 minutes of starting (and this one started with a jerk which seemed to be commonplace during the rest of the journey and therefore did not help towards peaceful occupancy of the horse boxes). Two horses became loose (it is my belief now that these two had not been adequately tethered – neither Maguire or myself had tethered them in the first instance since the hooks were almost out of reach for statures such as ours). However since the train was moving and we could call on no one to help use, we tried to get them tethered again. With two of the centre position horses being loose there was increased pandemonium on one side of the box.
I though I might help if I got inbetween these horses to steady them whilst Maguire stood on the bale of hay and endeavoured to re-tether them – but these horses began to lean on me so heavily I had visions of being squashed, and the more I pushed them apart the more they retaliated; so we did not manage to re-tether them and conditions became worse every minute – particularly so because now the two horses discovered they could attack the hay and the bag of oats and we could not reposition these in any place where they could not be reached. With these two horses freely moving about it became dangerous for us to stay in the box at all and for a period of about 15 minutes we pushed open the sliding doors sufficiently to enable us to get through and we travelled on the floorboard.
All of a sudden the train stopped and immediately I went up the side of the train to inform Corporal Farrer? who was with others in an ordinary compartment. He was playing cards with his mates and ignored our appeal. Before I had any further chance to think, let alone call on someone else for help, the train started again and I managed to scramble back, and along with Maguire stayed by the open door for safety.
Some time elapsed before the train stopped again and because of conditions inside the box we were getting most anxious. One of my horses, Mab I think it was, had been cut on the forehead by the point of the hook on the ceiling and had a cut about 4 or 5 inches long which was bleeding.
As soon as the train stopped I dropped off and ran as fast as I could to the front end of the train where the officers were. Hurriedly I informed Capt. Lodge of the position and he turned to Leut. MacDonald to go and investigate. MacDonald came down the lines on the opposite side of the train to me – in fact there was no lines on his side and he was walking on the other side of some signal communication wires which were about 18 foot above the ground.
In order to be there when he arrived I ran back fast but had not reached the box when the train started again, and I had to scramble on and travel in another box leaving Maguire to hold the fort until another stop. MacDonald who was in riding breeches and pullover only and had no hat, and probably no money, didn't manage to get on the train and it was 4 days before I saw him again!
Maguire who also had been off the train when it had started moving again had scrambled on the next box with me (this box was in charge of Drivers Roberts and Irlam)
Thus until the train stopped again which was sometime later, our horses had the box to themselves and as soon as the train stopped Maguire and I went to look at our horses to see what was the position. For a moment we were stunned by the sight we saw. The horses were all jumbled up, some facing forward, some backward, there was a frightful row going on between them. They were rearing up and kicking each other, and the floor of the space we were supposed to occupy was in a terrible mess – most of the hay was loose and strewn about, the contents of the bag of oats lay all over the floor, mixed with horse manure. Our enamel drinking cups and billy cans were flattened and other personal equipment fouled with manure.
Some quick action was essential so I again ran up the lines to inform Capt. Lodge once again. Naturally his first comment was an enquiry as to where Leut MacDonald was and he nearly exploded when I said I did not know! He followed this information by getting out of his compartment on the other side of the train just as MacDonald did and I ran back faster than ever to be there when he arrived and with some apprehension as to whether he would encounter the same fate as MacDonald. However the train stopped long enough this time for him to reach the unfortunate horses and by the time he got there Maguire had braved the infernal confusion and had opened the sliding door on his side of the box. Capt Lodge was not a big man, in fact he was about our own size so that in standing on the track and looking in the box only his face showed on the other side. He gave one look at the bedlam and uttered a curse which sounded like “bloody hell!” and then put us both under arrest, after which he sought out Corp Farrier? to go and attempt to sort out the confused state in the box. For the rest of the journey, which lasted 20 hours, we travelled under guard in a compartment of the train. We had no food or drink during the whole journey. We arrived at Thiennes 5pm on Thursday 15 March 1917.
The above extract from my war diary relates to the trial for leaving the horse box without permission and the sentence received for the terrible crime.
When stables and exercise were finished on the morning of Friday March 16th, Maguire and I were summoned before Major Millar our C.O. and charged with “leaving the horse box without permission”. He asked for an explanation and listened attentively whilst we told him the whole story from start to finish. Capt Lodge was not present as he was on some recognizance work and as Major Millar had never seen the final state of the horsebox, we toned our description of that down. The major appeared to be rather sympathetic towards us, since it was not our fault in the first place that two of the animals had not been properly tethered. He seemed to us to just about to dismiss the whole incident when Capt Lodge came in and immediately confused the Major and as a result we were sentenced to 4 days Field Punishment 2 and sent us back to the horse lines and indicating that Capt Lodge would inform us later as to what form our punishment would take.
