Today is the first day of a two week stretch of leave for Greg. He had been granted leave in the UK via Boulogne. Meanwhile, the British front continues eastwards.
Log Book
LEAVE. 18 SEPT - 2 OCT.
Leave in the UK
Greg would almost certainly have gone home to the family in Holyhead, North Wales. The journey would probably have taken him a couple of days, and is likely to have gone something like this:
- Tender from Rely to Aire-sur-la-Lys
- Train from Aire to Boulogne
- Either via St Omer, Lumbres and Desvres (see below)
- Or(less likely) back along the circuitous route by which he arrived on 2 June 1918 from Berck Plage, via Chocques, St Pol, Hesdin, Montreuil and Étaples
- Ferry from Boulogne to Folkestone
- Train from Folkestone to London Victoria
- Victoria to Euston Square via London Underground (Circle Line)
- Train from London Euston to Holyhead
On the first leg of the journey, the Aire to Boulogne route via St Omer would have been like this:
And the last leg – London Euston to Holyhead – would have been the easiest, even though the longest. There was a good, fast service from Euston to Holyhead, because it was the route that carried the post to and from Ireland.
From end to end Greg’s route to Holyhead may have been like this. It is remarkable for how little of it is in France. Although the Western Front must have seemed a world away, the line in Lys sector was in reality not far from the French coast…although by September 1918 it was getting further day by day.
Back On the Front
In the meantime, looking east from Aire, the British front line had by this morning got well to the east of Laventie and was almost at Armentières:
Next up…
Although Greg isn’t back from leave until 2 October, there will be occasional posts in the interim.