Christmas in the Trenches (14 page)

We have a concert tonight and some Australian sisters coming; they have an awful Cockney twang, and don’t look half so smart as the Canadians.
⁹
(
2/Lt Eric de Normann, ASC
)

The presence of nurses was taken full advantage of, as the chances of seeing an ‘English’ woman were few and far between in the Balkans:

Today – Christmas Day – was gloriously sunny and very warm. The men organized games and apparently enjoyed themselves immensely. Their midday dinner was a great affair of roast fresh beef (the first I had seen since I arrived in Macedonia) roast potatoes, Christmas pudding, oranges and nuts with beer ad lib. The officers dined at 8 with ‘Sister’ guests from the Australian Hospital. None was startlingly attractive but they added to the gaiety of the function. We cleared a space in the middle of the Mess after dinner and danced as best we could according to our individual condition of sobriety, or flirted furtively with the ‘possibles’ but the lynx eyed matron kept her charges well under supervision – quite unnecessarily for nothing but advanced intoxication of the officers could have imperilled the virtue of those Sisters. We finally packed off our guests in motor lorries, kissed them goodbye, and went to bed ourselves. Altogether a wonderful Christmas Day. (
Capt Alfred Bundy, Middlesex Regiment, attached BSF Base Training Camp
)

For troops up the line their best way to escape the trials of campaigning, if only for a short time, was a visit to one of the divisional theatres, which had been established relatively early in the campaign. At the 26th Division’s Gaiety Theatre at Kalinova, behind the Doiran Front, Christmas 1917 saw the staging of the pantomime
Robinson Crusoe
:

The show consisted of four acts, preceded by a prologue, and four complete changes of costume. The first act; leaving England, the second act; on board ship, the third; in ‘Muckidonia’ and the fourth; in the palace of Dorian [
sic
]. We had a good strong chorus and the orchestra was good. The place was packed and Weston as Mrs Crusoe made the house rock with laughter.

The only hitch I remember was when the mast of the ship fell in the second act (it was supposed to fall when the ship was torpedoed). It fell on the principal boy’s head and made his teeth chatter a bit, but he was able to carry on.

One incident I must put in was a remark made one night by one of the audience. One of the lines the principal boy had to say was ‘But I want to be a soldier’. A very fed up voice came from a member of an infantry battalion ‘Do yer, well there’s a blighter here whose place you can have.’

Our show soon became famous through the Division. The place was full every night and we gave matinees on Wednesday and Saturday. Men could come down from the line, see the show and be back before morning. (
Pte George Veasey, 8th Ox & Bucks Light Infantry
)

If things were quiet on both sides of the Adriatic the same could not be said for the Middle East. Following unsuccessful attempts to take the town of Gaza in March and April, Gen Sir Edmund Allenby replaced Gen Murray as commander of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) on 27 June. After building up his forces, Allenby launched the Third Battle of Gaza (31 October–7 November). This proved a complete success and steady progress was maintained towards Jerusalem despite tough Turkish resistance. The surrender of Jerusalem on 9 December and Allenby’s formal entry into the city two days later fulfilled Lloyd George’s request that the city be delivered as a Christmas present for the British people, who had had little in the way of striking victories to celebrate in 1917. This is not to say that the Turks had given up the fight and, as Christmas approached, troops of the EEF found themselves north of Jerusalem covering the Nablus road and waiting for a counter-attack:

On December 23rd we went back into action. We passed through Jerusalem again at night. We take up our position about four miles outside the city astride the Nablus Road. It commences to rain hard. We hear that the Turkish counter attack is imminent. During the 24th we did our best in the appalling weather to dig ourselves in. Christmas Day dawned and the rain came down incessantly. About midday the General in charge of our Division inspected our position with the C.R.A. He did not like it at all and ordered us out. We were, he said, too vulnerable. We were to take up a position some eight hundred yards further back. The rain persisted with a piercing cold wind. Those six guns had to be man-handled out of the mud and on to the road before the teams could hook up and take them away . . . drenched to the skin, cold, and almost exhausted our guns were eventually in position and we looked on in vain for a dry spot to rest. Somebody, somehow managed to brew some tea. The C.O. ordered a rum ration. Hot tea laced with a small dose of rum and bully beef and biscuits was very welcome Christmas fare. Nobody was in festive mood. In fact I am quite sure nobody realized what the date was until afterwards. We waited throughout the night for the expected attack but it never came. The rain persisted. I am sure that was the longest, coldest and most miserable night I have ever had. Dawn came and still no attack. Fortunately the rain ceased on the 26th and we were able to sort things out and get a semblance of a gun position. The climax came just before dawn on 27th after heavy bombardment during the night. I don’t think we were ever so glad to go into action as we were that night. The suspense had been severe. (
Gnr Thomas Edgerton, D Battery, 301 Brigade, RFA
)