We both knew that Field Punishment 1 meant being tied to a gun wheel in a spread-eagled manner (each hand and foot tied separately) for periods at a time, but neither of us knew what would constitute FP2.
Since no punishment was melted out straightaway we began to think it was just a nominal sentence; so we just carried on with our daily duties.
Field punishment no.2, whatever it may have been discussed as in King’s Regulations was not the punishment melted out to us, and so it was obvious that Major Millar’s sympathetic and understanding attitude had prevailed. Two horse had died since we arrived in Haverskerque. One had a broken leg and had to be shot. I do not remember the cause of the other’s death. They had to be buried and I and two others had to do the job. Of course digging a hole 8ft cube was no light task, nor is dragging the horses to the hole, but it only took us two days. Whilst digging the hole we came across a large amount of tinned food as well as empty tins – all of which must have been buried by previous occupiers of this camping ground.
Going back to Wednesday March 21st 1917 in my war diary which I indicate having gone into St Vincent for a meal of eggs, bread and coffee, after having a pay out of 15 francs reminds me of the fact that from the lime of landing in France until the date of demobilisation (excepting for one leave that took me home) I never had a square meal. The conditions at any time during that period were such that our food rations (due to the exigencies of war fare) never seemed to keep up our movement and so we had to fall back on the cold comfort of iron rations (Bully Beef and hard biscuits). Thus none of us ever starved to death but were for ever hungry if only from the physical point of view.
Perhaps also some further explanation is necessary about the mentioning of Church Army and YMCA huts to which we had access from time to time and where we could buy tea , coffee, biscuits etc.
On Sunday March 23rd the Battery arrived at Vieille Chapelle (ie the horses and wagon line) and that night the guns were from there to the gun line and they went into action. The gun line at Festubert was about 1.5 miles from the wagon line and every night ammunition had to be taken to them. Generally speaking the areas around the wagon line were still occupied, though rather likely by French peasants some of whom still worked the fields. In these areas also one usually came across a Church Army or YMCA Hut. They were not in entirely safe areas but only a few shells came over and at infrequent intervals. Whilst the guns stayed in the position they were first placed in the wagon line was moved a number of times finally finishing up at a place called Essars – where there was some stabling accommodation and farm buildings that could be used for sleeping and other uses. I can remember the location very well since there were several incidents occurred whilst I was there.
FP No1 for fouling Wagon Wheel: One of the first incidents arose because one of the officers caught a gunner making water against a wagon wheel. He was put on a charge and sentence to FP No1. His sentence – he was tied in a spreadeagled manner to that wheel for several periods of two hours each day and for two days duration. This was senseless punishment for an army crime which was but a natural function. It is most difficult to understand the mental behaviour who ordered this to be executed.
The next incident I briefly recorded in my diary dated Monday April 9th 1917. I remember Derek Knowles joining us at Colchester shortly before we left for France. He had been in France before and was in Trench Mostains(?) in the trenches. I remember him regaling us with some idea of the kind of conditions he had seen in this unit. He had come back to England for what reason now I cannot remember but as like as not he had been slightly wounded. After coming out of hospital he had transferred to the Field Artillery and had been sent to our Battery. I remember quite well the night before we had entrained for Southampton, he had had a lot of drink either in Colchester or at the canteen and on coming back to the hut he had broken down and wept and had kept on repeating that he knew he would not survive this second visit to the firing line. The men in the hut gradually coaxed him back to a normal state.
After arrival in France I had seen little more of him but after the guns had been placed at Festubert he had been sent to them – his job being to spot Jerry planes – and his equipment consisted of powerful field glasses. The gun emplacements were behind a hedge with a cart track in front of the hedge. Knowles duty was to walk to and fro behind the guns. For some unknown reason he chose to walk along the cart track in front of the hedge which was safe enough in some measure since the gun barrel for action had an elevation which would clear the hedge and anyone passing along the cart track.
It so happened that no action was taking place at this particular time. In fact all the guns were being cleaned and whilst doing this the gun barrel elevation had been dropped to almost a level position. It was always customary after cleaning was complete for the breech to be closed and the firing trigger pulled to see that everything was in order for first time firing. It was certainly not customary to clean a gun with an eighteen pounder shell already in the breech. It was discovered there was one in and it was pure co-incidence that at the time of pulling the trigger Knowles was exactly opposite the muzzle and about two yards from it. The shell must have gone clean through his body and he was blown to bits.
