Bill Richardson, as a member of 48th Battalion, First World War 1916-1919, interviewed by Mr Roger Davis

Roger Davis interviews Bill Richardson about his experiences while serving with the AIF on the Western Front during the First World War., including early life on a rural property near the town of Modbury; something of soldier training; being hardened to horrible sights of the battlefield; observing other soldiers taking unnecessary risks in the field, but nevertheless, feeling protected in some way; anecdotes of the vagaries of chance and survival in battlefield; Australian soldiers' perspective on troops of other nationalities; raiding German positions; the capture of German prisoners; removing valuables from Germans; booby traps and time bombs; the fearfulness of incoming reinforcements; taking part in the battle of Bullecourt; watching one officer collect dismembered parts of his brother after a shell explosion outside Bullecourt or Bapaume; describing his part in the battle at Dernacourt and describing it as the end of the war; being in Amiens when Armistice was announced, and describing his feelings and those of the Australians.
A transcript of this recording may be available. For further information please contact the Sound section.