Sunday 3rd November 1918

In billets at Porcia.

The whole of 23^rd Division had originally been ordered to advance, but the orders were subsequently cancelled, and the Battalion remained in billets.

Meanwhile, the Anglo-Italian advance had continued and, with the Austrian position now hopeless, an armistice was signed, to come into effect at 3pm the following day.

2Lt. Bernard Garside (see 2^nd November) remembered, “One picture is very clear in my mind, however, connected with the village which represented our battalions’ farthest advance into enemy held territory – it was well beyond the River Piave and towards the River Tagliamento and not far from Udine. The picture was of a constant stream of Austrian prisoners passing through the village on their way back to the prisoners’ cages. I have never seen such a wretched sight. They slouched along, four deep, haggard, ragged, dirty, sullen (some), sad (all), some carried on stretchers, others hobbling and helped by pals, hopeless and hungry for they were being taken back in large numbers and probably could only be fed properly farther back. On and on the procession went; no end to it. It depressed me very much. How stupid war is!

I remember once – amongst other times – when this feeling of the senselessness of war came on me. I wandered off alone and sat down and thought of home and Skipton. For some reason my thoughts turned to Rankin’s Well on the moor and I actually wrote several verses about it and the good times we had and father and mother (your grandpa and grandma) had had there. I’m sorry I can’t remember a single line now and the reason I wrote them may have been that I felt ill of a slight fever soon after”.

2Lt. John William Pontefract (see 27^th October) and Pte. Richard Harrison (see 27^th October), who had been wounded a week previously, were transferred from 62^nd General Hospital at Bordighera, near Ventimiglia to 81^st General Hospital in Marseilles.

Cpl. Alfred Bradbury (see 27^th October), who had been wounded a week previously, was transferred from 11^th General Hospital in Genoa to 57^th General Hospital in Marseilles.

Pte. Michael Newton (see 19^th October) was transferred from 38^th Stationary Hospital in Genoa to 57^th General Hospital in Marseilles; he was suffering from diarrhoea.

Capt. Hugh William Lester MC (see 3^rd September), serving in France as Brigade Major to 11^th Infantry Brigade, departed on eight days’ leave to Paris.