Cole, George (Oral history)

British private served as signaller with 3rd Northumbrian Bde, Royal Field Artillery in GB, 1915; served with 252, 253 and 250 Bdes, Royal Artillery in GB and on Western Front 1915-1918; POW in France and Germany, 1918

REEL 1 Background in Seaham, 1900-1915: education; father's refusal of permission to allow Cole to join Boy Scouts; story of coincidental meeting with Salvation Army member on Western Front; work as trapper and pony driver at Seaham Colliery and story of successful individual dispute over pay; rumours of German spies and attitude to foreign nationals; reactions to outbreak of war, 4/8/1914; question of speed of mobilisation of territorials; effects of recruitment on Seaham Colliery. Recruitment underage to 3rd Northumbrian Bde Royal Field Artillery at Seaham Drill Hall, 1/1915: reasons; procedure; parents' reactions; initial training with dummy gun. Period at Whiteshall Road School, Gateshead, 1/1015-7/1915: story of coincidental meeting on Western Front; conditions of service. REEL 2 Continues: Posting as gunner with 1st Bty 252 Bde Royal Horse Artillery at Pont de Nieppe, 7/1915: prior questioning over age; question of adequacy of training; journey out with draft, 7/7/1915; reception and question of minimal practical training. Recollections of period in gun positions at Houplines, 7/1915-11/1915: posting to 15 pdr gun and informal training as gunner; reactions to first firing gun, 9/1915; interest in signalling; discipline; story of insisting on formerly challenging and warning officer whilst on sentry duty; daily test firing of gun; dugouts. Period in gun positions at Shrapnel Corner, Ypres area, 11/1915-3/1916: prior replacement of 15 pdr with 18 pdr guns; officer casualties; post-war visit, 1929; assignment to signal section; story of close escape from direct hit by German shell during duty at observation post dugout ; informal signal training; duties as signallers at OP including call sign and telephone equipment. REEL 3 Continues: bombardment and view of ammunition column moving up under German shellfire during attack on Bluff, 2/3/1916; methods of checking and repairing telephone lines; post-war visit, 1929; methods of repairing telephone lines; telephone duty at gun positions; use of call signs and code names illustrated by story of gramophone records broadcast over telephone whilst at Wancourt, Arras area, 1917; conditions of service for infantry in front line; location of OP sites and registering possible targets; story of German machine gun covering gap in communication trench at Wancourt; story of ration party in Zonnebeke sector, 1917; water supply; food rations; German shellfire and story of close escape; camouflage and dummy battery used at Houplines; posting to C Bty 253 Bde Royal Field Artillery; story of meeting old unit at Flers, Somme area, 12/1916. REEL 4 Period of training with C Bty 253 Bde Royal Field Artillery at Wizant, 1916. Period in gun positions in Contalmaison, Somme area, 8/1916-9/1916: 'Virgin' legend at Albert; battlefield conditions; OP duty as signaller in No Man's Land including ranging shells on to German barbed wire and 'sniping' with artillery. Account of attack on Martinpuich, 15/9/1916: prior first view of tanks; attachment as signaller to 1/5th Bn Yorkshire Regt; noise to cover approach of tanks; opening bombardment; view of tank moving across No Man's Land; running telephone line across No Man's Land and story of being photographed whilst repairing break; question of performance of tanks; personnel morale; state of German trenches; advance until out of guns' range; move to new gun positions at Bazentin-le-Petit, 16/9/1916; casualty from premature shell explosion. REEL 5 Continues: Periods in gun positions at Contalmaison and Bazentin-le-Petit, 9/1916-10/1916: ammunition fire; close escape from German shellfire whilst laying telephone line between OPs in High Wood sector; difficulty in tracing and repairing break in telephone line suspended from trees across road; laying parallel lines from gun positions to OP; story of officer's problem with long coat illustrating muddy conditions; shrapnel shoulder wound, 26/9/1916. Evacuation and period in hospital at Rouen, 9/1916-10/1916: escorting shell shock victim; fatigue; question of 'Blighty' wound and missing opportunity to be sent back to GB. Period at Harfleur Base Depot, Le Havre, 10/1916: official treatment as