A search was made for him but only bits of his field glasses and tunic were found. Sergeant Dempsey who was in charge of the gun at the time was put under arrest and some days later he was court martialed. The court martial was held in the enclosed space of the farm building. Although held in the open air all the troops at the wagon line were arranged around the courtyard in the manner of a civil court trial and after all the evidence had been taken the sentence was that Sgt Dempsey was guilty of negligence and he was reduced to the rank of gunner. There followed the most distressing sight of the stripes and all the non-commissioned officers insignia being ripped from him. Poor Sgt Dempsey. I can see him now in a most humbled state but he had the sympathies of all the driver and the other ranks for he was a very likeable man.
About a quarter miles from our wagon line there as an isolated house which was occupied by a French family. Although in a dangerous areas the occupants had not fled to a safer area but were prepared to stop there and were making a living out of the sale of chips and eggs and coffee to the troops in the vicinity. I visited this place but once for a meal and was amazed at the riotous scenes that I observed. It appeared to be much more than a café and quite a lot of soldiers there were regular frequenters of the place. There were about 6 young girls acting as waitresses but between attendances at tables they engaged in rather vulgar entertainment to the regular customers who did not go there to eat. On the one occasion I went there I had just sat down when one of the girls flung herself on my knee and putting her arms around my neck she shouted out in English “May I sit on your f'ing knee?” On seeing that I was disinterested she left me and I was able to eat my meal and leave without further interruption.
I also remember that whilst at this wagon line Jack Roberts lead driver, myself centre driver and Jack Irlam lead driver had an accidental mishap with our horse team and two ammunition limbers. The wheels of these vehicles I suppose through careless driving on our part dropped into the deep ditch at the side of the road and the vehicle almost in a turned over position.
Disconcerted pulling by the horses as of no avail and only made the vehicle tip over to a worse position. Since it was not easy for the drivers to correlate their efforts because of all of us facing forward it became necessary for a junior officer to deal with the situation and since he had only the experience of sitting on and controlling his horse he did not display much aptitude for dealing with a team; so before long the Captain was summoned and finally with the aid of men on the wheels we got out of the ditch but not before the Captain’s nerves had been frayed and his voice hoarse from cursing us all.
Our new wagon lines was within a mile or so of Bethune and we could get into that town quite easily when we were off duty. The office was in a conservatory of a large house, the front garden of which provided space for the horses to a ground line. There had been horses frequently tethered here before we came – for a long line of wooden troughs had been installed for watering the horses at the back of the house.
At the rear of the house were open fields with cattle grazing. The weather was so hot that many times I just slept on the grass at the rear of the house and I remember on one occasion being wakened up by cows grazing within inches of me. As we were close by a main road which led to the trenches it was customary on many nights after darkness had fallen to see infantry men in singe file on either side of the road going up to the trenches and also walking wounded and Red Cross vans coming the opposite way. In fact for me I was beginning to realise a bit more vividly the meaning of warfare.
Bethune itself was still occupied by the French and shopkeepers still remained in town. Also there were other activities took place. Once when I went into Bethune I remember seeing a queue on one side of the street. The queue consisted of troops of all kinds of regiments including Portuguese and they were all waiting their turn to enter a brothel. This was a real eye opener for me.
I have previously referred to the fact that at the wagon line there was a long line of wooden water troughs which when originally set up were in a reasonable condition. How they came to be damaged in parts I do not know, but at intervals on their sides repairs had been made to them by nailing sheets of tin (from flattened biscuit tins) and since this repair some of the edges and corners of the tin had uplifted. The horses were watered in pairs and I was holding 2 of them, standing in between them and holding their reins, my two horses had finished drinking but as everything had to be done by numbers I was waiting until the others had finished. Horses have a habit of suddenly and vigorously throwing up their head and one of my horses did just this. Holding the rein tightly my hand was suddenly pulled upwards and caught the jagged edge of the tin and I received a very nasty and jagged cut which began to bleed at some pace. I couldn’t leave the horses to have it attended to so I stuck my hand in the water trough. The sight of blood plus the effect of the cold water caused me to faint and I must have fallen to the ground for the next thing I knew was that I was on the other side of the trough, sitting on a bale of hay with my hand bandaged up. It was evident that I’d been seen to fall and had been dragged under the trough for treatment. I was very wary of these tin repairs in future horse watering.
Other than the extracts from my diary I cannot remember now much more of the time from leaving Bethune to arriving outside Coxyde (a period of about a fortnight travelling from day to day). I can however remember this bath mentioned above. Several of us discovered a hose pipe around 2 inches diameter – one end of which was in a pond the other end a pump.
With five of us operating the pump it was possible to obtain a surge of water full bore and at sufficient pressure to throw it about 10 or 12 feet or more. So we all stripped off and in turn had the hose pipe directed at us for a few minutes. I remember standing in the nude waiting for it to be my turn and apart from the shock of a sudden burst of cold water, the pressure of it nearly knocked me into the pond. It was a very refreshing interlude.
