[Great War] Autobiographies Anonymous

[Jim Hastings]

It was the first memoir I read and enjoyed it then (especially since he lived local to me and joined up in the barracks I finished my service in), and when I re-read it I always learn something new, but that may be because I have learnt a lot more about the GW (and have a long, long way to go!!!) over the time. Had to buy a second copy, but was lucky, snatched it right up when I saw it advertised for about £3!!

All the best, Jim

[Black Maria]

Great buy Jim!, my first copy was the original 1969 x-lib copy, nice and small, so easy to take away for a bit of holiday reading. I also have a copy of the later I.W.M

re-issue that contains an epilogue of Mr Coppard's return to France in 1972 and letters from old soldiers commenting on the first edition . Like you Jim ,it is a book

that I never tire of re-reading.

Best Wishes,

John,

[Jim Hastings]

You won't believe this John but the £3 copy I got was the '69 version in brilliant nick, I'd even say unread, the one that I first had was the IWM version, since 'permanently-borrowed' by someone!!!

Must be a bit of luck I'm having, picked up a signed copy of Martin Middlebrook's First Day of the Somme in hardback for £2 yesterday!!

Now I just need more time to read ...

All the best, Jim

[Black Maria]

Nice one Jim, another one of my favourite books !,

Happy reading !

John.

[Marilyne]

I just found a great source of books: the Gutenberg Project!!

I'm just afraid this is going to worsen our condition ever more : http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/World_War_I_(Bookshelf)#Diaries_and_Memoirs

MM.

[hooge1]

I just found a great source of books: the Gutenberg Project!!

I'm just afraid this is going to worsen our condition ever more : http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/World_War_I_(Bookshelf)#Diaries_and_Memoirs

MM.

My hard drive is at breaking point as well as my shelves!

[Marilyne]

My hard drive is at breaking point as well as my shelves!

Well I don't want to push you, but external drives come at very cheap prices nowadays ...

[kenneth505]

Well done on the Gutenberg link Marilyne! I find the search tool on that site to be opaque generally. Now a great list to read!

[Marilyne]

you're welcome !!

[WilliamRev]

Thanks to a recommendation on this thread......

I have just finished reading Poor Bloody Infantry by Bernard Martin, who was a subaltern in the North Staffordshires, making his way to the Western Front in early 1916 after an unusual posting in the Channel Islands. He fought on the Somme and lasted until the early stages of 3rd Ypres when he was badly wounded.

Everyone experienced the war differently, and the book is worth reading for yet another slant on events that we know so well, but I didn't like this book as much as I wanted to. Memoirs written down in old age so often seem to have been written in the author's head over the decades, and this one betrays the fact, with a variety of styles and moods; near the end is a rather arty kind of dream-sequence in which he lies badly wounded thinking that he is dying.

But he is at his best when just narrating his story in an honest and straightforward manner. When it is obviously tainted with hindsight or trying to be literary then it is far less successful, it seems to me. Nevertheless, I know that this book has been much admired by some, and I paid just £5.51 second-hand including postage on amazon (using the Forum money-raising link as always ) so there are cheap copies around.

William

[David Ridgus]

Sorry if this has come up before but another good source of out of print books is a publisher called "Forgotten Books"

One particular find for me on their list was 'Temporary Heroes' by Cecil Sommers. Taking the form of a series of letters from an officer at the front to his girlfriend, it paints a vivid picture of life in the trenches from early 1915 until the author is wounded during the battle of the Somme in July 1916. What makes this such a special collection is the tone and quality of the writing. He manages to be understated, almost light hearted at times and yet "Phyllis" can never have been in any doubt as to what her "Thomas" was facing. Particularly poignant are the last few letters leading up to the 'Big Push.' The subtle shift of tone is restrained and brilliantly done with the reader knowing, with a crushing certainty, what is going to happen.

A quote from the introduction gives you a flavour 'Some talk of Alexander, and some of Hercules. And some don’t. This is no thrilling tale of derring do, but a collection of letters written from all kinds of places, mostly unpleasant, in all weathers, chiefly rain, and at all sorts of odd times. They are the impressions of the moment, and are subject to the fits of depression and optimism which attack everybody in the trenches.'

A light touch throughout but never lightweight

David

[Black Maria]

His real name was Norman Cecil Sommers Down he served in the1/4th Gordon Highlanders , he later married 'Phyllis' and died at Edenbridge ,Kent in 1984.

