Description
Object description
Interesting word-processed ts account (10pp) of his service with the 1st Battalion The Rifle Brigade in North West Europe during the Second World War, including very honest descriptions of his conscription in 1942, army life and training, antagonism between the Army and Bevin Boy conscript miners, the harsh conditions in Belgium following the German retreat and the treatment of Nazi sympathisers, recreational activities including the theatre, and his pastime of drawing cartoons; the account concentrates upon the hard time he experienced in the army as a conscripted art student, including threats made to his life by one of his officers, and contains occasional strong language. Also held with the memoir is an ms transcription (22pp) of a series of letters written home to his mother, July 1944 - March 1945, plus 18 ms originals (78pp), July 1944 - February 1945, providing excellent details of French and Belgian life, the warm reception given to the Allied Armies by the liberated Europeans, and his living conditions; two brief ms diaries, covering July - December 1944 and January - May 1945; a collection of his original ms sketches for cartoons published in forces magazines; sketches for a kit inspection; several copies of "Shufti" (April - September 1946) and "The Roaring Forty" (August 1946 - March 1947), the magazines of the Rifle Brigade and 7th Armoured Division which featured his cartoons; a copy of a published "Short History of the 7th Armoured Division" (171pp); plus his enlistment and demobilisation papers, miscellaneous photographs, notes, propaganda leaflets and newspaper cuttings.
Content description
Interesting word-processed ts account (10pp) of his service with the 1st Battalion The Rifle Brigade in North West Europe during the Second World War, including very honest descriptions of his conscription in 1942, army life and training, antagonism between the Army and Bevin Boy conscript miners, the harsh conditions in Belgium following the German retreat and the treatment of Nazi sympathisers, recreational activities including the theatre, and his pastime of drawing cartoons; the account concentrates upon the hard time he experienced in the army as a conscripted art student, including threats made to his life by one of his officers, and contains occasional strong language. Also held with the memoir is an ms transcription (22pp) of a series of letters written home to his mother, July 1944 - March 1945, plus 18 ms originals (78pp), July 1944 - February 1945, providing excellent details of French and Belgian life, the warm reception given to the Allied Armies by the liberated Europeans, and his living conditions; two brief ms diaries, covering July - December 1944 and January - May 1945; a collection of his original ms sketches for cartoons published in forces magazines; sketches for a kit inspection; several copies of "Shufti" (April - September 1946) and "The Roaring Forty" (August 1946 - March 1947), the magazines of the Rifle Brigade and 7th Armoured Division which featured his cartoons; a copy of a published "Short History of the 7th Armoured Division" (171pp); plus his enlistment and demobilisation papers, miscellaneous photographs, notes, propaganda leaflets and newspaper cuttings.
History note
Cataloguer APR
History note
Catalogue date 1998-07-22