Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1916 (Creation)
Level of description
File
Extent and medium
ii, 97 ff. (original pagination [1]-63 continued to end) ; 100 x 70 mm.
Cloth covers with back-loop pencil; 'The BRITISH RED CROSS SOCIETY'S DIARY' (gold on front cover).
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
John Underwood Antiquarian Books; Carleton Rode; Purchase; July 2017; 99757016602419.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
British Red Cross Society's Note Book and Diary for 1916, of Corporal Howard Ll[oyd] Roberts of Borth, Cardiganshire, serving on the Western Front in France and Belgium with the 129th Field Ambulance of the RAMC, attached to 15th Battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers, part of the 38th (Welsh) Division, containing diary entries for 16 January and 2 February-31 December 1916 (pp. 74, 78-174). The frequent references to water tanks and carts indicate Cpl Roberts was part of the 129th Ambulance's Sanitary Section.
The Division began the year in the Neuve-Chapelle sector, between Merville and Bethune (pp. 78-116), then in June was ordered to the Somme, taking part in the Battle of Mametz Wood during the 1st Battle of the Somme in July (pp. 121-124). On 31 July (p. 130) Roberts's battalion arrived at Poperinghe, Belgium, and spent the rest of the year in the vicinity of Ypres (pp. 130-174). Roberts was on leave in Birmingham and Borth, 3-10 April (pp. 96-98), and was hospitalised at St Omer with German measles, 4-15 May (pp. 104-108). As an artist Roberts contributed sketches to the New Year Souvenir of the Welsh Division for 1917 (see pp. 160-165). A sketch map of the British lines at Windy Corner, [Neuve-Chapelle sector], is on p. 65; a very small pencil sketch is on p. 124.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Conditions governing reproduction
Usual copyright laws apply.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Language and script notes
English.
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Covers worn.
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
Title based on contents.
Alternative identifier(s)
Alma system control number
Access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Roberts, Howard Lloyd, 1879-1935 -- Diaries (Subject)
- Great Britain. Army. Division, 38th (Subject)
- Great Britain. Army. Royal Army Medical Corps (Subject)
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Description follows NLW guidelines based on ISAD(G) 2nd ed.; AACR2; and LCSH
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
November 2018.
Language(s)
Script(s)
Sources
Archivist's note
Description compiled by Rhys Jones.