[Marilyne]

I just finished reading "The Long Carry", the diaries of Stretcher Bearer Frank Dunham.

I was wondering if anyone else read it recently and especially, if anyone shares my opinion... I've found this diary strangely cold and void of any emotions that one expects to find in a personal document like a diary... quiter strange. I don't know if some pièces have been edited out, but it seems quite strange to me that a stretcher bearer, who deals with death and horrible wounds every day would deliver such a cold and impersonal diary. It's descriptive, not more... but apart from "Ypres was trying for Heart and nerves", there is not one moment where he truly shows that the blood and the loss gets to him. Maybe it didn't, I dont know, but I,just find it very strange.

A reply, someone ???

don't leave me alone on the topic.....

M.

[David Ridgus]

I just finished reading "The Long Carry", the diaries of Stretcher Bearer Frank Dunham.

I was wondering if anyone else read it recently and especially, if anyone shares my opinion... I've found this diary strangely cold and void of any emotions that one expects to find in a personal document like a diary... quiter strange. I don't know if some pièces have been edited out, but it seems quite strange to me that a stretcher bearer, who deals with death and horrible wounds every day would deliver such a cold and impersonal diary. It's descriptive, not more... but apart from "Ypres was trying for Heart and nerves", there is not one moment where he truly shows that the blood and the loss gets to him. Maybe it didn't, I dont know, but I,just find it very strange.

A reply, someone ???

don't leave me alone on the topic.....

M.

Marilyne

I haven't read the book but perhaps his attitude was conditioned by the job. It might well be that the only way he could bear to recount his experiences was by suppressing the emotional context. Perhaps his emotional release just came in the process of writing itself. Sorry if this all sounds rather cod-psychology.

I recently acquired a letter written by a machine gunner sent during Third Ypres. He had clearly received a ticking off from his sweetheart about his reaction to the death of a family member back in Blighty. Maybe his laconic response gives a clue: "I'm sorry if I didn't express my sorrow at the death of your cousin. It wasn't because I didn't mean it, but suppose one gets so hardened to these sort of reports that ordinary civilities seem paltry and unnecessary. I shall soon be qualified as an undertaker myself."

David

[WilliamRev]

I have just finished reading "Haunting Years" by William Linton Andrews. Andrews, a Yorkshireman, lived in Dundee and was News Editor of the Dundee Advertiser. He volunteered at the beginning of he war, joining the (Territorial) 4th Black Watch by mistake thinking that he was signing up for a Kitchener's Army battalion.

He fought at Neuve Chapelle, and gives excellent descriptions of how amateur the territorials felt alongside the regular army, and he goes on to fight at Festubert, Ypres and the Somme. Soon an NCO, after several years he has a job with the battalion H.Q., and describes how the battalion typewriter has to be wrapped up in a blanket in the hope that it will survive yet another move. He becomes a Quartermaster Sergeant and spends the last months of the war back in Scotland training to be an officer.

A bright man and a journalist by profession, Andrews writes in a clear, readable and honest style, and it is very much like Lucy's The Devil in the Drum: a skillfully written "easy-read" in terms of style, although not (of course) in content. I was very much moved by this account, and think that it one of the best three or four WW1 memoirs that I have read so far. For a 290 page paperback £10.79 (from Amazon, using the Forum limnk of course!) is not cheap, but I think it is well worth the price.

William

[Black Maria]

A bright man and a journalist by profession, Andrews writes in a clear, readable and honest style, and it is very much like Lucy's The Devil in the Drum: a skillfully written "easy-read" in terms of style, although not (of course) in content. I was very much moved by this account, and think that it one of the best three or four WW1 memoirs that I have read so far. For a 290 page paperback £10.79 (from Amazon, using the Forum limnk of course!) is not cheap, but I think it is well worth the price.

William

Another excellent memoir, i must say though that as a collector of original copies, £10.79 does seem a bit of a bargain .In my copy there is a newspaper cutting where Andrews

defends his book against criticism that he is stirring up painful memories and is using the then boom in war books to make money , also he was accused of being boastful and writing

under the influence of too much rum !. He robustly defends his book and cites the previous owner of my copy who had written to him to say that he had checked the dates and locations and they all tallied with his own diary, he also says that Andrew's book is the 'Real Truth' whereas other books seem to be dealing with a completely different war

to the one he fought in .

