September 2nd 1918 #OTD Alfred Forbes Johnson - letter to wife Essie

We have moved on again and are miles and miles from civilisation

James Sansom: Sept 4 1918 We arrived at the Somme on the 1st and got straight into action. 48 stretcher bearers attached to three regiments - Buffs, Suffolks and Sussex - I am with the Buffs. It’s very hard work and exciting times up against the Hindenburg Line but very few washes or shaves

Weds Sept 25 1918 At the start of the month there were 48 of us stretcher bearers with three regiments up against the Hindenberg Line. I and one chum went right through the action, the rest being killed, wounded & gassed

Thursday September 26th 1918 We are relieved by two American divisions and after a day’s rest we entrain for the North to Peronne

Tweeting #OnThisDay1918 from the #diary of @OliveHarcourt a nursing auxiliary at #Beaucroft #redcross hospital pic.twitter.com/NAYXprpHzj

— Voices from 1918 (@VoicesFrom1918) September 5, 2018

September 6th 1918 Telegram to Mrs Essie Johnson, Haverstock Hill, London from Folkestone Pier.

“Due Victoria 2/32. Second train, Alfred”

A letter from Lyon on 11.9.1918 wrote “my family doctor recommends coitus interruptus” to which I replied “do not on any account use coitus interruptus. If you cannot get satisfactory help in using the cap you should try a sponge soaked in oil.

I went on to say “The free clinic in London is happy to give personal instruction to anyone who comes without any charge”.

1918; A brief respite from war.

Women of Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corps bathing at Paris Plage and a military policeman playing with a French child on the beach. (IWM pics)#Womenatwar #WW1 #GreatWar #FWW pic.twitter.com/0YXRrJWVAN

— WW1cemeteries.com (@ww1cemeteries) 19 September 2018

A battering of the senses from @InsideOutDorset last night with Furious Folly's immersive and moving outdoor WW1 performance in Weymouth #IOD18 @domkippin @billgee162a @scjutton @VoicesFrom1918 pic.twitter.com/Y7F4ed0VRo

— Alastair Nisbet (@alastair) 22 September 2018

Immersive, powerful, extraordinary WW1 outdoor performance from Furious Folly for @InsideOutDorset in Weymouth last night #IOD18 @domkippin @billgee162a @scjutton pic.twitter.com/TJbsoNlDfS

— Voices from 1918 (@VoicesFrom1918) 22 September 2018

Tuesday 24th September 1918 Letter from Alfred Forbes Johnson to his wife Essie

..we are still living the same kind of life under tarpaulins in any holes we can find. Reading: Chance by Joseph Conrad

September 28th 1918 Letter from Alfred Forbes Johnson to wife Essie

It is getting rather late in the year for this open air life, but perhaps it won't last much longer. Reading: Joan and Peter, by H. G. Wells, (1918)

[The book, which blames England's stagnating education system for the suffering in WW1, and reflects on the impact of the war on society, was praised by Thomas Hardy who read it aloud to his wife in the evening.]