Description
Object description
British private served with 10th (Service) Bn Royal Dublin Fusiliers, 190th Bde, 63rd (Royal Naval) Div on Western Front, 12/1916; served with 12th (County of London) Bn (The Rangers) London Regt, 168th Bde, 56th (London) Div and 175th Bde, 58th (2/1st London) Div on Western Front, 1/1917-5/1918
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Battersea, London, GB, 1894-1916: death of father, 1908; work as cashier with Army & Navy Stores, 1908-1916; reaction to outbreak of First World War, 4/8/1914; brothers' military service; failure of initial attempt to enlist and decision to stay at home and care for mother, 1914; following progress of war; religious beliefs; effects of war; German Zeppelin and Gotha raids. Aspects of enlistment and training with British Army in GB and France, 6/1916-12/1916: conscription, 6/1916; barrack accommodation; weapons and drill training; relations with other ranks and NCOs, failure of mother's attempt to get him out of military service; patriotic attitude; journey from GB to Le Havre, France, 10/1916; reading of articles of war; tented accommodation at Le Havre, France.
REEL 2 Continues: training including bayonet and gas masks; living conditions and discipline; hand grenade training; relations with NCOs. Aspects of period as private with 10th (Service) Bn Royal Dublin Fusiliers, 190th Bde, 63rd (Royal Naval) Div on Somme, France, 12/1916: posting on draft to battalon; prior train journey; reception; story of getting sceptic hand from rifle during march to rear; medical treatment and return to Le Havre. Recollections of operations with 3 Platoon, C Coy, 1/12th (County of London) Bn (The Rangers) London Regt, 168th Bde, 56th (London) Div and 175th Bde, 58th (2/1st London) Div on Western Front, 1/1917-5/1918: reception and medical treatment for hand injury; living conditions in quiet sector at Laventie; move to more active sector; nature of trenches and dugouts; latrines; firestep.
REEL 3 Continues: use of sandbags; use of London street names for trench names; reaction to German artillery fire, subsequent rebuilding of trenches and evacuation of casualties; different types of German shell encountered; personal morale under German artillery fire; casualties amongst signallers repairing telephone wire; nature of heavy German artillery bombardments; movements; German sniping; machine gun fire; account of night raid to capture Imperial German Army prisoner including briefing, preliminary cutting of barbed wire, use of hand grenades in confined spaces, grenade carrying jacket, importance of speed on reaching German front line, crossing No Man's Land, taking German sentry prisoner and bombing down German front line.
REEL 4 Continues: account of raid to capture Imperial German Army prisoner including importance of speed on reaching German front line, German retaliation and retirement under fire across No Man's Land; attitude towards Imperial German Army troops; personal morale; posting to bombing section; morning routine; ration parties; letter and parcel contact with GB; cigarette ration; letter contact with GB; water shortage in summer; shaving; comradeship; lunch; conversations; story illustrating importance of not congregating in groups; tea; personal equipment; ration parties, duties guarding stores dump and question of petty theft of stores; water supply; daytime sentry duty including view of German trenches and increased vulnerability.
REEL 5 Continues: gas alarms and gas masks; story of brother being gassed; night sentry duty; problem with rats; lice problem and steam baths out of line; state of health; emergency move on London 1914 B Type Buses; cold conditions; absence of problems with mud; use of whale oil to prevent trench foot; absence of contact with officers in front line; Christmas celebration, 25/12/1917; leave in GB including cancellation of one leave due to German submarine activity, reaction to necessity of returning immediately before Christmas, recreational activities and question of reception from civilians; importance of religious beliefs; rest periods including accommodation, drill and issue of back pay.
REEL 6 Continues: rest periods including sending souvenir postcards and gifts to GB; visits to estaminets; question of liaisons with French women; relations with French and Belgian civilians; question of fatigues and working parties; incident of accidentally discharging rifle prior to practise attack and subsequent Field Punishment No 1; account of two new recruits' desertion prior to attack, subsequent court martial, parade to announce sentence, execution by firing squad, reactions to execution and question of justification of executions.
REEL 7 Continues: sings songs including 'Pack Up Your Troubles', 'Keep the Home Fires Burning', 'Take Me Back to Dear Old Blighty', 'Roll Out the Barrel' and 'Mademoiselle from Armentieres'; duckboard tracks in Ypres Salient, Belgium; story of stretcher bearers being issued with poison for casualties they could not evacuate; nature of trenches at Arras, France; acting as observer to locate positions of German trenches prior to attack at Albert, France, 5/1918; wounding in stomach by German sniper, 5/1918. Aspects of evacuation and medical treatment in France and GB, 5/1918-9/1918: failure to extract bullet at Casualty Clearing Station (CCS); effects of being given heroin as pain killing drug; prior recollection of childhood illness; X-rays taken at base hospital and decision to leave bullet in place; discharge from British Army as medically unfit, 13/9/1918; story of post-war operation to remove bullet, GB, 1925; disability pension and story of attending medical board; removal of splinters; post-war employment selling cards door-to-door; question of effects of war.