Description
Object description
British private served with 52nd and 11th Bns Durham Light Infantry in GB and on Western Front, 1917-1919; served with 20th Bn Durham Light Infantry in Germany, 1919
Content description
REEL 1 Background in Hull, 1899-1917: family; education; employment as railway clerk; attitude to conscription; attested at City Hall, Hull and issued with armband, 10/Aug/1917; reaction of family; call-up and story of attempting to join Royal Engineers Signals. Recollections of period of training in GB, 1917-1918: posted to East Yorkshire Regt Depot, Beverley, Yorks, 11/Sep/1917; issued with uniform and problem with puttees; daily routine in barracks; problem of boots; opinion of drill sergeant; problem with feet; previous experience of drill in Boys' Brigade; memory of commemorating Quebec Day; daily drill routine; visit from parents; memory of Beverley Racecourse used as airfield; transferred to Rugely Camp, Staffs; opinion of food and accommodation; attitude to army discipline; joined 2nd Training Reserve Bn; entered on roll and given army number.
REEL 2 Continues: description of Rugely Camp; inoculations and dental treatment; issued with gas hood; memory of German POWs and cigarettes; physical training; rifle drill; bayonet drill; use of dummy cartridges for target practice; ten weeks basic training; memory of first use of live ammunition; grouping practice; rated First Class Shot; loading and firing fifteen shots in one minute ('mad minute'); description of targets; home leave, 11/1917; description of daily routine at Rugely; reveille; cleaning kit; roll call and drill; gas drill; lectures; memory of Platoon Sergeant Billy Young; forms of address to NCOs; accommodation in huts and heating by coke stove; sleeping arrangements; kit inspection; route marches of 8-10 miles; question of feet hardening; off-duty activities.
REEL 3 Continues: transferred to Danbury Camp, Essex, 12/1917; opinion of accommodation and problem of cold; daily routine; transferred to 52nd Bn Durham Light Infantry, Stockton-on-Tees, 1/1918; attitude to being in Durham Light Infantry; training as signaler; billets; reaction to news of German offensive, 3/1918; draft leave cancelled; memory of visit by parents and reaction of mother to haircut; recreational activities in Stockton and attitude of civilians; story of umbrella; description of voyage from Folkestone to Boulogne, 4/1918; transferred to camp at Etaples, France and description of conditions; question of training prior to arrival in France.
REEL 4 Continues: further comments on training. Recollections of operations as private with 11th Bn Durham Light Infantry on Western Front, 1918: description of journey to join 11th Bn Durham Light Infantry at Huppy, France, 4/1918; memory of bivouacs on banks of River Somme and wrapping feet in puttees; transferred by lorry to Frevillers; question of platoon strength and reinforcements from disbanded 22nd Bn Durham Light Infantry; first impressions of being in front line and memory of seeing morning star; story of reversing fire steps in captured German trenches near Vimy Ridge and memory of post-war visits to Vimy Ridge; description of light railway; marched to Lievin, 5/1918 and billeted in cellars; memory of French boys delivering newspapers to trenches; role of 11th Bn as Pioneer Bn for 20th Div; story of digging jumping-off trench at night.
REEL 5 Continues: description of gas shell bombardment, 7/1918, and casualties; effects of Phosgene gas including loss of voice; treatment; role of Pioneer battalions and suitability of miners for work; billets; question of night vision; description of barbed wire entanglements; method of repairing trenches and turning round fire steps in captured trenches; question of age and training; relieved by 12th Div and moved to rest camp, Frevillers, 10/1918; transferred by lorry to Cambrai and description of conditions; billeted in Fire Brigade barracks; memory of Cambrai Cathedral; description of pursuit of retreating German Army across country and German delaying tactics; attitude to German POWs; rate of advance and formation.
REEL 6 Continues: attitude to continuous marching; story of meeting friend in Cambrai; story of hearing news of armistice, 11/11/1918; reaction to end of war; memory of weather conditions; duties repairing roads and railways disabled by retreating Germans; memory of race meeting; marched back to Cambrai and reaction to early demobilization of miners; memory of Christmas at Grenas, 1918; sent on detachment to Royal Engineers and duties delivering supplies to German POW camp; story of cigarettes; attitude towards Germans; posted back to 11th Bn, 2/1919.
REEL 7 Continues: Recollections of operations with 20th Bn Durham Light Infantry in Germany, 1919; posted to 20th Bn in Cologne, Germany as part of Army of Occupation, 3/1919; issued with new uniforms; description of various guard duties and guard mounting ceremonies; attitude of German civilians to occupation; question of Allied occupation of bridgeheads along Rhine; memory of religious processions; story of army education scheme and taking Special Certificate of Education course; opinion of tuition and accommodation; memory of officer killed on rifle range; opinion of Sergeant Major; story of taking exams in Bonn and delaying demobilization, 10/1919; medical examination and demobilization.
REEL 8 Continues: description of Cologne and buying souvenirs; opinion of German bread; story of trading food for fuel; description of journey back to GB and demobilization at Ripon; story of Sergeant Major and Church Parade. Aspects of post-war life and employment: educational qualifications and career in engineering. Reflections on period of military service and views on Second World War.
