Walter Draycott’s Great War Chronicle

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Archives for February 2017

Wednesday 28 February 1917

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Our troops have taken Puisieux, Gommicourt, Lignes & La Barque.

The Cunarder Laconia is submarined.

Heavy bombardment during the night around Lens.

*The 18,000-tonne Royal Mail Ship Laconia was attacked with the loss of 13 passengers, including three Americans, en route from New York to Liverpool on 25 February 1917. A graphic account of the sinking by an American journalist aboard was credited with helping to push the United States into joining the conflict after it was read to both Houses of Congress.

http://www.gjenvick.com/SteamshipLines/CunardLine/Ships/Laconia-SilverQueen-TreasureQuest.html#ixzz3Eq3EmKiT

Saturday 24 February 1917

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Sergt. Baker returns from leave.

35,000 men are stranded at Folkestone on a/c of fog, etc. in Channel.

We shoot up the enemy at Vimy.

*Folkestone was an important port in the First World War with approximately 10 million troops and others, including nurses, passing through the harbour. Some were troops embarking to serve on the Western Front and others were troops returning home because they had leave or were wounded

Friday 23 February 1917

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3 men of the Intell. Dept. in quarantine..Reid, Crawford & Knowling.

My birthday. Congrats from young Mac II

*This would have been his 34th birthday.  British Columbia Death Registrations record shows date of birth as February 24th, not the 23rd.. He also mentions his birthday being on the 24th in previous diary entries.

Thursday 22 February 1917

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No entry.

*During this period the Germans were preparing to withdraw to the new Hindenburg Line. During the withdrawal the Germans were to implement a ‘scorched earth’ policy whereby nothing of possible use to the Allies was to be left standing. Houses were destroyed, road junctions were mined, wells were filled in (some may even have been poisoned), even fruit trees were cut down to prevent them being used as a source of food.

Monday 19 February 1917

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 – thaw

Very busy with secret maps “pour le grand avance”.

We make considerable gains in the Ancre. Capture 761 prisoners & 12 officers.

*The Ancre is a river of Picardy, France. Rising at Miraumont, a hamlet near the town of Albert, it flows into the Somme at Corbie. The Battle of the Ancre, 13–18 November, was the final large British attack of the Battle of the Somme in 1916, before winter. After the Battle of the Ancre , British attacks on the Somme front were stopped by the weather. During the rest of 1916 and early January 1917, military operations by both sides were mostly restricted to survival in the rain, snow, fog, mud fields, waterlogged trenches and shell-holes. British operations on the Ancre from 10 January – 22 February 1917, forced the Germans back 5 miles (8.0 km) on a 4 miles (6.4 km) front, and eventually took 5,284 prisoners. On 22/23 February the Germans fell back another 3 miles (4.8 km), soon resulting in their complete withdrawal from the region.

(www.wikipedia.com)

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