new recruit; story of NCO's treatment of 'old soldiers'. REEL 6 Continues: story of NCO's treatment of 'old soldiers'; story of surprise check whilst on guard duty by camp commandant; discipline; bingo; crown and anchor. Period as gunner with A Bty 250 Bde Royal Field Artillery in gun positions in Martinpuich, Flers and Estrees sectors, 10/1916-3/1917: reasons for initialling concealing prior active service and status as signaller; description of duties of 18 pdr gun crew numbers and question of rate of fire achieved; story of shell misfire and new officer's reaction to unofficial method of clearance; cause of premature shell bursts; question of frequency and cause of misfires. REEL 7 Continues: question of reasons shells dropped short during infantry attacks; close escape from shell during withdrawal of worn out guns and considerate treatment following resulting attack of mild shell shock; shells brought up by pack horses; salvaging transport from old battlefields; reorganisation into 6 gun battery; rest period and day pass to Amiens; Christmas celebrations, 25/12/1916; New Zealanders pack horse column; question of counter-battery fire; difficulty in moving gun positions in frozen ground conditions; story of firing shells with fuse covers on as unofficial experiment; story of whisky bottle concealed in friend's parcel from GB. REEL 8 Continues: special friend and reactions to his death in Arras area, 4/1917; story of getting firewood in rest billets; former French dugouts at Estrees; medical treatment for carbuncle; thaw and German withdrawal, 3/1917. Recollections of period in gun positions at Wancourt, Arras area, 3/1917-9/1917: casualties; compulsory return to signaller duties having been identified as a former signaller despite deliberately failing signal test; new telephone switchboards; forward gun position; caring for shell shocked sparrow. REEL 9 Account of involvement in daytime raid by 9th Bn Durham Light Infantry in Cherissy sector, 15/9/1917: taking letter with secret artillery support arrangements direct to Lieutenant Colonel Bradford in front line, 14/9/1917; view of raid from OP; artillery bombardment ; burning straw to simulate gas attack; follow up night raid by 8th Bn Durham Light Infantry. Attending divisional signal course, 9/1917-10/1917: selection due to lack of formal signal training; subsequent orders to report back to units on division's move to Ypres; syllabus; PT and success at endurance exercise; question of relevance of course. Recollections of period in gun positions in Langemarcke and Zonnebeke sectors, Ypres area, 10/1917-2/1918: story of falling off duckboard track into mud. REEL 10 Continues: ground conditions and use of duckboard tracks; pillbox signal post at Langemarcke gun positions; story of repairing telephone line to B Bty at night; battery numbering system; signallers' alphabet; muddy conditions; horse lines and horse lost in German air raid; trip to get remounts from depot near Calais including delay, makeshift passes to visit Calais and assisting officer with map reading on return; water supply and food rations; OP posts; story of being paid and gambling on pontoon. REEL 11 Continues: move into new positions in Zonnebeke sector; story of gambling on pontoon; being forced to move gun positions due to German shellfire in Zonnebeke sector; story of visit to spend gambling winnings in YMCA hut and sharing purchases with Seaham friends; Christmas, 25/12/1917. Recollections of GB leave at Barnsley, 2/1918: problems caused by change in regimental number; ruse to avoid sailing on return and consequent delays from rough weather at Dover. Recollections of retreat following German offensive in Somme area, 21/3/1918: prior movements and situation; story of 18 pdrs shooting at German observation balloons; story of dispute with officer over deteriorating communications, using personal initiative to evacuate gun positions at Harbonnieres and subsequent interview with officer. REEL 12 Continues: story of dispute with officer over deteriorating communications, using personal initiative to evacuate gun positions at Harbonnieres and subsequent interview with officer; story illustrating use of signal flags; supply dumps and foraging to supplement rations; shortage of telephone wire and method of using Morse code signal flags. Period in Bethune area, 4/1918: dispute over rabbits with French civilians; situation; role in