Through the deteriorating weather conditions most men relied on bivouac tents for shelter. The 2/15th Londons, who had been in Salonika the year before, found themselves in the support line near Bire also waiting for the Turkish attack:

Xmas Eve. Such rotten luck, we came out of our billets at midday and relieved the 20th London Regiment at our old place in the line.

The weather was frightful, cold and continuous rain. As soon as we arrived at our position we were detailed to go on a carrying party to ‘C’ Company who were up in the line. The job was carrying . . . fresh water . . . in a galvanised flat-sided tank taking 12 gallons of water. It was a terrible job slipping and sliding in all the rain and mud, manhandling the heavy tanks. Before going Hewer and I and all others put up their bivouacs hoping to get some shelter from the weather. A Xmas ration of cigarettes was issued.

On the way back from the line we lost our way and finally arrived back at our bivouac at midnight only to find it blown down and under water. The cigarettes were spoilt by the rain. Our camp was in an old quarry, selected for safety from bullets. In the rain it was the worst possible site and just collected water.

I don’t think I have ever felt so despondent. After a ration of rum Hewer and I got out of the quarry on to a high slab of stone where we felt safe from being drowned and huddled together to keep as warm as possible. Both of us felt we were bound to die of exposure. What an Xmas Eve. (
Pte Francis Blunt
)

Christmas Day itself proved little better:

Xmas Day dawned at last and with the daylight things looked better. Hewer and I stretched ourselves to confirm that we were still alive and our limbs in working order. The lads moved about and soon some sort of order came. Rations were almost non-existent. We only had one cup of tea all day. At midday we packed up and moved about half a mile further on. At night we went out on outpost duty on a hill called ‘White Scar Hill’. Another awful night. Rained continuously. Mud stuck half way up our puttees. When you sat down you could not get up without assistance. What an Xmas Day! How we shall all remember it. (
Pte Francis Blunt
)

Elsewhere troops in the front line were engaged in consolidating positions recently won from the Turks:

On the 23rd we gave the Turks such a bad time that they absolutely cleared off and allowed us to move forward to a new position without resistance. This meant that we were hard at work on the 24th and 25th consolidating the new line. We spent the whole of the night of the 24th building sangers, wiring etc and did the same on Christmas night. These had to be built owing to the fact that in that part of the line it is impossible to dig trenches owing to the rocks.

We should not have minded a bit had it been fine, but it started to rain on the 23rd and continued steadily till the 26th. We all got wet through of course on the first day and had to remain wet till the sun came out again to dry us. When I woke on Christmas morning I found that I was lying in 6” of water and we spent the whole day trying to get warm. In spite of the weather we managed quite a good dinner which made us quite cheery. We got a fresh meat ration of Australian Rabbits which made an excellent stew – then we followed this up with plum pudding and cheese. The plum pudding was a great stroke of luck. Colonel Clutterbuck sent us two from Cairo and the Coys drew for them. I was lucky enough to draw the largest so we had quite a good share each. We also had a ripping cake which Colonel Waddy sent us from India and we ate this sitting round the fire after we had finished work at night.

The parcel mail was the cause of great excitement. There were quite a lot of parcels from home but not the ones intended for Christmas. Those received should have arrived weeks ago. I was lucky enough to receive two from Port Said containing chocolates etc. I ordered them ages ago and had quite given them up for lost and it was a great stroke of luck getting them on Christmas day.

Our Regt was relieved from the line on Boxing Day and I can assure you we were glad enough to march back especially as it was a nice fine sunny day. It is only when you are absolutely wet through and chilled to the bone that you realise what a godsend the sun is.
¹⁰
(
Capt James Mackie, 2/4th Somerset Light Infantry
)

On the day the Somersets were relieved, three Turkish divisions launched a determined assault down the line of the Nablus road towards Jerusalem. After heavy fighting their advance was halted and soon afterwards they were put into full retreat. By the end of December the Turks were pushed back into difficult rocky country well north of Jerusalem.

