Description
Object description
British officer served with 2nd Bn Sherwood Foresters and with 1st Bn Welsh Guards on Western Front, 1914-1918; served with 2nd Bn Sherwood Foresters in Turkey,1922; served with 2nd Bn Welsh Guards in France, 1940
Content description
REEL1: Family background in GB; education at Charterhouse School and activities with Officer Training Corps; military tradition in family; story of enlisting with Cheshire Regt, 8/1914. Aspects of training with Cheshire Regt in GB, 8-10/1914: description of basic training; guard duty at Liverpool docks; trench warfare training; story of transfer to Sherwood Foresters, 10/1914; opinion of bantam battalions. Aspects of operations as officer with 2nd Bn Sherwood Foresters on Western Front, 1914-1915: description of conditions in lieu at Armentieres, France, 10/1914-2/1915; attitude to fear; memories of Christmas 1914; question of fraternisation with Germans; problem of shell shortages; story of transfer to Welsh Guards while on leave in GB, 2/1915. Aspects of training with Welsh Guards in GB, 2-8/1915: comparison of Welsh Guards and Sherwood Foresters; composition of Welsh Guards Regt; description of training including machine gun course at Hythe; posted to 1st Bn Welsh Guards in France, 8/1915. Recollections of operations with 1st Bn Welsh Guards on Western Front, 1915-1918: description of conditions in St Omer area; description of operations during Battle of Loos including attack on Hill 70, 9/1915; comparison of British and German artillery at Loos; description of being wounded while manning a machine gun on Hohenzollern Redoubt; strategic importance of Hill 70 and Hohenzollern Redoubt; description of terrain at Loos; reaction to first experience of major action.
REEL 2 Continues: treatment of wounded following Battle of Loos; role in training recruits at Guards' Depot, Caterham, GB, 1915-1916; posted back to France, 6/1918; description of march to Somme area, 9/1916; question of physical fitness of men problem with feet and treatment; billets; operations in Somme area, 9-12/1916; terrain in Happy Valley and Mametz sectors; role of 1st Bn Welsh Guards in holding line during Battle of Ginchy, 15/Sep/1916; opinion of tanks at Ginchy; mental state during battle and problem of exhaustion; opinion of wearing tin helmet; question of success of battle; description of conditions in Somme area; question of concealing fear from men; morale in Bn; memory of discussing battle with other officers; problems with communications; post-war effects of injury and use of breathing apparatus; story of promotion to captain and role as adjutant in GB, 1916; description of operations against Hindenburg Line and wounded in knee, 1918; memories of Armistice celebrations in London, 11/1918.
REEL 3 Continues: reaction to end of war; comparison of German and Allied dugouts and weaponry; opinion of rations; rum ration prior to attack to boost morale; state of health; personal hygiene and sanitary facilities; problem of lice and rats; description of dead bodies and smell; story of shell shock case; discipline in Bn; importance of training; relations with other ranks in and out of line; opinion of French; opinion of senior generals; home leave; opinion of Robert Graves and Siegfried Sassoon; communications with home; description of experiencing gas; opinion of tanks; attitude to Haig's use of cavalry. Aspects of operations as officer with 2ns Bn Sherwood Foresters in Turkey, 1922: description of journey to Constantinople; duties as Brigade Transport Officer; political situation between Greeks and Turks; story of rescue of Sultan Mohammed VI and escape to Malta; opinion of British policy in region; story of Chanak Incident, 9/1922.
REEL 4 Continues: Aspects of operations as officer with 2nd Bn Welsh Guards in France, 1940: situation at outbreak of war, 9/1939; role in organising escape of Dutch royal family, 1940; description of operation to hold Boulogne against Germans, 1940; story of voyage in destroyer; description of holding line at Boulogne for twenty-four hours and withdrawal; evacuation of troops; description of conditions in Boulogne, 5/1940; problem of air raids and refugees; opinion of French Army; question of air cover; description of evacuation of troops; reaction to speed of German advance; attitude to Germans in GB; comparison of evacuations of Boulogne and Dunkirk; opinion of Churchill's decision to leave troops in Calais; description of role in operations in Madagascar; 1943-1944; opinion of black troops. Reflections on period of military service during First and Second World Wars.
