Description
Object description
British private served with 1/7th Bn Middlesex Regt and Machine Gun Corps on Western Front, 1915-1918; commissioned as officer in Tank Corps, 1918.
Content description
REEL 1: Aspects of period with Middlesex Regt in GB and Gibraltar, 8/1914-3/1915: story of enlisting with Middlesex Regt in Hornsea aged 16, 8/Aug/1914; issued with kit, rifle and bayonet; posted to Sittingbourne, Kent for three weeks basic training; billeted in private house; posted to Gibraltar for six months garrison duty; wore civilian clothes and hats; reaction of regular soldiers to new recruits; posted to Barnet, GB, 2/1915; billets; kitted out for overseas service; sailed aboard SS Munich to France, 3/1915. Recollections of operations with Middlesex Regt and Machine Gun Corps on Western Front, 1915-1918: marched up hill to transit camp; travelled in cattle trucks; billeted in factory; story of burying dead after Battle of Neuve Chappelle, 3/1915;attached to machine gun section of Bn at Aubers Ridge, 9/May/1915; problem of shortage of ammunition; description of running limbers filled with stones along cobbled road to simulate sound of artillery arriving; movement of machine guns after firing to create illusion of greater number of guns; story of artillery running out shells during Battle of Vermelles, 9/May/1915; description of reconnaissance and fighting patrols; proximity to German trenches; description of German attack on sap, 7/May1915; story of being mistakenly reported killed in action; description of digging trenches at night under supervision of Royal Engineers; dimensions of trenches and use of white tape to mark out areas to dig; amusing story of finding ladies underclothes in convent; problem of German snipers aiming at mess tins while crawling along trenches; tacit understanding with Germans not to fire until trenches complete; description of conditions in trenches; rotation in and out of line; problem of trench feet; moved to Hazebrouck, France; description of training and preparations for Somme offensive, 7/1916; preliminary artillery barrage; description of leaving trenches and advancing over no man's land, 1/Jul/1916; story of agreement with friends to meet after war; role as machine gunner; description of objectives; problem of being cut off by Germans and not reaching objective at La Boisselle; casualties; withdrawn from front line to rear area; description of seeing wounded at Crucifix Corner.
REEL 2 Continues: story being transferred to Tank Corps in GB and commissioned as officer after end of war, 1918; reputation of Machine Gun Corps among other units; description of witnessing tanks in attack at Guillemont, Somme, 1916; method of recruitment into Tank Corps; opinion of living conditions for Royal Flying Corps; reason for high casualty rate in Machine Gun Corps; demobilised in Winchester; story of rejecting offer to sign on as regular officer; importance of comradeship; varied backgrounds of machine gun crew; memories of home leave; attitude to propaganda and patriotism; opinion of Germans; story of one hour ceasefire with Germans to collect wounded after Battle of Vermelles; reaction to sight and smell of decomposing bodies; opinion of medical services; description of cemetery at Etaples; transportation of wounded; story of being admitted to hospital tent with trench fever; use of coloured labels to denote seriousness of wounds; description of frozen feet being wrapped in cotton wool; problem of hospital tents being shelled; opinion of nurses at base hospital; description of roadside religious service for dead; religious beliefs; reaction to Armistice and end of war, 11/1918. Aspects of post-war life in GB: age on demobilisation; story of buying clothes with £20 5s gratuity; problem of unskilled ex-servicemen finding employment; reflections on war service; reunions with old comrades; service with RAF during Second World War; opinion of officers at bases.