Moore, Harold (Oral history)

British NCO served with 2nd Bn Essex Regt on Western Front, 1916-1917; served as officer with 10th Bn Essex Regt on Western Front, 1918-1919

REEL 1: Background in London, 1892-1914: story of grandfather's naval service; story of brother's military service in Boer War and First World War; family; memory of pre-war preparations, 1910; story of enlistment in London, 6/1915; reason for joining Essex Regt. Recollections of training with Essex Regt in GB, 1915-1916: issued with kit and uniform and posted to Reed Hall Camp, Colchester, for six months basic training; medical examination; question of physical fitness; drill; route marches; attitude to training regime; opinion of uniform and boots; rifle training on target range and gaining highest score. REEL 2 Continues: description of exercise firing ten rounds at target in one minute ('mad minute'); exercise firing three shots in triangle pattern; basic medical training in treating wounds; bayonet training; assault course; grenade throwing; training as signaler and use of Semaphore, Morse code and lamps; tactical training and map reading; opinion of NCOs as instructors; daily routine; comparison of battalion, company and platoon drills and exercises in open country; relationship with NCOs; problem of reaction to inoculation and illness; memory of King George V receiving news of Kitchener's death during review at Felixstowe. Recollections of operations as NCO with 2nd Bn Essex Regt on Western Front, 1916-1917: drafted overseas to 2nd Bn as signaler with A Coy at Bertangles, France, 8/1916; description of voyage from Folkestone to Boulogne and in horse boxes to camp at Etaples; first impressions of France; attitude to conditions on Western Front; question of discipline in regular battalion; drilling; discipline on marches; opinion of rations; preparation of food. REEL 3 Continues: composition of A Coy and duties as signaler; story of being hit by shrapnel while carrying Heliograph; A Coy strength and number of signalers; description of telephone system; memory of Captain Ward; description of trenches and conditions on Somme; description of role in attack at Le Transloy and casualties, 10/1916; formation when leaving trench; position in support line as signaler and question of reaching assembly trench; close proximity of German front line; question of artillery support during attack; nature of terrain and advancing over open country; problem of barbed wire defences; night patrols and use of Very lights; comparison of British and German trenches; depth of dugout use by signalers; communications by telephone and Morse code; sleeping arrangements in dugouts and opinion of rations; treatment of casualties and effect on morale; description of conditions on Somme, 12/1916; story of falling into shell hole wearing rubber waders. REEL 4 Continues: further comments on falling in shell hole and rescue; treatment for feet at Dressing Station; period out of line in rest camp, 12/1916; exhaustion of troops and problem of trench foot; posted to Arras area and description of role in attack on German positions, 9/Apr/1917; preliminary practise in French trenches; nature of objective and reason for attack being called off; in line at Monchy-les-Preux and impression of German defences; memory of trench filled with dead horses; role as signaller during attack; memory of water freezing in cans and problem of cold; question of heating in dugouts; opinion of rations; casualties; question of training new drafts; question of artillery barrage prior to attack at Arras; memory of deserted German trenches; reason for forming cadres; further comments on attack including formation; story of being promoted corporal, 7/1917; role and responsibilities as NCO signaler; story of being recommended for commission and interview with Carton de Wiart; memory of home leave, 12/1917. REEL 5 Continues: role of 2nd Bn Essex Regt in Passchendaele offensive, 10/1917; description of conditions and reasons for being ordered to retreat; story of return to GB on home leave and attitude of civilians to war; problem of lice in shirt; communication with home and question of censorship; opinion of Carton de Wiert. Aspects of period training as officer in GB, 2-7/1918: posted to Catterick and description of training; discipline; memory of passing out parade; command skills; lectures and tactical exercises; question of casualty rate of junior officers; company and platoon tactics; comparison with front line experience; question of drop-out rate; opinion of course and discipline; commissioned and posted. Recollections of operations as officer with 10th Bn Essex Regt on Western Front, 1918: posted to C Coy 10th Bn at Bertangles, France; comparison of 2nd and 10th Bns including question of discipline. REEL 6 Continues: memory of officers of C Coy; strength and composition of platoon including large number of miners; description of pursuing retreating Germans and speed of advance; nature of operations in and around Mormal Forest, 11/1918; role guiding tanks with supplies; description of attack by 10th Bn on saw mills in Mormal Forest, 4/Nov/1918; story of capture of field guns; wounded in leg by machine gun bullet; question of formation of platoons and method of attack; description of Le Cateau and memory of hearing news of armistice, 11/11/1918; demobilization, 4/1919; memory of visit to 18th Div monument unveiling at Thiepval, 8/1919. Aspects of post-war life and civilian employment as butcher. Reflections on period of military service.