Notebook relating to the Welsh Guards

This material is held atNational Library of Wales / Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru

  • Reference
    • GB 210 NLW MS 23977i-iiC.
  • Alternative Id.
      (alternative) vtls004526075
  • Dates of Creation
    • [?1920s], 1981
  • Language of Material
    • English English.
  • Physical Description
    • NLW MS 23977iC: 83 ff. (text mostly on rectos) ; 150 x 110 mm.
      NLW MS 23977iiC: 5 ff. ; 210 x 150 mm.
      NLW MS 23977iC: Paper covers; 'WELCH GUARDS 1917 WESTERN FRONT' (label on front cover).
      NLW MS 23977iiC: Card covers.
  • Location
    • ARCH/MSS (GB0210)

Scope and Content

A notebook, [?1920s], containing transcripts of material relating to the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards's actions at Ypres, Cambrai, and elsewhere on the Western Front, January-November 1917 (NLW MS 23977iC). The identity of the compiler is unknown, but he may have been a Guardsman in the regiment and could have been wounded in action in late November 1917 (see ff. 66, 72).
The notebook consists mainly of extracts from C. H. Dudley Ward, History of the Welsh Guards (London, 1920), pp. 141-177 (ff. 2-15, 17-66, rectos only). On the facing pages (ff. 1 verso-5 verso, 7 verso, 24 verso-25 verso, versos only) are extracts from the apparently unpublished journal of a Guardsman, possibly the compiler of the present manuscript, relating to the same period. A list of the battalion's movements during the period (see History of the Welsh Guards, pp. 381-382) is on ff. 68-72, and a series of sketch maps and drawings relating to various engagements are on ff. 73-83. Also included is a booklet (NLW MS 23977iiC) containing research into the manuscript by T. H. Reinallt-James, 1981 (ff. 1-4), which however fails to identify the provenance of the Dudley Ward material; and transcripts concerning Sergeant Robert Bye, VC (f. 5).

Access Information

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Acquisition Information

Mr Hywel Gillard; Tonyrefail; Donation; April 2008; 004526075.

Note

Title based on contents.

Preferred citation: NLW MS 23977i-iiC.

Alternative Form Available

Text

Physical Characteristics and/or Technical Requirements

Covers worn; leaf removed between ff. 66-67 (NLW MS 23977iC).

Archivist's Note

February 2011.

Description compiled by Rhys Morgan Jones;

Custodial History

According to a note on the front cover of NLW MS 23977iiC the diary was in the possession of an R. Humphries in 1981.

Additional Information

Published

Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru = The National Library of Wales