WW1 Diary Grouping - Civil Service Rifles.

A grouping of diaries from 1915/16/17 and 1919 to 3251/531035 Pte.Albert.E.Hodges of 10 Platoon, C Company 2/15 City of London Regt. ( Civil Service Rifles ).
Hodges joined the Athletes' Volunteer Force in 1915 a fact noted in his 1915 diary and then went onto join the Territorials of the Civil Sevice Rifles later that year. The diary is full of his training with locations, weather and events noted every day. This is true of the 1916 diary until the battalion deploys to France in late June. The entries become a little more terse in the front-line. However, he does describe the build up and participation in a trench raid launched from the Paris Redoubt in September. A fuller account of the raid taken from the Civil Service Rifles' History is included. The diary includes locations, events and employment and tends to be more fulsome on leaving the trenches. The move to Salonika is recorded as is life in the line on the Doiran-Vardar Front. Later that year the Battalion moves to Palestine where Hodges continues with his description of daily life of fatigues, drill, grenade training etc. He is wounded in the knee during the attack on Beersheba on 31/101917 and his diary goes quiet for six weeks before he resumes duty against the Turks in December. Clearly unable to locate another diary for 1918 he continues small entries in the notes section until May. Hodges is demobilised in February 1919 which he records ' Thank the Lord ' and the remaining diary records the every day occurrences in the life of a well travelled and battle hardened clerk from SW London ! Accompanied by a small number of original photographs and cuttings.
An interesting and uncommon 1st person account in legible diary form of a Territorial volunteer accompanied by a small amount of research.

Code: 8576