Private Papers of Reverend J K Best MC CF

Outstanding collection of letters, diaries, photographs and other material covering the service of a Territorial Force Army Chaplain in the First World War while attached to the 1/3rd East Lancashire Brigade Royal Field Artillery (RFA) (42nd Division) in Egypt (September 1914 - April 1915) and at Gallipoli (May - September 1915), and then on the Western Front with the 13th and 14th Battalions, York and Lancaster Regiment (94th Infantry Brigade, 31st Division), June 1916 - September 1917, at 94th Brigade Headquarters, September - December 1917, and with the 4th Battalion Grenadier Guards (4th Guards Brigade, 31st Division), March 1918 - March 1919, containing much detail about his work as a padre, especially conducting funerals, and with many excellent references to Army life in the front line, civilian conditions in Egypt, Frae and Germany (1919) and harrowing descriptions of the sights and sensations of the fighting on the Suez Canal, at Gallipoli and in France, with specific reference to the Third Battle of Krithia (June 1915), the Battle of the Somme (1916) and the German offensive on the Lys (April 1918); also papers relating to his service as a chaplain during the Second World War, principally while attached to SHAEF (November 1944 - June 1945) at Versailles, France and, from May 1945, in Frankfurt, Germany, with details of civilian conditions and VE Day thanksgiving services.

Cataloguer AC

Catalogue date 2001-03