Good bye Bill Massey
Subtitle: no more khaki : Reg Hird's letters from the Great War
By: Rachel Hird
Publisher: Rachel Hird
Published: 2015
Place of publication: Wellington, New Zealand
Language: eng
Number of pages: 132
ISBN-13: 9780473343378; 9780473343385; 9780473343392
Copyright date: 2015
Subjects: Correspondence; Diaries; Soldiers; Biography; World War, 1914-1918; New Zealand Personal narratives
Other titles: No more khaki; Reg Hird's letters from the Great War; Goodbye Bill Massey, no more khaki
Description: "... The story of Reg Hird's experiences in WW1 told through 54 letters and postcards sent to sweetheart, Nellie Dean in New Zealand. Reg was a sergeant in the NZ Rifle Brigade and fought on the Western Front in France and Belgium. His letters date from early 1917 to mid-1919. They are well written, often long and detailed, describing some of the battles as well as giving impressions of camp life in NZ, Australia, England and France. The letters are complimented by excerpts from Nellie's diaries. During the war years she was a young teacher at Ferntown School, Golden Bay and lived in Collingwood. Accounts of her experiences provide a real window into the past." --
Notes: Includes bibliographical references.
Table of contents: title: 1. Grandad; title: 2. Nellie and Reg; title: 3. Reg's family; title: 4. Reg: pre-war; title: 5. An introduction to Reg's war story; title: 6. The letters begin; title: 7. 1917: New Zealand and the war in Europe; title: 8. En route to Europe; title: 9. Disembarkation England; title: 10. Looking to the battlefields of Flandres; title: 11. The Hirds of England; title: 12. First taste of war on the Western Front; title: 13. December 1917: return to the field; title: 14. Wintering over on the Front; title: 15. South to the Somme: German breakthrough of English lines; title: 16. Wounded at Bapaume; title: 17. Bapaume to Le Quesnoy; title: 18. The final assignment; title: 19. Hanging it out in England; title: 20. Back in New Zealand at last; title: 21. Engagement, marriage and family.