Description
Object description
Opinionated and outspoken ms diary, together with c. 12 letters, written while he was serving in the 3rd Battalion The Rifle Brigade on the Western Front, September- December 1914, in which he describes the chaotic conditions and subsequent poor effect on morale, compounded by the constant threat of German sniper and artillery fire. Arnold is forthright in his derisory opinion of "certain officers [who] seem to think they are dirty because they have wet feet", the "constant marching" and "the treating of an NCO as a brainless creature when, as a matter of fact, they are the people that actually get the work done." The collection is accompanied by a letter, written to his brother, on the day war was declared, stating that he is "leaving for Winchester tomorrow for mobilisation", a photograph of him in a boxing stance (Arnold was a boxer of some renown prior to the outbreak of war) and also a full ts diary transcript. Arnold was killed by artillery fire on 19 December 1914, whilst entrenched at Armentieres.
Content description
Opinionated and outspoken ms diary, together with c. 12 letters, written while he was serving in the 3rd Battalion The Rifle Brigade on the Western Front, September- December 1914, in which he describes the chaotic conditions and subsequent poor effect on morale, compounded by the constant threat of German sniper and artillery fire. Arnold is forthright in his derisory opinion of "certain officers [who] seem to think they are dirty because they have wet feet", the "constant marching" and "the treating of an NCO as a brainless creature when, as a matter of fact, they are the people that actually get the work done." The collection is accompanied by a letter, written to his brother, on the day war was declared, stating that he is "leaving for Winchester tomorrow for mobilisation", a photograph of him in a boxing stance (Arnold was a boxer of some renown prior to the outbreak of war) and also a full ts diary transcript. Arnold was killed by artillery fire on 19 December 1914, whilst entrenched at Armentieres.
History note
Cataloguer EP