211109 L/Cpl. George William Parker MM.British Army 2/23rd Battalion London Regiment from:Acton George William Parker Memories of service in the First World War
In 1910 I was an Apprentice chef at Inner Temple. Breakfast and lunch provided but no salary. Along with my four brothers I emigrated to Canada.
In 1912 I got a job cooking on Canadian Pacific Railway. On
August 4th 1914 whilst en route to Vancouver on regular run, he learnt of Britain at war. On Aug 16th when he arrived back in Montreal Ienlisted in C.A.S.E. Soon after, we were moved to vast new camp at Valcartier, Quebec. Horse Remount Dept.
Nov 6th, while first contingent were preparing to go to Britain, I had first medical and was discharged because I had only hazy sight in left eye. Went back to work.
1915 January; I bought passage to England and as I had been a bandsman in Battersea Temperance Band before going to Canada, went to see the Bandmaster (Hawke) and was told the whole Band had joined the Territorials and were billeted at Horley, Surrey. The Bandmaster and his son (Percy) were very happy in their billet. I went to the address given and was told by the young lady (Clara) who opened the door that they were out on a route march. I met them and was invited back to lunch. Went with them to the QM stores and was kitted out with khaki uniform, boots a hat and was in the army. No medical. On the Sunday evening I went with them to the local Methodist Church and the lady who opened the door, and looked after us at the Bandmaster's billet sang-a solo during the service "God holds the key". We waited till she came out and we chatted a few minutes and I asked her if she had time to show me round the village. The upshot was we married on Dec 27th 1915.
The regiment was moved first to Hatfield Herts, then to Bishops Stortford, then to Tinton-on-Sea. Meantime the band was doing various duties such as route marches, concerts a recruiting meetings round London.
In early 1916 we moved to Sutton Veney, Wiltshire where the older men in the band were discharged and the younger ones were returned to the ranks and sent to the R.A.M.C. for instruction in first aid and did stretcher work. Four stretcher bearers to a company of nominal 120 men. We were shown how to make great use of a triangular bandage but when we got into action, we never saw one.
In June 1916 we went via Southampton to Le Havre where we camped for a day. While there, we stretcher-bearers were issued with first aid kit, stretcher satchels with first field dressings etc., in addition to the rifles and ammunition. I decided on my own that we would carry one or the other, so we moved off minus the rifles. I don't know what King's Regulations has to say on the matter. We never heard a word about it.
We arrived at Etrun, a small town near Arras which was to be our base for the next six months or so. We took over a part of the front line from a Scottish division on Vimy Ridge and were soon in action. A sergeant in the Machine Gun Corps was shot and there was a call for stretcher-bearers. I, with another, ran along the trench and his mates put him on our stretcher. He was a big chap and they laid him on his side so most weight was on the left side. The turns in the trench, something like key pattern, were too sharp to allow the man to be carried at arms'-length so he had to be hoisted shoulder high; the left handle on left shoulder a the right handle supported by right arm like a bracket. The Quarter mile or so to the Aid Post was agony.
In those early days we now and again received a Red Cross parcel, which contained a very welcome few sheets of toilet paper, otherwise we had to put our precious letters from home to very undignified use. These pieces of paper were given the name of bum fodder, which added "bumf" to Oxford English Dictionary.
A trench mortar fell in a trench used as a listening post. I went to see if there were casualties and found one dead, but no sign of any injury. Another was helpless with shock, so I got him away pick-a-back.
Occasionally we had bathing parade. There was an old brewery a mile or so away. A trickle of warmish water spaced about two yards apart. Then we were given a change of shirt and underpants and socks. Another diversion was a lousing parade when we ran the seams of our trousers through a lighted candle to get some relief from lice. There was steam boiling or baking arrangements but our clothes were packed in too tight to be effective.
The system was a week in front line; a week in reserve when we were able to get clean clothes, a bath of sorts and some rest; then a week in support line during which we did various fatigues during the day taking the munitions and rations to the front line. It was during this week our Chaplain gathered his flock for a service and Communion. His name was Capt. Reilley.
Along the front line there were "duck boards" to keep our feet dry but the communication trenches; after rain there were inches of slimy mud, so it was necessary to look after one's feet. Some chaps didn't seem to have the savvy and after a week with wet and muddy feet, their socks had to be picked off they had got so stuck to the flesh.
