Guest Posted 23 February , 2013 Share Posted 23 February , 2013 There's a few here Click I haven't read this for a long time, but a wonderful piece of writing, don't you think? La Vacquerie Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WilliamRev Posted 25 February , 2013 Author Share Posted 25 February , 2013 Ian wrote: ........... my all time favourite with the above, is Some Desperate Glory...... I finished Edwin Campion Vaughan's Some Desperate Glory recently, Normally I engage straight away with the author of a war memoir - typically such a one is honest, keen to do his duty, frightened perhaps, but managing to do his best despite the mud, rain and wonderful comrades. Vaughan, however, comes across as immature, clearly annoys his fellow officers, and takes an instant dislike to almost everyone new he meets. Yet as the diary goes on (it covers barely 9 months of 1917) he starts to understand, and even like, the people he initially disliked, and he becomes a more sympathetic and, indeed, vulnerable character. He is full of bluster, mentioning rum, whiskey, and gambling (a kind of poker called Slippery Anne is his favourite pastime) alarmingly often, but by the end of the book, as he drinks himself into oblivion after most of his company have been killed, I cared very much for him. But I think that my favourite memoir/diary, of the ones that I have read so far, is Captain J.C. Dunn's The War the Infantry Knew. Not only has it provided me with many priceless details of what 19th Brigade (my grandfather's brigade early on in the war) were up to in 1915, but it is full of dry, witty, descriptions of activities such as the Young Officer's Riding School, when all the NCOs would turn out to laugh at the subalterns being thrown from their horses and thoroughly humiliated. It made me realise why my grandfather, with a new commission and whilst still recovering from his July 1916 Somme wounds, was so keen to spend a fortnight staying with his horse-breeding farmer cousins in Ireland, learning how to ride properly. It is a book that I would heartily recommend to anyone wanting to know how an infantry battalion functioned in WW1. I realise, however, that I am mostly preaching to the converted..... William Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marilyne Posted 26 February , 2013 Share Posted 26 February , 2013 William, I completely agree with your view on Vaughan. He was definitely not the best officer and if he would have really been sent back to England for incompetence as was now and then hinted, we would probably never have heard of him. But I took pity on him, because I found in his stories the mistakes and misunderstandings that a lot of young officers, even nowadays, make or experience. What is remarkable is that he admits to making them and tells about them. Were his diaries intended to be published, he would surely never have told some of the stories... In this way, if you compare him to Sassoon for example, when he tells his story how he "captured" an enemy trench and then quietly starts reading some poetry instead of reporting back... or even (p. 127 of Memoirs of an Infantry Officer) admitting to "Still keeping up appearances as an invalid officer"... Carotteur, va!! THAT's the guy you would want to strangle as a senior officer. not Vaughan. He did not know better ... and is honest about it. MM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Hastings Posted 26 February , 2013 Share Posted 26 February , 2013 I liked 'From Ypres to Cambrai' by Frank Hawkins QVR and RND and 'A Sergeant - Major's War, from Hill 60 to the Somme' by Ernest Shephard Dorset Regt Cheers Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sepoy Posted 26 February , 2013 Share Posted 26 February , 2013 If you want an interesting read covering a broad period you should try Deneys Reitz's three books. His trilogy is superb.... "Commando" covers his time as a Boer fighting with Jan Christiaan Smuts, including the Battle of Elands River in 1901 (by far the best book I have read on the Anglo Boer War) "Trekking on" covers the post Boer War period as a "Bitter ender". It goes on to cover his service in the 1914 Maritz Rebellion and then the German East Africa Campaign serving under Smuts. This book also covers his service on the Western Front commanding the 1st Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers until he was wounded in action. "No Outspan" covers the post Great War period and his rise in South African politics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WilliamRev Posted 27 February , 2013 Author Share Posted 27 February , 2013 If you want an interesting read covering a broad period you should try Deneys Reitz's three books. His trilogy is superb.... "Commando" covers his time as a Boer fighting with Jan Christiaan Smuts, including the Battle of Elands River in 1901 (by far the best book I have read on the Anglo Boer War) "Trekking on" covers the post Boer War period as a "Bitter ender". It goes on to cover his service in the 1914 Maritz Rebellion and then the German East Africa Campaign serving under Smuts. This book also covers his service on the Western Front commanding the 1st Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers until he was wounded in action. "No Outspan" covers the post Great War period and his rise in South African politics Trekking On looks fascinating - I am always after new snippets of information about 1st Royal Scots Fusiliers. I have the very vaguest memory of my grandad telling me that