WilliamRev Posted 23 May , 2015 Share Posted 23 May , 2015 In pursuit of my grandfather's activities a hundred years ago this week, I was looking through the war diary of 5th Scottish Rifles, who were in the front line at Bois Grenier. On the 20th May 1915 it says that there was an exchange of rifle-grenades, with three men wounded, and then the following: "Incident. A weazle [sic] with a litter of 6 cubs crossed the road in rear of our trenches in broad daylight. On reaching the trenches she seemed rather surprised. She then hopped up the parapet to reconnoitre, and finally came back and carried the cubs over one by one, taking no notice of the men standing about." Are there any other wildlife incidents deemed worthy of mention in unit war diaries? (I'm not talking about personal diaries, which are full of them of course). William Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Hartley Posted 23 May , 2015 Share Posted 23 May , 2015 The diary of 11th Cheshires, 21/11/15, records that “Five pigeons seen flying from the direction of Warneton over Ploegstreet Wood”. The writer did not think it worth mentioning that one OR was killed that day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Clifton Posted 23 May , 2015 Share Posted 23 May , 2015 The incident of the cat sunning itself on the parapet of a German trench, thought to be unoccupied, made the Intelligence Summaries. The story will be familiar to all who have read "Sniping in France" by Major H Hesketh-Prichard. Ron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanA Posted 23 May , 2015 Share Posted 23 May , 2015 I, too, read that war diary and the image of the weasel and her kits has stayed with me ever since. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 23 May , 2015 Share Posted 23 May , 2015 Gallipoli unit war diaries mention 1. Tortoises with shell splinters on Suvla 2. A fox, triggering View Halloo by yeomen crossing the Salt Lake 3. Migrating cranes being shot at by everyone 4. Flies. Billions of them. On the western Front on Christmas Day 1914, hares being chased by Scotsmen during the truce. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaureenE Posted 25 May , 2015 Share Posted 25 May , 2015 The diary of 11th Cheshires, 21/11/15, records that “Five pigeons seen flying from the direction of Warneton over Ploegstreet Wood”. The writer did not think it worth mentioning that one OR was killed that day. Possibly some attention was paid to pigeons because of the role of carrier pigeons. There is another thread about carrier pigeons, and there is an online book "The Signal Service in the European War of 1914-1918 (France)' by Major R E Priestley which has information about the pigeon service, mentioned in http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=224514 Cheers Maureen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Clifton Posted 25 May , 2015 Share Posted 25 May , 2015 The bit about pigeons in Priestley's book which I particularly liked was the instruction not to release male and female pigeons at the same time, because they tended not to go straight home. As Priestley says, "pigeon nature being very like human nature in that respect." Ron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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