Infantry account of 1915 air activity

[Monksilver]

I don't know if this of interest to anyone but in case it is ...

 

I've been reading the War Diary of the 1st Battalion of the Somerset Light Infantry, my great grandfather's unit. Every now and then the officer writing it out comments on aircraft activity. The below are all from 1915.  I think the entry on 28.4.15 is perhaps the most interesting. At the end is something that while nothing to do with planes is interesting all the same, even if horrific. All the entries are verbatim and I put where the Battalion was from time to time.

 

At Ploegsteert (which the men called Plugstreet)

5 Feb  Fine sunny day - many aeroplanes about and some shelling

 

16 Feb Warm sunny spring like day ... many aeroplanes about no shelling however

 

27 Mar At 8.15am a German aeroplane flew very low over our lines. It was heavily fired on by us but no anti-aircraft guns shelled it. It dropped bomb just outside the officers  mess at Prowse Point and wounded Capt Hussey and two men.

 

Now at Chapel in Fortuin to Hill 37 - Ypres Salient

 

26 April Also their aeroplanes appear to quite outnumber ours in this theatre.

 

27 April. Fine  hot day. Many enemy aeroplanes about. Shelling continued with great violence by evening

 

28 April A great deal of aeroplane fighting; several of our planes being up. A German aeroplane was brought down about 1200 yards west of Battalion HQ. It was immediately heavily shelled by enemy. Pilot was killed and observer captured.

(I assume the Germans reasoned they would hit any Tommies going to the plane, perhaps they wanted to avoid any intelligence falling into enemy hands, either way seems a bit harsh on their own aircrew)

 

At a farm in B20a 8.8 of map which I don't have but likely Ypres Salient

 

4 May  As this farm is in the trench area and is in a shell area and as aeroplanes passed over frequently during the day it was decided to move further west to a wood in square A30b

 

16 May. Fine and hot. Many aeroplanes about. Our guns again shelled our trenches.

 

17 May Cool cloudy day, some rain in evening. Zeppelin was signed at 3.30am this morning travelling east about 12 miles north of us.

 

18 May Very wet and unpleasant day in bivouac. This was probably an advantage as no aeroplanes were about and we were able to light fires for cooking without fear of being detected.

 

1.5 miles north of Ypres

20 May This evening several aeroplanes about. Saw a German aeroplane hit and brought to earth by one of our anti-aircraft guns

 

Vlamerting He Chateau

8 Jun Each company paraded in its own (I  can't read the next word)in company column as owing to the clouds there was little danger of aeroplane interruption.

 

Mesnil -Hamel section

 

8 Aug Several British aeroplanes flew over the German lines opposite and made a long reconnaissance amid a heavy fire  and returning to safety

 

Beaumont - Beaucourt Road

5 Sept Spirited aeroplane fight this evening in which one Vickers fighter appeared to damage a German machine.

 

'Knightsbridge' - near Forceville

 

23 Sept At 8am about 16 French aeroplanes flew over our trenches in a North Easterly direction. They were heavily shelled by enemy anti-aircraft guns but only one returned immediately apparently flying normally.

 

Mesnil - Engleblmer

 

30 Sept At 8am an enemy aeroplane was brought down by one of our anti-aircraft guns

 

26 Oct Much aeroplane activity today

 

After this a new office took over the War Diary and doesn't mention planes again, at least not before end 1916.

 

As for the horrors of life in the trenches -

When near Vlamerting He Chateau and taking over existing trenches -

 

11 Jun    Bodies are buried in the parapets and the stench is very bad.