Hill, Robert (Oral history)

British private served with 1st Bn King's Liverpool Regt on Western Front, 1915; served with 1/5th Bn Lancashire Fusiliers in Egypt and on Western Front, 1915-1918

REEL 1 Background in Liverpool, GB, 1893-1914: family; daily life and living conditions; education; employment as newspaper and match seller; recreational activities; employment in factory; pay; story of enlisting in army, 1911. Aspects of training with 3rd Bn King's Liverpool Regt in GB, 1911-1912: nature of six months training at camp in Warrington; attitude to army life and discipline; opinion of NCOs; kit inspections; tactical exercises; opinion of accommodation and food; placed on Special Reserve and returned to civilian life; mobilized with 3rd Bn King's Liverpool Regt at Seaforth Barracks, Liverpool at outbreak of war, 8/1914; description of further training and duties; drafted to France, 2/1915; memory of meeting brother. REEL 2 Continues: Recollections of operations with D Coy, 1st Bn King's Liverpool Regt on Western Front, 1915: arrival in France, 2/1915; description of trenches in Bapaume area; sleeping arrangements; day and night rota; disposal of corpses; sentry duty; opinion of rations; memory of carrying dixie of tea; water supplies; washing and sanitary facilities; daily routine in rest areas; memory of estaminet; story of being disciplined by officer; opinion of officers; question of morale; description of role in attack in Somme area; going over the top and crossing No Man's Land; memory of meeting brother on battlefield; story of being shot in face and medical treatment, 7/1915. REEL 3 Continues: description of wound and loss of consciousness. Aspects of period in GB, 1915: returned to GB for further treatment and convalescence; attitude to receiving 'Blighty' wound; opinion of medical treatment; posted back to King's Liverpool Regt in GB; medical examination and loss of hearing in left ear. Aspects of operations with 1/5th Bn Lancashire Fusiliers in Egypt and on Western Front, 1915-1918: posted to 1/5th Bn in Egypt, 1915; opinion of Lancashire Fusiliers; daily routine; problem of marching over sand; problem of lice; question of water supplies; story of getting lost in desert and rescue; role as officer's servant; opinion of officers; posted back to Western Front, 3/1918; nature of operations with 5th Bn Lancashire Fusiliers; story of being wounded by shrapnel in stomach; nature of wound and medical treatment. Aspects of period in GB, 1918: further medical treatment and convalescence in GB; posted to Reserve Bn of Lancashire Fusiliers in Scarborough, 4/1918; memory of Armistice day, 11/11/1918; discharged from army at Preston Barracks, 11/1918; state of health and question of pension. Reflections on period of military service.