In December 1916 we were in reserve on the Somme and then entrained to Marseilles in vans stating "Hommes 40, cheveux 8".
The wage for a soldier in 1914 was 1/– (one shilling) per day. When I got married I arranged an allotment to my wife of 9 pence per day (5 shillings and 3 pence per week) so when we were in camp in Marseilles I didn't bother to go ashore. Later on, the wages of a "private" was increased to 1/9 per day and the allotment was increased to 1/6. I still made do with three pence per day.
Notices were put up in prominent places giving names and addresses of licenced ladies, which I thought a poor do. We were soon aboard the Allan Line ship Tunisian bound for Salonika. When we arrived at Malta, I was asked – not going ashore – to take charge of two or three lads who to their grief and shame were suffering the result of going ashore to the wrong address.
Soon after arriving at the port of Salonika we were holding a line overlooking the marshy land round Lake Doiran. The Bulgarians held listening posts at night on little hillocks surrounded by wire defences. The listening parties could be seen at times manning their posts and raiding parties would go out to try to capture them. A party of 30 or so would be got ready plus 2 stretcher bearers. As I was the No. 4 of our squad and senior, it was generally No.4 and one other. We had little success as they could hear us coming a mile off, and as we surrounded the place pincer fashion, they would have retired, and when we rushed the vacant place from the rear, calling them all the names we could think of, they fired at us with all they had got.
Once a party of three went out before dawn and a sergeant got wounded. I took a stretcher out and we carried him in. There was no room for wheeled transport so he was got away on a weird contraption. Two long poles; one end of each was fixed to the mule's harness and the other ends dragged along the ground, a stretcher being fixed halfway along.
There was a fair amount of mild illness among the men and I had to report to the M.O. on the field phone of any serious trouble, but for smaller ones I was supplied with various tablets with instructions:
Slight shivers 2 aspirins
Severe 3 aspirins + 2 Dover powders + No. 9
Neuralgia 2 Phenacetin and caffein
Diarrhoea: either 2 Lead and Opium per diem or 3 Bism: Sal per diem.
For one poor chap I had to get to the M.O. to collect a mustard plaster, but getting no better I had to go up to HQ and fetch a mule. On the way down we had to negotiate a deep gully. At the edge the animal looked down, then at me, then slid his forelegs down then his hind ones and we had made it. I don't think there was a saddle, but he was got away.
There were many snakes in that part of Greece and one of the chaps whose name was Watsky (?) would go and kill and skin them and plait them for officers' horses to go round their necks and down the front. Large green lizards were very common, about a foot or so long. They often made themselves comfortable in our blankets while we slept in our bivvies.
Each man had a green sheet about four feet square which had buttons and button holes every six inches or so all round, and a stick about 3 ft 6" long, so two sheets buttoned together made a tent, and a sheet folded diagonally closed each end and so we 4 were snug, sardine fashion.
These bivvies were to come in to good use - later as about September 1917 the 60th Division were sent to Egypt. We landed at Alexandria thence we went by train to a camp at Tel el Kebir, which rang a bell for me as my father in the early 1880's was a soldier in the Rifle Corps and was in action against the Boers, then on behalf of the Kedive of Egypt against the Mad Mullas. His war medals included the Khedives Star with a bar "Tel el Kebir". Soon we moved to Islamia, which is by the Lake Timsah one of the Bitter Lakes exceedingly salt, and though I was no swimmer I soon was at home in the water. We just walked in and floated. The local children did good business with slices of water melon very cheap and at the camp with "Eggsycook big one". Soon we crossed the Suez Canal and marched to Kantara. Then we went by rail which the Army had laid as far as El Arish. We marched on a road of wire netting laid on the sand and camped by the sea about 9 miles from Gaza. Here we were taught to "endure hardship as good soldiers" as St Paul puts it. Most of the men had sores on arms any exposed flesh; so every day there was a parade of dozens to be treated (or ill-treated) for the sores. The stretcher-bearers, under the direction of the Sergeant, had to clean up the scabby places, apply a blue lotion and bandage up. The water ration was one quart of water per man for all purposes when we moved into the desert. We had long marches mostly at night. We looked like a cloud with a lot of legs. We tied our handkerchiefs across our mouths to breathe through.
Starting out with our water bottles full, we had to arrive back with them unused. A week's leave was available in Cairo for any who wished to take it. I had a week in a rest camp at El Arish during which I had my photo taken. They were not ready when my time was up. Someone who was at the Camp after me maybe offered to find me with them. They were found in a dead chap's pocket by our Padre who recognised the original and had them sent to me.
