RaySearching Posted 10 June , 2017 Share Posted 10 June , 2017 Assistance would be appreciated with the following word from a war diary entry Moved through a thick wood and came to an ????? in Regards Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry_Reeves Posted 10 June , 2017 Share Posted 10 June , 2017 (edited) Ray It's "abattis" which is an obstruction intended hinder movement. TR Edited 10 June , 2017 by Terry_Reeves Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaySearching Posted 10 June , 2017 Author Share Posted 10 June , 2017 Many thanks for the reply Terry I must confess I have never come across the word previously Regards Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trajan Posted 10 June , 2017 Share Posted 10 June , 2017 And there was I thinking that they had come across an abbot (genitive singular, I think??? - and also : https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/abbatis OK, so I had to look it up in that "obstruction" sense and so: http://arcana.wikidot.com/abbatis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Clifton Posted 10 June , 2017 Share Posted 10 June , 2017 War on the Western Front had several of the characteristics of mediaeval sieges, and quite a lot of the special words associated with sieges re-emerged in the military vocabulary. Gabion and fascine are two more which spring to mind. Ron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth Davies Posted 10 June , 2017 Share Posted 10 June , 2017 5 hours ago, RaySearching said: Assistance would be appreciated with the following word from a war diary entry Moved through a thick wood and came to an ????? in Regards Ray Is this from the period Mar/Apr 17 when the Germans withdrew to the Hindenburg line? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaySearching Posted 10 June , 2017 Author Share Posted 10 June , 2017 (edited) 1 hour ago, Gareth Davies said: Is this from the period Mar/Apr 17 when the Germans withdrew to the Hindenburg line? Gareth Its from the war diary for the 2nd Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers 20/21 Feb 1915 (Link to the war diary on Ancestry here) Ray Edited 10 June , 2017 by RaySearching adding link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth Davies Posted 10 June , 2017 Share Posted 10 June , 2017 Which woods? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaySearching Posted 10 June , 2017 Author Share Posted 10 June , 2017 close to La Chapell Farm Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth Davies Posted 10 June , 2017 Share Posted 10 June , 2017 Thanks Ray. I have read about the BEF coming up against abatis in 1917 but hadn't read about them in early 1915. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curlew1919 Posted 3 September , 2018 Share Posted 3 September , 2018 On the 20th February the 2nd Northumberland Fusiliers were at Palingbeek Woods north east of La Chapelle Farm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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