Description
Object description
An extensive collection of papers relating to his experiences during the First World War, training with the Inns of Court OTC before being commissioned in January 1916 into the 2/7th (Robin Hood) Battalion Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment) (178th Brigade, 59th Division) with whom he served in Ireland, April - December 1916, then on the Western Front as the Battalion's Trench Mortar Officer, December 1916 - September 1917, until transferred to 125 Trench Mortar Battery (42nd Division), September 1917 - April 1918, when he was shot by a sniper and evacuated back to hospital in the United Kingdom. The collection comprises of an ms account (13pp), with ts transcription (8pp), chiefly concerned with his experiences in Dublin at the time of the Easter Rising, describing skirmishes with the Irish rebels, escorting prisoners to jail and his organisation of a military execution; ts transcription (9pp) of an interview recorded by him in 1978 describing a visit to the Thiepval battlefield in spring 1917 in order to visit the grave of a friend, his wounding during the German spring offensive on the Somme (April 1918), the operation of trench mortars, the use of Field Punishment No 1 and the ruined condition of Nieuport; ts draft (247pp) and privately-published version (153pp) of a novel entitled 'Survivors - Four Men in Flanders', written ca 1970, based upon his own wartime service but concerning the experiences of a fictional trench mortar battery on the Western Front, with 6 accompanying photographs; ms letter (3pp) written from Dublin, May 1916, in which he refers to his Field Service Pocket Book stopping a bullet fired at him, together with the AB153 complete with embedded bullet; ms letter (3pp, incomplete), with ts transcription (1p), written from Nieuport in October 1917 and describing a direct shell hit on his headquarters; ms draft of a letter (2pp), with ts transcription (1p), written in 1918 to the War Office and concerning the loss of the unit's cash when his HQ was shelled; ms letter (2pp, April 1918) from a nurse informing Dickson's wife that her husband has been wounded, with ms letter (2pp, April 1918) from Dickson describing his wound; cyclostyled ts notes (3pp) on the 3-inch stokes mortar shell; printed Divisional Circular No 146 (4pp) concerning 'Chain of Responsibility'; printed leaflets (each 2pp) describing 'Care of feet' and 'Detail for instruction and testing in rapid practices'; a published list of those serving in 'The Inns of Court OTC during the Great War' (ca 1920s); plus a small number of related documents including his Officer's Physical Training Certificate (March 1916), his commission and demobilisation certificates, trench maps and ten photographs showing him and members of his units.
Content description
An extensive collection of papers relating to his experiences during the First World War, training with the Inns of Court OTC before being commissioned in January 1916 into the 2/7th (Robin Hood) Battalion Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment) (178th Brigade, 59th Division) with whom he served in Ireland, April - December 1916, then on the Western Front as the Battalion's Trench Mortar Officer, December 1916 - September 1917, until transferred to 125 Trench Mortar Battery (42nd Division), September 1917 - April 1918, when he was shot by a sniper and evacuated back to hospital in the United Kingdom. The collection comprises of an ms account (13pp), with ts transcription (8pp), chiefly concerned with his experiences in Dublin at the time of the Easter Rising, describing skirmishes with the Irish rebels, escorting prisoners to jail and his organisation of a military execution; ts transcription (9pp) of an interview recorded by him in 1978 describing a visit to the Thiepval battlefield in spring 1917 in order to visit the grave of a friend, his wounding during the German spring offensive on the Somme (April 1918), the operation of trench mortars, the use of Field Punishment No 1 and the ruined condition of Nieuport; ts draft (247pp) and privately-published version (153pp) of a novel entitled 'Survivors - Four Men in Flanders', written ca 1970, based upon his own wartime service but concerning the experiences of a fictional trench mortar battery on the Western Front, with 6 accompanying photographs; ms letter (3pp) written from Dublin, May 1916, in which he refers to his Field Service Pocket Book stopping a bullet fired at him, together with the AB153 complete with embedded bullet; ms letter (3pp, incomplete), with ts transcription (1p), written from Nieuport in October 1917 and describing a direct shell hit on his headquarters; ms draft of a letter (2pp), with ts transcription (1p), written in 1918 to the War Office and concerning the loss of the unit's cash when his HQ was shelled; ms letter (2pp, April 1918) from a nurse informing Dickson's wife that her husband has been wounded, with ms letter (2pp, April 1918) from Dickson describing his wound; cyclostyled ts notes (3pp) on the 3-inch stokes mortar shell; printed Divisional Circular No 146 (4pp) concerning 'Chain of Responsibility'; printed leaflets (each 2pp) describing 'Care of feet' and 'Detail for instruction and testing in rapid practices'; a published list of those serving in 'The Inns of Court OTC during the Great War' (ca 1920s); plus a small number of related documents including his Officer's Physical Training Certificate (March 1916), his commission and demobilisation certificates, trench maps and ten photographs showing him and members of his units.
History note
Cataloguer APR
History note
Catalogue date 2001-09-26