An idiots guide to an Idiot: Night before The Somme. 30th June 1916

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Night before The Somme. 30th June 1916: Another one of my periodic looks at the war diaries of both my Grandad's who served in World War One. Both took part in the Battle of t...

Night before The Somme. 30th June 1916

Another one of my periodic looks at the war diaries of both my Grandad's who served in World War One. Both took part in the Battle of the Somme, one going over the top, the other waiting to charge through and exploit the gaps the infantry were supposed to make in the German lines.
So here it is , the verbatim entries from the diaries.
G2104 L/Cpl Alfred Gowers MM 2nd Bn The Middlesex Regiment.
Long Valley.Battalion moved up to assembly positions in front and support lines. Every man carrying 220 rounds of SAA ( small arms ammunition) two mills bombs ( hand grenades) and two sandbags. Every third man had a pick or a shovel. Packs were left behind and haversacks were worn on the shoulders.
1901 Pte William Morgan 1st (Kings) Dragoon Guards.
Serricourt. The regiment with A and B Echelons marched at 9.30am via Arbre and Bouquemaison to the new billeting area at Grouches arriving at 11.30am.The Dismounted men under Lieut RG Fox marched at 1.15pm to Rebruve and billeted there.


So the stage was set for the following morning for the blackest day the british Army had ever known.
 The 2/Middlesex would suffer heavy casualties the KDG's would be at 2 hours notice to move. An order that never came.

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Wales Tales. The ending.

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Wales Tales. The ending.: Wednesday dawned to rain. Bugger! Tara done in from the mines trip and everything lese this week so reluctantly didn't go out today. In...

Wales Tales. The ending.

Wednesday dawned to rain. Bugger! Tara done in from the mines trip and everything lese this week so reluctantly didn't go out today. In fact only I went out. Popped over to Harlech Castle which was only 8 miles or so, a much more rewarding castle than Cricceith.
Laid siege to in the 1460's during the Wars of the Roses, it was the inspiration for the song 'Men of Harlech' which features in a brilliant- hairs on the back of the neck standing up bit- in the film 'Zulu.'  A film much loved by Alec, so once Tara found out this fact about the castle we had to photograph it and send a selection to him!
Weather pretty grotty, even had my winter coat on to walk the battlements. it was once on the coast line but now about a mile inland. During the siege they were supplied from the sea  and kept the Lancastrian cause alive in Wales during this period. The garrison commanded by Davydd ap Ifan ap Einion held out from 1461 after the battle of Twthill near Caernarfon until 1468 though it wasn't under attack for the whole time. Raiding parties sent out from the castle eventually became troublesome and the fact the that Louis XI of France funded an invasion of Wales by the exiled Duke of Pembroke meant that the Yorkist King, Edward IV had to rid himself of this Lancastrian stronghold once and for all. He sent an army of around 9000 to raise the siege and in August 1468 the garrison capitulated. Some of the English Lancastrians were executed  though the garrison commander was spared, what became of him history does not tell us.
Back to base and explored a little more this time going down across the Ffestiniog railway and down into other fields and woods. Tried to take afew arty photos, my efforts follow. We'd had a brilliant few days in Wales and would love to return. Cymru am byth!  

Ella, MC & Tara discuss the finer points of crochet.

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Further Wales Tales.

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Further Wales Tales.: I should have included this in the other blog about Wales. From the amount of boots footwear & booze you can tell Gary, Ellie, Oll...

Further Wales Tales.

I should have included this in the other blog about Wales. From the amount of boots footwear & booze you can tell Gary, Ellie, Olly & Laura hadn't left when I took this photo. It kind of sums up the great vibrancy and fun they brought with them.  

Tuesday dawned to rain. Bugger! Though it did ease off and once it did it turned out quite nice. Off to Sygun copper mine  near Beddgelert. Just T & I went in as the 186 or so steps wouldn't have done E& J any good at all. It was very cold inside the mine  and very wet, how anyone could work in these conditions is beyond me. The tour took you over three levels, at each you were taken through the history of the entire mine. It ceased production in 1904. Had a very nice lunch in Beddgelert, home made pizza with gluten free for Tara which was also very good. Back to the ranch and I popped out on my own to visit  a Roman site that was a 15 minutes drive away called Tomen y Mur. A fascinating little site. A small car park has been set aside  and the amphitheatre is more or less next to the car park. As with most Roman remains in the UK you do have to use your imagination. It's all just lumps & bumps in the ground really though you can make out the outer wall of the fort there and in part it has been built back up using stone found there. It was only used for about 60 years from 78AD probably because the Legionaries there went further north to go into Scotland. A much later Norman motte & bailey castle  has been built in the middle of the fort. It's a rewarding site to visit, I like its remoteness.
Dinner then, and we went with Julian, Ella , Chris & MC to a local pub   for a sumptuous feed! An excellent steak & ale pie with chips for self, Chris & Julian. Goats cheese salad for Tara, salmon fillet for MC & a small chicken curry for Ella washed down  with a pale ale called 'Double Hop' by Robinson Brewery from Stockport, Cheshire and very nice it was too, quite hoppy as the name suggests. Then onto a nice red wine with Chris. An excellent evening and great company. An interesting find in our cottage! The tools for the fire are in a shell casing for a 13 pounder shell dated 1916 Royal Artillery. I told Chris this who knew about it as it was his Grandads!

