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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:


Skipman

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Tentative Blunden timeline for your delectation and hopefully the constructive criticism of the South Downs posse and other interested and informed parties. It currently has the fairly fundamental drawback for a timeline of being short of the odd date. If anyone can fill in the gaps I can edit it with the correct info.

1914

October First two volumes of poetry published.

1915

Summer? Voluteers with the Royal Sussex Regiment.
August Begins training at Weymouth.
? Moves to Shoreham.
? Moves to Cork.

1916

Spring? Moves back to Shoreham.
Early May Sent to France to join the 11th Royal Sussex known as the 1st South Downs. Travels via Bethune to Locon and into the line at Festubert.
June 30th Witnesses, but doesn't take part in the attack by the 12th and 13th Royal Sussex at the Boars Head near Richebourg-le-Avoue.
July In the line by the La Bassee canal near Givenchy. Escapes court martial after a German attempt at fraternisation.
September 3rd Engaged in siting battalion ammunition dumps for the attack on Beaumont-Hamel. Wins the MC for delivering grenades to the forward positions.

September 3rd Battalion withdrawn from the line and goes into billets at Englebelmer on the evening of the attack.
October 21st Involved in the Royal Sussex attack on Stuff Trench on the Somme.
November Gets lost during a reconaissance beyond the recently captured Schwaben Redoubt but almost miraculously avoids death or capture.

1917

January As battalion intelligence officer he investigates a German raid on a bombing post at Hooge Crater. This later forms the subject of the poem "Trench Raid at Hooge".
July 31st Participates in the 11th West Sussex's advance to St Julien on the first day of the 3rd Battle of Ypres.
August 2nd 11th comes out of the attack into dugouts along the Yser Canal including the Essex Farm shelters where John McCrae wrote "In Flanders Fields".
September 23rd In a pill box in front of Shrewsbury Forest when a neighbouring pill box containing the medical aid station is destroyed.
September 29th Writes the poem "Pill-box" near Tower Hamlets at Ypres during the bitter attempts to advance along the Menin Road to Gheluvelt.

1918

January With the 11th Royal Sussex holding Gauche Wood near Gouzeaucourt.
Mid March Sent home on six months rest leave and sees out the rest of the war unscathed.
Mid year At a training base in Suffolk. Meets and later marries Mary Daines.

1919

February 17th Leaves the army.

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