Item SMITH, WD 2/3 - Copy diary, 23 Apr 1915 - 15 Jun 1916

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.