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Personal diary of Maj Gen Sir William Douglas Smith, relating to his service on the Western Front, France and Belgium, World War One, 1914-1917, including: service as Commander, 1 Battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers, Aug-Nov 1914; Battle of Mons, 23 Aug 1914; Battle of Le Cateau, 26 Aug 1914; the retreat to the River Marne, Aug-Sep 1914; the Battle of the Aisne, Sep 1914; service as Commander of 9 Infantry Brigade, Nov 1914 - Mar 1916; action around Hooge and Bellewaarde, Belgium, Jun and Sep 1915; service as Commander, 20 Division, Mar 1916 - Mar 1917 and Aug-Dec 1917, including the capture of Guillemont, Sep 1916, and the Battle of Le Transloy, Oct 1916, both during the 1916 Battle of the Somme; the Battle of Cambrai, Nov 1917, including secret preparations to conceal the planned deployment of tanks. Also four volumes of transcript copies of the original diary, with additional related original notes, letters, memoranda, reports, photographs and other items, copied and compiled by Kathleen Smith.

Manuscript diary, 13 Aug 1914 - 12 Dec 1916, relating to Smith's service with the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front, World War One, in command of 1 Battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers, Aug-Nov 1914, as commander of 9 Brigade, Nov 1914 - Mar 1916, and as commander of 20 (Light) Division, Mar 1916 - Dec 1916. Contents include: the Battle of Mons, 23 Sep 1914; the Battle of Le Cateau, 26 Aug 1914; the First Battle of the Marne, 5-12 Sep 1914; the First Battle of the Aisne, 13-28 Sep 1914; the Battle of La Bassee, 18-29 Oct 1914; the First Battle of Ypres, Nov 1914; the Battle of Neuve Chapelle, 11 Mar 1915; the Second Battle of Ypres, Apr-May 1915; the Second Battle of Artois, May-Jun 1915; the Battle of Loos, 25 Sep 1915; the Battle of the Somme, Jul 1916; the Battle of Le Transloy, Oct 1916. Written on loose sheets and sent to his wife, Kathleen Smith (nee Kathleen Edith Beyts), who transcribed the diaries into four volumes. PLEASE NOTE: the copy transcripts (ref: SMITH, WD 2) additionally include diary entries, 13 Dec 1916 - 11 Dec 1917, for which the originals have not survived.

Manuscript copy diary relating to Smith’s command of 9 Infantry Brigade in 3 Division, 2 Corps, British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the Western Front, 31 Oct 1914 – 22 Apr 1915, including: the First Battle of Ypres, Nov 1914, with the loss of many named officers serving under Smith; a visit to the troops by King George V, 3 Dec 1914; the waterlogged state of trenches near Kemmel, Belgium, Dec 1914; a demonstration of grenade throwing, 20 Dec 1914, and thoughts on the difficulty of deploying hand grenades from trenches; reference to a meeting of British and German troops on Christmas Day, 25 1914, and Smith's disapproval; initiatives to improve conditions in trenches, Jan 1915; demonstration of a mortar to be used from a trench, 16 Jan 1915; the execution of two deserters, 6 Feb 1915; the deployment of miners from Britain to undermine German trenches, 19-24 Feb 1915; a German counter-attack, 11 Mar 1915, Battle of Neuve Chapelle, with heavy Allied casualties; details of material used to improve trenches, 25 Mar 1915; frequent criticism of British press coverage of the war, Apr 1915.
Also inserted items, including: press cuttings chiefly relating to Smith’s promotions; account of 1 Royal Scots Fusiliers’ operations at Jemappes, 23 Aug 1914, by Captain Thomas Balfour Traill; a detailed account by Smith of 9 Infantry Brigade operations during early Nov 1914, First Battle of Ypres; sketch maps and accounts relating to 9 Infantry Brigade operations, Nov 1914; a letter from Clara Barton, mother of Lieutenant Harold William Ferguson Barton (died 18 Oct 1914), quoting a letter from a German officer praising her son’s bravery; illustrated manuscript poem, ‘New Year’s Eve in the Trenches’, possibly by Major Athol [Athel, Atholl] Murray Hay Forbes, [1914]; letters of praise about 9 Infantry Brigade from Field Marshal Herbert Charles Onslow Plumer, Commander of 5 Corps, and Lieutenant General Sir Charles Fergusson, Commander of 2 Corps, Feb 1915; programme for a concert by personnel of 9 Infantry Brigade, 9 Mar 1915.

Manuscript copy diary relating to Smith's command of 9 Infantry Brigade, 23 Apr 1915 - 7 Mar 1916, and of 20 Division, 8 Mar 1916 - 15 Jun 1916, on the Western Front, World War One, including: the Second Battle of Ypres, Apr-May 1915; the German use of chlorine gas, 22 Apr 1915; Smith's anger, 23 Apr 1915, at Prime Minister Herbert Henry Asquith's assertion that there was no ammunition shortage; the inadequacy of anti-gas equipment, 2-3 May 1915; the destruction of Ypres, May 1915; the news of the German sinking of the British passenger ship Lusitania on 7 May 1915; an improved design of hand grenade, 13 May 1915; the arrival of the first troops of the New Army (Kitchener's Army), 23 May 1915; Smith's personal experience of a German gas attack, 24 May 1915; the Second Battle of Artois, May-Jun 1915; ammunition shortages and the lack of experienced officers, 30 Jun 1915; German and British attacks and counter attacks on the village of Hooge, Jul-Aug 1915; the British attack on the first day of the Battle of Loos, 25 Sep 1915; ammunition shortages and the immense length of communication trenches, 18-21 Oct 1915; fuel shortages and frostbite cases, 28 Nov 1915; German gas attack, 19 Dec 1915; exhaustion caused by prolonged use of gas helmets, 21 Dec 1915; news of the withdrawal from Gallipoli, 23 Dec 1915; the challenges of training and of newly promoted officers risen from the ranks, 21 Feb 1916; demonstration of a Stokes trench mortar, 6 Mar 1916; Smith's appointment as Commander, 2 Division, 8 Mar 1916; the poor state of trenches and cases of trench foot, 9-12 Mar 1916; detailed account of moving gas cylinders into trenches for a British gas attack, 11 Jun 1916.

