Description
Object description
Bound photostat copy of an ms transcript (77pp) of the series of 78 letters and postcards which he wrote to his family in Wandsworth, London describing his training in the 3/15th Battalion London Regiment (Civil Service Rifles) in London and at Hazeley Down camp near Winchester (August 1915 - February 1916) and his service on the Western Front at the base depot at Le Havre (March 1916) and then as a private in the 1/15th Battalion London Regiment (47th Division) from March to September 1916, including operations at Vimy Ridge in May and their move south and preparations for participation in the Somme offensive from late July onwards. The letters provide a straightforward, well-written picture of the rigours of life in and out of the trenches and also contain some interesting analyses of his feelings about active service. Reader, who was killed in action at High Wood on 15 September, had two months previously declined an opportunity in Army orders to apply for transfer back to the United Kingdom as he was under nineteen. Two photographs of him are preserved with the transcript.
Content description
Bound photostat copy of an ms transcript (77pp) of the series of 78 letters and postcards which he wrote to his family in Wandsworth, London describing his training in the 3/15th Battalion London Regiment (Civil Service Rifles) in London and at Hazeley Down camp near Winchester (August 1915 - February 1916) and his service on the Western Front at the base depot at Le Havre (March 1916) and then as a private in the 1/15th Battalion London Regiment (47th Division) from March to September 1916, including operations at Vimy Ridge in May and their move south and preparations for participation in the Somme offensive from late July onwards. The letters provide a straightforward, well-written picture of the rigours of life in and out of the trenches and also contain some interesting analyses of his feelings about active service. Reader, who was killed in action at High Wood on 15 September, had two months previously declined an opportunity in Army orders to apply for transfer back to the United Kingdom as he was under nineteen. Two photographs of him are preserved with the transcript.
History note
Cataloguer RWAS
History note
Catalogue date 1983-02-08