Description
Object description
British private served with 104th Machine Gun Coy, Machine Gun Corps on Western Front, 1916-1917; officer served as pilot with RAF in GB, 1918.
Content description
REEL 1: Aspects of period in County Durham, GB, 1896-1914: family background, childhood and employment in Shotton and Benfieldside; reaction to outbreak of war, 1914; importance of newspapers in following events; story of enlisting with friend in Consett; recreational activities including theatres and music halls; description of Consett; reason for volunteering and influence of Kitchener recruiting poster; called up and sent to Gateside; opinion of medical examination. Aspects of training with British Army in GB, 1914-1916: posted to Fenham Barracks, Newcastle-upon-Tyne; opinion of kit; difficulty in wearing puttees; problem of boots being too small; sent clothes home in parcel; situation in civilian workplace and use of female labour while away; posted to South Shields; billeted in school; training in schoolyard; posted to Grantham; description of journey from Grantham to Southampton and voyage aboard troopship to Le Havre, France. Aspects of operations with 104th Machine Gun Coy, Machine Gun Corps on Western Front, 1916-1917: description of journey in cattle trucks to railhead at Bethune; story of stealing apples from orchard; moved into front line near Neuve Chapelle.
REEL 2 Continues: description of trenches and living conditions; reaction to first casualty in Coy when officer was killed by sniper; story about friend accidentally killed while handling a machine gun; description of soldier with shell shock; reaction to seeing soldier tied to a gun wheel; in reserve trenches at Poelcapelle; reaction to reading misleading report in Daily Mail about attack on own trenches; story about sergeant shot for cowardice after Germans entered trenches; story about Brigade Major Bernard Montgomery reprimanding lance-corporal about dirty lock on machine gun; story of being reprimanded for urinating behind hedge; opinion of officers; method of firing machine gun; story of attending lecture about use of machine guns at Passchendaele; story of playing football on icy ground; problem of rats; opinion of eating horsemeat; use of mules to carry shells; attitude to cook using mules as food; story about ammunition wagon crossing bridge over canal bank at Ypres.
REEL 3 Continues: conclusion of story about ammunition wagon and drunken soldier falling under wheels; story of cook stealing jar of rum for men; summary of movements on Somme; methods of transport; memories of one day leave in Amiens; story about officers cooking rabbits for soldiers' Christmas dinner; description of machine gun post in Courage Post pillbox; story of capturing German soldier and taking him to Bde HQ; problem of finding duckboards in dark; description of machine gun post in Egypt House pillbox; story of being wounded by shrapnel; story of boiling water over dead body in Trones Wood; story of taking German pickelhaube as souvenir from dead German; description of removing dead bodies from German pillbox to use as shelter; forced to wear gas mask because of smell from dead bodies; further comments on medical examinations; opinion of YMCA and Salvation Army in France; story of trying to catch fish on Somme.
REEL 4 Continues: story of Germans in farm; reaction to death of soldier in Coy; opinion of rations; problem of shortage of men; took over command of machine gun post at Egypt House; story of helping wounded soldier in shell hole; opinion of conditions for stretcher bearers; description of trenches and landscape; problem of not being able to reach wounded; description of conditions at Passchendaele; story of finding dead guardsmen killed by gas; description of gas shells and effects of gas; story of winning Military Medal; use of posts in ground and ropes to find way; wrapped legs in sand bags to keep dry; story about friend dropping case with spares in mud; use of limbers; reaction to mother being told he had been killed; reason for wanting to join Royal Flying Corps and reaction of coy CO; promoted corporal; interview with Brig. Sandilands; passed medical and eye test; moved into line at Poelcapelle near trench mortar emplacement; reaction to arrival of transfer papers; description of journey back to GB, 1917; received back pay; given souvenir photographs by 104th Machine Gun Coy officers; posted to camp at Le Havre; story of being given new revolver by quartermaster. Aspects of period in GB, 1917-1918: interview at Air Ministry; description of duties at Machine Gun Corps depot in Grantham; medical examination in London.
REEL 5 Continues: further medical examination with naval officers; smoking habits; passed fit as pilot, April 1918. Aspects of training as pilot with RAF in GB, 1918: posted to air cadet training school in Hastings; story of being given one week Confined to Barracks for being improperly dressed; billeted in Queen's Hotel; attitude to strict discipline; description of training including physical training on sea front, map reading and Morse code; posted to School of Military Aeronautics in Bristol; description of training including finding faults on motorcycle engine; posted to Cadet School in Uxbridge; description of training including machine gun and bombing training; posted for fighter training at No.27 Training Depot Station, Crail, Scotland; flew for 30 hours during training; opinion of instructor Cpt Dean; story of witnessing accident in which instructor and flight sergeant were killed; opinion of Avro aircraft; story about flying aircraft with faulty engine and emergency landing in potato field; transferred to Bristol fighter; first use of aerial photography; engine maintenance; sports; diversity of backgrounds and uniforms; opinion of officers; size of aerodrome and number of personnel; batman assigned to two officers.
REEL 6 Continued: Further aspects of operations as private with 104th Machine Gun Coy, Machine Gun Corps on Western Front, 1916-1917: problem of rats; opinion of strategy in First World War; method of firing Vickers machine gun and danger of hitting own infantry; opinion of German trenches and dugouts on Somme; story of Sgt Bates's gun team being captured near Peronne and post-war meeting with Bates; story about post-war meetings with Sgt Bushell and Gunner Tom Brown. Further aspects of pre-war employment: started as office boy with North Eastern Breweries Ltd age 14; description of celebrations for relief of Mafeking at Shotton Bridge, 5/1900; clerical duties in office including writing letters; amusing story about misunderstanding cockney accent; various memories of office work and staff.
REEL 7 Continues: Further aspects of operations as private with 104th Machine Gun Coy, Machine Gun Corps on Western Front, 1916-1917: problem of lice and personal hygiene; shortage of water; description of mobile water tanks; sanitary arrangements; problem of flooding on Ypres front; story of soldier drowning in mud; story of soldier killed by bullet going through tin helmet; description of collecting pay books and identity discs from dead; number of men in gun crew; role of ammunition carriers; story about fatally wounded friend Dick Piper; problem of stretcher bearers moving on Ypres front; comparison of conditions at Passchendaele and on the Somme; attitude to death. Post-war life and employment.
REEL 8: Further recollections of post-war life and employment.