Pratt, Harold Ernest (Oral history)

British private served served with 56th Bn Machine Gun Corps on Western Front, 1918; served as clerk with Headquarters 10th Corps, Army of Occupation in Germany, 1919; NCO served with Home Guard in Watford, GB, 1940-1944

REEL 1: Background in London, GB, 1899-1917: family;education; memory of airman Claude Grahame-White. Aspects of enlistment and training as private with London Rifle Bde and Machine Gun Corps in GB, 1917-1918: reasons for joiing Rifle Bde, 1917; basic training and reasons for transferring to Machine Gun Corps; training at Clipstone Camp, 4/1918; description of training on Vickers Machine Gun and role as No 2 in team; opinion of Vickers Machine Gun. Aspects of operations as private with 56th Bn Machine Gun Corps on Western Front, 1918: attitude to going to France; description of Machine Gun Corps Depot at Camieres; joining battalion; reason for firing on fixed targets; journey from Folkestone, GB to Boulogne, France; further description of Machine Gun Corps Depot at Camieres; move to front line in Arras sector; attempts to shoot down German aircraft; problem of gas detection; description of life in trenches; night operations including manning listening post. REEL 2 Continues: description of gas shells and effects of gas at Arras, 1918; treatment in field hospital;attitude to fear. Aspects of period as clerk at Headquarters, 10th Corps, Army of Occupation, Germany, 1919: nature of duties; relations with German civilians; question of disability pension. Aspects of period as NCO with Home Guard in Watford, GB, 1940-1944: training; weapons.