What we all reading at the moment

[michaeldr]

Tom,

I have Len's 1995 book "For God's Sake Shoot Straight!" on Dyett, his court martial and execution. Is "Death for Desertion" a reissue with a new title or is Len presenting new research here?

Thanks for advice

Michael D.R.

[Tom Morgan]

Tom,

I have Len's 1995 book "For God's Sake Shoot Straight!" on Dyett, his court martial and execution. Is "Death for Desertion" a reissue with a new title or is Len presenting new research here?

Yes, Michael, it is the same book. The publication history states that it was previously published as "For God's Sake Shoot Straight" in 1995. (Which I haven't read.) The publisher's press release makes no mention of any new information or re-interpretation so it seems to be a straight re-issue under a new title.

Tom

[Andrew Hesketh]

Huw Strachan, 'The First World War', Vol I. Heavy (literally) but very good.

+

Henri Desagneaux, 'A French Soldiers War Diary 1914-1918'.

+

Simon Winchester, 'The Surgeon of Crowthorne'. Nothing to do with WWI but a quite brilliant book about the curious circumstances that lay behind the production of the Oxford English Dictionary. NOT as dull as it sounds!

[john w.]

On the theme of executions.. I am reading Gerard Orams book.. Worthless men ... Race eugenics and the death penalty

and lined up behind that is For freedom and Honour by Andrew Godefroy the story of the Canadians executed...

John

[Staffsyeoman]

"Leadership in the Trenches" by Gary Sheffield. Library finally tracked one down.. (at £52 even a book-o-holic like me winced at buying it). Deeply academic, but very readable. Will turn some preconceptions over, methinks?

[Tim Birch]

Just finished "Haig's Command" Hmm.........

Have now started "A Foreign Field" by Bem MacIntyre. A narative based on the true story of a group of British soldiers who get cut off behind enemy lines during the Retreat from Mons.

I have also restarted "War Underground" by Alexander Barrie. For some reason I have found it difficult to read it through at one go. The subject matter is interesting, but I find it disjointed and almost too "chatty" for a history. What do you think Myrtle?

Maybe I am getting brain saturated by too many serious books. My wife thinks I am sad, and need to lighten up. I have just spotted "The Tales of Peter Rabbit" which is lurking on the bookshelf.....

Tim

[john w.]

Tim

Enjoyed Foreign field hope you do...

Forgot to add Im reading ... The Thin Yellow Line by William Moore... putting shot at dawn in context...

John

[Guest dave neale]

Tim,

Ive just finished reading "Foreign Field" this morning. A good piece of research carried out by Ben Macintyre.

I couldnt understand why the book mainly revolving around Robert Digby is in contradiction with the CWGC as they show that Thomas Digby as having died, same name as Roberts brother.

Is this deliberate by the author or a CWGC mistake?

It does make you think about the plight of Thomas Highgate or even what would have happened to these soldiers in "Foreign Field" if they had been found by the British army.

Im also halfway through "Blindfold and Alone"

Dave

[Guest Hill 60]

I'm afraid no WWI books being read here at the moment

I'm in the middle of writing an article for the Clan Davidson Association about the Battle of Culloden in 1746 so I'm up to my eyes in books on the period!

Hopefully I'll be back to WWI soon!

[Guest john craven]

With a Machine Gun to Cambrai by George Coppard, read it the first time years ago, think I was twelve years old.

Somme, Lyn Mcdonald, was passing a book stall in the market, picked it up for a couple of quid.

John

[Myrtle]

Tim,

Re: "War Underground". I haven't finished it yet but so far it suits my rather disjointed reading pattern. I would prefer to read a book in one go but my present life style does not allow. The last time I read a book without interruption was while I was on holiday in February.

Roll on the next holiday !

Myrtle

[Fleur]

I'm reading'Dear Robert, Dear Spike' - the letters sent between Robert Graves and Spike Milligan - very interesting, having both suffered traumatic times in WW1 and WW2 respectivly.

Finished 'Forgotten Voices' a couple of weeks ago. It was a good book but I don't reckon that it is as good as Denis Winters 'Deaths Men', but that is just my opinion

Fleur

[Hedley Malloch]

Reading Pierre Berton 'Vimy'. Berton is a great Canadian social historian with a background in military intelligence. The book is from the intellectual wing of the 'butchers and bunglers' school. He has no time for any of the British High Command, with the exception of Byng for whom he the utmost respect. He makes his points about the British High Command in a series of comparisons with the Canadian commanders, especially Currie; and he draws attention to the different cultural and social and cultural contexts of the Canadian and UK army.

