Description
Object description
British private served with 1st Bn King's Royal Rifle Corps, 6th Bde, 2nd Div on Western Front, 8/1914-3/1915; NCO served with 66th Machine Gun Coy, Machine Gun Corps, 22nd Div in Salonika, Greece, 1916; served with 236th Bde in Russian State, 12/1918-4/1919
Content description
REEL 1 Aspects of operations as private with 1st Bn King's Royal Rifle, 6th Bde, 2nd Div on Western Front; 1914-1915: story of being wounded at Givency-lès-la-Bassée, France, 10/3/1915; return to GB, 3/1915. Aspects of period as private with 66th Machine Gun Coy, Machine Gun Corps in GB, 10/1915-7/1916: question of being classed A4 and reason for joining Machine Gun Corps; preparations for overseas service; loss of kit and issue of tropical kit; question of company being posted as a unit; equipment; journey from Belton Park Camp to Devonport, 7/1916. Recollections of voyage aboard HMT Minnetonka from Devonport, GB to Salonika, Greece, 5/7/1916-14/7/1916: loading and transportation of equipment; being given cigarettes; description of troopship; role looking after mules; location of machine guns aboard ship; reason for not releasing mules if ship sank; attitude to caring for mules; problem of unloading mules in Salonika, 14/7/1916; living conditions; daily routine; opinion of rations; recreational activities; question of naval escorts. Recollections of operations as NCO with 66th Machine Gun Coy Machine Gun Corps, 22nd Div in Salonika, Greece, 1916: initial impressions of Salonika; care of mules; move up to front line near Pirnar; amusing story of pomegranates; prior recollection of conditions aboard HMT Minnetonka; attitude to posting to Salonika; comparison of climate and terrain of Salonika and France; memories of Horseshoe Pass; amusing story of French bullets.
REEL 2 Continues: question of contact with French and British troops; medical facilities; comparison of trench systems in Salonika and on Western Front; daily routine and role delivering rations and water; wounding in foot and medical treatment in Salonika and Malta. Aspects of hospitalisation in GB, 1916: voyage aboard HMHS Britannic from Malta to GB including conditions on board; medical treatment at Royal Victoria Hospital, Netley; foot wounds and question of amputation. Recollections of operations as NCO with 66th Machine Gun Coy Machine Gun Corps, 22nd Div in Salonika, Greece, 1916: climate and terrain; problem of lack of water; opinion of rations; problem of heat and flies; relations with civilian population; comparison of military activity in Salonika and on Western Front; recreational activities; communication with home; comparison of Greek and French people; lack of military activity and role of machine gun company; opinion of medical treatment received; story of meeting father on evacuation to Malta.
REEL 3 Continues: Recollections of operations as NCO with 236th Bde in Russian State, 12/1918-4/1919: role in passport control in port of Murmansk; question of refugees and British passports; political situation in Russian State; transferred to Sverdlovsk and role guarding railway; skirmish with Bolshevik forces; opinion of White Russian forces; conditions in Murmansk; opinion of rations; story of being captured by Bolshevik forces and circumstances of release; voyage from Russian States to GB, 4/1919; attitude to posting, question of leave and changing role in Russian State; opinion of Bolsheviks; further details of capture and release; varied nationalities of refugees in Murmansk; problem of cold and winter clothing; availability of alcohol; contact with White Russians and problem of language; opinion of role in campaign; further comments on White Russian forces and opinion of officers; comparison of Bolsheviks and White Russians; prior recollection of attitude towards officers and question of their competence on Western Front, 1914-1915.