Description
Object description
British gunner served as wheel driver with 1st Monmouthshire Bty Royal Field Artillery in GB, 1911-1914; served as sapper with Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers on Western Front, 1916-1918
Content description
REEL 1: Aspects of period as wheel driver with 1st Monmouthshire Bty, Royal Field Artillery in GB, 1911-1914: story of joining Territorial Army aged 18, 1911; opinion of NCOs and officers; description of breech loading converted 15-pounder; use of shrapnel shells; role as wheel driver; memories of camp in Hereford, 1912; figure eight drive in tournament; number of horses and men in gun team; driving training; description of gun drill and driving drill and explanation of orders; description of ammunition for 15-pounder; duties of gun crew; opinion of 15-pounder; description of uniform; puttees; boots; shirts; battledress; ammunition bandoliers; limber wagons; role of outriders; army slang and use of Indian words; riding training; memories of horses; description of dress uniform; number of drills per year and annual camps; pay and proficiency pay; memories of outbreak of war, 8/1914.
REEL 2 Continues: reaction to outbreak of war; impounding of German ship and crew. Aspects of period as wheel driver with 1st Monmouthshire Bty, 4th Welsh Bde, Royal Field Artillery in GB, 1914: mobilised at drill hall in Newport, Wales; memory of John Bull placard; description of uniform and equipment; mess tin; issued with five golden sovereigns as mobilisation pay; story of commandeering horses; breaking in horses; use of hand signals by officers; mounted drill; training horses to work in gun team; duties as wheel driver; problem of wearing leg irons while riding; story of injury to leg; picket duty on horse lines; comments on locally recruited units in Newport area; composition of 4th Welsh Bde, Royal Field Artillery; description of howitzer batteries and ammunition; posted to Shrewsbury; uniform and kit.
REEL 3 Continues: use of marlin spike; transportation of horses in railway trucks; billets in Shrewsbury; posted to Northampton race course with 1st Div; training; leg injury and hospital treatment, 1914; further comments on breech loading converted 15-pounders; posted back to Newport; discharged from 1st Monmouthshire Bty and returned to civilian employment with Post Office; attitude to patriotism in 1914 and comparison with 1939; memories of boys war papers and various patriotic songs; attitude to Germans; morale among troops at front; comradeship; story of enlisting with Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers in Newport, Wales, 10/1915.
REEL 4 Continues: Aspects of training as sapper with Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers in GB, 1915-1916: travelled to Monmouth by train; memories of other recruits; depot at Monmouth Castle; accommodation in 'Black Hut'; issued with uniform and kit; composition of Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers; allocated to training squad in B depot; description of uniform and equipment; basic training as infantryman; weapons drill with rifle and bayonet; concept of the 'spirit of the bayonet'; description of gas respirators and gas drill; opinion of effectiveness of gas masks; method of carrying gas masks; types of gasses used on Western Front; problem of pollution of water by gas; comparison of British and German steel helmets; attitude to wearing steel helmet and opinion of effectiveness.
REEL 5 Continues: question of removing wire from inside steel helmet; story of medical examination; Royal Engineers trade tests and rates of pay; description of rifle training; rapid fire exercises and 'mad minute'; firing with and without and bayonet attached; comparison of German and British grenades; description of training with various types of fuses and explosives.
REEL 6 Continues: repetition of material from Reel 5; description of field works training; construction of trenches; methods of revetting.
REEL 7 Continues: further comments on revetting; drainage; construction and revetting of dugouts; construction of barbed wire entanglements and types of barbed wire; opinion of German dugouts; drafted to No 2 (Royal Monmouth) Railway Construction Coy, Royal Engineers, 1916; memory of send off.
REEL 8 Continues: entrained to Folkestone; description of voyage aboard ship Victoria to Boulogne, France; escorted by destroyers; conditions aboard ship; life jackets; disembarked at Boulogne. Recollections of operations as sapper with No 2 (Royal Monmouth) Railway Construction Coy, Royal Engineers on Western Front, 1916-1918: billets in wine cellar; memories of Jackson's Bar; memory of seeing German aircraft; entrained to Rouen; cigarette ration; brands and prices of cigarettes and tobacco; memories of canteen at Rouen; joined No 2 Railway Construction Coy; accommodation; warnings about brothels; ports of entry and base camps in France; artillery regiments.
