Private Papers of Lieutenant Colonel A Laird MC

Photocopy of his ms letter (14pp, 19 September 1916) written from Somerville Hospital, Oxford to his father-in-law describing the assault on the Somme during the Battle of Guillemont (September 1916) by 12th (Service) Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment (95th Brigade, 5th Division) in which he was wounded, including the plan of attack (in waves); the poor conditions in the trenches; German snipers; the preparations for the attack; the artillery barrage; commanding the assault on the German trench by C Company; his order to take no prisoners to avenge “our family loss”; the heavy casualties; being wounded twice and unable to continue "through loss of blood" and his evacuation to the Regimental Dressing Station to receive medical attention and then to the UK to recover. Laird had apparently found out about the death of his brother in action just days before the battle and it had an effect on his feelings and emotions at the time.

Cataloguer SNR