Day, Kenneth Sydney (Gunner, b.1885 - d.1965)

Typed transcription of the personal diary of No. 9302 Gunner Kenneth Sydney Day (4th Field Artillery Brigade) from his enlistment in October 1914 until his return to Australia in September 1917. It covers his artillery training in Egypt (at Zeitoun and Tel-el-Kebir) before he crossed to France in March 1916 and joined artillery operations behind the front line at Ploegsteert near Armentieres (Belgium), and then with the 11th Battery in 'Sausage Gulley' near Contalmaison in the Battle of Pozieres (July), and subsequently in the Ypres area (August). He returned to the Somme theatre in October and the diary describes his battery's operations until April 1917 at or near Montauban, Longueval, Ginchy, Martinpuich, Bapaume and Noreuil. He was wounded by a shell during the Battle of Bullecourt in May 1917 and evacuated to England. His duties included transporting ammunition and provisions from the wagon lines behind the front to the gun pits.