31 August 1915:

'Route march to see 1st Battalion'

30 August 1915:

During these few days the battalion was engaged in wood cutting.
The battalion diary makes specific reference to RF company wood cutting fatigue- so RF rather than LF?

Louis meets up with Holling(s?)worth.

Blog note:
If you have any connection with Louis Harley or any of the men listed in his diaries, or if you have found this useful please add a comment.

29 August 1915:

Letters to Raymond and Beath.

28 August 1915:

B Company of the 1st Battalion(Scots Guards)came over to Wizernes.

25 August 1915:

More skirmishing.

21 August 1915:

Letter to Kid.

19 August 1915:

skirmishing -and letters to Raymond,Aunt Jessica and Hollingsworth.

18 August 1915:

Still near St Omer, Louis notes that they were inspected by Kitchener on this day at an aerodrome.

Blog note:
If you have any connection with Louis Harley or any of the men listed in his diaries, or if you have found this useful please add a comment.

16 August 1915:

Louis records that a 'Kid' got gazetted. More research required to determine who this was.

One possibility is that Kid is Norman or Norrie , his younger brother, who was commissioned on 11 August 1915:

The following article from the Dundee newspapers on 21 August reports:

12 August 1915:

Louis records that they had a lot of parades.

10 August 1915:

A quiet day. Letters to Walter and Raymond.

9 August 1915:

Louis notes that they marched on 9 August to Wizernes. Again the battalion diary gives more detail. Following a parade at 8.30am the battalion left Mollinghem and marched via Aire to Roquetoire where they billeted for lunch . At 3.30pm they started marching again and arrived at Wizernes via Belfaut at 5.30pm after a 'hot and trying march'.

Google maps suggest 23.2 km and some 4 hours 47 minutes walking the most direct route and obviously without carrying kit etc.

A street in Bethune 100 years on. August 2015.

8 August 1915:

This was a key day for the Scots Guards. They left the 7th division and joined the newly formed Guards Division.

The battalion diary provides additional colour. The inspection by General Capper took place at 2pm.
Following the parade and inspection the Battalion was played out by the Divisional and 9th Devonshire Bands and Pipers from 2nd Gordon Highlanders to 'a splendid farewell ovation'.

The battalion diary records the battalion being billeted at Mollinghem on the night of the 8th.

The battalion would march away from Bethune, and its surrounding area on 9 August.
The view above shows the fields between Bethune and Festubert in August 2015.

Probably not much changed.

Blog note:
If you have any connection with Louis Harley or any of the men listed in his diaries, or if you have found this useful please add a comment.

6 August 1915:

Louis records the death of his friend, Footner. The entry appears to have been made at the same time as the note 'Passed out in bomb throwing'.  Louis would not have known about Footner's death immediately yet the date is the exact date he was killed, suggesting this whole entry was recorded subsequent to 6 August. It has been possible to find out more about Footner and this is set out below.

The entry relating to bomb throwing is ambiguous. Was Louis on the receiving or throwing end? And did he pass out as in fainting or succeeding?

Louis's diaries from 1912 in Ceylon show that of all the other ex-pats working on the Estates he saw Footner the most. A typical Saturday entry from 1912 :

'Finished up work & over to Footner's for dinner and night' 

Or a Sunday entry:
 ''Over to Harris's with Footner. Met McMullin & Upshaw. Johnny's for billiards in afternoon'


I am grateful to The History of Ceylon Tea website for identifying that Louis and Footner worked together on the same estate and that Footner's initials are AH.

Searching for AH Footner leads to the following:

The above plaque is in Romsey Abbey. Footner joined the Ceylon Rifles , which became attached to the Anzac forces and he therefore ended up in Gallipoli, as part of the original landings. Subsequently gazetted as a 2nd Lieutenant with The Essex Regiment, he was killed while gallantly leading his men on an attack on the Turkish trenches at Cape Helles. 6 August 1915.

Other searches provide further background . He was born in Croydon and educated at Whitgift , and his medals were auctioned only 2 years ago:


http://www.dnw.co.uk/auction-archive/special-collections/lot.php?specialcollection_id=127&specialcollectionpart_id=61&lot_id=90762

Louis's diary for 1913 is not available, but his last entries in 1912 convey some of the atmosphere that Footner would have enjoyed in Ceylon:

Xmas eve: Dinner at F's  (Footner's)with Huntly & Cooper. Morland and Brown came up later.
Xmas day:Breakfast at Coopers and down to Morlands evening, eleven of us there boxing etc. Back to F's to sleep.

Blog note:
If you have any connection with Louis Harley or any of the men listed in his diaries, or if you have found this useful please add a comment.



  

3 August 1915:

Letter to Beath and his brother Norman.

1 August 1915:

Louis appears to have picked up a red pen in the hospital and had time to update the days shown in his diary so that they were accurate for 1915- he was using a 1912 diary. 

29 July 1915:

Louis's first visit to hospital since he was at Caterham. No injury noted so it was likely flu.