Occasionally a hole was dug in the sand and a large tarpaulin was laid in it; this was filled with water and Carbolic like Jeyes fluid. Through this we had to go single file and duck under like sheep at a sheep dip and run about in the sun until we dried - no towel. It stung plenty in places!
November 1917 saw the 60th Division in action at Beersheba under General Allenby against the Turkish Army. While we waited until the artillery cut the wire defences, we were under severe shelling and mortar rifle fire, so there were casualties of all kinds. One chap had his leg smashed just above the ankle so I had to cut the foot off and bind his lower leg back at the knee to stop him bleeding to death. Another had his upper arm smashed at the shoulder. I poured iodine over the flesh and covered the wound with first field dressing, support his arm with his puttees a got him away as quickly as possible. Our Chaplain was carrying wounded with other S-B's all the time this was going on.
Sheria was our next engagement with the Turks and, after they had been driven out, General Shea held a parade. Several men had bits of ribbon pinned on their jackets including Capt. Reilley and myself. (M.M. 17 November 1917, from war diaries of 2/23 London Regiments East Surreys)
We pressed on after the Turks and in a few days were at the walls of Jerusalem and beyond. After a lull of a few days we were off again in action at Beira about 12 miles north of Jerusalem. The Turks held a ridge and our lads had to get down a sloping hillside, very rocky. When they had got clear and we could see there were none hit, Bob Proctor, my mate and I, made a move to follow. We, being the only ones on the hill, were the target for all the enemy fire and Bob fell. He died very soon afterwards.
The next day we were in action near Makmur and another of our four was wounded and had a leg amputated. Whenever one of the four was killed or wounded or whatever, I had to ask a chap to take their place and was never refused. Soon after this, the question was asked: "Any wireless mechanics on Parade?" As in my younger days I had some interest in industrial coils, Wimshurst machines, etc., I put my hand up.
Sometimes there was a catch in such enquiries; for instance in Salonika "Any carpenters on parade?" No shortage - our H and P biscuits used to arrive, two sealed tins to a wooden box 2 ft x 1 ft x 1 ft. "Right git yer knives out and make bog seats of these." However, mine was genuine I had to proceed to Aboukir Bay R.A.F. camp for a test. I had week or so there and then was sent back to my unit. While I was away our 23rd London Regt. marched from the Jerusalem area down the Jericho Road to Jordan where the Allenby Bridge was being constructed and then on to Amman to cut the Hejaz railway in support of Laurence of Arabia. Although the operation was successful it was at the cost of a good many killed and injured. When I got back to Jerusalem I learnt about this operation and was told they were on their way back. I walked down the Jericho Road about ten miles or so and came to a munitions dump in charge of a few men. I stayed there to await my company's arrival and for a day or so felt very ill but soon felt quite fit again. A fortnight or so afterwards I had a similar attack but it passed off. A couple of weeks after we were on the Mount of Olives and I became prostrate and I was put in a vehicle and taken to the nearest medical aid post, which was in a monastery at Emaus then by ambulance and train from Lidda to Cairo. After a week or so I went on an outing with a party of patients to Aswan Dam. Arriving back I was down again with a high temperature (Relapsing Fever).
A doctor said they were to try a new treatment, so I was taken to the theatre where they opened a vein and poured in with a funnel, I reckoned two or three pints of saline liquid. Soon after I felt terrible and shouted out. The nurses gave me some brandy I think it was and smothered me with blankets. The temperature went down and I was completely cured. I still have the chart of temperature and diet.
I see, according to Pears Cyclopedia, that Relapsing Fever is caused by lice but there may be other causes. My first acquaintance with lice was in Canada in 1914. When I joined the army in Montreal, I was given part-worn Militia uniform, which had been used by more than one at annual manoeuvres. It was not long before I had "company". My next experience was in France in 1916, also Salonika, but not in Palestine. I never heard of Relapsing Fever till I saw what I was in hospital for. When we were in the hills above Makmur, a pair of us found a cave and slept in it one night and I was bitten by sheep ticks and I have always blamed them for the aforesaid fever.
