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Description: | Ms letters (48pp), with ts transcription (31pp), written to his brother Jack regarding his service as a NCO with the 11th Battalion The Queen's (Royal West Surrey Regiment) (123rd Brigade, 41st Division) on the Western Front, September 1916 - August 1918, describing conditions in the trenches, his initial shock at experiencing artillery fire, Christmas celebrations, his duties with the 123rd Machine Gun Company (January - August 1917), his experience of 'going over the top', rations, a period in hospital due to illness, events back in the United Kingdom including the birth of his niece, and a letter to Jack from their cousin Wyn Gillet in which he describes his own experiences of the Western Front (July 1917). The collection also comprises ms letters (112pp) written back to him by his brother Jack, John's wife Kitty and their children while living in Purley, Surrey during the Second World War, November 1940 - June 1942, regarding Jack's move to the country and including descriptions of Salisbury and the surrounding area, bomb alerts, rationing, blackouts, Christmas celebrations, his daughter's wedding and nephew's engineering interests, the 1942 election and several poems including one on rationing (May 1942); these Second World War letters are extensively illustrated throughout with colour pencil drawings in the most part relevant to the content of the letter including depictions of rations, seasons and views of the surrounding area.
Cataloguer APR
Catalogue date 2005-03-07 | Publisher: | http://www.iwm.org.uk | Source: | Imperial War Museum | Creator: | Pearce, J | Identifier: | http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/o... | Go to resource |
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