Friday 29th March 1918

Billetted in huts at Granezza

Conditions at Granezza were miserable, with the snow knee-deep. Granezza was described as, “a large clearing, where the hills parted to create a miniature plain, on which a camp of crude hutments, now somewhat dilapidated in appearance, had been established. This was Granezza, our new temporary home, looking dreary enough on our arrival, amidst an expanse of snow. We were welcomed by a bread ration, our first for some days, but otherwise there was little to enthuse over. Our mountain billets were huts buried deeply in snow. The rocky sides of the mountain showed indistinctly through the mists … A more desolate spot would have been difficult to imagine … Our hut, divided horiziontally to double the sleeping accommodation, was far from weatherproof, but we were packed sufficiently close to provide one another with sufficient warmth”. It was extremely cold, with hard frosts at night, though there was plenty of wood available for the fires. It was also very hazardous marching on the icy, twisting mountain paths. Rations were transported by track mules.

The site of the British forward base at Granezza (July 2017)

Morale among the troops at Granezza was not good “Depressing news (from France) about the war, temperatures much lower than we had been used to, the infernal desolation of the black pine forests; we had at that time little cause to be cheerful”. There were clearly some attempts to lighten the mood, as recalled many years later 2Lt. Bernard Garside (see 28^th March); “But I’ll go back to where we were in the huts in the snow. We were not really there very long and I’m afraid the officers in our Company nearly got into trouble. We stole out and climbed very gently on to the roof of one of the other huts where the officers of another company were and put a flat stone on the chimney of their stove. At first they thought the fire was smoking and by the time they came out to see what the matter was we weren’t there. They didn’t find out or I guess they’d have played a trick back”.

Pte. Joseph Hirst (29641) (see 30^th December 1917) was admitted via 69^th Field Ambulance to 23^rd Division Rest Station, suffering from “I.C.T.” (inflammation of the connective tissue) to his right knee; he would be discharged and return to duty after one week.

Pte. Edward Somers (see 28^th September 1917), who had been in England since having been wounded on 20^th September 1917, was discharged from hospital in Cambridge and posted to Northern Command Depot at Ripon.

A pension award was made in the case of the late Pte. Edwin Charles Church (see 28^th December 1917), who had been killed in action on 20^th September 1917; his widow, Florence, was awarded 22s. 11d. per week for herself and her two children.

The weekly edition of the Craven Herald reported on the death of Pte. James Stanley Williamson, the younger brother of William John Williamson (see 27^th March) who had been killed in action on 1^st October 1917:

EARBY WIDOW'S SACRIFICE - Three Sons in 12 Months

The sad news came to hand last weekend in a letter from an Army Chaplain in France, of the death from wounds of Private James Stanley Williamson, Duke of Wellington's Regiment, which look place in the 3rd Canadian Hospital on March 17th. He was 23 years of age, and the second son of Mrs. Williamson, 42 Skipton Road, Earby, who has had two other sons killed within twelve months. These were: Private Sydney George Williamson, K.O.Y.L.I. (20), killed April 9th 1917, and Private William James Williamson (29), Duke of Wellington's Regiment, killed October 1st 1917. They were all unmarried.

Private James S. Williamson enlisted in the early days of the war and had spent nearly three years in France. The family received a letter from him dated only two days prior to his death, which was due to gunshot wounds in the back, right leg and a fractured arm. He was formerly employed by Messrs. B. W. Hartley, Brook Shed, and was connected with All Saints' Church, where the Rector (Rev. J. F. Tanfield) made sympathetic reference to the family's sad loss on Sunday evening.

Pte. William John Williamson