MANUSCRIPT
World War One soldier's diary
- Date
- 1918-1919
- By
- Gearry, Edward John, 1887-1957
- Reference
- MSX-9088
- Description
Volume recounts Gearry's military training and involvement with the Otago Infantry during World War One. Diary begins 1 Jan 1918 as Gearry arrives in Wellington for military training; he is based at the Alexandra Barracks. Diary details daily training and visits to other military camps including Seatoun. Also working on Glasgow Wharf and Kings Wharf on the Wellington waterfront. Disembarked on 8 Feb with 34th Reinforcements Otago Infantry Regiment, D Company aboard the Ulimaroa. Comments on shipboard life, illness, Company duties and other vessels encountered on the six week journey to England. Arrives Liverpool, 29 Mar, travels on to Army training camp near Brockton. Details of training include rifle shooting, gasmask training, daily parades and cold English weather. Left Folkestone 16 May for Boulogne, France. Training at the Etaples Bull Ring camp from May to July. Sent to the front line in August as part of the Hundred Days Offensive. Describes trench digging, bombing by German aeroplanes, shelling and being on gas guard. Wounded in action near Gouzeaucourt Wood on 12 Sep. Returned to England, Walton-on-Thames Hospital for recovery. Comments on armistice celebrations in his ward 11 Nov. 19 Dec leaves hospital to Southampton and is shipped back to New Zealand, arrived Wellington 29 Jan, then went onward to Lyttelton. Diary ends 1 Feb 1919.
Diary also has address lists, some financial records and inserted newspaper cuttings.
Title supplied by Library
Enclosures - Loose inserts from diary have been collected into an enclosure envelope. Diary contains pencil holder and original pencil.
Private Gearry served with the 34th Reinforcements Otago Infantry Regiment, D Company during World War One. Wounded in action on the Western Front. Serial number: 68705
Quantity: 1 volume(s) (400 pages). 0.01 Linear Metres.
Physical Description: Holograph (13cm; brown linen)
Transfers: Collection taken into the Manuscripts Section as a whole, transfer made from there. - To Other - To Curios: Two dog tags and three military badges.
Processing information: Part of WW100 digitisation project.
Digitisation details - Last month of diary is written upside down on the bottom of the diary pages beginnng 1 Jan 1918. 428 digitised images.
Combined into ATL-Group-00800, 29 November 2022. Previous title: Gearry, Edward John, 1887-1957 : World War One soldier's diary.
- Access restrictions
- Partly restricted - Please use surrogate in place of original
- Format
- 1 volume(s) (400 pages), 0.01 Linear Metres, Diaries, Clippings, Manuscripts, Holograph (13cm; brown linen)
Click to request to view this item, access digital version (if available), and see more information.
Usage
Using this Item
You can copy this item for personal use, share it, and post it on a blog or website. It cannot be used commercially without permission, please ask us for advice. If reproducing this item, please maintain the integrity of the image (i.e. don't crop, recolour or overprint it), and ensure the following credit accompanies it:
Gearry, Edward John, 1887-1957. World War One soldier's diary. Gearry, Edward John, 1887-1957 : Collection. Ref: MSX-9088. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/32045904More information can be found in our terms of use.