REEL 9 Continues: duties with working parties on constructing ammunition dumps; moved to Maricourt railhead, Somme area; duties building and operating railway in Happy Valley-Buire sector; problem of destruction of hut during bombardment, 24/Jun/1916; communications; daily routine and duties on railway; description of 12-inch railway gun; loading and firing of gun; rate of fire and camouflage; railway guns and nicknames; unloading of ammunition and supplies; ambulance trains and medical services; role of ammunition trains.
REEL 10 Continues: railway gauge and rolling stock; role of Railway Operating Division Royal Engineers; French commercial railway services; description of terrain and living conditions in front line; various memories of Albert and other villages; marching order; description of front line and support trenches in Albert area; relief work at night; pass words; memories of opening of Battle of the Somme, 1/Jul/1916; bombardment of roads by German artillery; description of German POWs.
REEL 11 Continues: question of fraternisation with Saxon troops; various memories of German POWs; description of station in Happy Valley sector; packing and delivery of ammunition; problem of German fortified positions in farms and woods; divisional structure of British Army; description of terrain and roads in Somme area; pronunciation of French and Belgian names.
REEL 12 Continues: French supply trains; duties repairing French railway lines near Aveluy Wood; living conditions and proximity to front line; dugouts; casualties; memory of seeing tanks being unloaded; duties on construction of railway in Maricourt Wood sector; problem with leg injury; treatment at dressing station at Bray; further treatment at Casualty Clearing Station in Corbie and No 6 General Hospital, Rouen, 9/1916; returned to GB for further medical treatment; memories of Crucifix Corner on Somme; description of being under artillery fire.
REEL 13 Continues: damage caused by shellfire; collecting German shell nose-caps as souvenirs; comparison of British and German shells; physical effects of shellfire and attitude to fear; story of artillery battery; description of 'whizzbangs' and other types of shells; recites verse from poem 'Bombardment'; use of gas shells; role of Royal Engineers Tunnelling Coys; description of La Boisselle crater; mining and counter-mining; laying of mines.
REEL 14 Continues: weather conditions on Somme and adaptation of clothing, spring 1916; description of terrain in Somme area; description of wound dressing and method of application; problem of tetanus infections from polluted soil; Very lights; wiring parties; memories of concert parties.
REEL 15 Continues: humour in the front line; popular songs; religious beliefs and church parades; opinion of padres; newspapers; opinion of Army postal service; communication with home; army service numbers; memories of medical treatment in Whitchurch Hospital, GB, 1916; attitude to wearing hospital uniform; recreational activities; returned to camp in Monmouth for medical examination; daily routine and duties; refresher training; question of Christmas leave, 1916.
REEL 16 Continues: reason for formation of Royal Engineers Army Troops Coys ; attitude to further overseas service; transferred to No 7 Coy Royal Engineers; issued with equipment and rifles; further basic and field works training; marched to Monmouth station; given gifts by local residents; picket duty at Southampton; loaded horses and equipment aboard ship Hunslett and sailed to Le Havre, 8/1917; marched to camp; posted to Deauville to build hospital base; use of German POWs as labourers; attached to 356 Electrical and Mechanical Coy Royal Engineers; memories of Deauville and living conditions; duties cutting down timber.
REEL 17 Continues: erection of poles to carry electrical cables; construction of roads; period in Rouen and memories of French drink; description of train journey to Albert; duties demolishing huts at Acheux; problem of snow; duties in workshop at Varennes; issued with sheepskin jerkin; moved by lorry to advanced ammunition dump at Sapignes; description of building ammunition sheds and problem of frozen ground; German air raids.
