Description
Billy Draper (aged 101), of Haslinton, interviewed September 1996 by Grant Smith, recorded on VHS video. Draper was a private in 19th Company RAMC (Royal Army Medical Corps), a unit known as “The Whalley Pals”. 10.39 mins duration, chapter 2 of 11: Billy Draper recalls: United Services / In camp at Ansdell / at Poperinghe - Chinese labourers making duckboards to go to Paschendaele salient / a spy who crossed the lines in Belgium / influenza extended leave / billeted in French convent, that had been taken over by the Ulans - German cavalry / Taube (German aircraft) / in France after 1916, the company at a Chateau in France before going to the Somme / notice to not take prisoners but shoot Germans who surrendered (especially after the privations caused by the U-boat blockades).
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