Gregory, W (Oral history)

British private served with 18th Bn King's Liverpool Regt and 8th Bn Loyal North Lancashire Regt on Western Front, 1915-1916

REEL 1: Background in GB, 1914-1915: story of enlisting with 18th Bn King's Liverpool Regt; question of age; description of basic training; issued with uniform, 10/1914; no rifles; posted to France, 1915. Recollections of operations with 18th Bn King's Liverpool Regt and 8th Bn Loyal North Lancashire Regt on Western Front, 1915-1916: description of trenches in Hebuterne sector, France; posted to Carnoy sector, Somme area; problem of trench feet; memory of being given lift on colonel's horse; description training for Battle of Somme, 6/1916; description of going over top and crossing No Man's Land, 1/Jul/1916; story of falling on entrenching tool and dropping Mills bombs;sheltered in shell hole; problem of machine gun fire;casualties; story of allowing German to escape; description of taking objective of redoubt; occupied German trenches; filled water bottles; description of being wounded in shoulder and medical treatment; problem of being caught in barbed wire; transferred to 8th Bn Loyal North Lancashire Regt; moved to Flers area, 10/1916; wounded and evacuated to GB. REEL 2 Continues: posted to depot in Cork, Ireland. Aspects of period with Royal Flying Corps in GB: description of duties as part of maintenance crew; demobilised, 1918. Aspects of operations with 17th Bn King's Liverpool Regt in Russia, 1918-1919: story of re-enlisting and description of duties in Archangel area. Further recollections of operations with 18th Bn King's Liverpool Regt and 8th Bn Loyal North Lancashire Regt on Western Front, 1915-1916: weather conditions and terrain in France; opinion of rations; living conditions; comparison of British and French trenches; question of French not burying dead; opinion of officers; description of getting out of trench; problem of booby traps; terrain in Somme area and problem of waterlogged trenches; problem of nightmares; casualties in 18th Bn on 1/Jul/1916; reaction to loss of friends; question of fraternisation with Germans; proximity of German trenches; morale in 18th Bn; attitude to fear; story of death of pairs of brothers. REEL 3 Continues: reflections on period of service; attitude to Germans; further memories of operations in Russia; description of crossing No Man's Land; question of stopping to help wounded friends; further description of falling on entrenching tool and problem of losing Mills bombs; attitude to discipline; opinion of company commander.