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Object description
British officer served with 45th, 1st and 36th Batteries Royal Field Artillery in GB and on Western Front, 1914-1918; served with 2A Bty, Honourable Artillery Company in Germany, 1918-1919
Content description
REEL 1 Recollections of background in Kent and Scotland, 1894-1913, family circumstances; prep school education; recreations; education at Charterhouse School, Godalming; father's service in India. Recollections of period at Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, 1913-1914: failure to qualify for Royal Engineers and training for Royal Artillery; lifestyle; recall of cadets from holiday on outbreak of war, 4/8/1914; background to securing commission into Royal Field Artillery; stories of friend feigning illness to avoid exam; kitting out. Recollections of period with 5th Bty, 45th Bde Royal Field Artillery at Leeds, Sheffield, Norwich and Winchester, 8/1914-10/1914: composition of unit, effects of mobilisation and arrival of reservists; opinion of various officers and reception in officers' mess; move to Norwich; role training new recruits in command of section; origins of recruits; makeshift blue suit uniform; cat mascot; organisation of unit in action; veterinary officer, medical officer and padre.
REEL 2 Continues: move to join 8th Div at Hursley Park Camp, Winchester; effect of band; visit by parents; training exercises; question of adequacy of training. Journey to France, 10/1914: question of send off; embarkation and care of horses; disembarkation at Le Havre; story introduction of censorship of letters; move to Bethune area. Recollections of period in Estaires/Laventie sector, 10/1914: taking over from Indian units; role covering area manned by 2nd Bn, Lincolnshire Regt and role of forward observation officer; situation and drainage problem; sniper problem; restrictions of ammunition supply; role responding to infantry by firing on SOS lines; initial gun positions; German 'Woolly Bear' high explosive shells; commanding detached gun position; visit by Prince of Wales an subsequent title of 'Prince of Wale's Section'; promotion situation; frost bite problem; periscope.
REEL 3 Continues: periscope; issue of ineffective observation plate; firing to cover raid by 2nd Bn Lincolnshire Regt, 12/1914; question of ineffectiveness of shrapnel shells against German barbed wire; account of Christmas Truce, 25/12/1914-26/12/1914, including Christmas celebrations, conversations during meetings with German troops in No Man's Land, resumption of fire, question of scope and motivations of truce, resumption of fire, warnings to prevent repetition of Christmas Truce, 1916; observation post in cottage; story of close escape from German shells; aspects of Christmas Truce, 25/12/1914-26/12/1914, including question of effect on morale, care to avoid being taken POW, nature of German troops and subsequent publication of letters to parents concerning truce in Daily Telegraph; rum ration; Christmas celebrations with 2nd Bn Lincolnshire Regt; absence of French civilians.
REEL 4 Recollections of attack in Neuve Chapelle sector, Bethune area, 9/3/1915-12/3/1915: situation; unsuccessful wire cutting attempts by artillery; gun positions; discovery of severed foot; move up to replace Forward Observation Officer, 10/3/1915; death of signaller; German shell fire; roll in bringing down shell fire to break up German counter-attacks on 4th Bn Cameron Highlanders; reprisals for casualties carried out by 4th Bn Cameron Highlanders; tactical problems revealed. Recollections of attack on Fromelles, Aubers Ridge, 9/5/1915: situation; news of German gas attack in Ypres area and introduction of anti-gas measures; acting as liaison officer attached to Brigadier R J Pinney at Headquarters, 23rd Bde; briefing from CRA Brigadier A E A Holland; signal communications; critical report on conduct of battle from Forward Observation Officer Major Thackeray; failure of attack by 24th and 25th Bdes and Pinney's success in preventing follow up attack by 23rd Bde; attitude to high command and staff. Recollections of period mainly in Ypres area, 6/1915-7/1916: posting as liaison officer to Guards Div; recites Guards parodies, 'Murders' and 'Twas Christmas Day in the Trenches'; reasons for failure of Aubers attack, 9/5/1915.
REEL 5 Continues: story of visit with Lieutenant Colonel A H S Goff to Brigadier H C C Uniacke of Royal Garrison Artillery in Ypres; diversionary attack at Bois Grenier, 9/1915, including rescue of wounded Thackeray, firing from concealed front line gun positions and failure of Loos offensive; effects of firing concussion on gun layer and question of shell shock; reactions to arrival of Anzac Corps, 1916; developments in sound ranging techniques; use of artillery board maps; hand grenades and trench mortars, move to Amiens area, 5/1916. Recollections of period in Somme area, 5/1916-: move into various gun positions; corrections produced by Major Rufus Hill to allow for effects of varying meteorological conditions; occupying gun positions obstructed by hill crest; ammunition pits and Observation Post dug by former miners in unit; story of firing at German car observed on road behind lines; view of Sopwith Triplanes shooting down German observation balloons; refusal of permission to move up gun to OP to support failed infantry attack on Leipzig Redoubt, Thiepval sector, 1/7/1916.
