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Description: | Photocopied ts transcription of an edited diary (62pp) kept throughout his service as a young Irishman, initially as a Trooper with the 2nd King Edward’s Horse (Canadian Cavalry Brigade), 22 September 1915 – 26 January 1919, describing his life and duties in the trenches of the Western Front and in particular his frightful experiences at the Battle of Loos (September 1915) before he was commissioned (March 1916), his impressions of No Man’s Land as he led a raid on the enemy lines with references to mud, machine gun fire and barbed wire as well as he how was slightly wounded in action (28 June 1916), an account of the fighting in which he participated and witnessed during the Battle of the Somme (July 1916) and also the Battle of Arras (April 1917), including the severe loss of life and number of wounded, also commenting on the Easter Rebellion in Ireland (March 1916) and the rumours surrounding German atrocities on the Front Line (20 March 1917), ending with his diary entries becoming increasingly brief, his wounding (March 1918) and treatment at No 8 General Hospital in Rouen and finally his demobilisation (January 1919); including a ts preface (1p), written by his brother, providing an overview of his military career and revealing how he enlisted at the age of 18, was promoted to Captain in September 1917 and was awarded the Military Cross on 6 February 1918. The collection also includes a remembrance calendar (dated 1926) and a ms poem (2pp) ‘Keep Smiling’ written in France in 1916.
Cataloguer CLS | Publisher: | http://www.iwm.org.uk | Source: | Imperial War Museum | Creator: | Weld, Charles | Identifier: | http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/o... | Go to resource |
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