Christmas 1917 near the front

[MalNZ]

Christmas 1917  At the front.

2nd Lieut Harold Edgar arrived in France early November 1917. He had one period at the front and then went on a machine gun & mortar training course over Xmas. His fellow officers were New Zealanders and British from several different regiments.

This was Xmas Dinner in the snow

From his diary  23/12/1917.
”We are about 20 miles away from the line here & comparatively speaking are very comfortable. There is another N.Z. officer in the same hut with me, called Godfrey, & four Tommy officers, all very decent sorts. We have a fairly warm hut with a stove, real beds with spring mattresses & two washstands with ware complete (a wonderful sight in this benighted land). The only difficulty is that it is hard to get coal but we get over this by going out at night & stealing it. It has commenced to freeze here & though we haven't had any snow yet the cold is intense & it is hard work to keep warm. The ground is like iron & all the trees & hedges are a beautiful sight in the mornings.
   We are about two miles from French town which Fritzy shells from 20 miles away with a naval gun but so far he hasn't commenced shelling this spot & the noise of the guns sounds very remote from here - more like carpet beating than anything else."




Menu front (attached)



Menu back (attached)

NZ
Harold. Edgar 2/Lt NZEF
Hugh. H. Godfrey NZEF
O. A. Andrews 1/Lt NZEF
W. Auckland  [?NZEF]

UK
    Bodwell  Ysh Rgt  2/Lt
T. Booth Lt  1/6/West -------  att 147 T.M.B
M. W. Flower 2/Lt 2/4 E. Lan  R
G. Lloyd-Jones  Lanc Fus.
W. R.Oates  2/Lt  1/8 West Yorks
G. Matthews  1/8 West York R.
A. Paley  2/8 Lancashire Fusiliers

Any corrections to the names and further details of the Regiments would be much appreciated.

Harold's complete diary in the form of letters (irregular but almost weekly) to his wife, father and members of his Law firm from the day he left home, his training in New Zealand, the voyage to England, Brocton and Sling training camps in England and at the front till his return. All have been sorted, typed and prepared for publication. They cover a period from November 1917 to August 1919, as he served in Germany after conflict ceased. He has no living descendants.

[a chesters]

T Booth Lt 1/6 West Riding att 47 T. M. B.

Almost certainly the West Riding of Yorkshire.

A couple of the others are also from West Yorkshire, Oates and Matthews.

I would say that Lt Booth was just being more precise about where he was from.

A Chesters

[ShaunJ]

Lt T Booth was in 1/6th Battalion, Duke of Wellington's (West Riding) Regiment.

[jim1]

Bodwell  Ysh Rgt  2/Lt

Probably Lt. Eric Bedwell Yorkshire Regt.

[ShaunJ]

"W. Aukland" could be 2nd Lt Wilfred Aukland, 2/5th Manchester Regiment.

[ShaunJ]

Lt Booth was *att 147 TMB"  - presumably attached to 147 Trench Mortar Battery

[jim1]

Who's this ?
Looks like Laws

[ShaunJ]

Possibly this chap? Hubert Laws was a junior officer in the Royal Engineers

[jim1]

Possibly but his Regt. looks like 1/WYR.
I was looking at his first name being G but can't anyone like
that in the WYR.