Training for France.
Bernie had arrived in England 2/5/17 as a Pioneer. However, his expertise as a horseman must have come to someone's notice as he was transferred to the Supplies and Transport division. He was allocated to Training Camp B at Rolleston, on the Salisbury Plains (refer to page 17). He was far from alone, 30,000 troops and convalescing soldiers were in the three camps.Training in England was designed to harden up the men, keeping them fit and ready to handle the psychological as well as physical hardships ahead. In the Division's War Diaries camps were set up and the men lived in tents. Later they were moved to poorly constructed Huts. The weather is described as cold and wet. August and September in England would not have been too pleasant. The winter of 1917 was one of the coldest on record.
Uncle George at Netley Hospital.
Uncle George was discharged from Netley hospital and posted to No.1 C.D. as a Class 3 and returned to duty at the 1st A.A. hospital at Perham Downs. Netley Hospital, provided treatment for men worn down from the War. George was listed as "over aged" , this was a euphemism for shell-shock or chronic fatigue. Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen, renowned British poets spent time at Netley with shell shock. |
| Ward 10 D, Netley Hospital |
He became ill again with bronchitis and was again admitted to hospital. His health was failing, his age, chronic bronchitis and arthritis was taking its toll. He convalesced at Harefield before returning home as unfit 20/8/17.
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He left England on the 'Benella', where he performed transport duties as a nurse. There is a cross over of some months in which they may have had an opportunity to meet.
James in Flanders
Brother Jim was already in France and in the field. It would not be until early December when he was hospitalized with a septic hand would there be any chance of Bernie catching up with him in Le Harve.
Bernie Arrives in France.
On the 27/8/1917 Bernie arrived in Rouen. Bernie was transferred to the 1st Australian Division's Depot Unit of Supply, following training at Rolleston Training Camp on 10/8/17. The link to the War Diary of a Supply camp provides some idea of the conditions and planning needed to send troops from a central depot to the front line.
The 27th Battalion, having recovered from Fromelles and Pozieres was now being readied for the Third Battle of Ypres. The supply of material and food to the troops was a vital part of the action. War Diaries for the 1st Division describes movement of the Division to the forward lines. Unit diaries list the the meticulous detail that went into providing food for 27,000 men, fuel for trucks, coal for trains, oats and hay for some 3000 horses.
While in the South of England Bernie would have been trained in the clerical tasks of issuing gear, food and ammunition, fuel for the trucks and feed for the horses. The wagons for the horses needed to be maintained and the horses cared for.
Less than a month later, 5/9/17 he was attached to the 15th Depot Unit of Supply from the Australian Supply Company Base Depot in Le Harve, France. He was now part of the 15th Depot Unit of Supply and responsible for the supply of food, clothing, ammunition and the maintenance of roads. He was part of the Transport Services within the Unit.
While being at the front was the most dangerous of places to be, those in the support divisions also faced shelling, bombing from German Aircraft and the terrible weather and mud.
The Transport Division was to supply troops, that is, for their Battalion, by a system of forward positioning of supply units. Based in Rouen, each Unit of Supply would be ordered to provide necessary rations, ammunition and repair materials to the Battalions at the front and in the reserve lines.
The Third Battle of Ypres included the famous battles of
It is perhaps no wonder that Bernie told Will that he remembered Ypres so vividly. When he left England he was heading for some of the bloodiest conflicts in the war. He would have left the ordered, albeit damp autumn of England for the mud, chaos and insanity of the Western Front. After three years of conflict the trench lines would have looked like a scene from hell.
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