Archer, George Thompson (Oral history)

British private served with 15th Bn Durham Light Infantry on Western Front, 1917-1918

REEL 1 Background in Northumberland, GB, 1899-1914: family; education; effect of war on daily life; question of enlisting underage; story of receiving call up papers, 8/1917; enlisted at Newcastle; medical examination and issued with uniform; posted to 15th Bn Durham Light Infantry. Aspects of training with 15th Bn Durham Light Infantry in GB, 1917: description of training; drill; weapons training; opinion of training; attitude to army life and discipline; relations with local civilians; accommodation in barracks; opinion of food; drafted to France, 10/1917. Recollections of operations with 15th Bn Durham Light Infantry on Western Front, 1917-1918: posted to Kemmel Hill, Ypres area, Belgium; first impressions and description of conditions in trenches; question of fear; shelling of rear lines; sleeping arrangements in trenches; opinion of rations; question of using water from shell holes; washing facilities; problem of lice; story of failing uniform inspection; sanitary facilities; story of rats; daily routine; question of sharing parcels; importance of comradeship. REEL 2 Continues: question of regimental pride; description of role as No. 1 in Lewis gun team; story of German sniper; question of training as Lewis gunner; maintenance of gun; rate of fire and choice of targets; description of mounting gun on stand and firing tracer bullets; story of helping two wounded men; description of artillery barrage; story of aircraft dropping supplies of ammunition; description of retreat following German offensive, 3/1918; opinion of organisation; attitude to retreat; comparison of British and German officers; speed of retreat; morale; memory of Armistice at Limont-Fontaine, France, 11/11/1918; memory of burying dead; communications with home; religious beliefs; description of going over the top. REEL 3 Continues: question of fear; role of Lewis gun team in attack; reaction to news of Armistice, 11/11/1918. Aspects of period in Army of Occupation in Germany, 1918-1919: posted to Young Soldiers' Bn, Cologne, Germany; opinion of French and German civilians; description of accommodation in army barracks; opinion of food; role as officer's orderly; sporting activities; posted to Bonn and duties as waiter in officers' mess; daily duties; question of keeping uniform and kit clean; comparison of French and Germans; problem of food shortages; story of return to GB and demobilization, 1919. Reflections on period of military service.