Walter Draycott’s Great War Chronicle

North Vancouver Museum & Archives

logo-monova
  • HOME
  • ABOUT
    • Timelines
      • Graphic Timeline 1914
      • Graphic Timeline 1915
      • Graphic Timeline 1916
    • The War Years
      • Sore feet and Sore Hearts: Walter Draycott’s 1914
      • Your King and Country Needs You? Walter Draycott’s 1915
      • Narrowly Escaping Extinction: Walter Draycott’s 1916
      • Running the Gauntlet: Walter Draycott’s 1917
      • Finally Home: Walter Draycott’s 1918
    • Life of Walter Draycott
  • DIARIES
    • 1914 Entries
    • 1915 Entries
    • 1916 Entries
    • 1917 Entries
    • 1918 Entries
  • MAPS & DRAWINGS
  • ALBUMS
    • Diary Entries
      • Diary Entries 1914
      • Diary Entries 1915
      • Diary Entries 1916
      • Diary Entries 1917
      • Diary Entries 1918
    • Walter Draycott’s World in 1914
    • Walter Draycott’s World in 1915
    • Walter Draycott’s World in 1916
    • Walter Draycott’s World in 1917
    • Faces of Draycott
    • North Vancouver in Uniform
  • COMMENTS
  • ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  • Featured
You are here: Home / Archives for Diary Entries / 1917 Entries

Friday 5 January 1917

January 5, 2017 by Sarah McLennan

Huns open up with all kinds of hell on our left section. 5.9s, 4.1s, trench mortar and rifle fire.
Lt. Gleam pays a visit to our dugout and stays till 1:30 am.


*5.9s and 4.1s refer to the bore size of German guns. The 5.9 was a howitzer with a 5.9” bore used by the Germans in WWI and the beginning of WWII. The 5.9s were particularly loathed as they were fitted with so–called ‘instantaneous’ fuses that burst before they hit the ground, scattering fragments travelling at the speed of a bullet for metres around. (www.ww1westernfront.gov.au)

Filed Under: 1917 Entries, Diary Entries

Thursday 4 January 1917

January 4, 2017 by Sarah McLennan

Sergt. Barber gets DCM
Capt. Colman gets Mil. Cross
No more New Year Honours for this Brigade.
Many on Brigade are sore on a/c of being left out in the cold.
Capt. Colman gets his M.C. for “Brilliant” staff work. We all wonder whence the brilliancy?


*The Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) was awarded to Warrant Officers, non-commissioned officers, and men, serving in any of the sovereign’s military forces, for distinguished conduct in the field. It was thus the second highest award for gallantry in action (after the Victoria Cross) for all army ranks below commissioned officers. The Military Cross can be awarded to commissioned officers of the substantive rank of Captain or below (therefore acting and temporary Majors are eligible) or Warrant Officers for distinguished and meritorious services in battle.(www.veterans.gc.ca)

Filed Under: 1917 Entries, Diary Entries Tagged With: DCM, The Distinguished Conduct Medal

Wednesday 3 January 1917

January 3, 2017 by Sarah McLennan

Damn the Hun. He has spoiled our dinner with his blasted shelling.
Have to run the gauntlet between here and Neuville St. Vaast. By jerky running I outwit him with his shells.
Get ‘ell for running risks. The old General MacDonnel very fatherly over my escapades.
Get valuable nose-caps.


*”Hun” is a derogatory term for German used particularly during the First and Second World Wars.
*The expression “running the gauntlet” is derived from a form of physical punishment where a captive is to run between two rows – a gauntlet – of soldiers who repeatedly strike them.
*Nosecap is that part of a shell which unscrews and contains the device and scale for setting the time fuse.

Filed Under: 1917 Entries, Diary Entries Tagged With: General McDonnell, Neuville St Vaast

Tuesday 2 January 1917

January 2, 2017 by Sarah McLennan

Having a devil of a time with the damn rats in our dugout and round about La Targette and Neuville St. Vaast.
Enemy shells our area.
A few more inches and he would have got our dugout. However he makes the walls shake and parts fall in.


*Trench conditions were ideal for rats. Empty food cans were piled in their thousands throughout No Man’s Land, heaved over the top on a daily basis. Most soldiers who served on the Western Front would later recall how rats grew in boldness, stealing food that had been lain down for just a few moments. Rats would also crawl across the face of sleeping men. Although shooting at rats was strictly prohibited – it being regarded as a pointless waste of ammunition – many soldiers nevertheless took pot shots at nearby rats in this manner. (www.firstworldwar.com)

Filed Under: 1917 Entries, Diary Entries Tagged With: Neuville St Vaast

Monday 1 January 1917

January 1, 2017 by Sarah McLennan

https://monova.ca/greatwarchronicles/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Monday_January_1_1917.mp3

Stay up till midnight with Lieut. Gleam of the 1st Div. pioneers. Drink in the New Year. No artillery fire of any description. We awaken at 9 am very late.
I go to Mt. St. Eloy and have dinner with the Transport staff and Brigade staff in a private house. I also visit 4 Co. PPCLI. The Pats get reinforcement of 50 men. Major Adamson makes a speech to them. Fog all day. I travel overland. Not observed by enemy. Our guns are active.


*PPCLI – Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry
*On a hill overlooking Arras stand the remains of two towers which bear testament not only to the once-powerful Mont-Saint-Eloi Abbey but also to the savage fighting that took place in the area during the Great War….From the beginning of the Great War the towers were used by French troops to observe German positions on Lorette Spur and Vimy Ridge. The suspicions of the French soldiers were aroused when Germans fired upon their every movement until it was realized that what was giving them away was not a spy but the birds nesting on the towers which took flight when troops disturbed them. (www.remembrancetrails-northernfrance.com) (www.greatwarphotos.com/tag/mont-st-eloi)

Filed Under: 1917 Entries, Diary Entries Tagged With: Germans, PPCLI, Vimy Ridge

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
May 2025
M T W T F S S
 1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728293031  
« Nov    

Archives

Funders

cityNorthVan2 districtNV YoungCanadaWorks

READ TODAY'S

DIARY ENTRY

VIEW

This site is best viewed with the most recent version of all major web browsers.

Privacy Policy

To view our Privacy Policy, click here.

Search This Website

Search "mp3" to find all voiced diary entries

Support this project

DONATE TODAY

Contact Us

MONOVA: Museum and Archives
of North Vancouver
3203 Institute Rd.,
North Vancouver, BC V7K 3E5
Tel. 604-990-3700, ext. 8016.
www.monova.ca
archives@monova.ca

© Copyright 2025 - Draycott's Great War Chronicle · All Rights Reserved ·