REEL 6 Continues: refusal of permission to move up gun to support infantry attack on Leipzig Redoubt, 1/7/1916. VD problem during period at Verquigneul, Bethune area, 7/1916-10/1916. Recollections of period in Somme area, 10/1916-5/1917: conditions during march down; taking over French gun positions overlooking Combles; story of mapping course of front line posts in Le Transloy sector; story of punishment for not cleaning harnesses during rest period in Amiens area; difficulty in moving guns into position in muddy conditions and reception from French officer; visiting neighbouring battery; warnings against fraternisation with German troops, 25/12/1916; German retirement to Hindenburg Line, 3/1917; nature of Somme operations; German bombing of ammunition dump in Mametz sector; story of officer reclaiming stolen horse from Australian unit; situation and state of infantry morale; effects of miners' strike on shell production and question of sympathetic attitude of ex-miners in unit; strategic situation, 1917.
REEL 7 Continues: strategic situation following failure of French offensive, 4/1917. Recollections of operations in Ypres area, 5/1917-8/1917: divisional horse show; cancellation of posting to command battery; preparations on move into gun positions in front of Zillebeke Lake; effects of concentrated German shell fire on British artillery lines and successful counter-battery fire from British heavy guns; advance to gun positions in former German front line and personal morale during German gas shell bombardment following attack in Hooge sector, 31/7/1917; story of bringing ration and ammunition party along Menin Road under German shell fire; posting as acting major in command of 1st Bty, 45th Bde Royal Field Artillery in Ploegsteert Wood sector, Bethune area, 8/1917, including rank as acting major, use of naval periscope at OP, dispute with colonel over question of concealed rather than dug in gun positions and use of overnight forward gun positions, visits to estaminet during period at horse lines at Estaires and reactions to reversion to captain with 5th Bty; reasons for not accepting home service; rejection as observer with Royal Flying Corps; mining operations prior to attack on Messines, 6/6/1917; effects of muddy conditions; role as battery captain; story of riding down Menin Road under German shell fire; corpses; strategic situation; state of morale; presence of brother .
REEL 8 Continues: question of use of tanks. Recollections of period with 36th Bty, 33rd Bde Royal Field Artillery on Western Front, 11/1917-11/1918: exposed gun positions in Ypres area; strategic situation and reserve role of 8th Div; move by train following German offensive in Somme area, 21/3/1918; role as battery captain; stories illustrating situation and nature of operations during retreat to Villers Bretonneux sector, 3/1918-4/1918; co-operation with cavalry machine gun section; contacts with British women working in French Army canteens and question of another German offensive on French front, 5/1918; initial success of German offensive in Chemin des Dames area, 27/5/1918; organising retreat of remnants of unit into positions in hills behind Vesle; effective shooting and German counter-battery fire; continuation of retreat across Marne; mosquito problem; story of brother's retreat; move into rest and outbreak of influenza, 6/1918; story of adopting disguise as NCO to attend concert party.
REEL 9 Continues: stories of leave and German long range shell fire in Paris; movements during Allied advance, 8/1918-11/1918; story of reprimand for allowing Other Ranks to throw away helmets, 11/1918; reactions to Armistice, 11/11/1918; advance into Germany, 11/1918. Recollections of period commanding 2A Bty, Honourable Artillery Company in Cologne area, 1/1919: review of measures taken to overcome prevailing near mutinous state of discipline; horse riding and sporting activities; preparations to seize Ruhr industrial area in event of Germans not signing Peace Treaty; story of losing command of unit on pretext of condition of billets. Aspects of service with Royal Artillery on Western Front, 1914-1918: background to writing book 'Young Contemptible'; signal arrangements; providing working parties to assist infantry, 1914-1915.
REEL 10 Continues: importance of concealing gun positions; superior German positions on high ground; British railway guns and howitzers; story of veterinary officer stealing horses from Australian unit; period on detachment establishing horse convalescence camp, 1916-1917; question of lice and rat problems; role of officer's servant; question of relationship with ORs and staff officers in First and Second World Wars; recreations and music; question of shell shock and personal morale; disciplinary punishments; story of dismissing charge as president of court martial against soldier charged with stealing kit and subsequent changes in rank qualified to be president; dispute over GB leave; reports of protest march at Infantry Base Depot, Etaples, 9/1917; question of high casualty rates amongst officers in 8th Div.
