Arthur Ebdon (4643), 15th Field Company Engineers, 5 Division, discusses his experiences of the Western Front during the First World War in an interview with Paul Cobb

Place Europe: France, Nord Pas de Calais, Nord, Lille, Fromelles
Accession Number S02097
Collection type Sound
Measurement 2 hr 8 min
Object type Oral history
Physical description cassette
Maker Ebdon, Arthur Cyril
Cobb, Paul
Ebdon, Arthur Cyril
Date made 29 February 1992
Access Open
Conflict First World War, 1914-1918
Copyright

Item copyright: AWM Licensed copyright

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

Discusses, Side A: Fromelles battle; deployment of artillery; equipped for battle; battlefield memorials and cemeteries in France; VC Corner; machine guns at Fromelles; casualties; Pompey Elliot; weather; trenches; death of troops; shellshock; reaction to visiting battlefields; sign writing; early life; enlistment; training; Divisional General McKay; opinion of battle; Royal Flying Corp (RFC); lack of parachutes for aircrew; issue of boots; size of blisters relating to boots; air raids; beer ration; end of war; selection for return to Australia; marriage; return to Australia on family boat; post war job; reunion with family; war injuries. Side B: post war adjustment; meets wife in England; return to battlefield in 1979; souvenirs from war; gas alarms and attacks; opinion of British troops; mud and conditions on the Western Front; dugouts; Zonnebecke; post war talks; establishment of battalions in Australia; problems with teeth during war; sea travel; sighteseeing in Egypt; visit by Prince of Wales.
A transcript of this recording may be available. For further information please contact the Sound section.

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