Description
Object description
Ts transcription (28pp, February 1979) of his diary (February 1918 – April 1918) 'Portrait of a Soldier' recording his experiences while on active service as a machine gunner with the 7th (Service) Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment (54th Brigade, 18th Division) on the Western Front (March 1918 – April 1918) participating in the Battle of St Quentin (First Battles of the Somme, March 1918) and the subsequent retreat during the German Spring Offensive until wounded in the left arm by a sniper (April 1918) and evacuated to Tooting Bec Military Hospital, London to recover; and commenting on his confidence that the enemy "will receive the soundest thrashing he has ever experienced"; the billets; his routine; attending a Machine Gun Corps (MGC) course on the Vickers machine gun; digging trenches; Italian troops; German air raids and shelling; the loss of friends; and the rearguard action after 21 March 1918. The booklet also contains biographical notes from his family about his life before and after the war.
Content description
Ts transcription (28pp, February 1979) of his diary (February 1918 – April 1918) 'Portrait of a Soldier' recording his experiences while on active service as a machine gunner with the 7th (Service) Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment (54th Brigade, 18th Division) on the Western Front (March 1918 – April 1918) participating in the Battle of St Quentin (First Battles of the Somme, March 1918) and the subsequent retreat during the German Spring Offensive until wounded in the left arm by a sniper (April 1918) and evacuated to Tooting Bec Military Hospital, London to recover; and commenting on his confidence that the enemy "will receive the soundest thrashing he has ever experienced"; the billets; his routine; attending a Machine Gun Corps (MGC) course on the Vickers machine gun; digging trenches; Italian troops; German air raids and shelling; the loss of friends; and the rearguard action after 21 March 1918. The booklet also contains biographical notes from his family about his life before and after the war.
History note
Cataloguer SNR