Photograph of "A" Battery, anti-aircraft artillery, including Walter Powell

Photograph of "A" Battery, anti-aircraft artillery, including Walter Powell

Powell, Walter

Note on the back in Walter Powell's writing records: "A" battery 1st Army 1914/1918 then transferred to 5th Army 1918 under General Hubert Gough during the last push. Photograph taken when out on rest by a Belgian - I later had this enlarged. When we saw this building later it was completely demolished. It was just behind Mons.

Walter Powell, despatch rider for this anti-aircraft battery is seated far-right bottom row of seating.

In his notes Walter writes about this unit: "I was then posted to an Anti-Aircraft Battery as the D.R. [despatch rider] at Portsmouth, kitted out, sailed from Southampton to Le Havre on an old cattle boat. There were horses below so we slept on deck - several stops for U-boats. Then gas drill for a few days and a convoy up on to the Arras Sector. A good deal of hit and run strafing by Jerry planes of the trenches and gun emplacements. The battery was a cockney one, grand fellows, I of course was Taffy - my great pals were Sparks and Sgt. Spears. We had our celebrities: footballers Horace Barnes who played for Manchester City and England, Paddy Sloane for Southampton, and N.O. for Tottenham Hotspur - also Sgt. Johnnie Basham, the famous boxer. One of our officers, a major was Busty Martin, a Scottish rugby international. Another interesting character, was Lt. Coates (of Coates Cotton Family). One day, he asked: - 'Taffy, where do you come from?'
- 'Llandrindod Wells.'
- 'Good heavens, we bought two cars from Tom Norton!'
He asked would I know their fishing and shooting house on the Wye between Llowes and Clyro. I said I had passed it on my motorcycle."

Elsewhere Walter records the theatres of War they served in: "Mons - Meubeurg - Cambrai (1st Army).
Transfer to 5th Army - Gen Sir Hubert Gough, Lens - Bethune - Arras - Courtrai - Carvin. Then we moved into Tournai and empty bombed houses until April 1919".

Part of a collection relating to Walter H. Powell, Llandrindod Wells, (private / driver M2-267205 Mechanised Transport Army Service Corps). Born 1898, Walter tried to join up under-age on a number of occasions, finally succeeding in 1916. He served many months - (more than 2 years?) - in different army units in Britain, before going over to France. He served as a despatch rider for an anti-aircraft battery in 1918-1919. Walter was gassed "suffering the effects all his life". He was a founder member of Toc-H in Llandrindod, and a keen footballer - he died in 1994 aged 96. However Walter's older brothers (Cliff and Percy Powell) and his uncle (Humphrey Powell) died of wounds sustained during the war.

1918

Mons

Photograph

Photographic paper

Photograph

Richard Marshall

GWA_4683_A_Battery_1stArmy_photo.jpg

The Great War Archive, University of Oxford / Primary Contributor

The Great War Archive, University of Oxford

Alun Edwards (Powys Archives submissions day)

Bryan and Liz Edwards