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[Page 105]
[List of villages]
Heilly, Franvilliers. Mericourt-L-Abbe. Ribemont. Breur. T Corbie La-Housseye. Somme. Pont-Noyelles Angre.R. Villers-Bretonneux. Dermacourt, Bucquoy Sailly-Le-Sec. Merris Festubert.
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Addresses
Gavin Johnson, 3794
B.Company. 46. Batln. 2 Bgde
Gnr. W.G.Wilson
No 4. Coy. Westham Camp.
Weymouth.
Kathleen Miller "Vestor" Merrigum
In 1302 Ypres sent a mighty its own contingent to join in the Battle of Contrai, & reckoned its wealth in millions & boasted a population 3 or 4 times greater than the City of London of its time.
[Transcriber's notes:
Allenville Page 39 – is Allonville, about 14 kms WSW of Franvillers and about 6kms NE of the centre of Amiens.
Aisne Page 46 - refers to the Aisne River which runs just to the north of Reims.
The Ancre Page 23 - flows into the Somme at Corbie.
Archies page 26 – slang for anti-aircraft gunners.
Arques Page 10 - is about 3 kms south of St Omer.
Armentieres Page 26 - is on the French/Belgian border 20 kms SW of Ieper (Ypres).
A.S.C. Page 22 - is the Army Service Corps.
Baileul Page 26 – is Bailleul about 12 kms NW of Armentieres.
Behencourt Page 36 - is about 6kms WNW of Heilly.
Bonnay Page 25 - is about 3 kms SW of Heilly.
Boulong Page 7 - is presumably Boulogne.
Breur Page 37 - is Buire sur l'Ancre about 1 ½ kms east of Riebemont.
Chemin des Dames Page 46 - is a road about 25kms north of Reims.
The Confessions of Arsene Lupin Page 50 - Arsène Lupin is a fictional character who appears in a series of detective/crime fiction novels by French writer Maurice Leblanc.
Contay Page 14 - is about 14kms west of Albert.
The Battle of Contrai Page 52 - took place in the Belgian town of Kortrijk.
Corbie Page 22 - is about 6kms SSE of Heilly.
Coulombes Page 1 is possibly Coulombs-en-Valois which is a village about 50 kms NE of Paris and about 120kms south of Boulogne.
Estaminet Page 8 - is a French cafe.
Frainville Page 15 - is Franvillers about 7 kms south of Contay and 2 kms NW of Heilly.
The Gotha G.V Page 44 - was a heavy bomber used by the Luftstreitkräfte (Imperial German Air Service) during World War I.
Green envelopes Page 31 - these were issued periodically to the troops and the contents were liable only to censorship at the Base as opposed to the norm in which the letter was also censored by the soldier's officer as well as at the Base. The writer had to certify 'on honour' that the letter contained no military information. These Green Envelopes, being in demand among married men in particular, were often procured illegitimately by others and traded.
Sir Douglas Haig Page 42 - commanded the British Expeditionay Force from 1915 to the end of the war.
Heilly Page 15 - is about 25kms NE of Amiens and 2kms SE of Franvillers.
Lamotte Page 43 - is Lamotte-Brebiere on the River Somme and Came on is Le Peti Camon about 4 kms north of Lamotte-Brebiere.
Limbres Page 36 - or Limber is a two wheeled cart on which the "legs" of an artillery piece can be raised and rested so enabling the gun to be wheeled using the two wheels of the limber and the two wheels of the gun. However it also appears to be able to carry some cargo as described in Wilson's diary.
La Houssoye Page 38 –also written elsewhere in the diary as La Housseye, is Lahoussoye about 2kms SW of Franvillers and 4 kms west of Heilly.
Lumbres Page 10 - is about 30kms east of Boulogne.
Manalive Page 43 - is by G.K. Chesterton (not C.K. Chesterton) and was written in 1912.
Merricourt Page 24 - is Mericourt-l'Abbe, about 2 kms ENE of Heilly.
Merrygum Page 52 - is near Shepparton in Victoria.
Mondicourt Page 13 - is a village about 40kms NNE of Amiens.
Page 42 General Monish Page 42 – Probably General Sir John Monash who in May 1918 became the Australian military commander in WW1.
Neuve-Eglise Page 28 – is in Belgium about 5kms NW of Ploegsteert.
The Oise and the Ourcq Page 49 - are rivers running from east to west in the region north of Reims approximately 40kms apart.
Passchandale Page 18 - is Passendale about 10 Kms east of Ieper (or Ypres) in Belgium – the scene of much severe fighting.
Pioneers Page 7 - performed tasks similar to those of engineers and sappers.
Plougsteert Page 26 – is Ploegsteert and is in Belgium about 5 Kms north of Armentieres.
Pont Noyules Page 38 - is Pont-Noyelles about 6kms SW of Franvillers and 2kms SW of Lahoussoye.
Puchevillers Page 14 - about 25km NNE of Amiens and 2 kms North of Herissart which is about 4kms NW of Contay.
St Martin-au-Laert Page 10 - is adjacent to St Omer. On the next day's entry, Wilson calls it St Mark au Laert.
St Omer Page 10 - is about 10 kms ENE of Lumbres.
St Pol Page 12 – Presumed to be St Pol-sur-Ternoise about 60 kms south of St Omer.
Tenderfoot Page 47 - is an inexperienced person, particularly one who is not adapted to a rural or outdoor lifestyle setting.
Treur Page 37 - is Treux, about 1km south of Buire and 1½ kms eats of Riebemont.
Villers Bretneaux Page 44 - is Villers-Bretonneux about 6kms east of Lamotte-Brebiere on the other side of the River Somme. Memorials services are still held annually in memory of Australian troops.
The Virginian Page 47 - (otherwise titled The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains) was a pioneering 1902 novel set in the Wild West by the American author Owen Wister.
Wardrecques Page 10 - is a 4 kms SE from Arques and the canal is the Nord Pas-de-Calais and is about a kilometre east of the village. It runs to the English Channel.]
[Transcribed by Miles Harvey, Val Ridley for the State Library of New South Wales]