Personal Papers of British soldiers in the Palestine Campaign

[Tauzzo]

Greetings everyone,

I'm embarking on the daunting task, out of personal curiosity, on writing a book about the Palestine Campaign in Egypt, the Sinai, and Palestine. While the IWM, National Archives, British Library, and Liddle Collection have extensive holdings on British soldiers that participated in the campaign, I was wondering if any members of this fantastic forum (truly, what a great resource and online community) were in possession of memoirs, diaries, letters, etc., that are unpublished and not available through the institutions I've mentioned above. If so, I would be endlessly thankful to you and for the opportunity to bring the story of these British soldiers to life and to the public eye. As you all know, the history of the Palestine Campaign, though rich in military and political studies (mainly focusing on the subsequent creation of the British mandate and within a larger narrative of Israeli-Palestinian relations) is seriously lacking a 'history from below' and a tale of the common soldier. What they endured, how the war was fought, etc., is a story we don't hear much of and considering over a half million British soldiers went through the campaign at one point in their service, that's a significant story that has been untold. Again, anything at all would be appreciated so that I can further enhance the story of these great men long gone. Please get in touch with me if you have something of value and we can exchange emails and a possible method of myself obtaining the documents (of course, they don't have to be originals, photocopies would be more than sufficient) Thanks, everyone!

[liliasodell]

Hello. Great project - as you say, it is very much the 'forgotten theatre' of the war - along with the other small theatres (like Africa). My grandfather was in the Warwickshire Yeomanry, and fought in the last great cavalry charge of the British Army at Huj. His pension records survived, plus I've interrogated the family over the years to try to put together snippets of any memories he told them - to add to what he told me (not much, unfortunately - he didn't like to talk about it). He was a keen amateur photographer, and took his box brownie with him. Sadly, when clearing out, my grandmother chucked away a boxful of these photos (yes, even over 20 years later it still makes me squirm), but one small box of photos did survive - some bought, some he took himself. Unfortunately, he didn't keep a dairy (at least till much later in his life). My uncle still has his sword and medals. Would be more than happy to share, if you let me have contact details.

Best of British!

Eljo.

[Tauzzo]

Eljo,

That would be fantastic! It is rather unfortunate about the loss of the original batch of photographs, and that he didn't keep a diary during the war. Do you know if his later diary contains any references to his wartime experience? I can be contacted through email at fantauzzo AT live.ca

[wroclaw]

Greetings everyone,

I'm embarking on the daunting task, out of personal curiosity, on writing a book about the Palestine Campaign in Egypt, the Sinai, and Palestine. While the IWM, National Archives, British Library, and Liddle Collection have extensive holdings on British soldiers that participated in the campaign, I was wondering if any members of this fantastic forum (truly, what a great resource and online community) were in possession of memoirs, diaries, letters, etc., that are unpublished and not available through the institutions I've mentioned above. If so, I would be endlessly thankful to you and for the opportunity to bring the story of these British soldiers to life and to the public eye. As you all know, the history of the Palestine Campaign, though rich in military and political studies (mainly focusing on the subsequent creation of the British mandate and within a larger narrative of Israeli-Palestinian relations) is seriously lacking a 'history from below' and a tale of the common soldier. What they endured, how the war was fought, etc., is a story we don't hear much of and considering over a half million British soldiers went through the campaign at one point in their service, that's a significant story that has been untold. Again, anything at all would be appreciated so that I can further enhance the story of these great men long gone. Please get in touch with me if you have something of value and we can exchange emails and a possible method of myself obtaining the documents (of course, they don't have to be originals, photocopies would be more than sufficient) Thanks, everyone!

Hello and good morning

While I do not hold any personal diaries, I would recommend you also have a look at www.nzmr.org

There are several personal diaries there, most of them fully transcribed. The better known one is the diary of Col. James McCaroll or the Auckland Mounted Rifles.

As mentioned I do not hold any diary, but I do hold copies of a several photo albums taken by an ALH soldier (scout) who carefully added detailed notes, sometimes near stories, under each photo. Don’t know if this is of any help.

[Matthew King]

My Grandfather served in the 6th Essex Regiment in the middle east, we luckly still have all of his letters that he wrote home during the war as well as newspaper articles that is friend wrote for the Stamford Express. I have transcribed all of the letters and they casn be found on my website at http://6thessex.host-ed.net/

If you wish to use any parts of my Grandfather's letters please feel free but can you tell me as it would be interesting to know. There are on the site some Poems by a Lt Mansfield that you might find interesting, if you wish to use those then it would be best to contact his grand daughter who I think is a member of this forum too.

Matt

[Tauzzo]

@wroclaw; is there any chance that the photographs can be scanned or digitized? They might be of value, depending on the photographs and the notations made. @matthewking; what a wonderful and well-structured resource you've created. I'll be taking an opportunity to read through the letters of your grandfather in the next couple of weeks and if I find anything I'd like to use, I'll certainly let you know. Thanks so much for the feedback thus far. Again, if you know of anyone else in possession of diaries, photographs, memoirs, letters, etc., who served in Palestine please put them in contact with myself, as I've listed my email address on one reply post in this thread. Thanks again!