The War Diary of George Culpitt, Royal Welch Fusiliers
People and Places
Many places get a mention in the diaries. Below is a listing of some of the more significant places he saw, in the order they appear in the diaries, plus any notes or information I can find out.
Kimmel (Kinmel) Park
Kimmel (Kinmel) Park was a big training camp near to Abergele in north Wales. It is notorious in Canada as the site of rioting amongst Canadian troops waiting to go home, after the war had finished. The riot was put down by shooting the ringleaders.
Etaples Camp
"a dirty, smelly conglomeration of ramshackle houses and mean streets"
Again another big training camp, this time in France. Whilst he doesn't mention it, the regime at the camp was harsh and the men were treated pretty brutally. This bad treatment eventually boiled over into full scale mutiny in 1917
Shot at Dawn.org article about the mutiny
YMCA
My grandfather seems to have been much indebted to the YMCA for their provision of leisure facilities and also for their non conformist church services.
The YMCA history photo gallery
Lady Angela Forbes
Lady Angela Forbes was the "forces sweetheart" during the first world war a bit like Vera Lynne during the second world war. She took alot of interest in the welfare of the troops and was highly critical of Etaples Camp.