Younger/sharper eyes needed!

[MBrockway]

Pals,

I'm trying to decipher some information on a service record in poor condition ...

My transcription so far is ...

Quote

He states that (3)   Was by reserve trench all the night and reported to Batt. H.Q. next morning where I fainted.  At 2 to 3 pm, I was told to walk to ?dressing station? by the Adjutant.  I started off but again fainted and was picked up by ?motor?.

Would appreciate further opinions on the less legible sections.

Cheers,

Mark

 

[AndrewSid]

I’d say:   “in” reserve trench.   And reported to Batt “HQ”

the last  word “Motor” doesn’t seem to quite fit but not sure what else it could be 

[pierssc]

"Motor" seems perfectly plausible to me.  I remember old people in our village when I was a kid (70s) saying things like "mind the motors" ie "be careful of the road traffic."

Edited 15 February , 2022 by pierssc

[A Lancashire Fusilier by Proxy]

I'm certain it's "motor" at the end. I have searched "motor" in the 'Word' version of my grandfather's diary, and find that it appears 53 times, usually followed by "lorry", "bus", "ambulance" etc., but on three occasions on its own, and you just have to guess what type of motor vehicle it was from the context. In the above extract, "motor" makes perfect sense in the context, as the man was obviously not fit to walk.

The other words seem correct too, apart from "in" for "by", as Andrew Sid has noted. The man's handwriting uses an interesting little flourish under "r", "m", "n" and "h"when they are at the end of a word, which is a bit off-putting. Interesting, too, to note the heavy use of full-stops in Batt. H.Q. My grandfather uses full stops in acronyms far more frequently than we would do now.

Was the man who wrote the extract above suffering from trench fever? My grandfather had a similar experience of fainting whenever he exerted himself, and was diagnosed as suffering from trench fever, or "P.U.O" - if you can call the latter a diagnosis. The full-stops are his, by the way.

[TullochArd]

I too note the distinct flourish at the end of the 'motor' suggestion.  This flourish is identical to the 'y' in 'days' which appears earlier.  Perhaps this word ends in a 'y'?  Identical to the 'm' in 2-3 pm.  It is far from clear but I'd offer 'again fainted and was picked up by sentry' which is marginally more likely than 'again fainted and was picked up by motor'

....... yes it's 'motor'  

Edited 15 February , 2022 by TullochArd

[TEW]

The flourish on the end of 'motor' is also on the n of in and again , the k of walk, the m of PM. and the h of trench.

The way the m of morning, the n of night and next, and the w of where and walk are formed it's not straight forward. I'd hedge my bets the mystery word starts with an m, w or n. 

Could it be someone's name?

Any more text to go on, anywords ending with a flourished r?

TEW

[pierssc]

2 hours ago, TullochArd said:

 I'd offer 'again fainted and was picked up by sentry' which is marginally more likely than 'again fainted and was picked up by motor'

Now you see I would have thought that being picked up by a motor (car/ambulance) was entirely relevant to his description of his journey to a dressing station.  What relevance to his tale does a sentry have and does it matter whether it was a sentry or any other person?  And what happened then?  Did he keep walking?  Perhaps the rest of the account reveals all (we don't know much about the background to all this or why he was writing the account), but it seems to me that he started walking to the dressing station, fainted, and completed the journey on a motor vehicle.  Calling it a "motor" is an archaic usage that seems odd to us.  His odd handwriting flourishes don't help.

mo·tor

 (mō′tər)

n.

1. Something, such as a machine or an engine, that produces or imparts motion.

2. A device that converts any form of energy into mechanical energy, especially an internal-combustion engine or an arrangement of coils and magnets that converts electric current into mechanical power.

3. A motor vehicle, especially an automobile: "It was a night of lovers. All along the highway ... motors were parked and dim figures were clasped in revery" (Sinclair Lewis).

 https://www.thefreedictionary.com/motor

 

[derekb]

15 hours ago, pierssc said:

"Motor" seems perfectly plausible to me.  I remember old people in our village when I was a kid (70s) saying things like "mind the motors" ie "be careful of the road traffic."

When I was a youngster (many, many years ago) most of the older male members of the family referred cars as “motors”.

[MBrockway]

I think you're all correct with "in reserve trench" for my "by reserve trench" as I think the first letter is dotted.

I went with "by" originally as his unit were under very heavy shell fire all night ... from both sides!  Vacating a trench that was clearly well registered with the enemy artillery would have been quite prudent in such circumstances.

I did originally read the final word as "sentry" but switched to "motor" when I realised in this hand the descending flourish was used on several different letters.

A shuttle service collecting walking wounded was in place during this operation using buses, so "motor" here could mean either motor ambulance or motor omnibus.

"Sentry" is not illogical - any soldier moving to the rear when his unit was not, would be likely to get challenged.

As regards "dressing station", the writing is so faint, I doubt if we'll ever be able to be definitive on that one.  I played with various filters in my graphics tools, but could not get it any more legible.  I considered "clearing station", but that'd be further down the CasEvac chain, so you'd most likely go through an ADS or MDS first anyway.

There's no more content written in this hand in the document.  The handwriting in the rest of the document has clearly been written by others.  The use of first person may even suggest the hand is that of the soldier himself.

At this stage I cannot give further detail about this man nor the circumstances without permission of his relatives.  He did not have PUO/trench fever.  I can say however that he survived the war!

Thanks all - the help is much appreciated!

Mark

 

 

[Notes]

Bit of a punt, but could the faint words be 'managing' or 'messaging' station?  First letter looks more like an 'M' to me.  Guessing that most Battalion HQs would have some 'sub-unit' like this nearby...