15th July 1917 (Sunday)

Sick parade was unquestionably something to be avoided if possible.  It was always the first parade of the day and was held at an ungodly hour which deprived one of breakfast.  Those with minor ailments were likely to get “Medicine and Duty” which helped them not at all, or “Light Duty” which, in its performance, could very often prove more arduous than duty in the ranks.

The impetigo on my face had now spread to such an extent that my neck glands were swollen and painful.  Reluctantly I paid my first visit to the MO.  Inside the first aid tent a Corporal was treating a line of patients for a variety of minor ailments.  He adopted the moving belt system.  As the line moved forward the Corporal, using one jar of Iodine and one brush, quickly painted over sores, pimples, cuts and bruises, etc from toenails to tonsils.  My own case called for special treatment.  The MO ignored the swollen glands and the filthy scabs of the impetigo were pulled off with tweezers together with any beard which I had succeeded in growing in my youth.  The open wounds were then smeared with what I believe was sulphur ointment.  In order to avoid a repetition of similar visits during the weeks that followed I should perhaps anticipate and mention that as the heat of the day caused the ointment to run over the unaffected parts of the face, the impetigo, loath to be ignored, spread with it.  On this occasion I was given “Light Duty” and told to report again for medical treatment the following day.

Sick with impetigo and swollen glands.
Light duty. No parade.
Evening services by Tiplady CF (Wesleyan) in village school room.

Original diary entry

Original journal notes

3rd June 1917 (Sunday)

The Church service on the parade ground was, I decided, sufficient religion for the day but Bradley had other ideas about my spiritual welfare.

As we strolled along lanes together on a perfect June evening, we came to a little green meadow surrounded by the ubiquitous poplars.  There we settled down comfortably by a running stream.  The setting was idyllic and away from the motley.  I felt at peace with the world - so much so that when Bradley told me that the little green field was the venue for a Wesleyan service that evening I readily stayed.

The small congregation of Wesleyan faith and others sat around on the grass.  We heard no sermon; the padre just chatted and encouraged us to talk.  In so doing we found ourselves in complete harmony with one who fully understood our problems and heartaches and one who would not spare himself on our behalf.  He closed the meeting by inviting every man to help himself from the vast pile of literature suitable to every taste which he presumably carried around with him.

The Rev. Tiplady CF was a great man.*

* "In World War I, Rev. Tiplady was a chaplain with the Queen’s Westminster Rifles in the Somme and Arras campaigns in France. There he caught “trench fever,” which laid him up for some time; after recovery, he was stationed at Abbeville until the war’s end.
Following the war, he conducted a five month speaking tour in America. Upon return to England, he was appointed to the Buxton Road Church in Huddersfield, then became Superintendent of the Lambeth Mission in London in 1922, and was there 32 years.
In addition to writing over 250 hymns, Tiplady pioneered the use of films in evangelism, helping found the Religious Film Society of London. In 1931, he visited America as a delegate to the Ecumenical Conference of Methodism in Atlanta, Georgia ..."
http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/t/i/p/tiplady_t.htm

Church parade on battalion parade ground.
Wesleyan service in evening in the field by the stream.

Original diary entry

Original journal notes