Description
Object description
Word processed transcription (50pp) of a diary kept by him (August 1940 - July 1945) during his service with 15th Company Auxiliary Military Pioneers (1940), 48th Company, Pioneer Corps (1940 - 1943), 996th Company, Docks Operating Company RE (1943) and 160th Railway Construction Company (1943 - 1945) with a mixture of brief and detailed comments on his service in the UK, North Africa, Sicily and Italy, in particular his experiences onboard SS MOHAMED ALI EL KABIR, torpedoed off the Irish coast in August 1940, clearing debris and demolition work during raids on London (October 1940), his anxiety during his sea passage to North Africa (November 1942) and duties on the docks amid raids on Bone (December 1942 - May 1943), the devastation and poor civilian conditions of Italy, duties repairing and constructing bridges and railways in Italy (October 1943 - January 1945), and an eloquent description of the ruins of Cassino (June 1944), including notes on his frequent low morale, contact and sympathy with German POWs, his desire to assist poor Italian families, tales of German atrocities, and leisure pursuits and billeting conditions; together with photocopies of him in uniform, the title page of the original diary, an ms airgraph to his mother (July 1943), 2 ms poems (7pp, author unknown), and a photograph and notes relating to the death of Mussolini. Also with the collection are photocopies of papers relating to his service and demobilisation (March 1946) including: photographs of him in uniform; newspaper articles covering the sinking of the MOHAMED ALI EL KABIR; a letter concerning his return to work for a shoe manufacturer in Cumbria; letters to his family in Cumbria (August 1940, 1943 - 1945) covering his initial reactions to being torpedoed (August 1940) and his travels through Italy; and descriptive accounts (27pp) of his experiences in Italy (1944), mostly interaction with Italian civilians and bridge-building activities.
Content description
Word processed transcription (50pp) of a diary kept by him (August 1940 - July 1945) during his service with 15th Company Auxiliary Military Pioneers (1940), 48th Company, Pioneer Corps (1940 - 1943), 996th Company, Docks Operating Company RE (1943) and 160th Railway Construction Company (1943 - 1945) with a mixture of brief and detailed comments on his service in the UK, North Africa, Sicily and Italy, in particular his experiences onboard SS MOHAMED ALI EL KABIR, torpedoed off the Irish coast in August 1940, clearing debris and demolition work during raids on London (October 1940), his anxiety during his sea passage to North Africa (November 1942) and duties on the docks amid raids on Bone (December 1942 - May 1943), the devastation and poor civilian conditions of Italy, duties repairing and constructing bridges and railways in Italy (October 1943 - January 1945), and an eloquent description of the ruins of Cassino (June 1944), including notes on his frequent low morale, contact and sympathy with German POWs, his desire to assist poor Italian families, tales of German atrocities, and leisure pursuits and billeting conditions; together with photocopies of him in uniform, the title page of the original diary, an ms airgraph to his mother (July 1943), 2 ms poems (7pp, author unknown), and a photograph and notes relating to the death of Mussolini. Also with the collection are photocopies of papers relating to his service and demobilisation (March 1946) including: photographs of him in uniform; newspaper articles covering the sinking of the MOHAMED ALI EL KABIR; a letter concerning his return to work for a shoe manufacturer in Cumbria; letters to his family in Cumbria (August 1940, 1943 - 1945) covering his initial reactions to being torpedoed (August 1940) and his travels through Italy; and descriptive accounts (27pp) of his experiences in Italy (1944), mostly interaction with Italian civilians and bridge-building activities.
History note
Cataloguer PJB
History note
Catalogue date 2007-11-29