|
Date: |
|
Description: | Privately published memoir (371pp), written in 1966, recalling in detail but with few dates his military experiences with the 7th Battalion South Staffordshire Regiment (33rd Brigade, 11th Division) in the United Kingdom (August 1914 - March 1915), at Gallipoli (April - December 1915) and in Egypt (January - March 1916); as an officer with the 1/6th Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment (143rd Brigade, 48th Division) on the Western Front (April 1916 - March 1917) and in Italy (April - December 1917); training in the UK before transfer back to an unidentified [? 51st] battalion of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment on the Western Front (late 1918 - 1919); with the Army of Occupation in Germany (1919) and, following his demobilisation, his enlistment and service with the Auxiliary Corps in Ireland (circa 1919 - 1920); describing his Scout Association activities before the war, enlistment into the South Staffordshires and training and preparations for war, his embarkation for Gallipoli where he recalls the difficult fighting conditions, service in Alexandria, Egypt involving guard duty at the docks and constant looting by the locals, his transfer to the Western Front where he was commissioned into the Royal Warwickshires and encountered a conscientious objector, his leadership of a front line burial party, discipline within his Company and use of Field Punishment No 1, trench raiding in the Somme sector, living conditions and hygiene, a period of home leave after which his Battalion was posted to the Italian front where he recalls route marches across the Asiago Plateau, the sad state of refugees, the intense fighting, morale-boosting meetings with the Prince of Wales and Louis Mountbatten, leave in Rome and his participation as a runner representing his Division in an international sports competition, his billets in Italian homes, duties as Town Major and relations with the locals, Christmas celebrations, his return to the UK (early 1918) for an examination before being transferred back to the Western Front in time for the Armistice, his role as Sports Officer of the Battalion and the events he organised, joining the Army of Occupation in Germany where he recalls the local people and social life, tours of duty in the Neutral Zone where he prevented attempts at smuggling, transfer to Mulheim and role as Kings Messenger from the Governor of Cologne to the Chief Military Officer, Berlin, the hostile attitude of many Berliners, guard duty at the Bayer factory at Leverkusen, the financial situation in Germany, his demobilisation including medical inspections and a final parade, return home to the UK before joining the Auxiliary Corps in Ireland based at Rathmines, his involvement in an IRA hold-up, their patrol work and off-duty activities, at Curragh Camp for intensive training, the living conditions of poorer families in Cork, home leave and his return to Ireland to find that his entire patrol had been killed in an IRA ambush, involvement in an undercover operation, the disbandment of his unit, return home and eventual emigration to New Zealand.
Cataloguer APR
Catalogue date 2007-11-21 | Publisher: | http://www.iwm.org.uk | Source: | Imperial War Museum | Creator: | Lycette, E | Identifier: | http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/o... | Go to resource |
|
|