Tuesday 15th October 1918

Villaverla.

In the early hours the Battalion moved off as they were due to board trains at Villaverla at 3am and would travel through the day 57 miles east to Mogliano Veneto, between Venice and Treviso. In the event, there were a string of delays and difficulties, all of them compounded by relentless heavy rain. The journey took all day and the Battalion detrained at 4pm and would be billeted overnight in Mogliano Veneto. 

The Brigade War Diary noted that, “The whole of this move was extremely difficult and a great deal of discomfort was suffered by the troops owing to the trains running late and the continued wet weather”. Pte. Harold Charnock (see 12^th September) was more personally involved and remembered, “It was a very dark night with almost tropical rain and a strong north-easterly wind. Everyone was wet through. After some hours the train moved off and late in the afternoon arrived at Mogliano between Mestre and Treviso where we detrained. Here we found we had a fairly long march before us so the CO decided to billet there”.

2Lt. Bernard Garside (see 30^th August) remembered the rigours of the day in greater detail, “The first disaster was that our Italian guide lost his way and took us the long way round. Presently rain began – very hard - and soon the full kit carried grew very heavy. We plodded on and on. After what seemed ages, the column entered a long road leading to the station (at Villaverla). We walked, dead tired, and, by an oversight, no order to down packs came. The men stood, now sullen, weighed down, soaked and very tired. Presently, with a crash and a rattle, a man not far from my platoon went down. Before long we heard another. The men began to mutter when, fortunately, the order came to take off equipment. Then we sat there, by now very humpy, cold and thirsty. Then came the order to the rear for the cookers with hot tea to come up to the Company. The first cooker ditched and so narrow was the road the others could not pass. So more time went taking the dixies up by hand. But at last warm tea was served out and the British Tommy, bless his heart, gradually grew cheerful again.

After a long wait for trucks and carriages we began to entrain. 40 men in each truck (closed) and seven or eight officers squashed in a carriage. Presently we were all steaming hard and I took off my boots and emptied I don’t know how much water out. We travelled like that for eight hours I should think. But in the end came at a little town (Mogliano-Veneto) where we detrained and were allotted billets for our men. We each saw our platoons in and then set out to check billets for ourselves – homes were provided. At long last an American YMCA took pity on us and gave us a meal, took our clothes to dry and we went to bed, naked”.

On arrival at Mogliano Pte. Reginald Dayson (see 9^th October) was reported by CQMS Hubert Charles Hoyle (see 21^st July) and Sgt. Harry Holmes MM (see 3^rd August 1918) for ‘disobeying a lawful command given by his superior officer’. However, before any action could be taken he was further reported, by Cpl. Fred Greenwood MM (24522) (see 20^th September) and L.Cpl. Lawrence William Hinchcliffe (see below), as ‘absenting himself without leave at Mogliano at about 5pm’.

Lawrence William Hinchcliffe was a 24 year-old married man from Halifax; in the absence of a surviving service record I am unable to establish any details of his service with 10DWR.

A/L.Cpl. Robert William Gough (see 4^th September) was confirmed in his rank.

A/Cpl. Ralph Pocock Crease (see 28^th September) was posted back to England as a candidate for a commission; after having two weeks’ leave he would report to no.2 Reception Battalion at Larkhill in Wiltshire.

Pte. James Henry Innes (see 26th August) was discharged from 11^th General Hospital in Genoa and posted to the Convalescent Depot at Lido d’Albano.

Pte. Frederick George Westlake (see 24^th September), who had suffered an accidental gunshot wound to his right foot on 25^th August, was transferred from 62^nd General Hospital at Bordighera, near Ventimiglia to 57^th General Hospital in Marseilles.

L.Cpl. Frank Mallinson MM (see 29^th September), serving with 3DWR at North Shields, was reported absent from barracks at 11.30pm and would not return until 5.30am the following morning; he would be admonished but incur no further punishment.