Private Papers of Captain O Smith

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Microfilm of 91 ms letters, May 1916 - February 1919, written while serving as a junior officer in the 2/7th Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers during his training in Yorkshire (May - November 1916), service in Cairo (March - December 1917) and Khartoum (January - March 1918), on attachment to the 2/5th Battalion Hampshire Regiment (232nd Brigade, 75th Division) in Palestine until wounded (March - April), in Nazarieh Hospital, Cairo (April - June) and No 2 Southern General Hospital in Bristol (July 1918 - February 1919), including useful details of life in Cairo and Khartoum, his frustrations at not being in action and relief after finally reaching the front line, financial investments, the military service of his brothers, entertainments including cinema and the Christmas 1918 celebrations in Bristol, the abdication of the Kaiser and announcement of the Armistice, the healing of his wound and experiences in hospital, and brief references to observing a 1916 Zeppelin raid near York, meeting Allenby while in hospital in Cairo and voting in the 1918 General Election, together with 45 ms letters written by his younger brother Bernard, January 1918 - January 1919, describing the bad conditions at the RFC Depot Farnborough prior to his transfer to the Tanks Corps (January 1918), his training as a gunner in the 16th Battalion Tank Corps at Wool and Bovington in Dorset (January - September), including a period as an instructor, and service in France (September 1918 - January 1919), and 42 ms letters from his youngest brother Alan when a cadet and 2nd Lieutenant in the RAF, June 1918 - January 1919, recording his attendance at the RAF Armament School, Uxbridge, night flying training with No 190 and No 192 Squadrons at Newmarket and No 51 Squadron at Downham Market (June - October 1918) and service as a night bomber with No 101 Squadron in France before moving forward with the Army of Occupation (October 1918 - January 1919), with a brief reference to seeing WRAFs drilling (21 October 1918), and comments by both brothers about their demobilization.