13 pounder shell casing dated 1916.

Memsahib and mine entrance.

Entering the mine.



Copper mine.

Copper mine.

Stalagmites and stalactites within the mine.

Hard has a must!

Just a few of the  186 steps.

End of the tour comes out half way up the hill with spectacular  views.

Beddgelert.

Roman site at Tomen y Mur. Looing towards the Roman fort with the Norman motte & bailey within.

Part of the Roman wall rebuilt using original stone from the site.

Example of the commanding view the fort would have had.

Amphitheatre following the line of the tussocky grass. 

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Wales Tales.

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Wales Tales.: We've packed a lot into our time at Penrhyndeudraeth so far. Got an extra night hols really as we decided to do an overnight in Shropsh...

Wales Tales.

We've packed a lot into our time at Penrhyndeudraeth so far. Got an extra night hols really as we decided to do an overnight in Shropshire, about half way, on Thursday night. We stayed at The Fox in Much Wenlock which was very nice. An excellent dinner of pork chop in cider sauce for me and halloumi salad of Tara with a couple of pints of  the excellent Wainwrights ale then a stroll around the village. Fortified after a very good full English in the morning & we were off, via a stop off at Tesco for provisions, then unfortunately the nearer we got to North Wales the worse the weather became. Bugger!
Ella & Julian had arrived about an hour before us & Gary & Ellie a couple of hours after us, poor Olly & Lauras train ended up being delayed an hour and a half so it was nearly 11pm before we got them to the farm owned by Julians sister MC & her husband Chris, both of whom could not have made us all more welcome. Thus endeth day one.
First full day saw Self, Gary, Ellie, Olly & Laura up early to go up to the National White Water Rafting Centre near Bala for a 'taster' session on the white water! To say it was fun is an understatement! Our instructor, Paddy got us kitted out in wet suit, boots, helmet & life jacket  and after a few simple instructions for us to follow when on the water we loaded our raft onto a trailer & were ferried up to the top of the river for our first run. Wow! Exhilarating and huge fun. We got soaked of course and followed instructions such as  'Get down!' meaning  slide off the side of the raft into the seat well very quickly for the really fast & furious bits. Got to the bottom all too quickly but got our raft back on the trailer  & off for our second run. The photos here taken by the centre  speak for themselves!

   Back to the ranch after that for tea and scones, cream and jam. Tara & Ella feeling pretty beaten up after the trip up so they decided to have a relaxed day. With the others only being here a couple of days  wanted to pack in as much as possible so Julian kindly dropped me, Gary & Olly in Beddgelert   (pronounced Bethgelert) for a walk back to base, about 8 miles. Yea Gods I thought G&O were trying to bloody kill me! The ascent of the hill, called Mynydd Sygyn (300m) on our outward trip was via a scramble not a path. I had to scale boulders half as big as me again and again. I can honestly say I hated every step of the first hour (in which we'd travelled 1 mile, mostly in an upwards direction) however the views from the top were spectacular. We made our way down past some old copper mine workings to Nantmor, unfortunately time was against us ( we'd only got 4 miles) as we were going out to dinner that evening so Julian again very kindly came out to get us. Dinner at a pub  in Beddgelert finished a very full day. I slept well!

 Weather started abit karzi today, off we went to Criccieth Castle in the morning. Not a lot to see as castles go so we weren't there all that long, back to the ranch for pizzas etc for lunch then the time to get Olly & Laura back to Bangor station came round all to quickly. Saw them off & on my return to the farm I went for a walk on my own, just up the hills behind the cottage.
Monday was started  with a fry up. A simple task you'll agree though it seemed to take a age to cook. Ella & Julian had brought various food items that would have gone off before they got home including  an egg. Un oeuf. I thought I'd use this egg and attempted to crack it into the frying pan. I'm careful doing this as so easily I break the yolk but this egg did not want to crack, tried again abit harder and then harder still only to discover it was a hard boiled egg! Bugger! Who brings one hard boiled egg on holiday!?    
It was Gary & Ellie's last day here so along with me & Julian we headed off on another walk behind the cottage towards Coed Llyn Garnedd. Weather was very good and got better all day. Passed  a derelict mill on route and also eagle eyed Ellie spotted a slow worm basking in the sunshine the return route coming past the Ffestiniog  railway.
Walk finished we bade goodbye to Gary & Ellie so just the four of us left now. Went to Portmeiron later which was expensive to get into and not an awful lot to see really though I was interested to see where the 1960's series 'The Prisoner' was filmed. Back to base.
Chris told us a little of the history of the cottage  we're staying in. The original  Ffestiniog railway brought slate down from the mountains  on a gravity worked rail system but the trucks had to be taken back up the mountain. they were pulled by horses. Our cottage  was once stables as this was a staging point to change horses  for the ascent. 

Our home for the week.

Portmieron

Patrick Mcgoohan  star of 'The Prisoner.'

Slow worm that Ellie spotted.