Description:
Item is the sixth of eight diaries written by Archie Wills during World War I. This volume contains entries from January 1st, 1918 to January 4th, 1919 and describes Wills' experiences on the battlefield in France, in Bethune, Bracqueumort, Arras, Amiens, Etaples, and Vimy Ridge, and finally in Belgium. Entries dated November 15th to December 30th, 1917 are also included at the end of the diary. The diary describes daily routines and living conditions on the battlefield, illustrating the hardship and brutality of war in the trenches, and includes accounts of extreme weather, inadequate rations, sleep deprivation, shell shock, gas attacks, incendiary shells, fire exchanges, hauling ammunition, attacks on airplanes and observation balloons, and the building of shelters. Wills also describes the impact of the Spanish Influenza on the soldiers and his own illness on June 27th, 1918. Highlights include Wills' accounts of going on leave to Paris and Scotland; working on the O-Pip; his commission as sergeant; and hearing about the proclamation of armistice.
Subjects:
World War, 1914-1918; Wills, Archie
Date:
1917-1919
Title-Alternative:
Volume 6: my life in the army by Archie H. Wills. Jan. 1 - Dec. 31 1918 [sic], Last Hundred Days Armistice at Mons.
Collection:
Archie H. Wills fonds
Location(s):
France--Bethune; France--Bracqueumort; France--Arras; France--Amiens; France--Etaples; France--Vimy Ridge; Belgium
People Depicted:
Wills, Archie; Atkinson, Glenn; Beckwith, L.; Beckwith, R.; Clarke, Andrew; Cohlan, H. C.; Creach, William; de Grasse, Robert; Dixon, G. B.; Forbes, William; Goldie, Alexander Joseph; Goldie, John Edward; Gordon, A. H.; Hunt, H. E.; Inglis, J. M.; Laskey, W.; Lomas, George; MacDearimit, H.; McDonald, Daniel; McGrath, J. K.; McRae, T. L.; Newton, William; Rossborough, Ritchie; Watkins, F. H.; Wood, J.; Wright, Alfred James