Also inserted items, including: sketch maps of British and German trenches in the area east of Hooge, Belgium, Jun and Sep 1915; two personal letters to Smith from former 9 Infantry Brigade interpreter M. van Lerberghe, Sep and Nov 1915; typescript order issued by 3 Divisional Artillery for operations on 19 September 1915; typescript instructions issued by 24 Divisional Artillery, 13 Oct 1915, for communications between Artillery and Infantry in frontline trenches; typescript report on a nightime bombing raid by Cheshire Regiment personnel, 6-7 Dec 1915; casualty evacuation statistics for 20 Division, Feb-Apr and Jun 1916; typescript reports on a German attack on 11 Apr 1916; typescript notes on the distribution of German forces along the Western Front, 14 May 1916.

Manuscript copy diary, 16 Jun 1916 – 11 Dec 1917, relating to Smith’s command of 20 Division, Jun 1916 – Mar 1917, 56 Division, Jul-Aug 1917, and 20 Division, Aug-Dec 1917, including: diversionary raids, Jun 1916; the use of vests impregnated with antiseptic to reduce the risk of wound infection, 16-18 Jun 1916; the start of the Battle of the Somme, 1 Jul 1916; inaccurate British press coverage of Western Front operations, 24 Jul 1916; a demonstration of flamethrowers, 18-19 Aug 1916; the aftermath of a successful attack on Guillemont village, 19 Sep 1916, including the shortage of troops available to bury the dead and to salvage equipment; German aerial night time bombing behind Allied lines, 28 Sep 1916; the Battle of Le Transloy, Oct 1916; the lack of aerial intelligence on German positions due to bad weather, 6 Oct 1916; inter-brigade sports competitions, 9-14 Nov 1916; cases of trench foot, 15-24 Dec 1916; four months’ leave, chiefly on medical grounds, Mar-Jun 1917; Smith’s taking command of 56 Division, 23 Jul 1917; Smith’s return to the command of 20 Division, 8 Aug 1917; the Battle of Langemarck, 16-18 Aug 1917; the Battle of the Menin Road Ridge, 22 Sep 1917; start of planning, Oct 1917, for the Battle of Cambrai, Nov-Dec 1917, including training and extreme secrecy about the planned use of tanks; the start of the Battle of Cambrai, 20 Nov 1917, and the successful use of tanks to clear a way through for infantry; a German counter-attack, 30 Nov 1917.

Also inserted items, including: press cuttings about Western Front operations; letters of congratulation on 20 Division operations; typescript statistics on the issue of rations, 4 Aug1916, and on medals recommended and awarded, 1916; notes on the effectiveness of experimental mortars and flamethrowers, Aug 1916; a detailed account, 7 Sep 1916, of the capture of Guillemont village; snapshot photographs of ruins, abandoned army buildings and battle sites, taken in Feb 1919; report on the capture of the German ‘Au Bon Gite’ blockhouse, Langemarck, by Captain H A Slade, commander of ‘B’ Company, 11 Rifle Brigade, 14 Oct 1917; casualty statistics, Aug and Nov 1917; personal letter to Smith from General Sir Hubert de la Poer Gough, 21 Jun 1918, including Gough’s anger at the British government; printed War Office notes on the British Armies of Occupation, 1919; press cutting from the Morning Post , 12 Jan 1937, on Gough and 5 Army, ‘Vindicated by History’.

Manuscript copy diary relating to Smith's command of 1 Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers, Aug-Oct 1914, including: their arrival in France, 13 Aug 1914; the Battle of Mons, 23 Aug 1914; the retreat from Mons to the River Marne, Aug-Sep 1914; the Battle of Le Cateau, 26 Aug 1914; his high opinion of German infantry tactics, and the German use of aerial reconnaissance (5 Sep 1914); the First Battle of the Marne, 5-12 Sep 1914; the First Battle of the Aisne, 13-28 Sep 1914; the death of Major General Sir Hubert Ion Wetherall Hamilton, 14 Oct 1914; the Battle of La Bassee, 18-29 Oct 1914.
Volume also includes: printed messages from King George V and Field Marshal Sir John French; a printed translated extract from an alleged order by Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany for the destruction of 'General French's contemptible little army', 9 Aug 1914; instructions, 22 and 23 Aug 1914, for an anticipated attack, including instructions by Captain R Stevens, 9 Infantry Brigade [Captain Reginald Walter Morton Stevens, died 28 Aug 1914]; a report on 'A' and 'C' companies, 1 Royal Scots Fusiliers, 25-27 Aug 1914, at Vendegies-sur-Ecaillon and Le Cateau, by Major Athel Murray Hay Forbes.