Saturday 9th November 1918

In billets at Borgo Marcon.

The Battalion continued their south-westerly march, departing at 8.05am and covering 18 miles, crossing the Piave by bridge at Palazzon and then via Lovadina and Vascon to billets at Lancenigo.

Two photographs of the Battalion en route back to the Piave were kept amongst a collection by Capt. Leonard Norman Phillips MC (see 5^th November).

Images by kind permission of the Trustees of the DWR Museum.
Note the confusion over dates in the captions

Pte. Arthur Thomas Wilford (see 6^th October) was admitted to 71^st Field Ambulance, having suffered a severe sprain to his right foot whilst marching across the shingle on the banks of the Piave.

Pte. William Ley (see 15^th March) was admitted via 69^th Field Ambulance and 9^th Casualty Clearing Station to 38^th Stationary Hospital in Genoa; he was suffering from influenza.

Cpl. Bertie Thurling (see 24^th October) and Pte. William Kershaw (18282) (see 22^nd August 1917) were admitted via 69^th Field Ambulance to 39^th Casualty Clearing Station suffering from inflammation to their feet. Pte. Kershaw would be discharged and re-join the Battalion after ten day, but Cpl. Thurling would be transferred to 62^nd General Hospital at Bordighera, near Ventimiglia.

Cpl. Alfred Taylor (see 5^th October 1917), serving with 69^th Brigade Trench Mortar Battery, was admitted via 69^th Field Ambulance and 39^th Casualty Clearing Station to 9^th Casualty Clearing Station; he was suffering from scabies.

Pte. Samuel Lawton Birtles (see 26^th October) was discharged from 51^st Stationary Hospital and posted to the Convalescent Depot at Lido d’Albaro.

L.Cpl. Martin Jackson (see 21^st October) was evacuated to England, having been under treatment for appendicitis; the details of his treatment in England are unknown.

Pte. Raymond Charles Ingleson (see 26^th August) was posted back to England; he had suffered wounds to his left foot on 26^th August, but in the absence of a more complete service record it has not been possible to establish any further details of his injuries or treatment. On arrival in England he would be admitted to Queen Mary’s Military Hospital, Whalley, Lancashire.

Pte. Louis Charles Preen (see 27^th October), who had been wounded on 27^th October, was posted back to England; he would be admitted to 3^rd Western General Hospital in Cardiff.

2Lt. Keith Sagar Bain (see 12^th October), who had suffered wounds to his right leg and buttock during the trench raid on 26^th August, and had subsequently been suffering from jaundice, appeared before an Army Medical Board assembled at 5^th London General Hospital. The Board found that, “he has had previous indigestion in slight degree, not severe enough to unfit him for duty. While in convalescent hospital in Italy jaundice came on with characteristic symptoms and rather more pain than is usual”. He was found unfit for duty and was to remain in hospital and to be re-examined in six weeks’ time.

Pte. Joshua Leadbeater (see 11^th July 1916) was formally discharged from the Army as no longer physically fit for service due to wounds to his left arm and deafness; in the absence of a surviving service record it is unclear whether these related to his having been wounded in July 1916 or to a subsequent event. He was assessed as having suffered a 40% disability and was awarded a pension of £1 8s. 10d. per week.

Pte. Ernest Locker Smith (see 4^th August), who had been in England since having been wounded in April, was formally discharged from the Army as no longer physically fit for service due to his wounds; he was awarded a pension of 13s. 9d. per week for six months, reducing thereafter to 11s. 1d. and to be reviewed after one year.

The Ministry of Pensions wrote to the Infantry Record Office in York regarding Catherine Fielden, widow of the late Pte. Frederick Fielden (see 6^th September), who had died of wounds on 6^th September. They confirmed that, “no further issue of separation allowance will be made to Mrs. Fielden on account of her misconduct”. Pte. Fielden had dictated a new will shortly before his death, removing all reference to his wife.