Description
Object description
British NCO served with Transport Section, 1/7th Bn Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regt), 147th Bde, 49th (West Riding) Div on Western Front, 4/1915-11/1918
Content description
REEL 1 Aspects of period as private with Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regiment) in GB, 1912-1914: joining as bugler and drummer, 1912; basic training; volunteering for active service at outbreak of First World War, 4/8/1914; role as officers' groom; reason for joining Territorial Army; family background and civilian employment. Aspects of training with 1/7th Bn Duke of Wellington's Regt (West Riding Regt), 2nd West Riding Bde, West Riding Div in GB, 8/1914-4/1915: basic training; drill and rifle practise; battalion recruiting areas; practise on firing ranges; opinion of Lee-Enfield No 4 Rifle Mk I; route marches; skirmishing exercises; care of horses; opinion of officers; amusing story of unruly remount; reason for wanting to work with horses; reaction to outbreak of First World War, 4/8/1914; reason for volunteering for overseas service; memories of Transport Officer; tactical training; attitude towards military service; journey from Doncaster to Southampton; loading horses and supplies for crossing of English Channel to Le Havre, France, 4/1915. Recollections of operations as NCO with Transport Section, 1/7th Bn Duke of Wellington's Regt, 147th Bde, 49th (West Riding) Div on Western Front, 4/1915-11/1918: move to Ypres Salient, Belgium, 4/1915-1/1916; attending veterinary course at Abbeville, France and subsequent promotion; duties in charge of fifty-six horses; conditions for horses and treating sick animals; question of shooting wounded horses and using for food; problem of colic among horses and treatment; protection of horses in cold weather.
REEL 2 Continues: problem of water carts freezing at Thiepval, France, 1916; initial impressions of France; salvaging timber; description of landscape in Ypres Salient, Belgium; resupplying front line; location of supply dumps near Menin Gate, Ypres, Belgium and heavy casualties through artillery shelling; delivery of rations and ammunition at night; opinion of using mules; timing of delivery of supplies to front line; accommodation; shortage of rations; off-duty activities; pay; increase in prices of goods on arrival of American forces, 1917; eating in estaminets; rum ration and jar labelled SRD ('Soon Run Dry'); in reserve with 49th (West Riding) Div on Somme, France, 1/7/1916; attending post-war ceremony on Somme, France; question of effectiveness of preliminary artillery bombardment; period in rest camp at La Panne, Belgium, 1918; Armistice Day celebrations during home leave, 11/11/1918; return to battalion and reason for not signing on for further three years service; communication with home; memories of Irish veterinary sergeant; reason for further eight years military service; service in Home Guard during Second World War; assessment of qualities of good officer; question of discipline; memories of Transport Officer; story of meeting General Herbert Plumer.
REEL 3 Continues: incident of cookhouse destroyed by artillery shell and rescuing wounded driver, Passchendaele, Belgium, 1917; further memories of General Herbert Plumer; sight of observation balloons set on fire; daily routine in Transport Section; reveille; exercising, grooming and feeding horses; opinion of own rations; importance of keeping horses' equipment clean; two mile journey to collect rations and ammunition from dumps; problem of trench foot and wearing Wellington boots; gassing and medical treatment; impression of Imperial German Army prisoner of war; attitude to French civilians; reaction to end of First World War; sporting activities; demobilisation procedure at Clipstone Camp, GB, 1919; wartime casualties incurred by Transport Section; question of training replacements; capacity of wagons; use of split loads; types of wagons used; speed of movement of wagons; number of wagons and horses used; carrying capacity of pack horses; question of not carrying rifles; method and time taken to load wagons.