Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Robert Tolerton CB CBE DSO MC

601 ms letters (December 1914-November 1942), covering mainly the 1914-19 period, to his fiancée (later his wife) while serving in, and from June 1918 as commanding officer of 1/23rd Battalion, The London Regiment (142nd Brigade, 47th Division), describing mostly personal matters but also, occasionally, experiences in the Western Front trenches July 1915-March 1916, July-September 1916, October 1916-January 1918 and May-November 1918, mentioning preparations for, and the first days of, the Battle of Loos, the Battle of Messines (June 1917), the Battle of the Ancre (April 1918) and operations in Artois (October 1918), his time at 4th Army Infantry School (September-October 1916) and Aldershot Senior Officers' course (January-April 1918), undergoing a gas attack (June 1917), hospitalisation for (at No 24 General Hospital, Estaples), and recuperation from, a foot injury (March-June 1916) and wounds (April 1918), relations with Portuguese troops (1918) and general comments on life and conditions in the trenches; also describing life in the Army in France until May 1919 while awaiting demobilisation after the armistice and, in 1942, a mission to, and glimpses of wartime life in, South Africa, under the auspices of the Ministry of War Transport. (See Full Catalogue)

MICROFILMS

Unrestricted

The collection consists of a series of 601 ms letters written between December 1914 and November 1942, with the vast majority covering the 1914-19 period, to his fiancée, who, in 1931, became his wife. The letters are overwhelmingly concerned with personal, private and family matters but occasionally include details of his experiences in the trenches on the Western Front. Tolerton, who served with 1/23rd (County of London) Battalion, The London Regiment, mentions preparations for, and the first days of, the Battle of Loos; the Battle of Messines (June 1917); the Battle of the Ancre (April 1918) and operations in Artois (October 1918); the sensations engendered by a gas attack (June 1917); his time spent in hospital, and recuperation periods, as a result of a foot injury (March - June 1916) and wounds (April 1918); relations with Portugese troops (1918) and life in the Army in France until May 1919 while awaiting demobilisation after the armistice.

Robert Hill Tolerton was born in 1887 in Co. Tyrone, Ireland and educated at Trinity College, Dublin. In 1931 he married Sarah Elizabeth Burnet of Bare, Lancashire; they had no children. In 1910 he joined the Board of Trade and after the First World War, in 1919, he transferred to the Ministry of Transport, where he became Principal Private Secretary to Sir Eric Geddes and other ministers. Sir Robert enjoyed a distinguished career, holding the posts of Secretary to the Royal Commission on Transport 1928-30; Assistant Secretary (1929), Principal Assistant Secretary (1934) and Under-Secretary (1946) at the Ministry of Transport and Assistant Director-General, Ministry of War Transport 1942-6. During 1942, he undertook an official mission to South Africa, details of which are contained in this series of letters. He was knighted in 1947. He died in 1956. During the First World War, Lieutenant-Colonel Tolerton spent long periods on active service in the trenches, taking part in most of the actions in which his Battalion was involved, presumably as a company commander. However, Tolerton rarely mentions these experiences in his letters. In June 1918, he assumed command of the Battalion.

The significance of the collection can best be given by reference to Tolerton's own words. On 2nd January 1916 (letter no. 87) he wrote to his fiancee: "I think you pay me a very pretty compliment in your remarks about my letters and their absence of war talk". On 30th March 1916 (letter no. 133) he wrote to her: "I wish you wouldn't keep the letters. They're of no interest my dear - just a little half hour's talk with you now and then - they'll never do any great good to future generations for they're written for you alone and aren't really a bit like my ordinary letters".

Unless otherwise stated, all correspondence is in manuscript form.