Episode 13: July, 1917

The diary begins again in 1917. Movement orders arrive for Nan Reay but at first, there is little certainty as to which hospital she is to be sent to. Finally, she embarks upon an eventful journey and has her first encounter with “Fritz” and his bombing raids.

The Casualty Clearing Station (CCS) was part of the casualty evacuation chain, further back from the front line than the Aid Posts and Field Ambulances.The job of the CCS was to treat a man sufficiently for his return to duty or, in most cases, to enable him to be evacuated to a Base Hospital. 

The CCS was constantly being moved as the geography of the fighting changed. According to:https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/regiments-and-corps/locations-of-british-casualty-clearing-stations/No. 34 CCS was moved to Zudycoote, a town 10 kilometres from the port of Dunkirk, on 1st September 1917. Nan Reay marks her arrival there on 10 July 1917. She is getting closer to the Front.

World War 1 Timeline for Episode 13

21 February – 18 December 1916.The Battle of Verdun. Over 10 months, French and German armies at Verdun, France, suffer more than 700,000 casualties, including some 300,000 killed.It was one of the longest, bloodiest, and most-ferocious battles of the war; French casualties amounted to about 400,000, German ones to about 350,000. Some 300,000 were killed.

15 March 1917 Tsar Nicholas II of Russia abdicates the throne after a week of riots in the Russian capital of St. Petersburg. Russia is an ally of French and Britain. 

6 April 1917.The United States is officially at war with the German Empire and on 25 June American troops arrive in France.

19 June 1917 George V of Great Britain changed his family name of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor because of anti-German feelings.

31 July 1917 Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele): Allied troops, largely those from the British Empire, launch an attack to seize key ridges near Ypres. Ypres is about 50 kms from Dunkirk.

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