Description
Object description
Ts transcription (96pp) of his exceptionally vivid diaries kept during service in the 8th Brigade AIF (5th Australian Division) and later as a prisoner of war in Germany, covering in detail his enlistment and training in Australia where he served as company cook to avoid drills (July 1915 - March 1916), the journey through the Pacific to Tel-El-Kebir, Sri Lanka, where he found it great fun to throw potatoes at the natives loading coal and describes the many British graves in the area from the Battle of Tel-El-Kebir in 1876 (April 1916), his stay in a camp in Moaska, Egypt where he joined the battalion after a quarrel over rations (April - June 1916), his arrival in France near Erquingham where he developed a terror of rats (July 1916), the Battle of Fromelles (19 - 20 July 1916) during which he was severely injured and taken prisoner by the Germans who treated him very cruelly and who stole everything including his buttons and false teeth, his stay in a hospital in Valenciennes where his leg was eventually amputated to prevent the spread of gangrene (October 1916), his journey to another camp in preparation for being exchanged to England where he was interred in a hut of amputees and lunatics (January 1917), his friendship with Irish prisoners of war who described the starvation and torture they were forced to undergo when they would not join the German Army in the name of Sir Roger Casement (February 1917), his interviews with soldiers taken prisoner at the Battle of Mons and their descriptions of the brutal treatment they received from the Germans (April 1917), his extensive descriptions of the very poor food and cruel treatment to which the prisoners were subjected, his observations of the different nationalities (Russian, French, Indian, Sri Lankan and Australian) that existed in the camp, his eventual journey to Mannheim where it was decided he would be exchanged to the United Kingdom and the suicide of one soldier who was declared fit to return to work in Germany (December 1917), his journey to the UK (January 1918) and his stay in London where he was invited to tea at Windsor Castle and was served tea by Princess Beatrice (February 1918) followed by notes made by his family about the details of his demobilisation, return to Australia and later life.
Content description
Ts transcription (96pp) of his exceptionally vivid diaries kept during service in the 8th Brigade AIF (5th Australian Division) and later as a prisoner of war in Germany, covering in detail his enlistment and training in Australia where he served as company cook to avoid drills (July 1915 - March 1916), the journey through the Pacific to Tel-El-Kebir, Sri Lanka, where he found it great fun to throw potatoes at the natives loading coal and describes the many British graves in the area from the Battle of Tel-El-Kebir in 1876 (April 1916), his stay in a camp in Moaska, Egypt where he joined the battalion after a quarrel over rations (April - June 1916), his arrival in France near Erquingham where he developed a terror of rats (July 1916), the Battle of Fromelles (19 - 20 July 1916) during which he was severely injured and taken prisoner by the Germans who treated him very cruelly and who stole everything including his buttons and false teeth, his stay in a hospital in Valenciennes where his leg was eventually amputated to prevent the spread of gangrene (October 1916), his journey to another camp in preparation for being exchanged to England where he was interred in a hut of amputees and lunatics (January 1917), his friendship with Irish prisoners of war who described the starvation and torture they were forced to undergo when they would not join the German Army in the name of Sir Roger Casement (February 1917), his interviews with soldiers taken prisoner at the Battle of Mons and their descriptions of the brutal treatment they received from the Germans (April 1917), his extensive descriptions of the very poor food and cruel treatment to which the prisoners were subjected, his observations of the different nationalities (Russian, French, Indian, Sri Lankan and Australian) that existed in the camp, his eventual journey to Mannheim where it was decided he would be exchanged to the United Kingdom and the suicide of one soldier who was declared fit to return to work in Germany (December 1917), his journey to the UK (January 1918) and his stay in London where he was invited to tea at Windsor Castle and was served tea by Princess Beatrice (February 1918) followed by notes made by his family about the details of his demobilisation, return to Australia and later life.
History note
Cataloguer BEK
History note
Catalogue date 2006-07-03