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World War I.- Javelean. 3 Autograph

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8pp. & envelopes, in pen and pencil, 8vo, [France], [Welsh Supply Column British Expeditionary Force], 19th February 1915 - 13th October [1915], "... this is the first time I have been on this part of the line, don't get so much excitement as I did with the Royal Engineers in Belgium Column Work is very different to being attached to R.Es, do not hear much of the bombardments here unless it is a very still night occasionally see a tank or one of ours being shelled ... . I sincerely hope that 1916 will see the finish of this terrible war, must be awful in the trenches, this weather, often see the Boys going or returning from them, I saw the Bantams yesterday they looked very smart little fellows, quite business like..."; and a quantity of others, including 8 other letters from France, a Christmas Card from France, 1918, and: Vere Harmsworth (second son of The Viscount Rothermere, killed at the Battle of the Somme, 1895-1916) 24th October 1916; Leicester Boy's (Alfred's) account of how he was wounded on the Somme 1916, typescript with manuscript corrections, creased, n.d.; 2 typescript copies of letters to St. John Harmsworth, "According to present orders we have left the worst behind us for good. We came up into the trenches this morning and we go over the top the morning after to-morrow. It will be about dawn, as the whole day will be required for the very big operations in hand. It is a terrifically big show. Our battalion goes over the 1st of our division and we are to take about the 1st 3 lines of enemy trenches. After frequent halts we move on about a mile further before the job is taken out of our hands by someone else. If it goes all right and the artillery does not fail us, it will be an A1 show, but otherwise absolutely bloody", manuscripts and typescripts, v.s., v.d.(sm. qty)

***Wounded on the Somme. "The following evening we had to attack two lines of trenches at 12.30 in conjunction with other troops. We were only allowed 16 minutes artillery preparation before we had to be in. We had to follow up our own curtain fire before the Germans brought their machine guns out of their dug-outs. No artillery fire has yet smashed the dug-out problem, and to obviate this troops have now to follow up their own artillery fire closely instead of waiting until the bombardment is over as formerly. In doing this I think I got hit by one of our own shells. I am not certain however. It may have been a German bomb. However, I was hit in the left thigh so hard that on rising I found I could not use it and was thus out of action. I was in terrible agony and rolled over and over and unfortunately in my writhings I had lost my bearings and was uncertain where our own lines lay. I then found a shell hole and determined to spend the night there. When the dawn came after seeming years of waiting I crept out and reconnoitred. I had not been gazing around long when I became the object of attention of a German sniper who was sniping our wounded in the open. I may say the attack was a failure and we had to back out. I crawled out on my stomach and thus crawled to our own lines about 300 yards away. It was agonising, I was sniped all the time. I was weak from loss of blood and could not use my left leg at all but after intense suffering I crawled in. My troubles were not yet over as the Germans then shelled our lines so much that for 5 hours no stretcher could get up to me. Eventually however help came and I proceeded by stages here - the 7th Stationery Hospital Boulogne." - Alfred Harmsworth..

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