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Description: | Photocopy (102pp) of an ms diary written during his service as a NCO with the 3rd Battalion Royal Marine Light Infantry in the United Kingdom, February - March 1917, referring to the pain of separation from his sweetheart, the condition of his barracks at Gosport, embarkation for the Mediterranean via France and the poor conditions on board their transport ship; then with the RMLI on Lemnos, March - June 1917, describing living conditions in Mudros, recreational activities on the island and visits to war cemeteries; then on the Mediterranean island of Thasos where he was based at the RNAS Station, June 1917 - January 1918, referring to his journey there via the Macedonian port of Stavros, intensive enemy air raids and aerial dogfights, his hospitalisation with malaria, recreational activities including football, witnessing from a distance the heavy bombardments in the Struma valley in Salonika (November 1917), his command of an anti-aircraft beach battery, regular aerial accidents, Christmas celebrations and his narrow avoidance of being shot by Greek sentries; then back to Mudros, February - November 1918, where he carried out guard duty including the supervision of unloading a 'plague ship' (June 1917), machine gun training, and experienced further air raids; to Turkey where he was attached to the East Surrey Regiment (85th Brigade, 28th Division), November - December 1918, describing his duties dismantling Turkish forts at the entrance to the Black Sea, war damage to Constantinople, and conditions generally in occupied Turkey; and finally to Sebastopol, South Russia, December 1918 - January 1919, where he visited the scene of the Black Sea Fleet mutiny and old Crimean War battlefields and describes the state of the German soldiers who he was tasked to remove from the port, the desertion of some Royal Marines in order to join the Bolsheviks, and his journey back to the United Kingdom suffering from malaria. Together with photocopies (5pp) of six photographs showing the aircraft carrier HMS PEGASUS and seaplanes in operation, probably off Thasos; an ms letter of appreciation regarding his service in the Cameroons, West Africa, January 1915; and a newspaper cutting from October 1984 regarding Couldrake's diary.
Cataloguer APR
Catalogue date 2003-05-07 | Publisher: | http://www.iwm.org.uk | Subjects: | 3rd Battalion East Surrey Regiment 28th Division 85th Brigade British Army Royal Navy Royal Marine Light Infantry | Source: | Imperial War Museum | Creator: | Couldrake, H T | Identifier: | http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/o... | Go to resource |
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