The Other Side of the Wire Volume 1 With the German XIV Reserve Corps

[Ralph J. Whitehead]

Hello Charles,

You have an excellent suggestion. I am not sure if it could have been done in volume 1 with the method used to insert photos and maps. I provided the scans, the captions and the approximate location where they should go in the finished book. It was up to the publisher to get it all into a format where it could be printed and i was unaware of the exact location of each item until printing.

Knowing this I will see what can be done to identify pages, etc. for volume 2, thanks for the idea.

Ralph

[Robert Dunlop]

Ralph, this is a common problem and, as you rightly point out, it is very difficult to rectify. Whenever a book uses multiple maps, and cross-referencing might be appropriate, then I have use more than one bookmark. There is the main bookmark for the text, and supplementary ones for the maps. This makes it very easy to flick backwards and forwards. Even if the pages are referenced in the text (which is rare), I still find this approach to be much more efficient.

Robert

[Ralph J. Whitehead]

That is a good idea Robert. It should work quite well with the book. I still hope to figure out a way to identify the maps and page numbers as soon as I get the pieces of the manuscript together and see what maps I have to use.

Ralph

[Ralph J. Whitehead]

Good news/bad news! Good for me that is, bad for......

It seems the sales are doing well and it is getting close to being sold out according to the recent information from my publisher. Overall I am very pleased as a first time author, thank you all for getting the book and for the many kind comments.

I hope you all enjoy book 2 as much. It is on schedule and I am working on it almost every day and will do do until it is done.

Ralph

[Desmond7]

Just finished. Huge work of scholarship. Completes so many jigsaw puzzles of what when why who and where.

Picture format did not detract for me at all.

But I loathe the font on the front title page!!!

I know that Book 2 is VERY eagerly awaited in this part of the world!

Des

[auchonvillerssomme]

Large variations on price, someone on abe selling for £60!! buy up a few!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Other-Side-Wire-Se...2095&sr=8-1

[IanA]

A bit late in the day, but I would like to add my congratulations to Ralph for producing a book which was not only fascinating from an historical perspective but gripping to read as well. 'Profusely illustrated' hardly does it justice ('extravagantly illustrated' perhaps?) and made more impressive still when you see just how many pictures came from the author's own collection. The account of the British bombardment prior to 1st July, with its descriptions of the accuracy of the heavy shelling and just how many times deep dug-outs were buried, helps justify the misplaced confidence of most of the British forces on that first day of battle. I, too, am looking forward to volume two.

I would like to raise one point which puzzles me - in the casualty lists, Ralph lists several names which appear to be duplicates, for example -

Maier, Franz - Unteroffizier - 6th company - d.29.9.14 - Fricourt

Maier, Franz - Infantryman - 6th company - d.29.9.14. - Fricourt

Clements, ___ - Leutnant der Reserve - 4th company - d.3.11.15. - Fricourt

Clemens, Xaver - Leutnant der Reserve - 6th company - d.3.11.15. - Fricourt

Seemüller, Otto - Reservist - 3rd company - d.13.10.14. - Thiepval

Seeüller, Otto - Reservist - 3rd company - d.13.10.14. - Thiepval

Schnizer, Friedrich - Kriegsfreiwilliger - 7th company - d.1.11.14. - Thiepval

Schnizer, Otto - Kriegsfreiwilliger - 7th company - d.1.11.14. - Thiepval

Schnürle, Adam - Reservist - 2nd company - d.29.9.14. - Ovillers - la Boisselle

Schnürle, Georg - Reservist - 2nd company - d.29.9.14. - Ovillers - la Boisselle

There are quite a few others with the same surname, rank, company, date and place of death with only the Christian name different. I'm wondering whether these are examples of brothers in the same company of the same regiment who were killed on the same day or whether you compiled your list from more than one source and errors have crept in either to the original source or to your transcripts.

[Ralph J. Whitehead]

You must have really read it all very carefully. I had not noticed the possible duplicates and there could be several reasons. I generally took these lists from one source, at most two and there could be duplication of the same man. There are also men with the same names that appear several times throughout the regimental history or there was a change in company affiliation, etc.

I will have to look at these to see how they fit into these possibilities. One good way to know if there is a possible relationship between men is their birthplace. In book 2 these will be included in the lists and that will help identify possible brothers, cousins, etc. I hope to have as many photos in book 2 but cannot promise it as it seems less are available for the later period. Perhaps it was due to the war dragging on, perhaps due to the shifting of the divisions across the front where in the first period they were static for nearly 2 years. I will do my best to provide a similar presentation.

Thanks for the kind comments, I am still plugging away at the second volume.

Ralph

[IanA]

I used to read galley proofs in the 'good old days' and was quite good at picking up on that sort of thing - same adjective used in adjacent sentences, and so on.

