Millisle
Member
I have been reading The War the Infantry Knew 1914-1919 by Captain James C Dunn RAMC, documenting the experiences of 2/Royal Welch Fusiliers to which he was Medical Officer from late 1915 until spring 1918. Highly recommended. The following is from page 414 of the Abacus 1994 edition in which he describes his journey to home leave on November 9 1917:
'The train left Bailleul at 2, and was two hours reaching Hazebrouck, 7 1/2 miles. A man explained that we had an "engine of 120 horse-power, but 119 of the blighters is dead." The single-line railway is of our building; the material was lifted from our own Black Isle. It makes a loop through Arques and Wizerne, and carries 70 trains a day.'
I should imagine that was rather heavier traffic than it would have seen if ever used in its original location. I wonder if Dunn's mention is the only surviving record of its provenance.
'The train left Bailleul at 2, and was two hours reaching Hazebrouck, 7 1/2 miles. A man explained that we had an "engine of 120 horse-power, but 119 of the blighters is dead." The single-line railway is of our building; the material was lifted from our own Black Isle. It makes a loop through Arques and Wizerne, and carries 70 trains a day.'
I should imagine that was rather heavier traffic than it would have seen if ever used in its original location. I wonder if Dunn's mention is the only surviving record of its provenance.