Operational orders

item details

NameOperational orders

ProductionLieutenant Colonel G S Miller DSO; author; 19 July 1918; France
1913

Classificationorders, official documents

Materialspaper, ink

DimensionsOverall: 201mm (width), 328mm (height)

Registration NumberGH021601

Credit lineAcquisition details/history unknown. Found in collection, 2011

Overview

This is an example of operational orders issued to a junior British officer on active service on the Western Front. The orders give detailed information regarding the planning and execution of a trench raid. It was written by Lt-Colonel G. S. Miller D.S.O. Commanding, of the 15th S. Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment in Operational Area, France, prior to 19 July 1918. The two duplicated (cyclostyled) typewritten sheets of foolscap paper detail the operational orders for a 'Minor Operation' on the night of 19 - 20 July 1918, in France, to be conducted by the 15th Royal Warwickshire Regiment. Orders include detailed information on tactics and timing of the attack, including the collection of prisoners of war. It is labelled "SECRET" in the top left corner.

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.