REEL 18 Continues: comparison of sound of German and British aircraft; accommodation in hut; problem of lice and rats; personal hygiene; baths; fumigation of uniforms; heating in hut; use of pomade to remove vermin; story of meeting cousin; memories of Christmas, 1917; weather conditions; story of playing in rugby match, 3/1918; description of opening of German offensive, 21/Mar/1918; problem of fog; posted to Coy HQ; duties constructing defensive line at Achiet-le-Grand.
REEL 19 Continues: story of memory loss; transferred to Hebuterne sector and duties constructing machine gun table; accommodation in huts; proximity of German trenches; casualties caused by German snipers and artillery; story of forming defensive line around Hebuterne; death of officers; problem of loss of pack; moved into front line trenches near Foncquevillers; story of German observation balloon; marched to Puchevillers in battle order; repairs to boots by company cobbler; billeted in barn; marched to Bihecourt; duties building barbed wire entanglements.
REEL 20 Continues: description of umbrella and apron barbed wire entanglements; repetition of material from Reel 17.
REEL 21 Continues: repetition of material from Reel 17 and Reel 18.
REEL 22 Continues: repetition of material from Reel 19.
REEL 23 Continues: repetition of material from Reel 19 [description of umbrella and apron barbed wire entanglements]; duties building defensive positions; location and terrain; artillery batteries; description of 12-inch railway gun and ammunition; story of officer wounded by shell; continuous night time drumfire from batteries; position of front line in Somme sector; location of defensive 'Red Line'; daily routine and duties; gas guard and sounding gas gong; story of being gassed in 1916; description of German booby traps.
REEL 24 Continues: story of capturing German transformer station and problem of booby traps; disposal of dud shells; moved into reserve trenches, 5/1918; construction of dugouts; comparison of shrapnel and high explosive shells; story of French women washing shirts; attached to 352 Electrical and Mechanical Coy Royal Engineers, Beauval, and description of duties at Fort Mahon.
REEL 25 Continues: memory of visit to Crecy; story of French professor; relations with French civilians; posted to Third Army HQ and duties; opinion of American troops; returned to 356 Electrical and Mechanical Coy Royal Engineers, 8/1918; duties repairing water points; rate of Allied advance.
REEL 26 Continues: comments on Allied advance across France and Belgium; rejoined 352 Electrical and Mechanical Coy Royal Engineers and duties providing lighting at Casualty Clearing Stations; story of journey back to GB and ten days home leave in Newport; problem of lice in uniform; food rations for civilians.
REEL 27 Continues: returned to London; accommodation in Union Jack Club; story of return to France; morale of troops aboard ship; disembarked at Boulogne and marched to camp at Wimereux; story of meal in estaminet; description of journey to Beauval; rejoined 356 Electrical and Mechanical Coy Royal Engineers; duties including salvage work; posted to Le Transloy; living conditions in dugout and problem of rats; memory of seeing skull with moustache; moved into 356 Coy HQ; rumours of armistice, 11/1918; summary of movements across France.
REEL 28 Continues: story of receiving news of Armistice, 11/11/1918; reaction to end of war and casualties in Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers. Aspects of period as sapper with Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers in France, 1918-1919: returned to 356 Coy HQ; moved to Beaumetz and duties at reservoirs; problem of rats; moved to Caudry; accommodation; story of rescuing men from carbon monoxide poisoning; memory of wall paintings in house; story of graves of British dead; memories of Christmas, 1918; moved to French barracks in Cambrai.
REEL 29 Continues: story of finding piano; demobilisation procedure; final duties taking horses to disposal depot; question of polishing badges and buttons; story of fumigating uniform; description of Cambrai; billets; rum ration; discipline; help with reconstruction and return of civilian population.
REEL 30 Continues: daily routine and duties with Royal Engineers; visits by concert parties; relations with officers; promoted corporal; story of return to GB and demobilisation at Fovant camp on Salisbury Plain, 4/1919; returned to home in Newport.
REEL 31 Continues: Aspects of post-war period: billeting allowance and pay; reunions; question of adjusting to civilian life; ex-servicemen's organisations; various memories of visits to battlefields in France; image of Germans portrayed in pre-war boys papers; opinion of necessity of First World War.
REEL 32 Continues: reflections on period of military service in First World War.