Operational orders

These ten small sheets of grid paper, pinned together with a rusty pin, are an example of operational orders carried by a junior British officer on active service during the First World War. The notes and orders refer to active military operations as well as routine matters and were written in indelible pencil on grid paper. This was done for two reasons - to make sure rain didn't smudge the words and that the words were kept tidy by the grid.

The top sheet is titled 'To Platoon Commanders' of the 15th Royal Warwickshire Regiment. There are various pages featuring operation orders, notes, one receipt, etc. The final note is on slightly larger paper in different handwriting, signed by Kenneth L Oakley, Acting Adjutant and is titled 'Secret' and dated '27.9.18'. This document refers to the timing of an attack on the morning of the 27th of September 1918.

The British attack was one of a series of offensives on the Western Front against the Central Powers from 8 August to 11 November in the summer of 1918. This Allied counteroffensive, known as the Hundred Days Offensive, was the final period of the First World War.

The papers belonged to Captain George Middleton Turner (15th Royal Warwickshire Regiment, United Kingdom), who fought in France during the First World War. After travelling widely through the 1920s, he settled in New Zealand. He retired to Nelson and died 1973.