Item 06: John D. Wilson diary, 17 May-19 September 1917 - Page 67
Primary tabs
Transcription
[Page 67]
of every day life. There is no panic. Troops of them who were shelled out of their homes walked quickly down the road carrying a blanket, or a basket or a shall, most of them being women & children and nearly all bare headed, and scattered amongst them were few men, mostly very old, I have seen farmers in the field stanging by their plough to watch the bombardment while the horse rests, or a number of women weeding in the fields straightening their backs to locate where the shells are dropping, without any sign of fear, & heedless of danger.
In the villages the shops are open and doing a good trade with the soldiers, and people are sitting in the streets in the cool of the evening before their homes reading the war news, or talking to their neighbour, occasionally glancing up as the hum of an aeroplane can be heard overhead, & at once pronouncing it "Allemond" or "Angletere". The women knit in the streets or make lace, and are very clever at their work, but they seem to be part astonishment & take everything as a matter of course.
The English people or rather British & French Troops take control of Greece, King Lino has been ruthlessly pushed aside by the Allies, & his role as traitor & German Tool is ended. Allied troops have been landed in Corinth. An Anglo-French column has been landed in Thessaly the entire Thessalian crops are being purchased & a system of control is being instituted. [indecipherable]