Postscript: I, Josephine Taylor, am a senior nurse at the Royal Milton Hospital. Recently, with my husband, I bought the house where Natasha Pepys lived before she ‘downsized’ into a bungalow. When exploring in the eaves of the house, we came across a steel ammunition box with family papers inside. There we found and read… Continue reading FEBRUARY 1989
Tag: War Diary
NOVEMBER 1915
I cannot write this without recording Natasha’s relapse. A week ago, she woke beside me with a hacking cough. This lasted even after we got up. Whilst dressing, she threw up phlegm coated with speckles of blood. Immediately, I drove her to the Westminster hospital and she was admitted. I visit her nightly. The doctors… Continue reading NOVEMBER 1915
OCTOBER 1915
At Loos, in Artois and in Champagne, the battles are over. Only in the last was there a gain of 100 square kilometres of French soil, but at great cost in casualties. Despite the efforts of our railway workshops to produce heavy shells for the guns, they were not enough to quieten the German machine… Continue reading OCTOBER 1915
SEPTEMBER 1915
The Western Front flared with light from shellfire as the Entente began their planned autumn battles. The key one is centred on Perthes-lès-Hurlus, west of Rheims. Thirty divisions were committed. In Artois, another attempt is being made to capture the ridge above Vimy. The BEF is attacking at Loos. Gas has been used, my suitable… Continue reading SEPTEMBER 1915
AUGUST 1915
Sir Percy Jones, our Minister, called me in. As a Devon parliamentarian, who stables his hunting mare at the Barracks, he enjoys his country pursuits. Having heard from the Court, he declared that he was willing to give me ten days in the South West, so that I could take Natasha to convalesce. Two days… Continue reading AUGUST 1915
JULY 1915
Natasha sent me exciting news in her latest letter: a week ago, Her Majesty the Queen came to visit the Royal Pavilion. As Empress of India, she wished to meet the Indian Army officers and senior Indian soldiers who had been injured at Neuve Chappelle. It was a private visit, she being only accompanied by… Continue reading JULY 1915
JUNE 1915
I was able to go to Étaples early this month, to celebrate our belated twentieth anniversary. Natasha is in better spirits, though still weak from coughing. Once back at the Ministry, I was able to help in arranging her return to England – to the hospital in Brighton. This hospital, for Indian Army officers wounded… Continue reading JUNE 1915
MAY 1915
May has been a ghastly month, personally and professionally. I arrived at the hospital at Poperinge to find Natasha gone. Because of ‘why’ she had become a casualty of war – and to avoid journalists finding out ‘how’ – she had been moved to Étaples once her choking subsided. After camphor injections, she had some… Continue reading MAY 1915
APRIL 1915
I am finding this difficult to write. Dreadful news has come from a hospital in Poperinge. They have Natasha there. She is suffering from gas asphyxiation. The brief report I have received from the War Office is that she was near the front line with the Canadian doctor on the 23rd. Whilst tending to a… Continue reading APRIL 1915
MARCH 1915
The Allies are intensifying their efforts to drive the Germans back to Germany. At Neuve Chapelle, a little village in Picardy, the BEF attacked on the 10th, after a barrage, but taking only some trenches and driving back a short part of the German line. Losses were horrendous for so little gain. The listings of… Continue reading MARCH 1915
Pepys' Great War Diary 