| November 11th | Cessation of Hostilities. Armistice signed with Germany at 11AM “Hooray” |
This was the diary entry written by my grandfather, William Herbert Butler, on the day “hostilities” ended in 1918. It is terse, like most of his diary entries; I imagine the day felt very much like any other to the men fighting in northern France and Flanders. From the previous entry in the diary, I presume he was still stationed at “ESCARMAIN in a pig sty”. Escarmain is a pretty village in France Nord, on the border with Belgium. In 2020 it had a population of 482; I wonder how many lived there in 1918.
WIlliam had been a regular army soldier since 23 August 1911, having joined up as a 16 year old by giving his year of birth as 1893 instead of 1895. His regimental number was 9640. He served as a signaller in the Royal Berkshire Regiment 1st Battalion. He spent the entire 4 years of the war in France, and then continued into Germany during the post-war occupation. He kept a diary of his travels, although it is mostly a list of places to which he was sent and complaints about the poor rations and lack of pay. I transcribed it some years ago, and the transcription and a brief official account of the movements of the regiment can be seen here.
According to his service book, he held the following ranks:
23 Aug 1911 to 4 April 1918 – Signaller (Private)
4 April 1918 to 15 Aug 1919 – Signalling Sergeant (1st RBR)
15 Aug 1919 to 15 Sept 1919 – Sergeant Signaller Instructor (51st RWR) after transfer to the Royal Warwickshire Rgt.
15 Sept 1919 to 16 Dec 1919 – CQMS (acting, 51st RWR)
16 Dec 1919 to 7 Dec 1923 – Signalling Sergeant
Things my grandma taught me 