Description
Object description
British private served with 6th Bn Lincolnshire Regt on Western Front, 1916-1919; post-war service with 2nd Bn Lincolnshire Regt in India
Content description
REEL 1: Aspects of operations with 6th Bn Lincolnshire Regt on Western Front, 1916-1919; post-war service with 2nd Bn Lincolnshire Regt in India: story about post-war visit to battlefields; description of attack on Poelcappelle during Third Battle of Ypres, 7-8/1917; organisation of 33rd Infantry Bde; sentry duty; description of trench periscope and use as shaving mirror; took over line in Beaumont Hamel sector, Somme; held line around Lens and used cellars as billets; story of unsuccessful attempt to capture German machine gun at Lens; story of unsuccessful attempt to capture German prisoner; posted to quieter part of line after Passchendaele offensive; story of taking part in night patrols; description of location on one side of Bethune Canal with Germans on opposite bank; story about death of brother.
REEL 2 Continues: description of work extending railway track on Somme towards front line; attitude to Germans; description of damage in Ypres and Poperinghe; reaction to casualties in own platoon; description of removal of bodies to cemetery; returned to GB, Feb/1919; leave; posted to 2nd Bn at Lincoln Barracks; reaction to being posted to India; description of voyage to India and return voyage to GB; problem of seasickness; attitude to Army life; various memories of officers and men; story about Crown and Anchor board used in France.
REEL 3 Continues: number of men in battalion; further memories of officers and men; story of being issued with soldier's Bible, 1916; description of clothing and kit; kit inspection in GB; baths and change of clothes; reason for preferring Lee Enfield rifle to Webley revolver; description of Lewis gun, rate of fire and weight; method of carrying Lewis gun and ammunition; problem of Lewis gun overheating; use of Vickers machine gun by Machine Gun Corps; problem of enfilading fire; role of Royal Engineers and Army Service Corps in delivering supplies; number of days in front line; opinion of cavalry; use of horses and mules to carry guns and ammunition; description of HQ; reaction to horses being killed and injured; description of advance under creeping barrage.
REEL 4 Continues: duties digging trenches; reason for working only at night; comparison of shell holes and trenches; sentry duty; sleeping arrangements; use of pumps to clear water from trenches; description of billets behind front line; opinion of US troops; reaction to seeing civilian refugees on roads; description of pursuing Germans during 1918; story of being at Querrieu-le-Grand when Armistice signed and celebrations in Mons, 11/Nov/1918; billeted in school; story about VC winner L/Sgt. Evans; story about death of brother with 2nd Bn Lincolnshire Regt at Ypres.
REEL 5 Continues:
Continues: further comments on 2nd Lincolns; opinion of 'Chums' battalions; role in operations on Messines Ridge, 7/Jun/1917; story of French miners continuing to work during shelling at Noeux-les-Mines; story of officer asking sergeant to swim over Bethune Canal and bomb German machine gun post; opinion of rations; description of tea being brought up in dixie at night; method of sharing loaf; story of making rice pudding in trench; description of messing arrangements in India; employment of Indian civilians to do menial work; guard duty; role of stick man; description of uniform worn in India; story of Indian women being paid to do laundry for British troops; problem of washing clothes and personal hygiene while on Western Front; showers and fumigation of clothes; issued with one set of clothes and overcoat; description of billets behind front line; method of battalion relief; continuation of field training when out of line; shelling continued during night; problem of shell craters; digging parties sent out at night to repair trenches; problem of German trenches and pillboxes facing wrong way; use of German pillboxes as shelters.
REEL 6 Continues: method of capturing pillboxes; question of Germans having advantage in direction of trenches; opinion of German trenches and dugouts; supplies delivered at night on mules; issued with 100 rounds of ammunition and Mills bombs for trench raids; description of uniform and equipment; description of gas shells being fired and noise on landing; opinion of effectiveness of gas mask; use of klaxon to warn of gas attack; story of soldier in platoon dying later at home from effects of gas; description of dugouts; problem of lack of cover on low ground; repetition of story about French miners; description of line; method of German attack; extent of German advance in 1918 and role in counter-attack at Bapaume; opinion of tanks in First World War; description of Stokes mortar.
REEL 7 Continues: further comments on Stokes mortar and other weapons; description of Mills bomb and method of clearing German dugouts; bomb throwing practice; opinion of German grenades; problem of not being able to use French ammunition; various memories of other veterans; location of artillery batteries and naval guns; use of field guns to follow infantry; description of advancing under creeping barrage and problem of shells dropping short; ports used to sail to and from France; home leave; story of seeing first aircraft in Lincolnshire, c.1912; description of aerial activity and observation balloons on Western Front.