Diary of Theodor Milton Pflaum, 1916

Places
Accession Number RCDIG0001104
Collection number PR00503
Collection type Digitised Collection
Record type File
Item count 1
Object type Diary
Physical description 42 Image/s captured
Maker Pflaum, Theodor Milton
Place made At sea, Egypt, France
Date made 1916-1917
Conflict First World War, 1914-1918
Description

Diary relating to the First World War service of Second Lieutenant Theodor Milton Pflaum, 8th Machine Gun Company. This diary contains entries ranging from 16 June 1916 to February 1917 and covers: the embarkation from Alexandria for France in June 1916; voyage on the SS Tunisian and the units on board; observations of SS Transylvania; the arrival in Marseilles and the French people that greeted them; the beauty of Marseilles and the French countryside; the train journey to the Western Front; deployment to the front line; a detailed account of the battle of Fromelles on 19 July 1916 and Pflaum’s actions during the battle; the aftermath of Fromelles; gas attacks and the use of gas masks; rotation in and out of the front line through August, September and October; the mud and wet weather; spending the winter on the Somme; receiving the commission to become a second lieutenant and the subsequent transfer to England for training in February 1917.