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Description: | Ms diary letter (23pp with 9pp ts transcript) written between September and (?) November 1915 by a subaltern in the South Wales Borderers describing in detail his voyage on the FRANCONIA to Lemnos via Malta and his subsequent brief period of service with the 4th Battalion South Wales Borderers (40th Brigade, 13th Division) at Gallipoli in the northern extension of the Anzac beachhead until he was evacuated sick with severe dysentery and brought back to England on the AQUITANIA, with interesting comments reflecting his excitement and sense of anticipation about life on active service and a good summary of conditions ashore at Suvla Bay, including the death of a soldier, together with 133 ms letters, cards and telegrams dated September 1912 – October 1919 and written mainly to his father, a clergyman, covering his employment as an assistant master at Lucton School, Herefordshire (1912), life as an undergraduate studying theology at Keble College, Oxford and in the OTC (1913 – 1915) and military service: with the 9th Battalion South Wales Borderers at Pembroke Dock, South Wales and Kinmel Park, North Wales (February – July 1915), en route to the Dardanelles (September – October 1915), at Gallipoli (October) and during his subsequent recovery from dysentery at No 4 General Hospital, Denmark Hill, South London and at St David’s, South Wales (November – December 1915), with his observations on the impact of war on the local Welsh community; on light duties at Kinmel Park (March – May 1916), as a platoon commander with the 10th Battalion South Wales Borderers (115th Brigade,38th Division) on the Western Front (May – December 1916), with a lively and detailed account of his experiences during his Battalion’s attack on Mametz Wood in the Battle of the Somme in July, comments on the strength of the Germans’ defensive positions, his lack of compunction at killing wounded enemy snipers, the ‘splendid’ spirit of the men despite their heavy losses and the souvenirs that he had acquired, also a good description of a church in a dug-out (23 August); while sick in 14 General Stationary Hospital, Boulogne, (December 1916), at a (?)hospital in Cardiff, South Wales (April – July 1917); with the 3rd Battalion South Wales Borderers at Hightown, Lancashire, principally as Battalion Musketry Officer (September – November 1917 and March – September 1918), with details of his musketry course at Altcar (October 1917) and of the battalion’s officers; on attachment to the British Military Mission in Bulgaria (October 1918 – October 1919) helping to repatriate former internees of the Bulgarians and as an Intelligence Officer; also 2 letters received by him during his military service, correspondence received by his parents (1910 – 1915) including details of his act of heroism saving a friend from drowning (1910), papers relating to Keble College, Oxford, to his awards and decorations and his military service and letters and other documents relating to his sudden, unexplained death in Bulgaria in December 1919.
Cataloguer AC | Publisher: | http://www.iwm.org.uk | Source: | Imperial War Museum | Creator: | Biggerton-Evans, Arthur Basil F | Identifier: | http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/o... | Go to resource |
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