Description
Object description
A "largely authentic" and none too modest ts account (400pp) of his military career written in the 1970s, the first section covering his service as a boy trumpeter in the 1/1st City of Aberdeen Battery RFA, 1912 - 1914, and then with the Battery as part of the 255th Brigade RFA (51st Division) in France, May 1915 - June 1918, serving as a signaller, pay sergeant and bombardier involved in the Battle of the Somme, the German withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line, the Battle of Cambrai, and the German spring 1918 offensive; the second part covers his recall as a Lieutenant in August 1940 and service with Coastal Artillery batteries in Plymouth in 1940 when the town was regularly bombed, in Iceland in 1941 - 1942 (with some interesting comments on relations between the British garrison and the local population), on the south coast of England in 1942, and then at Coastal Artillery HQ at Fort Southwick, Portsmouth, 1943 - 1945, where he witnessed preparations for the D-Day landings; in 1946 he served briefly in the garrison on the South Atlantic island of St Helena, and the remainder of his career was spent in the Territorial Army with Home Guard appointments in Scotland. His account is supported by a number of related documents including a May 1916 copy of a newspaper produced by the 1/1st City of Aberdeen Battery in the line in France.
Content description
A "largely authentic" and none too modest ts account (400pp) of his military career written in the 1970s, the first section covering his service as a boy trumpeter in the 1/1st City of Aberdeen Battery RFA, 1912 - 1914, and then with the Battery as part of the 255th Brigade RFA (51st Division) in France, May 1915 - June 1918, serving as a signaller, pay sergeant and bombardier involved in the Battle of the Somme, the German withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line, the Battle of Cambrai, and the German spring 1918 offensive; the second part covers his recall as a Lieutenant in August 1940 and service with Coastal Artillery batteries in Plymouth in 1940 when the town was regularly bombed, in Iceland in 1941 - 1942 (with some interesting comments on relations between the British garrison and the local population), on the south coast of England in 1942, and then at Coastal Artillery HQ at Fort Southwick, Portsmouth, 1943 - 1945, where he witnessed preparations for the D-Day landings; in 1946 he served briefly in the garrison on the South Atlantic island of St Helena, and the remainder of his career was spent in the Territorial Army with Home Guard appointments in Scotland. His account is supported by a number of related documents including a May 1916 copy of a newspaper produced by the 1/1st City of Aberdeen Battery in the line in France.
History note
Cataloguer RWAS
History note
Catalogue date 1978-11