Description
Object description
British NCO and officer served with 12th Bn York and Lancaster Regt in Egypt and on Western Front, 1915-1918
Content description
REEL 1: Aspects of training with 12th Bn York and Lancaster Regt in GB, 1914-1915: enlistment in Sheffield, 8/1914; lived at home; issued with navy blue suits and caps; drill; duties as bugler; reason for transfer to signal section; summary of movements in GB; issued with tropical kit. Aspects of operations with 12th Bn York and Lancaster Regt in Egypt, 1915-1916: embarked Isle of Wight aboard HMS Nestor; description of voyage to Egypt; nature of duties in Egypt; posted to France, 3/1916. Recollections of operations as NCO and officer with 12th Bn York and Lancaster Regt on Western Front, 1916-1918: moved to Somme area; description of operations during Battle of Somme, 1/Jul/1916; memory of mines exploding prior to zero hour; description of seeing first wave advancing over No Man's Land and heavy casualties; recovering wounded; relieved Canadian on Vimy Ridge; posted to Ypres area, Belgium; story of eating fish killed by shells; composition of Pals Battalions; posted to OTC in Oxford, GB, 1918; commissioned and returned to Western Front as captain; description of German offensive, 3/1918; story of being wounded; returned to GB for medical treatment; attached to Scottish Rifles in Invergordon, Scotland; memories of Armistice celebrations, 11/11/1918; attitude to fear; duties as signaller; comradeship; memories of friend Les Mort; listening parties; story of religious service held over skeletons in No Man's Land; further memories of advance of first wave of 12th Bn, 1/Jul/1916; reaction to loss of friends; shrapnel injuries; attitude to survival; story of Pte North.
REEL 2 Continues: comparison of British and German rations; description of German dugouts; rum ration; sleeping arrangements in trenches and dugouts; billets; memory of tanks; rest areas out of line; estaminets; opinion of French; memory of German POWs; attitude to Germans; opinion of Haig and Rawlinson; home leave; popular songs; living conditions in Ypres; problem of rats; story of souvenir from church; post-war visits to Somme including unveiling of memorial to Sheffield Pals on Somme; story of attending opening of Menin Gate, 1923 and donating programme to Ypres Museum; post-war visits to graves of friends; further description of operations on Somme, 1/Jul/1916; opinion of French troops; attitude to conscientious objectors. Further memories of operations in Egypt. Reflections on period of military service.