On the first day of war flying a week after his crash on 4 June 1918, Greg had a terrible day: he got hopelessly lost (in his own unsparing words), ended up at Bergues, near Dunkirk, and then smashed up his undercarriage in an awful landing (ditto) when he finally made it back to the aerodrome at Rely.
Log Book
Date: 11.6.18 Hour: 9.50 Machine type: RE8 No.: E27 Observer: Lt Roche Time: 2 hrs Height: 200 – 1000 Course: Counter Batt. Patrol Remarks: Lost. Landed at Bergues, Belgium. Smashed undercarriage on drome.
Diary
Tuesday June 11th. Gwen E27. On Counter Battery Patrol, from 7am to 10am. Went up at 7 & landed again, weather dud. Clouds at 600ft. Took off again at 9am & ran into clouds at 300ft over the second line. Got hopelessly lost; after about an hour’s flying sighted a small aerodrome. Made a good landing & enquired where I was. Found I was in Bergues, 6 miles from Dunkirk,Belgium. After a rest, took off again & followed the main road at about 200ft, via Cassel & St Omer to the drome. Made an awful landing, smashed the undercarriage.
I don’t know what the reference to “Gwen” signifies. An affectionate name for Greg’s newly assigned aircraft, serial number E27, perhaps?
Bergues
What a day for a novice on the front line. But it wasn’t all bad: at least he didn’t stray over the German line. Bergues is some 5 miles (8 km) SSW of Dunkirk and is in France, not Belgium. The German front line was about 18 miles (26 km) ENE from Bergues, at Rousdamme not far from where it emerged on the coast at Nieuwpoort (both in Belgium).
Perhaps during his rest in Bergues Greg sampled the local cheese that has been made there for centuries and for which the village is still known today.
Today, we have no more idea than Greg did as to what course he took on his way to Bergues. It was unlikely to be the straight line shown on this map, but the return journey following the roads via Cassel and St Omer is easier to be confident about:
Smashing the undercarriage on landing must just have topped his day. He probably wished he hadn’t got up that morning.