he once had a commanding officer who had been a Boer who fought the British in the Boer war, but I hadn't realised that Reitz had written three volumes of memoirs. Many thanks for the information, and I have snapped up a second hand copy of Trekking On on the internet just now! William Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WilliamRev Posted 10 March , 2013 Author Share Posted 10 March , 2013 I have just finished reading "Mud and Khaki" by H.S.Clapham, which is memoir of his time in the 1st Honorable Artillery Company from January to October 1915. It mostly concerns the day-to-day holding of trenches at St Eloi then Hooge/Sanctuary Wood, at a time when these were particularly nasty sectors. It is full of interesting details - he is very concerned with keeping dry, clean and lice-free - and has some interesting contemporary photos of the trenches in Sanctuary Wood when there were still branches on the trees. Henry S. Clapham was a Private, rising to Acting Lance-Sergeant during the time described in the book, and was later commissioned into the Army Ordnance Corps, finishing the war as a Lieutenant. I would highly recommend the book, one of those photographic reprints of an old edition which Naval and Military Press do so well, to anyone keen to gather details of the Ypres Salient in 1915, but at £11.50 for a 220 page paperback, it isn't exactly cheap. William Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seaJane Posted 10 April , 2013 Share Posted 10 April , 2013 Can anyone advise which of the memoirs in this thread were written by BEF men? I have a friend who would be interested to know. Thanks! sJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Maria Posted 10 April , 2013 Share Posted 10 April , 2013 Having had a quick look through,apart from post #26,most of them are B.E.F (Western front) apart from Those listed as other theatres and by their titles eg Gallipoli as i saw it Storm of steel(German) Two year interlude (N.Z) To the last ridge(A.I.F) Ghosts have warm hands(Can) The journal of private fraser(Can) French titles Commando,no outspan(S.A) Surgery on trestles (Mespot) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtaylor Posted 10 April , 2013 Share Posted 10 April , 2013 When looking for memoirs a useful start is World War 1 Memories: an annotated bibliography of personal accounts published since 1919 by Edward G Lengel, Scarecrow Press, 2004. This covers most of the beligerent nations and has a list at the end of 'Notable and Recommended books'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WilliamRev Posted 14 April , 2013 Author Share Posted 14 April , 2013 I have just finished reading: ' "STAND TO" A Diary of the Trenches 1915-1918, by Captain F.C. Hitchcock MC' of 2nd Battalion The Leinster Regiment, which is one of those WW1 memoirs which people who (like me), find WW1 memoirs fascinating, will, er..., find fascinating. A regular battalion which suffered huge casualties (88 officers and 1,085 men killed), we follow 2nd Leinsters at Ypres (Hooge) in 1915; the Somme (Guillemont) in the summer of 1916, followed by Vimy Ridge in the autumn, then the Loos sector in 1917 when he falls sick. He returns to his battalion for the last couple of months of the war, and December 1918 sees him marching into Germany. The book appears to be an enlargement of a diary that Hitchcock wrote at the time, and is full of detail of trench names and the minutiae of trench life. There are later-added footnotes with details of men who were killed, both men as well as officers - in some memoirs by officers, other-ranks get short shrift when it comes to being named Stand To is full of the author's pride in the the five Southern Irish Regiments (the Royal Irish Regiment, the Connaught Rangers, the Leinster Regiment, The Royal Munster Fusiliers and the Royal Dublin Fusiliers), and sadness at their disbandment in 1922, and would be of particular interest to anyone interested in these. It is available from Amazon (using the forum link at the top of every page of course ) as a Naval and Military Press reprint - I paid £9.95, which for a 350 page paperback isn't cheap, but cheaper than many reprinted/second-hand memoirs these days. I constantly benefited from having a trench map to hand, in order to follow the action, and this has led me to investigate buying Linesman so that I can avoid having to spread half a dozen trench maps onto my sitting-room floor in order to understand a chapter. William [edited (as usual, alas) for spelling and grammer.] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WilliamRev Posted 20 July , 2013 Author Share Posted 20 July , 2013 Today I finished "Last Man Standing", which is a compilation of letters, interviews and photos by Norman Collins, who was a 2nd Lieutenant in the 6th Seaforth Highlanders, 51st Division. Compiled by Richard Van Emden and published by Pen and Sword, it contains fascinating insights into training - he enjoyed his training to be a soldier, but loathed his officer training. (This rang bells - my grandfather said that he had a ghastly time in his officer training, after a year in the trenches as a private). Collins was an eighth Scottish, but discovered that he was rather more Scottish than most of the battalion which was made up from Yorkshiremen and Irishmen. Collins owned a (completely illegal) camera, and there are some delightfully informal photos of sporting events, and officers playing with French children. In his early 90s Norman returned to the Western