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Description: | 169 ms letters (298pp) plus postcards and telegrams written to his parents in North Finchley, London during his service as an officer with the RFA on the Western Front and in Italy and Germany (January 1916 - September 1920), covering his posting as a Lieutenant with the 175th Brigade RFA (34th Division) to France (January 1916), his command of various batteries within the Brigade and promotion to Brigade Signalling Officer at 175th Brigade HQ (January 1917) before elevation to Captain (September 1917), his attendance on an artillery course bak in the UK (November 1917) before returning to the Brigade as part of the 48th Divisional Artillery in Italy (December 1917), his posting back to the Western Front (March 1918) and attachment with the Brigade to the 2nd Canadian Division, leading to his command of a battery before being wounding by shell fire in June 1918, his stay at No 6 Stationary Hospital and No 8 General Hospital, Rouen, and at Lady Carnarvon's Hospital for Officers, West London and the Red Cross Auxiliary Hospital, Parkstone, Dorset, his appearance before medical boards (August and November 1918), his return to France in December 1918 to command a battery at No 13 Camp, RH and RFA Base Depot, Harfleur, then as a Major with the 155th Army Brigade RFA (February 1919), his move to the Rhineland with the 3rd Division (March 1919) and attachment to 76th Army Brigade RFA at Cologne (April 1919) and Klein Vemich (June 1919), and his demobilisation at Rhyl in September 1919 before embarking on work with the Ministry of Labour (1919 - 1920); including details of his crossing to Havre and conditions on board ship in January 1916, his first impressions of France and conditions for the men, the deserted and destroyed towns (February 1916), his artillery duties and tactics with a very good description of the scenery around the front line and explanation of the defences behind, excellent details of his observation during the First Day of the Battle of the Somme (1 July 1916), the influence and effectiveness of chaplains, the importance of barrage fire, Christmas celebrations, his observations on Italy and duties there (December 1917), the hospital in Dorset (June - July 1918), Armistice Day around the RA mess at Woolwich, his duties involving demobilisation (January - March 1919), impressions of postwar Germany and recreational entertainment for the troops there (1919). The collection also includes 14 ms and ts letters (25pp) from family and friends (1916 - 1936), including a ms letter from a Liverpool curate (March 1916) with very good observations on the role of curates and Christianity during wartime; 5 ms and ts letters from an officer with a mountain brigade in Quetta, India (November 1932 - July 1936) commenting on the Indian demand for self-government, the corruption of the police system, the Indian earthquake (1935), and the role of the League of Nations in Italian and German affairs (1935); and 2 ms letters from W S Morrison (November 1935 - November 1936) relating to his work at the Treasury and the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries; plus various official papers relating to Payne's service including circulars and memoranda, reconnaissance and intelligence reports, brigade orders, barrage maps and an operation order.
Cataloguer PJB
Catalogue date 2003-10 | Publisher: | http://www.iwm.org.uk | Source: | Imperial War Museum | Creator: | Laporte-Payne, A A | Identifier: | http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/o... | Go to resource |
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