Soldier Record

William Tyrrell served on the Western Front as Captain, 1914-1915, and as Lieutenant Colonel in 1917 with the Royal Army Medical Corps where, he was posted as a regimental officer, 2nd Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers (12th Brigade, 4th Division and later 36th Division 1914-1915), commanding No1 Motor Ambulance Convoy 1915-1916, Deputy assistant director Medical services VIII Corps British Expeditionary force 1916, and Officer commanding 76th Field ambulance, 1917-1918. He went on to serve in World War 2 as Air-Vice Marshal, and was knighted.

not a breath of air - only the snipe, snipe, snipe and the occasional rattle of a machine gun

Diary 1914

December 24th 1914

Christmas Eve

No peace here - guns blocking all around Ploegsterts, Messines and Ratecque. Still on the Enteric track. Have a lively return visit to D coy - switch on gramophone for 20 minutes, afternoon turned out fine, sunny and cloudless. Worried with messages and reports - mix up names and numbers of the Typhoid carriers [...]. Reports and messages all afternoon. Glorious sun set in West, clear, cold. Halfmoon like frost - an ideal evening for Christmas Eve. But the guns dispel all illusions or dreams of peace - oe'r whelmed by parcels - haven't time to attend to them. Have managed to rescue crackers and chocolates for the kiddies in our dressing station - I'll be their Daddy Christmas. As usual on might we go into trenches, I've got the needle [poss. needle and pin: rhyming slang, gin] - just the same as before a big match [...]. I'll be very worried about those snipers - we are hoping to be in for three days only. No time to write any more or half describe the thoughts that are chasing one another thro' my brain.

9pm. Reliefs completed and no causalities, which is phenomenal considering how bright the moon is. Air very frosty - makes the sniping very vicious to the ears - the swish of the bullets resembles a cane swishing throu' water and the report of the rifles is particularly muffled.

Joint dinner party very quite tonight. I sit next to and discover Captain Bentley, late of the Cheshires - who knows Belfast well. [...] The walk down after dinner in the clear frost air - the road crisp and hard under foot is the only change from other nights. [...]

We are to do our four days in. I'll have a few nervous trips along that stretch of road. I am hoping there'll be no trench work for me this time - I won't care again after the leave is over. I can't realise it is Christmas Eve and I was mercifully busy all day.

Got my Christmas card from King George and Queen Mary. I find the boys very quiet in dressing station. [...] Indeed, everyone is just quiet and thoughtful. I can afford to be quiet. I've had four good lively nights. Kings Own Causalities for past 4 days. 4 killed and 4 wounded. I've just been standing and listening. The weather is doing its share towards peace. There's not a breath of air - only the snipe, snipe, snipe and the occasional rattle of a machine gun - and during last 1/4hr. I can hear the faint booming of the big guns up towards Messines [...] and not 30 yards from where I am writing there is a man lying waiting for burial in the morning. [...]

December 25th 1914

Christmas Day

White, frosty, and fog, quiet - no firing to speak of on either side - a mutual truce.

Germans send in party with white flag - our B.F'L [bloody fool] of a sentry brings one in without blind-folding him and of course he had to be made a prisoner. Germans allowed to bury dead.

Capt. North and I go skipping. Quiet lunch and quiet dinner. Have quite a lot of exercise up and down the stretch of road. Rumours of Holyhead boat ramming a German submarine. [...]

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