At this stage I think I should explain that the reason for our Division moving on to the front was to take over the previous position of the line which before our arrival were held by Belgium troops. It was very evident from enquiries that we made that it has been a very quiet front (in fact it was rumoured that while the Belgiums were there has been much fraternizing going on between the Germans and Belgiums.
However no sooner had the Belgiums departed and our troops moved in than the Germans seemed to send over shells in increasing intensity each day. Furthermore our own battery’s guns were located in a very small salient so that taking up ammunition at night was quite a nightmare - for as we neared our own gun’s position we appeared to be surrounded with the flashes and bangs from both sides and at intervals in addition we were exposed with the illumination from the “Very” lights.
There was no doubt in our minds that the Germans had been notified of our arrival apart from any observations they may have made themselves.
Going back to diary of Saturday July 21st – I can remember quite well bathing in the sea with Drinkwater and Eyre. The former was an old sweat , but much older than me. I struck up a friendship with him until the end of hostilities when I lost touch through being posted to a cadre(?) battery. He was a good soldier and never showed any fear, in fact whatever the circumstances he always had a happy grin and his general composure at this particular time (when the meaning of warfare was more acute for me) was a great bolster to my fears. Being a gunner I really did not see very much of him excepting when the guns were out of action and we were moving to new positions.
On Monday July 23rd I was sent to the gun line for 2 days to do some ? and these two days were my first real experience of living continually under shell fire. As I have mentioned earlier the gun line and front line had for many months been occupied by Belgium troops and was a very quiet front, but as soon as the British took over the Germans hotted up the action, or perhaps it was us that hotted up the action and caused equal retaliation. In addition our particular gun line was in a very small salient so that we really were rather precariously placed and the noise of battle seemed to be all around us. It was such an unhealthy position that even the gunners had to be relieved after two or three days.
Whilst I was there I remember gunner Roffey getting a foot wound. I can see him now on a stretcher with his foot temporary bandaged. He was being taken to a first aid station and he had a happy smile on his face knowing that he had got a “blighty”. I remember also Charlie Kirkham being very seriously wounded. To some extent it was his own fault. There were a few of us working outside a dug out shelter when we heard a Jerry 5.9 shell coming pretty close. There was only time to fall flat on your face and belly and this we did and thus escaped the possibility of being hit by H. Explosive shell fragments. Kirkham dropped into a kneeling position and received fragments down one side of him.
It was not always possible to know what kind of shell was coming over – with shrapnel which was timed to burst in the air above you - unless you were under cover you we likely to receive parts of the broken shell case and parts of the contents of the shell which were small metal objects – nails, screws or could be anything of metal nature. The High Explosive shell could be times to explode after penetrating the ground and apart from fragments of the shell case there would also be huge quantities of broken earth thrown up. The high explosive shell that could cause the most damage was one which exploded on contact with the ground and sent out at a very low altitude hundreds of shell splinters and fragments over a large circular area. It was possible to be quite close to one of these explosions and not be hurt – always providing that you had thrown yourself flat on the ground. On the other hand you could be flat on the ground some distance away and be wounded or killed. It was this kind of shell that killed and wounded 40 mules on Sunday August 12th. All the mules were killed by belly wounds that came from ground level upwards.
Fortunately on that same day although our wagon line received many of these shells we had no damage done to our horses and mules but it became necessary to move the wagon line backwards nearer to La Panne.
I was very glad to be back at the wagon line again and certainly did not want to be sent to the gun line again. The wagon line was just outside La Panne amongst sand dunes. The horses were tethered to lines on the ground. The men’s accommodation consisted of enclosures of sand bags about 2 feet high with corrugated elephant iron coverings which were used for sleeping only, or cover from rain. Since there was very little of this our life was mostly open air all the time.
From scraps of timber that I found here and there I built myself a small office not very much bigger than a sentry box. Here I wrote out the orders each day and got them signed by the officer in charge of the wagon line. I also had to make records of all the horses and mules and occasionally had to visit the Brigade Office in La Panne.
In La Panne there might not have been a war on at all. There were shops of all kinds, hotels still being used and the area to a great extent still being used as a holiday resort. Quite frequently but only when I had the money I used to go to a café there for hot chocolate and fancy cakes. On one occasion when returning from the café I had to pass through the hospital area. I did not know that the Queen of the Belgiums was doing nursing work in this hospital but as I walked alongside the boundary wall beside the hospital I passed a nurse who had just emerged from a gateway and was almost immediately challenged by a Belgium soldier, who was on guard at the gateway – having noticed that I had passed the nurse without even looking at her he rushed at me with rifle and fixed bayonet and shouted something at me. When I did not answer he said in poor English “It is the queen of the Belgiums and you did not salute”, and then he let me pass.