Rackham, Basil Bedsmore (Oral history)

British officer served with Hawke Bn Royal Naval Div at Gallipoli and on Western Front, 1915-1918

REEL 1: Recollections of operations with Hawke Bn Royal Naval Division at Gallipoli and on Western Front, 1915-1918: reason for joining Royal Naval Division; description of training and opinion of instructors; nature of operations at Gallipoli and opinion of Turks; description of patrols and trench raids at Gallipoli; question of morale; problem of disease; comparison of conditions at Gallipoli and on Western Front; description of night trench raids on Western Front; use of camouflage; story of trench raid at Gallipoli; selection of men for raids; opinion of value of trench raids; comparison of Turks and Germans; question of collecting identification from dead; communications in front line including use of semaphore; description of listening post on Western Front. REEL 2 Continues: description of observation post on Western Front; nature of operations around Passchendaele, Belgium; attitude to German offensive, 3/1918; problem of mustard gas burns; description of German bombardment; problem of following barrage and effectiveness of shells; question of morale.