Quite amazing that he would have to defend a book that has become a classic memoir, in my copy also the previous owner has written his dates and the

locations of where he had served (227th Field Co R.E's 39th div) and Andrews has signed it.

There is a photograph of Andrews in 'The Great War i was there' (1938) which also has a photo of John Lucy and many other authors of classic memoirs.

[Pierce09]

sadly, my addiction takes all conflicts in from the last century and a bit more. but having just ordered 6 books off the list on the first page of this forum, does anyone know if there is any good memoirs/biographical account of the Manchester Regt, preferably the 2nd bttn?

[Black Maria]

A very good memoir/ diary that springs to mind is 'The diary of an unprofessional Soldier' edited by T.A.M Nash and published by Picton Publishing

in 1991 , it is the memoir/diary of Captain T.A.H Nash of the 16th Manchester Regiment.

[Pierce09]

Many thanks blackmaria. gotta love amazon!!

[8055Bell]

I recently acquired Nash's book and couldn't put it down. Orders are Orders by Albert Andrews of 19th Manchesters is also compelling. Both are especially relevant to the Pals Battalions (incl 17th for me). Nash actually contradicts my Grandad's journal and the 17th War Diary on one major point. Guess which I believe?

They are also good narratives for general understanding of the Somme. I'm not aware of direct autobiographies of the 2nd Bttn. Perhaps try http://www.themanchesters.org/forum/index.php again.

Tim

[Pierce09]

Tim, that was my first point of research! but thanks for the recommendations. i've ordered Nash's book and i shall look for Andrew's book.

[Marilyne]

Marilyne

I haven't read the book but perhaps his attitude was conditioned by the job. It might well be that the only way he could bear to recount his experiences was by suppressing the emotional context. Perhaps his emotional release just came in the process of writing itself. Sorry if this all sounds rather cod-psychology.

I recently acquired a letter written by a machine gunner sent during Third Ypres. He had clearly received a ticking off from his sweetheart about his reaction to the death of a family member back in Blighty. Maybe his laconic response gives a clue: "I'm sorry if I didn't express my sorrow at the death of your cousin. It wasn't because I didn't mean it, but suppose one gets so hardened to these sort of reports that ordinary civilities seem paltry and unnecessary. I shall soon be qualified as an undertaker myself."

David

You're certainly quite right on that, David. And it does not come as Cod-psychology, don't worry...

That letter surely seems interesting !!

MM;

[David Ridgus]

You're certainly quite right on that, David. And it does not come as Cod-psychology, don't worry...

That letter surely seems interesting !!

MM;

It is an interesting letter. He has a bit of a moan about apparent preferential treatment for Canadian troops.

"The colonial troops seem to be able to do pretty well as they like. The crowd here are getting pretty fed up with the way the papers speak of the overseas troops, and want to know how it is that the English troops only appear in the casualty lists."

Ouch!!

David

[WilliamRev]

Thanks to a recommendation by Paul a year ago, when I started this thread, I bought, and have just finished reading "Field Guns in France" by Lt.-Col. Neil Fraser-Tytler. The book takes the form of 52 letters which he wrote home, clearly with the intention of them forming a diary/memoir which would survive if he died. A battery commander in the Royal Field Artillery, he was at first in charge of a battery of 4.5 inch howitzers, and later a battery of 18 pounders. He started off on the Somme in the winter of 1915/16 just as the army was recovering from Loos, when the Somme was still a quiet sector, and we follow him through the battles of the Somme and Third Ypres until the German Spring offensive of 1918, after which the effects of gas-poisoning caught up with him and his days in action were over.

An old Etonian who loves to go out game-bird shooting every time he gets a chance (and can borrow or otherwise obtain a gun-dog), making light of personal discomfort, he is constantly keen to kill as many Germans as possible, keeping a tally of his estimated victims which he puts at the back of the book (together with the usual maps). There are loads of details which will be of interest to artillery enthusiasts. particularly about the siting and moving of the guns.

For me the great value of this book lies in the fact that it was written as he went along, so not only is it factually reliable, but it reflects his mood at the time, and there is no danger of "retrospective futility" creeping in.

A very readable book, I bought a new copy from Amazon - at £11.50 for a 250-page paperback it isn't cheap, but it was certainly well worth it.

William

[David Filsell]

A consolidated list of all the books listed would be a most valuable tool,