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Description: | 240 prints in two albums and 47 loose prints mainly relating to Captain John Paskin's service with the 1/8th Battalion, The Worcestershire Regiment and the Machine Gun Corps during WWI.
The earliest photographs date from just before WWI and cover the summer training camps of the Cambridge University OTC at Mytchett during 1913 and 1914. Following these are a number of photographs depicting 'D' (Evesham) Company, 1/8th Worcestershire Regiment at Maldon and Evesham during the early months of war, prior to being sent on overseas service. Scenes include the 'send off' parade in Evesham (16 November 1914), training in digging entrenchments, a route march from Bicnacre to Maldon (18 September 1914) and a review of the 1/8th Battalion by King George V at Hylands Park. There are also group photographs including some of officers, and men of Nos. 7 and 8 Platoons, the latter taken at Maldon in March 1915.
The first photographs taken on active service cover No.7 Platoon at Boulogne on 1 April 1915. These are followed by photographs taken in the trenches of the 1st Scottish Rifles at Bois Grenier (13 April 1915), probably during the 1/8th Worcesters period of acclimatization to trench warfare. Further images show men of Nos. 6 and 7 Platoons in the line at Ploegsteert Wood, again during April 1915, including views of the area around 'Bloody Corner.' Other locations depicted are Chateau Pont-de-Nieppe, Grande Rebecque Farm at Le Bizet (before and after its destruction by German shelling - 26 April 1915) and Support and London Farms near Ploegsteert. There is also a view over a trench parapet at Le Touquet (May 1915). The remainder of 1915 is well covered by photographs of officers and men of the Battalion at rest and in the line at a number of locations. These are the River Authie near Bois de Warnemont (28 July), Bayencourt (August - scenes include the digging of trenches and a battery of French 75mm guns), Bus les Artois (September) and Hebuterne (July - December - including ruins of village, trench scenes and a machine gun in action at 'Marguerite' trench, 'H' Sector, 31 July 1915).
Paskin's service with the Machine Gun Corps is covered by a number of portrait and group photographs of officers, NCOs and HQ staff of the Corps. There are also images relating to the British Army of the Rhine at Cologne (November 1918 - March 1919). These include officers and men of C Company, 29th Battalion, MGC (January and March 1919). Other photographs cover an inter-company cross-country race (7 March 1919 - route: Arnhausen-Dabringhausen-Stumpf). Places of 'sightseeing' interest are also covered, including the Hohenzollern Bridge over the Rhine, Cologne Cathedral, the Sieben Gebirge and Cologne Zoo. There are also three photographs dating from March 1919, showing the ruins of Bailleul and Strazeele Station. These were probably taken on Paskin's return journey from Germany. The latest photographs in the collection cover a scout rally in Hagley Park during Easter 1919.
The collection also includes a few photo-postcards including views of Hebuterne village (from La Grande Guerre 1914-15 series), the 29th Division Memorial at Beaumont Hamel and the German military camp at Elsenborn. One album also contains 13 prints of British Official Photographs of the Western Front (IWM 'Q' Series).
Note: Many of the officers of the the 1/8th Worcestershire Regiment and the MGC depicted in the photographs are named. | Publisher: | http://www.iwm.org.uk | Source: | Imperial War Museum | Identifier: | http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/o... | Go to resource |
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