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Great Britain. Army. Welsh Guards.
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Correspondence to George Ralph Charles Ormsby-Gore,

Letters to George Ralph Charles Ormsby-Gore, third Baron Harlech, 1862-1938, from his wife, family, friends, political acquaintances, military personnel and several individuals whose sons were killed in service with the Welsh Guards. Topics of interest are: political representation of Merionethshire; the Unionist party in Blaenau Ffestiniog, 1910-1912; army appointments, including the recipient 's command and eventual resignation from the Welsh Guards, 1915-1918; government military policy and army life during the First World War; travel in China; renovations to the grave of Owen Arthur Ormsby-Gore in South Africa, 1926-1928; the economic life of pre-war Canada, 1910; the military and political career of William George Arthur Ormsby-Gore in Egypt and Palestine during the First World War and later in the British cabinet; family history relating to Sir George Seymour and to Gore monuments in Ireland; research on a painting of Charles II; history of the coastline at Harlech; liquidation of the Ardudwy Farmers' Association, 1912; formation of Talsarnau Co-operative Society, 1914; a church appointment in Shropshire, 1937; and the transfer of Criccieth Castle to H.M. Office of Works, 1932-1933.

Notebook relating to the Welsh Guards

  • NLW MS 23977i-iiC.
  • File
  • [?1920s], 1981

A notebook, [?1920s], containing transcripts of material relating to the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards's actions at Ypres, Cambrai, and elsewhere on the Western Front, January-November 1917 (NLW MS 23977iC). The identity of the compiler is unknown, but he may have been a Guardsman in the regiment and could have been wounded in action in late November 1917 (see ff. 66, 72).
The notebook consists mainly of extracts from C. H. Dudley Ward, History of the Welsh Guards (London, 1920), pp. 141-177 (ff. 2-15, 17-66, rectos only). On the facing pages (ff. 1 verso-5 verso, 7 verso, 24 verso-25 verso, versos only) are extracts from the apparently unpublished journal of a Guardsman, possibly the compiler of the present manuscript, relating to the same period. A list of the battalion's movements during the period (see History of the Welsh Guards, pp. 381-382) is on ff. 68-72, and a series of sketch maps and drawings relating to various engagements are on ff. 73-83. Also included is a booklet (NLW MS 23977iiC) containing research into the manuscript by T. H. Reinallt-James, 1981 (ff. 1-4), which however fails to identify the provenance of the Dudley Ward material; and transcripts concerning Sergeant Robert Bye, VC (f. 5).