Front, and there are photos of him visiting the graves of his friends at Beaumont Hamel, and one of him gazing into Y-Ravine where he had fought seventy years before. At £12.99 for a 208 page paperback this isn't a cheap book, but I enjoyed it far more than I thought I was going to, and learned all sorts of new details about the war. William Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marilyne Posted 8 August , 2013 Share Posted 8 August , 2013 If you want to read a truly good "memoir" and have some fun with it, you should try "Drawing fire" by Len Smith. His illustrations are hilarious !! MM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Hastings Posted 8 August , 2013 Share Posted 8 August , 2013 Totally agree Marilyne, I usually buy paperbacks but was so pleased I bought 'Drawing Fire' in hardback, a talented artist as well as writer, really enjoyed it. He was 7th Londons and then RE, William, just in case you haven't come across it. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WilliamRev Posted 9 August , 2013 Author Share Posted 9 August , 2013 Someone gave me a (hardback) copy of Drawing Fire recently, and it is working its way up the "To read" pile, currently in the middle of about a dozen WW1 memoirs/autobiographies. Thanks for the tip, Marilyne and Jim; I shall now promote it to the top of the pile... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rumplestiltskin Posted 9 August , 2013 Share Posted 9 August , 2013 Having read the posts, I now have many more books to read and add to my collection. Happy days. Terry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WilliamRev Posted 9 August , 2013 Author Share Posted 9 August , 2013 There's a few here Click I haven't read this for a long time, but a wonderful piece of writing, don't you think? La Vacquerie Mike I hadn't had time to follow these links Mike; there are loads of fascinating things here - thanks. Yes, the La Vacquerie account is very vivid. William Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackM Posted 9 August , 2013 Share Posted 9 August , 2013 Don't think it's been mentioned yet, but my favourite book is "Her Privates We" by Frederick Manning. (for some reason, that title is always an occasion for a great deal of sniggering, within my family). Though not altogether an autobiography/memoir, it's pretty close. Jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WilliamRev Posted 10 August , 2013 Author Share Posted 10 August , 2013 Don't think it's been mentioned yet, but my favourite book is "Her Privates We" by Frederick Manning. (for some reason, that title is always an occasion for a great deal of sniggering, within my family). The title is a deliberate double-entedre: it comes from a smutty little exchange between Hamlet, Rosencranz and Guildenstern in Act 2 scene2 of Hamlet. Give it a google and you'll see. Manning knew perfectly well what he was doing when he named his book. William Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Hastings Posted 10 August , 2013 Share Posted 10 August , 2013 Really, how interesting William, I never knew that. Amazing what you learn on this great forum!! By the way, have you read 'Sapper Martin'? (RE signaller 41st Div Sep 1916 - end of war)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dust Jacket Collector Posted 10 August , 2013 Share Posted 10 August , 2013 I wonder if there's a hidden meaning behind Manning's original title 'The Middle Parts of Fortune' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WilliamRev Posted 10 August , 2013 Author Share Posted 10 August , 2013 Really, how interesting William, I never knew that. Amazing what you learn on this great forum!! By the way, have you read 'Sapper Martin'? (RE signaller 41st Div Sep 1916 - end of war)? Thanks for the recommendation - I will make a mental note of it.. I wonder if there's a hidden meaning behind Manning's original title 'The Middle Parts of Fortune' Well that is a paraphrase of another line of the same passage of ribald banter see: here. William Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WilliamRev Posted 10 August , 2013 Author Share Posted 10 August , 2013 I have just bought a very cheap copy of Sapper Martin on Amazon - there are plenty of copies for a penny or two plus the usual £2.80 postage etc. It will go on the bottom of the "to read" pile when it arrives. Thanks Jim William Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gardenerbill Posted 22 August , 2013 Share Posted 22 August , 2013 A couple I have read and enjoyed: Adventures of a Despatch Rider by WHL Watson and an artillery one (Salonika): Charles Packer's Return to Salonika Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Hastings Posted 22 August , 2013 Share Posted 22 August , 2013 I have just received a copy of 'Men of 18 in 1918' by Fred Hodges of the 10th Lancs Fusiliers having seen the author on a re-run of 'Voices of WW1' recently. He was an 18 year old volunteer in 1918 whose training was cut short following the German Spring Offensive and sent to the front. Should give a good personal insight to the 100 Days to Victory. Just thumbed through it and it looks (Hodges uses a lot of subject sub-titles)very comprehensive. Again, got my copy quite cheaply on Amazon. Also replaced my 'With a Machine Gun to Cambrai' that a comrade 'permanently borrowed' when I was in the 'mob' All the best with your reading William Cheers Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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