Accounts relating to Herbert Austin Bailey, 1918-1919

Places	Europe: France, Haute-Normandie, Seine Maritime, Le Havre Europe: France, Haute-Normandie, Seine Maritime, Rouelles Europe: France, Picardie, Somme, Amiens Europe: France, Picardie, Somme, Hindenburg Outpost Line Area Europe: France, Picardie, Somme, Peronne Europe: France, Picardie, Somme, Rivery Europe: France, Picardie, Somme, Templeux-le-Guerard Europe: United Kingdom, England, Essex, Brightlingsea
Accession Number	AWM2018.19.42
Collection number	PR90/018
Collection type	Digitised Collection
Record type	File
Item count	6
Object type	Papers
Physical description	63 Image/s captured
Maker	Bailey, Herbert Austin
Place made	France, United Kingdom: England
Date made	1918-1919
Conflict	First World War, 1914-1918
Copying Provisions	Digital format and content protected by copyright.

Places

Accession Number

AWM2018.19.42

Collection number

PR90/018

Collection type

Digitised Collection

Record type

File

Item count

Object type

Papers

Physical description

63 Image/s captured

Maker

Bailey, Herbert Austin

Place made

France, United Kingdom: England

Date made

1918-1919

Conflict

First World War, 1914-1918

Copying Provisions

Digital format and content protected by copyright.

Accounts relating to the First World War service of 19636 Sapper Herbert Austin Bailey, 15th Field Company, Australian Engineers, England and France, 12 April [1918 - c. 1919].

These accounts by Bailey primarily comprise long and detailed descriptions of his activities and observations with the 15th Field Company whilst on active service in England and France. He provides an insight into his varied role as a Sapper and the associated engineering activities of the 15th Field Company ranging from clearing trenches and laying duckboards through to the reconnaissance of transport routes, repair of damaged roads and bridges, and construction of quarters.

Bailey often describes his observations of travelling on roads crammed with men, vehicles and vast amounts of material, and the challenges of traversing transport routes damaged by shelling and churned up by traffic after wet weather. He notes passing towns in ruins and refugees living in lamentable conditions, and mentions encounters with American, Canadian, Indian and Chinese troops.

Bailey also provides vivid descriptions of devastated landscapes following the Battle of Amiens, the Capture of Peronne and the Hindenburg Line offensive. He reflects on salvaging material from battlefields strewn with the bodies of fallen soldiers and dead animals, and soldiers surveying these scenes for souvenirs. He also comments on captured material being sorted and sent to Australia in preparation for a new war museum.

This file contains:

Account of active service by Herbert Austin Bailey, England, France 12-13 April [1918] [Account is incomplete and appears to have been rewritten after the war at an unknown date];
Account of active service by Herbert Austin Bailey, 28 July - [c. August 1918];
Account of active service by Herbert Austin Bailey, France [c. August - October 1918] [Account is incomplete];
Account of active service by Herbert Austin Bailey, [France] [c. 1918 - 1919];
Account of active service by Herbert Austin Bailey, [France] [c. 1918 - 1919]; and
Account of active service by Herbert Austin Bailey, France [c. 1918 - 1919] [Account is incomplete - pages 1-16 are missing]