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Description: | Well written ms account (232pp), illustrated with photographs and various official papers, written in 1934 but based on two original diaries, of his enlistment and training as a Driver in the Royal Field Artillery (April 1916), his service with the Small Arms Ammunition Section (SAAS) of the 38th Brigade RFA in Mesopotamia during the Battle for Kut-el-Amara and the advance to and capture of Baghdad (September 1916 - July 1917), in hospital in India (July - December 1917), to Egypt for transfer to the RFC and initial flying training with No 3 Cadet Wing, Cairo (where he shared a room with Major Michael O'Leary VC, of whom he is less than complimentary) (December 1917 - March 1918), his return to the United Kingdom and a brief period of leave at home in Wales (March - April 1918), further flying training in the UK (March - July 1918), then posting to France with No 107 Squadron RAF (July 1918) and on active service flying as an Observer in DH9s until he and his pilot were shot down over enemy lines (September 1918), then in hospital and as a Prisoner-of-War in Germany (September - December 1918) before repatriation and eventual demobilisation in March 1919. The volume is accompanied by one of his original ms diaries (77pp) with brief daily entries (September 1916 - March 1918), a series of 115 lengthy ms letters and 128 picture postcards to his girlfriend, later fiancée, in Preston, 1 ts letter to his father (March 1917), 7 ms letters from his fiancée (August - September 1918), a few official papers relating to his service, a portrait photograph of him in flying kit, his Observer's badge and an identity disc and a copy of 'The Objective', the journal of No 107 Squadron (March 1919). While Cole's account and the letters provide some interesting details regarding the campaign in Mesopotamia, they are also significant for his vivid descriptions of his experiences during the Allied advance on the Western Front (August 1918), mentioning in particular the squadron's devastating losses, and he also provides some interesting details regarding conditions for Prisoners-of-War in Germany, particularly with regard to rations, and comments on conditions for civilians in Germany in general and their attitude towards the Armistice.
Cataloguer AAM
Catalogue date 2003-02-13 | Publisher: | http://www.iwm.org.uk | Source: | Imperial War Museum | Creator: | Coles, G T | Identifier: | http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/o... | Go to resource |
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