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Letter from Donald Brown to his Mother, dated 7 June 1916

documentary heritage
  • Description

    Brown writes of his engagement with German and Prussian forces, and declares himself a fool for participating in such an event. In his own words, "We take no prisoners bayonet them all the same as they do us. I am thinking what a damn fool I was to leave home, no more wars for me after this, a soldier is treated like dirt. Our chaps are advancing on the Somme. I think the end will not be till another year. Our guns are firing all the time...

    You are not allowed to say much here. One chap wrote home and just said 'Dear Mother this war is a buggar and I echo his words." Brown also writes of his various correspondents and informs his mother that although he had joined the 1st Australian Tunnelling Coy his address had not changed.

  • Other Id

    14825 (Presto content ID)

    MS-2018-9-3 (Reference Number)

  • Department

    Manuscripts

Images and documents

Catalogue

  • Object Type

    manuscript

  • Name/Title
    Letter from Donald Brown to his Mother, dated 7 June 1916
  • Date
    1916
  • Physical Description

    6p on 6 leaves ; 160 mm x 100 mm

  • Language
    English
  • Level of Current Record
    Child
  • Is Part Of

    Papers relating to the First World War service of Donald Melville Wood Brown, 1916

  • Public Access Text

    [Keywords: Love, Longing, and Loss, WWI, Western Front, Auckland Infantry Regiment, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Company]

  • Subject Notes
    Sixteen-year-old Donald Brown, was killed on the first day of the renewed offensive at the Somme on 15 September 1916.
  • Copyright
    No known copyright restrictions
  • Last Update
    07 Nov 2022
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