Thanks for your response and all good wishes for Vol. 2.

Ian

[Simon Jones]

I have edited the title of this thread to bring it in line with the convention for book threads.

[IanA]

That would explain why I couldn't find it....

[trenchtrotter]

Still acouple of copies at Foyles, London on Fri.

TT

[ianw]

Pleased to have got copy No 20 from a well known internet company recently. Are they dishing them out in reverse number order?

Very much looking forward to it as my bed-time read or maybe my holiday read in a month or so.

[Neil Mackenzie]

Pleased to have got copy No 20 from a well known internet company recently. Are they dishing them out in reverse number order?

My two copies (numbers 18 and 19) arrived today - from the same well know internet company I suspect. The book looks extremely impressive and although I have several dozen Great War books I have not yet read I think this one is going to the top of the list.

Well done Ralph.

Neil

[Simon Jones]

So if I were to order 17 copies from Amazon would I get No 1?

[ianw]

Unless Ralph kept it or gave it to his maiden aunt.

[themonsstar]

Ralph,

I've been looking at your book for the last couple of weeks on the shelf in the National Archives shop,they only had one copy,so yesterday I took the plunge and bought it, I feel I was fortunate that I have had the chance to look at the copy before I finally decided to buy it.

It's never been the price with me when I buy anything its contents and information it contains what sells it to me, personally I can say your book is well worth the money, I've been collecting Imperial German military postcards and other bits going back to the 1980s, when I was posted in Munster at the time West Germany, it was just natural for me to start buying Imperial German militaria, which was on most of the flea markets within the German towns and cities that I'll visit.

To me your book will fill a very big hole in our knowledge of the combatants as you say " on the other side of the wire" as someone who doesn't speak or read German, thank you.

[Ralph J. Whitehead]

I am glad you made the plunge, I am sure you will enjoy it, or I should say hopefully enjoy it. I have not seen it on any shelves at stores and I do not believe I will. Let me know what you think of it after you have a chance to get through some of it. Thanks for the kind comments. If you ever want to reduce your collection give me a shout.

Ralph

[Drummy]

Just ordered the book, will take it on the family holiday (part of which is to the Somme for 5 days later this month) to read, from all the positive comments should be a cracking read.

[Auchonvillers]

Hello Ralph,

I received a copy of your book as a gift last month. It's number 486. I put it to one side along with my "To Be Read" books.After reading this thread and dipping into the book, it looked an excellant read.I have now started it and am amazed by the amount of detail and facts that you have been able to source and put together. Thankyou for all your hard work and effort you put into giving us a comprehensive,easy to read factual insight into "The Other Side Of The Wire" Looking forward to book 2.

Regards Mark.

[Ralph J. Whitehead]

Hi Mark, Just got back from a long trip, mostly driving unfortunately. Thanks for the kind comments, I hope the rest of the book holds true to your initial views.

Drummy, Thanks for getting the book. I hope you find it useful on the trip. It is rather large so I hope it does not take up too much room on the vacation.

Ralph

[Drummy]

Ralph,

Book arrived today, first impressions .... it looks great and considering I have a busy day today I am tempted to just put my feet up and get reading! Looking forward to reading it whilst on my break.

Well done,

Neil

[Ralph J. Whitehead]

Some interesting news to pass along. I received a message from my publisher asking for specific details on book 2; number of pages, illustrations and maps, captions, charts, etc. for the pre-publication release being put out. It seems that the second volume is scheduled at present for the January-June 2011 publishing period.

While there is an excellent chance all the items will be completed and the final edits done in order to meet this time period it will take some more time on my part to get it all polished up.

I am just completing the Fricourt chapter. I can only say a few things after dissecting each portion of the battle and then piecing the different accounts into a single narrative: 1. I wish they all used the same time and had their watches synchronized. it would make it so much easier. 2. I wish they all agreed on a single name for any given trench as I sit with several different maps of each sector in the attempt to determine just what part of the battle I am reading about.

I will keep working and provide updates on completion, printing schedules, etc. Thank you all for your kind comments on book 1. I am hopeful you will enjoy book 2 as much.

Ralph

[Neil Mackenzie]

Ralph.

Whilst on a battlefield tour I gave one of my copies to a battlefield guide friend of mine who was most impressed (well it was free!!!) but everyone else on the tour who saw it wanted to order a copy there and then.

You may need to do a second print run

Neil

[Ralph J. Whitehead]

Thanks for the info Neil, I know several people who have purchased two copies and now I see why, or in your case why. Is there a special reason you gave it to your friend as a gift? Just curious. I am also quite pleased the people on tour showed such great interest in it. Too bad it was not in some of the local gift shops but then there is always Amazon UK and the like.

Ralph