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At the beginning
of July the battalion moved north to Belgium and entered the reserve
lines around Dickebusch, south of Ypres. Weeks were spent sending
up regular working parties into the line.
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The
Route Nationale
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Letter
to his parents, 31 July 1917
"We
were not sorry to march back here yesterday morning, to our old
barn in the 'windmill-hopfield' place. We have had much rain.
It is interesting, soothing, marching away from the line..."
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| "...Starting from the
real battlefield area with its dismal wastes of
shell holes, & the devastated woods of torn
tree stumps, & debris of all kinds, the first
welcome sign is the green foliage on unharmed
trees, & hedges. Houses are still roofless,
& smashed, but as we march along, even
buildings are less knocked about. Then we pass a
notice 'No civilians allowed past this point' and
we know we are definitely out of the 'soldiers
only' area. Soon we come to villages with many
inhabitants & normal life going on, & the
land carefully cultivated on all hands. We are
still liable to long-distance shells, poison-gas
& aeroplane bombs, & there is always the
distant rumble, but by contrast one feels in a
delightful place...."
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|
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September 1916
September
1916 - June 1917
July
1917
August
1917
August
1917 - December 1917
December
1917 - January 1918
January
1918 - February 1918
March
1918 - 1978
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