Account, 1918, of the First World War experiences of Charles (Stuart) Kellas, of the Machine Gun Corps, and wedding photograph, 1920s.

After several attempts to volunteer were rejected by his employer, Kellas finally enlisted in the 2nd Brigade, 4th Queen’s Edinburgh Rifles. He describes his training in Edinburgh and other locations in Scotland, then at Southend on Sea, Essex. Frustrated at being unable to get to the front quickly, Kellas transferred to the Machine Gun Corps, which he believed would enable him to see active service sooner than in his original battalion. He was trained in using Vickers guns, and became an instructor himself.

After the frustration of being held on Home Service for longer than anticipated, Kellas first arrived at the Western Front in summer 1917, shortly before the Battle of Passchendaele began. In March 1918, as part of 9th Company, Machine Gun Corps, Kellas was involved in the heavy early fighting of the German Spring Offensive. He was injured and taken prisoner of war and subsequently transferred to a German hospital. According to the records of the Red Cross, he was transferred to a hospital in neutral Switzerland at the end of August 1918, where this account was apparently written.