Description
Object description
British private served with 2nd and 13th Bns King's Liverpool Regt on Western Front, 1917-1918; POW in Germany, 1917-1919
Content description
REEL 1: Recollections of operations as private with 2nd and 13th Bns King's Liverpool Regt on Western Front, and period as POW in Germany, 1917-1919: memory of receiving rum and bread ration; reads out German propaganda notice given to POWs on leaving camp; attitude to war; memory of enlisting in King's Liverpool Regt, 10/1916, and training in GB; journey from Folkestone to Boulogne, and arrival on Somme front, 1/1917; memory of officer killed by sniper; amusing story of bread eaten by rats; description of billets in farm near Armentieres; memory of German artillery bombardments and casualties; description of conditions in trenches; memory of German Big Bertha gun; opinion of Portugese troops; description of receiving leg wound; treatment at Casualty Clearing Station and return to GB for further treatment.
REEL 2 Continues: posted to 13th Bn King's Liverpool Regt at Bullecourt, France, 8/1917; amusing story of attack on German trenches; posted to Ypres front and description of Hell Fire Corner, 9/1917; story of mules carrying ammunition and meeting friend near Passchendaele; memory of seeing dead stretcher party on Ypres-Menin road; story of German sniper in pill-box; problem of mud and digging trenches; opinion of American troops; transferred to trenches at Monchy, near Arras and description of German offensive, 21/3/1918; description of receiving bullet wound in arm and circumstances of capture by Germans; journey by cattle trucks to POW camp near Essen; opinion of accommodation and food; problem of lice; memory of receiving food parcels; reflections on war service and attitude to war; memory of post-war reunion of POWs in Bolton; further memory of German attacks including amusing story of rations; reads out letter from King George V sent to all POWs.
REEL 3 Continues: Further recollections of period as POW in Germany, 1917-1919: capture and treatment at German Field Dressing Station; description of journey by cattle trucks to camp near Essen; accommodation and daily routine in camp; food parcels and opinion of camp rations; transfer to camp in Saxony and issue of prison clothes including clogs; transfer to POW camp at Bitterfeld and description of working in coal-mine; amusing story of latrines and growing potatoes; cooking food in camp.
REEL 4 Continues: further recollections of Bitterfeld camp; memory of flu epidemic in camp and opinion of medical treatment; memories of fellow prisoners and entertainment; memory of hearing of Armistice and German reaction; communication with family; amusing story of shaving brush; effects of captivity on health of prisoners; contents of Red Cross parcels; opinion of German guards; story of camp commandant announcing Armistice; attitude to reprisals against camp guards; reaction of local population to end of war; story of leaving camp and journey back to GB.
REEL 5 Continues: description of arrival in GB and state of health [ENDS]