|
Date: |
|
Description: | Microfilm copy of a ts transcription of letters written home to his fiancee during the First World War, October 1914 - December 1918, when he served on the Western Front as Brigade Major RA, 28th Division (December 1914 - October 1915); in Salonika as Brigade Major RA, 28th Division (November 1915 - February 1916) and DAAG Staff Officer to the Brigadier General RA, 16th Army Corps (February - May 1916); in Egypt and Palestine as GSO2, 52nd Division (May - October 1916), as GSO1, No 2 Section Canal Defence (October 1916 - August 1917) and as staff officer to 302nd Brigade RFA (60th Division) (August 1917 onwards), covering in very good detail the actions and manoeuvres in which he is engaged and the routine of life and events in these theatres of war, while describing trench conditions and his feelings of being under fire, inspections by Field Marshal Sir John French (January 1915) and the King and Queen of Belgium (June 1915), taking breakfast with the Prince of Wales (October 1915), the inadequacies of the communication system on the Western Front, relations with Belgian soldiers and civilians, the use of poison gas and the futility of the Battle of Loos (September - October 1915), the poor weather conditions of Salonika and the dullness he experienced there which was enlivened only by occasional air raids, the novelty of desert conditions after arriving in Egypt and the incredible heat, his work on the staff of General Sir Philip Chetwode, attacks on Rafa (January 1917), the Turkish railway (May 1917) and Bir Saba (November 1917), recreational activities including sports days, concert parties, dinners and riding, and Armistice celebrations.
Cataloguer APR
Catalogue date 2001-05-08 | Publisher: | http://www.iwm.org.uk | Source: | Imperial War Museum | Creator: | Fergusson, V M | Identifier: | http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/o... | Go to resource |
|
|