Key Information
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1914 - 1917 (Creation)
Level of description
Collection
Extent
1 box
Scope and content
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.
General Information
Name of creator
Biographical history
Born, Plymouth, 1865; commissioned Lt, Royal Scots Fusiliers, 1885; Capt, 1894; Adjutant, Royal Scots Fusiliers, 1898-1902; Maj, 1902; married Kathleen Edith Beyts, 1903; Brigade Major and Deputy Assistant Adjutant General, India, 1905-1909; Lt Col, 1911; temporary Brig Gen 1914-1916; substantive Col, 1914-1915; Commander, 9 Infantry Brigade, British Expeditionary Force, Western Front, 11 Nov 1914 - 7 Mar 1916; temporary Maj Gen 1916; Commander, 20 Division, Western Front, 8 Mar 1916- 19 Mar 1917; substantive Maj Gen 1917; Commander, 56 Division, Western Front, 24 Jul – 8 Aug 1917; Commander, 20 Division, Western Front, 9 Aug 1917 – 3 Apr 1918; Commander, Portsmouth Garrison, 9 Apr 1918 – 31 May 1919; Lieutenant Governor of Jersey, 1920-1924; retired, 1924; died, 1939.