establishing OP in chateau; sound of British shellfire; question of looting; opinion of 'ranker' officers; state of morale and opinion war would end in 1918. Anticipation of German offensive on move to gun positions at Crayonne Hill, Chemin-de-Dames area, 4/1918. REEL 13 Account of German attack in Crayonne Hill sector, 27/4/1918: OP duty, 26/4/1918; tea break; German preliminary bombardment; failed attempt to repair multiple breaks in telephone line; taking shelter in dugout and capture on emergence by German troops. Recollections of initial period as POW, 4/1918-5/1918: story of carrying back German wounded soldier and abandoning him to carry back British wounded soldier; period in newly built POW camp close to front line; bread ration. Recollections of conditions of service and lifestyle in Pont de Verte POW Camp, 5/1918-6/1918: food and water; separation from officers and exemption of NCOs from work parties; working parties building railway embankment and its destruction by British shellfire; working parties building bridge; relationship with German engineers and accepting cigarettes from them for friend. REEL 14 Continues: supervision and daily routine of working parties; collecting cigarettes for friend; division of bread ration; water; question of baths and lice problem; condition of uniform; exchanging valuables for bread; official notification of parents that Cole had been killed in action, failure of German authorities to register him as POW and consequent lack of communication with GB; makeshift shelters; state of health; question of latrines; question of recreations; story of opportunity of escape whilst on airfield working party. REEL 15 Continues: story of opportunity of escape whilst on airfield working party; story of escaping from working party and deliberately returning to camp to test reaction of German guards; problems facing escaped POWs; status of British NCOs and their exemption from work parties; relationship between POWs; relationship with German guards and nature of sabotage efforts on working parties; argument with German guard over progress of war; state of morale; death of Seaham POW and decision to inform family post-war. Period in Bucy POW Camp, 6/1918: clash with German guard during march to camp; hut accommodation; Allied bombing raid on working party building railway sidings; move to Cucy-le-Chateau. REEL 16 Recollections of period in Cucy-le-Chateau POW Camp, 6/1918-10/1918: hut accommodation; state of health; re-capture after escape attempt via latrine and subsequent interview with camp commandant; period in solitary confinement including communicating using Morse code and receiving extra food; special tape tunic markings as escapee; food; attitude of camp commandant and his ability to speak English; signs of Allied approach; story of early recall from working party, medical inspection and overall poor state of health; story of dispute with British NCO who reported incident to German guards. Move by train to Lansdorf, 10/1918: story of giving cigarettes to friend; POW deaths from malnutrition. Recollections of period at Lansdorf POW Camp, 11/1918: question of food supplied by Germans; improved conditions as Armistice approached; story of raiding potato pit. REEL 17 Continues: story of raiding potato pit; reaction to news of Armistice, 11/11/1918; move into main camp; presence of French and Russian POWs; meeting friend; Red Cross parcels; meeting family friend presumed dead and reporting his survival on return to GB. Voyage to GB, 12/1918: POW's gesture on leaving Stettin; conditions. Initial period in GB, 1/1919-2/1919: issue of new uniform at Ripon; reunion with family in Barnsley, 1/1/1919; mother's fear caused by telegram announcing Cole's imminent return on GB leave, 4/1917; extended leave. Period with 21st Reserve Bty Royal Artillery at Woolwich Barracks, 3/1919-4/1919: reception as ex-POW; story of dispute with NCO and intervention of officer; story of being excused parades through lack of full uniform. REEL 18 Continues: story of being excused guard duties and parades through lack of full uniform; status as 'senior' gunner despite age; demobilisation, 4/1919; background to decision not to become regular. Post-war career: story of dismissal from Barnsley colliery following return of local ex-servicemen; move back to Seaham and interview prior to securing work in colliery; question of effects of war experiences.