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Description: | British private served with 2nd Bn Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry on Western Front, 1915-1918
REEL 1: Background in New Bradwell, Bucks, 1914: family; employment as carter; reaction to outbreak of war, 8/1914; story of enlistment with Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry in Oxford, 26/Dec/1914; question of reserved occupation; reaction of parents; reason for volunteering. Aspects of training with 9th Bn Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry in GB, 1914-1915: description of basic training in Oxford and at Bovington Camp, Dorset; duties as officers' servant; opinion of officers; posted to France, 1915. Recollections of operations with 2nd Bn Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry on Western Front, 1915-1918: description of voyage to Le Havre; posted to 2nd Bn Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry in La Bassee area, France; story of German mine exploding; first impressions of battlefield; description of conditions in Delville Wood, Somme; memory of corpses; reaction to first sight of dead bodies; description of going over the top and crossing No Man's Land; problem of water and mud in trenches; story of haversack hit by bullet.
REEL 2 Continues: wounded by piece of shrapnel; home leave; attitude to survival; rum ration; story of tank hit by shell; gas; reaction to end of war; question of remaining in army; story of bayonet drill; brother's military service; question of changing French francs; demobilisation, 1919. Post-war life and employment: employment as carter in New Bradwell.
REEL 3 Continues: further memories of post-war life and employment. Reflections on period of wartime service; memories of Christmas in trenches; duties as officer's servant on Western Front. | Publisher: | http://www.iwm.org.uk | Source: | Imperial War Museum | Creator: | Parker, Arthur James | Identifier: | http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/o... | Go to resource |
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