The First World War had an enormous impact on the lives of those who survived it and also upon their families. To mark Remembrance Day in November 2015, the Parliamentary Archives has put on a small display in the House of Lords, in which current and former members of the House of Lords remember family members who fought in the war and share personal possessions.
My father was a 1st Lieutenant in the Oxford & Bucks Light Infantry, the regiment which he had joined in 1914. His battalion was fighting on the Western Front and had been ordered over the top in the Battle of the Somme into a hail of machine gun fire. He was not actually wounded, but there is little doubt that the helmet, which as the hole testifies deflected the shot, saved his life. Lord Jenkin of Roding.
My father was in the Cambridgeshire regiment in World War I and spent much of the war in the Ypres area including in the trenches. He was awarded the Military Cross in 1917 for an incident recorded in the book of the history of the Cambridgeshire regiment. Baroness Quin.
Edmund Crisp was a commercial artist before the war and did drawings and maps for the Royal Field Artillery after joining up in 1915. He kept a small sketchbook throughout the war. Lord Crisp
The display will be in the Norman Porch, House of Lords, from November 2015 to February 2016. Visitors to Parliament will be able to view it on tours.
You can find out more about Parliament and the First World War on the Parliament website, and follow @ParliamentWW1 on Twitter to mark events in Parliament 100 years to the day.
Recent Comments