Thursday 18th July 1918

Front line trenches north-west of Mount Kaberlaba.

Five men were wounded by Austrian shelling. Cpl. James Hotchkiss (see 5^th June) suffered shrapnel wounds to his neck and would be admitted via 70^th Field Ambulance to 39^th Casualty Clearing Station. Pte. Harry Robinson (see 23^rd February) suffered multiple shrapnel wounds and would be evacuated to 39^th Casualty Clearing Station at Cavalletto, where a major operation would be carried out, involving surgery to his chest and abdomen. Pte. John Chadwick Taylor (see 16^th December 1917) was also wounded; he suffered shrapnel wounds to his right buttock and would be admitted via 70^th Field Ambulance and 39^th Casualty Clearing Station to 29^th Stationary Hospital in Cremona.

Pte. Richard Metcalfe (see 21^st April), who was on attachment to the Royal Engineers, was ordered to be confined to barracks for two days; the nature of his offence is unknown.

Pte. Sidney Powdrill (see 23^rd June) was discharged from 29^th Stationary Hospital in Cremona, after suffering from influenza, and posted to the Base Depot at Arquata Scrivia.

Pte. Charles William Hird (see 9^th June), serving in France with 2DWR, was wounded, suffering shrapnel wounds to his leg; the details of his treatment are unknown.

Pte. Michael Hopkins MM (see 17^th June), serving with 29^th Battalion Durham Light Infantry, returned to France. 

Sgt. Rennie Hirst (see 25^th March), serving at Northern Command Depot at Ripon, was posted to 3DWR at North Shields.

Capt. Herbert Sparling MC (see 28^th January), who had been severely wounded on 18^th October 1917, having his left leg amputated below the knee, appeared before a further Army Medical Board. The Board extended his current leave for a further three months and noted that he was “awaiting admission to Roehampton”; Queen Mary’s Hospital in Roehampton was a specialist centre for the fitting of prosthetic limbs. 

The War Office wrote in reply to the recent letter from 2Lt. Frederick Millward MC (see 27^th June), who had been severely injured during a trench raid carried out in November 1916 and had had his right leg amputated above the knee. Millward had written enquiring about any additional financial assistance for which he might be eligible. The reply stated that, “I am directed to inform you that the £250 wound gratuity you were awarded is the maximum amount issuable under the regulations to an officer of your rank for loss of a limb. Your application for an artificial leg has been passed to the Ministry of Pensions, from whom you will hear in due course”.