Catalogue description The memoirs consist of a continuous ms narrative of 82pp, covering very nearly his whole...

The memoirs consist of a continuous ms narrative of 82pp, covering very nearly his whole life. Though no mention is made of any active engagements against an enemy, the memoir contains detailed information on day-to-day life in the RMLI and the British Army in India. There is a tendency on occasions to "back-track", notably to his childhood in Ireland (pp48-56), while there is a sizeable section on his civilian life during the period 1934-56 (pp44-71).

The memoir begins with (pp1-2) an account of his enlistment (June 1915?) in a Service Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment (possibly the 21st?). For a minor offence detained in Police cells at Holloway, he was 'pardoned' on the unit moving to Aldershot (October 1915?), and on his parents application discharged as under-age, aged 17 (January 1916?). In about June 1916 he enlisted as a Boy in the Royal Marine Light Infantry at Tottenham, training at Deal. He describes the rules for walking out, routine, and training, including gunnery at Chatham (pp3-4). In 1917, aged 18, he was sent to HMS Commonwealth at Sheerness (see also p12), then to HMS Lord Nelson at Mudros for two years. With the exception of a brief run to Salonika, the ship remained at this station, only once being cleared for action, and landing once a week for drill. Night routine is described for the Salonika run (p5) also the ship's rules and routine (p6). In 1919 he was part of a detachment sent to the Piraeus to take over the SS Barryfield whose West Indian crew had mutinied, sailing the ship to Yalta in the Black Sea and then Malta with refugees. A Greek Government brothel in Athens is also described (pp6-8). The Lord Nelson shortly afterwards picked up a party of Russian ex-Royalty at Salonika, and returned to England via Genoa in November 1919, where the crew were paid off (p9).

Daly's next station was the HMS Alecto, picking up practice torpedoes, but the ship was moved from Chatham to Portsmouth owing to misbehaviour. His next main ship was the SS Cyclops, a captured German twin-hulled vessel in Chatham harbour. He alleges that the smell of the engines was heightened by using original German oil extracted from corpses (pp10). At Falmouth the Cyclops experimented with captured U-boats full of guinea-pigs, testing them for reactions to mine explosions. Transferring to a sloop, Daly returned to torpedo-sweeping, and mentions then the use of blanco to cure blisters. Later on HMS Repulse until he contracted scarlat fever, Daly describes the 'cells', with punishment of oakum-picking and the 'spitkit', as well as the ritual of making plugs of tobacco (pp11-13).

Leaving the RMLI in September 1922 he enlisted in the Oxford and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry in November, and was very soon drafted to the 2nd Battalion in India. He describes the troopship voyage to Bombay, and thence to Rawalpindi, where he contracted typhoid and spent a total of 9 months recovering in hospital and in the Hills (pp14-17). On returning to his unit, they were sent to Razmak (Waziristan) for garrison duty. The march is described, including daily routine, dust, water shortage, mule handling and kit. Razmak is also detailed, including the routine of bayonet-charging the latrines each morning (pp18-21). Here they remained for two years, spending much time on 'road opening' and piquet duty, and other generally dull existence is described. The ritual of bed-making, kit-inspection, minor punishments and parades are detailed (pp22-26).

In about 1924 the Battalion moved to Chakrata in the Central Provinces, for two more years; the narrative deals with pay, education and musketry, a snow-fight at Razmak, and a further move to Fort William near Calcutta in about 1925, (pp27-29). The main descriptions of life in Calcutta involve mosquitoes, renting a Regimental Brothel, the dire results of contracting veneral disease, amateur theatricals, pay and Followers (pp29-33). Here the writer gives a second description of the silence and uncertainty of night piquet-duty in Waziristan (pp34-5). In about 1927 the Battalion moved to Maymyo in Burma, and the narrative describes further marches, especially a long one of about 6 months "showing the flag" in the Shan States, laundering, and another aside details torchlight tattoos in the Murree Hills and at Aldershot (pp45-39). Towards the termination of his engagement, Daly returned to England, and describes again the troopship voyage. He spent two years as a cook at Bordon Camp, becoming Acting Corporal, and on his discharge (1934?) went home to Woolwich (pp40-44).

Much of the remainder of his narrative (pp44-71) is concerned with his civillian life, mostly as a cook or domestic, with a flashback to his childhood in Ireland (pp48-56), though during the Second World War period he spent some time as a NAAFI cook at RAF Ramsay and other places, and as a Government Messenger (with a spell fire-watching) in Salisbury (pp59-63). His final job was as a batman to the various British and NATO officers, and their families, who used Old Sarum Officers Mess, Salisbury, from 1956 to 1964, and he describes his duties in detail (pp71-76). Though he then retired aged 65, he worked for another seven years locally. Amongst various observations in the last few pages of his narrative, he states his belief that his father had an idea for a caterpillar - tracked "moving fort" which was the genesis of the Tank (pp76-79).

The narrative also contains a short 1p glossery of terms used in India, and a 2pp ts version of the poem. "The Green Eye of the Little Yellow God".