Collection

Diaries of a World War I (WWI) 13th Rajputs Regiment Officer

• 1914-1919 (Creation)

1 box (2.5 linear inches)

This collection consists of three diaries written by an officer from the 13th Rajputs regiment during World War I from various locations.

Description from the bookseller:

A trio of diaries written during the Great War in various locations by an officer from the 13th Rajputs regiment. Although the entries do not allow us to go as far as deducing the identity of the author (or his precise rank), they do provide some insight into the conditions and challenges faced as the War spread to remote territories: the first diary is written from Uganda, whilst the second begins dramatically with the fall of Kut-al-Amara and capture by the Ottoman forces with a 2-page, unpublished poem "A Prisoner of War in Yozgad (Asia Minor)", followed by a short, incomplete and entirely bleak piece of prose entitled "Regret" at the rear; the third returns him to Europe, the hand a little less sure and frequent reference to his own poor health, with a broad overview of events both personal and public around the continent - the Paris Peace Conference, the deaths and marriages of his close friends (including his attendance at the wedding of Cynthia Hamilton and Lord Althorp).

The writing is frequently amusing, and there is more complaining about food and living conditions than there is description of fighting; itself an elucidative encapsulation of the day-to-day experience of war.

This collection is arranged chronologically, keeping the provenance given by the bookseller of volumes 1, 2, and 3.

These materials are housed offsite and require additional time for retrieval.

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Purchased.

• Ragan Military