For those wounded during the drive to Jerusalem or suffering from sickness, the various hospitals and field ambulances tried their best to provide a memorable Christmas. However, the procuring of large stocks of fresh meat was often a difficult task as members of the 1/2nd East Anglian Field Ambulance based at Ludd, north of Ramleh, discovered:

December 23 1917
: A committee consisting of Robert [Mason], 3 N.C.O.s and myself was appointed by the C.O. to see what could be done. We drew up a list of things, which we would
try
to get from the Canteen, and we decided to
try
to get enough chickens for all the men. Well, the Canteen is 30 miles away and 80–100 chickens would be required. I need hardly say more. Robert consulted the Administrative Commandant of the place, a Maj Ellery, and he arranged that we should get the chickens through the native ‘mukta’. I don’t know how to spell that word but it sounds something like that. The town is divided into districts and over each district is a mukta whose business seems to be to know exactly what every man in his district has . . .

We then proceeded round this man’s district. He would knock at the door, which was generally half open. The door would then be carefully closed and he would shout while a woman screamed from within. A certain amount of wrangling would then ensue, and after 5–10 minutes a fluttering of wings would be heard and then a small child would emerge with a chicken held by the legs . . . The mukta was accompanied by a clerk who wrote down the name of the vendor and the price – the money was to be paid by the Administrative Committee the next morning. After buying about 12–20 Robert and I got tired of it and withdrew, sending the Sgt-Maj and a Sgt to take our place. We got over 30 chickens that afternoon altogether and we had to make an enclosure for them – this we did by digging a big square hole in the ground and covering it with a tarpaulin. (
Maj E.B. Hinde
)

Such efforts were well received by the patients, not only helping them to forget for a while their wounds or illness, but for some a wish to join in with the festive entertainments gave renewed strength and worked towards speeding their recovery. This may have been particularly true of those who tried to remain with their unit rather than be evacuated for medical care:

Xmas Day
: Awoke feeling ever so much better but I don’t suppose that I shall be able to get up. A communion service is held at 7am taken by a minister, who is a corporal in 423 (S) Bty. Then breakfast at 8am consisting of coffee and Quaker oatcakes, then tea, bread and butter, ham and eggs. A church parade at 10am where a few more carols were sung. Dinner was served up at 1 o’clock. All the officers were down and a large marquee had been erected with seats and tables for everybody and a platform at one end. The OC made a very nice speech in which he said that he hoped that we should all be together next year in the event of the war extending so long and if anything did separate us it would be that we were each at our respective homes. A few toasts were drunk and then dinner. First course was roast beef, potatoes, beans etc, then real plum duff with sauce and after that beer, spirits, mineral water, nuts, oranges, sweets, cigars and cigarettes.

I have some real good pals in this bivvi and they looked after me a treat. I had everything brought that I wanted and nearly everybody in the battery came to see how I was getting on, and sympathysed with me. I was close to the marquee and could hear all that was going on. After dinner I got up and dressed. I assured the medical orderly that I felt pretty fair, and I went to tea, which consisted of tea, bread, butter and jam. The bread we get is good white bread and the butter was the ordinary Danish. I wish that everybody in England had such a feed as we had. The officers are quite good and the Quarter Master is one of the best. As I have said on many occasions this battery is next to none. I daresay that every day we live better than thousands do in England. The only thing to spoil the days proceedings was that we had occasional heavy showers, and in the evening vivid lightning and thunder, but this didn’t prevent us enjoying ourselves. At 7.30 we had a real fine concert given by officers and men of the battery. At the interval we have refreshments in the shape of beer etc, biscuits and cheese (not army biscuits). I was present at the concert so I did not do bad after all. I still kept fairly well. I might say that this is the same position as we occupied previous to the battle for Gaza, so roughly speaking we are about 80 miles behind the firing line. We haven’t fired a shot for seven weeks. There was nothing to spoil our Christmas only orders to move and these never came. We often thought about those at home and wondered what kind of a time they were having. If everybody did as well as we did they wouldn’t do bad. It was a great improvement on last Christmas which I spent in Salonika, and I hope to further improve next year by all of us being at home. (
Gnr Ernest Hinchcliffe, RGA
)