Item 02: Arthur John Moore diary, 11 November 1916-11 January 1918 - Page 124

[Page 124]

Sat. Sept. 8. Herford, Hand, Sullings & a number of others returned from Leave. They stayed a number of days over time & this morning they paid the penalty. Herford & Hand lost their stripes & Sullings got 7 days 2nd F.P. [field punishment] Bad Luck to get caught. Gas drill. After Tea Jacko & I went for a stroll. We passed a very fine chateau, so on our way back to our Billet we walked through the grounds. It is a beautiful building & the grounds are very pretty. A stream runs through the grounds & is crossed by a number of quaint little bridges. Two bonnie little girls were playing on the Lawn & near them was a Fountain sending up the water in a fine spray. A lady & gent drove up to the front door while we were seated in the grounds. Evidently they were the owners. Sight of it made us both feel quite Homesick.

Wrote Letter to M.S.
Sun. Sept. 9. Fine sunny day. We marched down to Wardrecques to attend Church Parade. The Battns. were already there & the Band was in attendance. We were kept waiting for about ½ an hour for the Padre, but he failed to turn up, so the Band played "God save the King" & we returned to out Billets.

Mon. Sept 10. Dave Fry was down at u>Aire today at the Aerodrome, & the Flying Corps S.M. asked him if our Concert Party would go down there & give 'em a show. We are without a Piano, & cannot give Concerts to our own crowd, so we decided to go down there as it would keep us in practice a bit. We shall miss "Oriss". In his last Letter he said that most likely he would be returning to Australia. Lucky Beggar.