On discharge I made my way back as far as Kantara on the Suez Canal and was told the battalion was on its way back to France. I got a Field Post Card, which had a number of sentences on it. You crossed out those which did not apply, which left "Hope to see you soon". I underlined the "soon" and sent it to my wife who I had not seen for over two years. The troops arrived and we were soon aboard ship at Alex bound for France. We landed at Taranto and after 12 days travelling in the 40 men 8 horses trucks arrived in northern France. One or two in our truck had Diarrhoea so we slid the door open as we went along held him out.
Arriving in France I was sent on ten days leave to England. I had my wife's address and arriving there I was told by a little boy who answered the door, she was out shopping. I went down the street to meet her. She came along pushing a pram with a little one in, and another one walking. (She was looking after the children while their mother was in hospital.) We soon put the children in the care of their parents and we went down to Horley where my wife was renting a room.
1918 July. The ten days were soon over and my wife bid me goodbye at Victoria Station. I found my way to the place I had left on arriving in France in time to join my unit following on the heels of the retiring Germans. One day we came under fire from a small wood beyond a field of tall grass on our left. Our lads dropped in the grass moving towards the enemy. Some had got wounded so, to get at them, we had to crawl through the long grass, get the chap on the stretcher and drag him back to a safe shelter. Our platoon sergeant nearly always made sure that there was means of making a brew-up when the opportunity came he had a bundle of sticks on the back of his pack; but when he was crawling through the long grass, all one could see was this bundle of kindling in unsteady progress.
Some days after this we were in Wirvick (?) on the river Lys. Some of us took over a German Pill box. I was sitting down (on a bog seat) outside this place watching the shelling going on, when something hit me on the thigh, tearing my rumpled trousers to ribbons, but fortunately not breaking my leg. I got to the nearest Field Hospital and was there about a week. I volunteered to be a blood donor, which in those days gave the possibility of being sent to Blighty. Unfortunately, feeling fit again I went out for a stroll and while I was out they were calling for me. When I got back I was too late, so back I had to go to my duties. This was in October and by November 11th we were in Ellisaires in Belgium and the war was over. We made our way back towards the coast and home. We camped in some very old bell tents on the sand dunes near Calais. There were board floors and our bodies melted the frozen ground, so the boards and we lay in water. A supply of blankets arrived which had been lying in the open somewhere, in rolls of a dozen or so, so frozen solid like tree trunks. We peeled them off, one each, but I never had a cold. I was demobbed in February 1919.
Now a few remembered incidents.
Summer 1916. During a lull in activities, I climbed up on the parapet by the side of an old farm machine. The sun shone, a lark was singing overhead, tens of thousands of poppies were nodding in the breeze. I sat there for a few minutes, "viewing the landscape o'er", when CRACK! Ur…., I had been spotted by a sniper. He scored a near miss. Sitting across a pole, doing what was necessary, the words from a children's hymn sometimes came to mind: "Looking upward every day, sunshine on our faces", because one had to look up and listen in case one of Jerry's big coal scuttles had wafted in my direction from his "Minnen werfer".
One night in Salonika we were shut up in our bivvy when I felt something scratching at my shirt collar-band. I woke Charlie Keen who struck a match and saw the tail end of a centipede disappearing down my neck. It itched and scratched its way down till it came out at my shirt tail and disappeared. It was 3 or 4 inches long and half an inch wide.
In the three days before the start of Gen. Allenby's campaign in Palestine, we had to move gradually from our positions along the Whadi Ghuzzi, which in our case was about 20 miles from the Turkish line about Beersheba. While we were making about five miles at a time hiding during the day, a smart Alec at HQ sent down orders that we should put pieces of tin from our large biscuit supplies on our backs so that the reflection could be seen from the air in the bright moonlight. Unfortunately it also showed us up to Turkish marksmen out on patrol so more than one unlucky lad got one in his back while having a game of whist in the moonlight.
In about September 1918 our company was making its way forward to take our turn pressing hard on the heels of the retiring Germans near Tourcoing. We were in single file with a lot of traffic going the same way. There was a hold-up as there were heavy shells falling around. As we stood anxiously waiting to move on, there was a roar and a thud. The ground shook and there a yard or so away was a clear round smoking hole. Fortunately the shell did not explode, or my name would have been added to those on the Menin Gate who have no known grave and whose bodies have been added to those who through the centuries have enriched the soil of France.
Also: When Gen Allenby entered Jerusalem as "conqueror", he walked in beside his horse, attended by non-combatant troops, including George. George was "mentioned in despatches" twice.
|