War Diary Entry: 23rd July 1916

Various officers came up to look round the trenches. Bayley came in to tea, & Gillon and I walked back with him to near Martisnart afterwards. We put up 5 coveys of young partridges en route.

Letter to Mother: July 23rd 1916

My dear Mother

I am very sorry to hear about poor old Lance he was such a good fellow. We are being moved right back and will probably shortly go to the neighbourhood John has come away from. I shall be rather sorry to leave this place as one has only to walk 200 yds from our front door & watch the battle going on about 3 miles away, in perfect comfort and safety. At the moment we have gone to ground again as they began to shell our late hd qrs, and made things rather uncomfortable though no one was injured, so we have decided to forego the pleasures of a house. 

I have had all sorts of nice letters from people about Raymond. It really is awfully kind of the Becks, even if Raymond did not make his fortune he made many genuine friends. I am still optimistic about leave, but not probably till late on next month.

Will write again when we get settled down behind

Your loving son

Cuthbert

War Diary Entry: July 22nd 1916

The Borders & Inniskillings relieved the SWB & KOSB respectively in the trenches during the afternoon. When the relief was half through we received a message saying the whole divn was being relieved in the line tomorrow, but it was too late to stop the relief then. The 25^th Divn are taking our place. I went down to tea with the divn, and whet through our honours list, just going in, with De Lisle. Hear we are being moved to Ypres. When I got back to Englebelmer I found Armitage) Brigadier of 74^th Bde, relieving us) waiting there, he had just been round the trenches.

Letter (re-discovered, out of sequence): to Mother - July 17th 1916

My dear Mother

Gwynne, bishop of Khartoum, an old friend of mine , was here today conducting the morning service;  we had a special prayer for the dead and another for all our people at home asking that it should be made as easy as possible for them to bear their grief. You mustn’t let Kitty worry about it, as it is only one in a million who succumb to an operation of that kind. Will you tell Dolly that I should like some small thing of Raymond’s that he used to carry about him or always used, as a keepsake. 

I have a very fair chance of getting back on leave about the 7^th or 8^th of August, but of course leave just now is very uncertain.

Keep as cheerful as you can and go away with Father for a holiday somewhere for a fortnight. I’m sure it will do you both good.

Will write again when we get settled down behind

Your loving son

Cuthbert

Letter (re-discovered, out of sequence): to Father - July 12th 1916

My Dear Father

I got your letter this morning. I hope mother is not taking it too hardly and you are all keeping as cheerful as possible under this terrible shock. We shall miss him most frightfully as he always had such a soothing effect on everyone. I am very sorry for you all after what you have gone though. I hope Dolly is taking it bravely as that will help a good deal.

I am fit and well and still living a life of ease and luxury well behind the firing line.

Your loving son

Cuthbert

War Diary Entry: July 21st 1916

Had a hot bath at 10am, it was very necessary, but it brought on shelling, the 2^nd or 3^rd shell pitched at the corner of our office, blew all the glass out of the mess, filled the whole place with dust and smoke & put a motor bicycle into the air. 2 orderlies had a marvellous escape. All the shells were round our headquarters. We had been anticipating this and so had got our old hd qrs with the deep dug out (at the W end of Englebelmer) ready for occupation and we moved in there in the afternoon. Went round the trenches early.

War Diary Entry: July 20th 1916

They put two shells near our hd qrs at lunchtime, and again shelled the village during the night. Went down to look up Bayley after tea, on the Martinsart Rd.

War Dairy Entry: July 19th 1916

Went round the trenches early in the morning. The N side of Mary Redan is completely blown in and will take some time clearing. The new firing line which was supposed to have been dug across our part by some pioneer battn is only dug 1’6” deep in places & we have now got to complete it. 

Went down to Mailly Wood after breakfast to see the 2 battns, and went on afterwards with Handress Lloyd to the high ground just S of Englebelmer to watch the shelling down Contalmaison way. After tea Perse & I walked over to see Williams at his hd qrs on the Martinsart road. While we were away they put a cluster of 12 small shells round our bde hd qrs. They twice put shells into Englebelmer during the night.

War Diary Entry: July 18th 1916

Rained hard in the morning. W end of Englebelmer shelled for a quarter of an hour about 4am. We were to have let off gas again last night, but wind unfavourable, so we hung on till 1am when it was finally put off. The SWB were to have attempted a raid last night, they were only going to send off quite a small party; on their way up about 2.45am a big shell buried 4 of them in a communication trench, and by the time they were dug out it was too late to start. COs conference in Mailly Wood at 11am. Got back to bde hd qrs at 1pm & found De Lisle there; as there are not enough pioneers available we have got to complete a trench that has been dug about 200 yds in advance of our present line. Walked down to see Williams after tea; his hd qrs are in some canvas huts half way down the Englebelmer – Martinsart Rd.

War Diary Entry: July 17th 1916

87^th Bde relieved 88^th Bde in left subsector. Hd Qrs in Englebelmer, this not so pleasant as the place is regularly shelled and the cellars are not shell-proof. All the buildings near our old deep dugout are knocked flat , and there is not room for everyone in the deep dugout, so we are now at the E end of the village. 

The KOSB took over the left half of the firing line, the SWB the right, the Borders a platoon each in Withington & Anley & rest of bde in huts in Mailly Wood. The 88^th Bde were glad to clear out for a rest. 

Englebelmer was shelled with 5.9” from 8.30pm – 9.15, at 1.5 mins interval, but all fell at far end (W) of town.

War Diary Entry: July 16th 1916

Bishop of Khartoum took the Brigade parade service. Lunched with De Lisle. After lunch motored with Nickalls & Handress Lloyd over to Fricourt to look at the German trenches. I don’t think we have very much to learn from them. The whole place was like a ploughed field with shell craters. The village was knocked flat.There were a very large number of our 8” shells, unexploded, lying about.