Private Papers of N D Braithwaite

A well-written and interesting ms diary (61pp, plus 2 pages of his humorous drawings, photocopy photographs of him with his fiancee and in uniform, and photocopied presscuttings relating to his death in action), with ts transcript (23pp), kept from 22 November - 27 December 1914 by a sergeant in the 1/9th Battalion Manchester Regiment (126th Brigade, 42nd Division) when they were initially stationed in the Kasr-el-Nil barracks in Cairo, Egypt from where he was sent to take charge of a supply store at Mena which rapidly developed into the AIF's main base camp in Egypt and also covering the Battalion's move to Abbassia barracks where they took part in a series of Brigade training exercises in the desert; and including worthwhile comments on climatic conditions in Egypt, his shifting views about the qualities of the Australian soldiers whom he met, the use of camel transport, the behaviour of the Egyptians in their dealings with Allied troops, his highly critical impressions of Cairo, his pride in his Battalion, and his reflections on Christmas and how the Battalion, and he and his friends, had celebrated the holiday. Braithwaite was killed in action at Gallipoli on 7 June 1915 while serving with the 1/7th Battalion Manchester Regiment.

A well-written and interesting ms diary (61pp, plus 2 pages of his humorous drawings, photocopy photographs of him with his fiancee and in uniform, and photocopied presscuttings relating to his death in action), with ts transcript (23pp), kept from 22 November - 27 December 1914 by a sergeant in the 1/9th Battalion Manchester Regiment (126th Brigade, 42nd Division) when they were initially stationed in the Kasr-el-Nil barracks in Cairo, Egypt from where he was sent to take charge of a supply store at Mena which rapidly developed into the AIF's main base camp in Egypt and also covering the Battalion's move to Abbassia barracks where they took part in a series of Brigade training exercises in the desert; and including worthwhile comments on climatic conditions in Egypt, his shifting views about the qualities of the Australian soldiers whom he met, the use of camel transport, the behaviour of the Egyptians in their dealings with Allied troops, his highly critical impressions of Cairo, his pride in his Battalion, and his reflections on Christmas and how the Battalion, and he and his friends, had celebrated the holiday. Braithwaite was killed in action at Gallipoli on 7 June 1915 while serving with the 1/7th Battalion Manchester Regiment.

Cataloguer RWAS

Catalogue date 2007-03