Mediterranean Expeditionary Force unit war diaries, 1914-1918 War

Accession Number	AWM6
Collection type	Official Record
Object type	Official Record
Date made	1914-1916
Conflict	First World War, 1914-1918
Copyright	Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain This item is in the Public Domain
Copying Provisions	Copyright restrictions apply. Only personal, non-commercial, research and study use permitted. Permission of copyright holder required for any commercial use and/or reproduction.

Description

This series is an incomplete set of (mostly) photostat copies of war diaries for components of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force (MEF) at Gallipoli in 1915. A few diaries date from 1914 and some continue into 1916. Most diaries are of British formations and units, with a few Indian, Australian and New Zealand units included.

Although the series has been treated as records of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, it also includes some other records, for example:

(a) Diary of Otago Mounted Rifles Regiment, NZEF, commenced in 1914 before there was any intention to join the MEF.

(b) Diary of 1/1st Ayrshire Battery, Royal Horse Artillery, belonging to the period after the MEF was reorganised and became the Egyptian Expeditionary Force.

(c) "AWRS précis" (see below) compiled in London after the campaign.

The "AWRS précis" (Australian War Records Section) appear to be summaries for major formations down to Division level, taken from relevant war diaries to give a summary of activities throughout the formation, i.e. not purely headquarters activity.

Item [22] contains a note written by Major J L Treloar in 1926 commenting on the likely origin of the "AWRS précis". He believed them to have been compiled by the Historical Section, Committee of Imperial Defence, working at the Public Records Office, London, in conjunction with the Australian War Records Section in 1917-18.