War Diary of William J Robinson in 1914 Ypres Front
William J Robinson, an American on business in London, enlists with a British cavalry regiment and fights near Ypres in 1914. He becomes a driver and dispatch rider, describes Christmas in trenches south of Ypres, Belgian spies, and a narrow escape in Paris. He recounts moving to Poperinghe, the mud and cobblestones, and the strategic value of Hazebrouck.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
William J Robinson
London
Ostend
Ypres
Tommy
France
Belgium
Paris
Poperinghe
Piace
Hazebrouck
War recollections from a young Heston man in France
A twenty two year old Heston veteran recounts fourteen months as dragoon guardsman dispatch rider and motor car driver with British forces. He describes trench attacks at Menin, bomb throwing, bomb and grenade schools, German air raids on Poperinghe, and a vivid account of a funeral for civilians and soldiers from three nations. He recalls bombing near Ypres, chateau HQ confinement, and guiding a colonel to Prince Maurice of Battenberg's grave at Menin churchyard amid shelling.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Heston Boy
France
Trous
Menin
Germany
Poperinghe
Earth
Flying Corps
Grand Place
Jaybe
Viamertinghe
Chateau
England
Prince Maurice of
Battenberg
Hellfire Corner
Prince Maurice
Ypres
Porte de Menin
Great Men and a Frontline Graveyard Walk
A wartime memoir fragment recounts guiding an elderly colonel to a graveyard near the trenches. They pass shells and snipers as a bullet narrowly misses, the colonel joking about his deafness while recalling a distant era of service. The excerpt closes with a note on solitary greatness.
Also Mentioned on This Page
Army Service Corps
Royal Horse Artillery
William J. Robinson
Little, Brown & Co
Thompson
Thompson Yards
J. A. Lang
Linton
NOT
Lonefellaw
THE
First State Bank
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