Description
Object description
British NCO served as signaller with 1/5th Bn London Regt (London Rifle Bde) on Western Front, 1914-1916
Content description
REEL 1: Story of enlistment with 1/5th Bn London Regt, 1910; mobilised at outbreak of war, 8/1914; summer camp; requisitioning of horses; billets; pay; training; uniform; description of journey to France; marched to Hazebrouck sector, France; attached to 4th Div. Recollections of operations with 1/5th Bn London Regt on Western Front, 1914-1916: relations with regulars; daily routine and living conditions; billets in Ploegsteert, Belgium; recreational activities; sentry duty at London Farm; amusing story of rum ration; memories of Christmas 1914; conditions in trenches; shared use of pump with Germans; casualties; description of fraternisation with Germans on Christmas Day, 1914; story of German officer; amusing story of drunken German prisoner; posted to Ypres sector, Belgium 4/1915; billets in Flamertinghe; disposal of surplus kit.
REEL 2 Continues: description of Ypres; digging trenches; cooking; disposition of trenches; description of gas attack and German assault; listening patrol in No Man's Land; moved into front line; dug in on banks of Yser Canal; memory of bathing in canal and being shelled; casualties; story of Lt Williams winning VC; embussed to St Omer, France; duties working in stores; acquired new uniform and rifle; description of duties working on lines of communication at Doullens; amusing story of delivering message; reason for signing on for further four years; story of returning to St Omer; attached to 3rd Div; memory of seeing Winston Churchill in trenches; attached to 56th Div; organisation of signals section; description of preparations for German attack at Hebuterne; digging trenches; loss of rifle; question of artillery retaliation against Germans; story of communication trench.
REEL 3 Continues: role of signals section in attack on German trenches, 1/Jul/1916; preliminary bombardment; co-operation with Royal Flying Corps; opinion of success of attack; story of seeing tank demonstration; moved into Happy Valley sector; accommodation in tents; established signals post; problem of French shelling; description of role in attack on Combles; signalling equipment; story of German bomb exploding in trench; attitude to fear; reaction to loss of friends; story of being shot in arm on Menin Road; attitude to survival; opinion of officers and high command.