Some sample quotes:

" 'The ablest brains do not climb to the top of the stairs' Lloyd George wrote ruefully of the British Officer class. 'Seniorty and Society were the dominant factors in army promotion. Deportment counted a great deal. Brains came a bad fourth. The only exceptions were to be found in the Dominion forces." If Lloyd George had been able to buck the system he would eventually have made Currie commander of all British forces with ... Monash, his chief of staff." (p.101)

"In Britain class was everything. ... The other ranks, who belonged to the lower class, were expected to obey orders without question and without any real knowledge of the military situation which was considered too deep and complicated for them to grasp. Such was the gap between officers and men that any private soldier who did try and ask a question of his seniors was considered by his own fellows as a traitor to his class. ... Even in 1917, when the British Army had been bled white, promotion from the ranks was not usual" (p.48-49)

The book is superbly well-written, though I judge from his name that English was not Berton's native tongue.

A useful contrast to the Haig Revisionist view of the Western Front.

[Greenwoodman]

Just walked down the town for the odd errand for Mrs Greenwoodman. Checked out the books in Oxfam, and parted with 89p for "The Triangle of Terror in Belgium" by Maj-Gen Sir George Aston, i/c troops at Ostend Aug 1914, about 1914 atrocities in Belgium, published in 1918, boards a bit warped but not a total disaster.

Just checked on on ABE where the cheapest copy is 30-odd quid!!! Result! Just adding it to the "To read" pile now.

[Sgt York]

The book I'm reading at present was given to me recently by my uncle, the book belonged to my grandad (East Yorks Rgt). The book 'From Bapaume to Passchendaele 1917' by the official war correspondent Philip Gibbs. Its an original copy and has excellent fold out maps.

Philip Gibbs:-

[Guest FRANKBARTHOLOMEW]

At present, I am reading the official biography of Harold MacMillan (1894-1986), the late Conservative PM- and WWI veteran.

Arm, I suppose you know that despite his high rank- Wullie Robertson never lost his East-End accent, or even native dialect, despite mastering several Indian languages. When he had to tell General Smith-Dorrien that he was dismissed, he just said, "'Orace, you're thrown!"

I've also read Haig's biography- and I am firmly in the belief that he was too old fashioned to have been C-in-C. Plumer would have been a better choice, or even Smith-Dorrien (though apparently Monash was considered as a replacement for Haig in 1917- but as he was a former Militia Officer, Australian, and a Jew- he wouldn't have stood a chance against the establishment).

The war made some people think twice about class and background, but it took us a long time to realise that good officers are not necessarily 'upper class'.

Keep on reading,

Frank Bartholomew

[armourersergeant]

Frank,

yes i was aware and i love him all the more for it. he never forgot what made a soldier tick having been there himself and it was this that i think made him the general he was. Alas i believe that with nicknames like 'iron ration' as given him by Haig he was always destined for support roles even though you can justifably say at one point he was the most senior soldier in the army as far as position goes. He held provence over all british the armies in the world, Haig only held over the BEF. But as i say he was still in his 'peers' eyes a commoner and thus best suited to admin and quartermastering. We will never no how he would have faired as a general in the field.

For my money regarding your last comment on CinC I would have liked to have seen Smith-dorrien given a chance he showd promise but then again we will never know with him as he was never really tested. The thing with Plummer and especially Monasch was that they had commanded on the western front at high battle times and both come out with reasonable results.

Arm.

[mordac]

Hi Hedley:

Pierre Berton is an english speaking Canadian. He's written many fascinating books about the growth of Canada as a nation: Klondike, The National Dream, and The Last Spike to name just a few.

I've read Vimy a couple of time and although, as you mentioned, it's a good read, I think he goes a little too far in his praise of Currie and the CEF in places and certainly doesn't give the BEF enough credit. There was also quite a debate in Canada when Vimy was first published about the accuracy of some of the fact he presents in the book.

You'll notice Berton quotes soldiers such as Will Bird (Ghosts Have Warm Hands) and Victor Wheeler (50th Battalion In No Man's Land) in a number of places. If you can find these books, I think you'll get a better feel for the CEF experience in WW1.

Garth

[Hedley Malloch]

Hi Garth,

I wasn't sure of Breton's origins; I thought with his name he would be a Francophone. I read his two books on the building of the Canadian railways and was very impressed.

Reading between the lines Currie does come across as a bit of an odd-ball. I didn't know about his financial irregularities (shades of French and Haig?) which would certainly led to have his being cashiered had been of lower rank.

I have Will Bird's account of his trip to the battlefields after the War and that's on my to read list.; it's recently been reprinted. I will keep my eyes open for the 'Ghosts' title and the Wheeler book.

Regards

hedley

[Frank_East]

F.B

General Sir William Robertson. I would have thought he would have retained his "yellow belly" accent having only left his birthplace of Welbourn, a village a few miles south of Lincoln at the age of 17 to jion the 16th Lancers as a private.

Wullie was possibily the exception in crossing the divide between officers and other ranks in his rise from Private to Field Marshal.He must have developed into a "gentleman" as this was the most important trait that determined a candidate's acceptance into "the circle".Robertson had seen service as a footman before joining the army and must have been aware of the"gentlemanly qualities" required.This observation does not take anything away from Wullie's achievement in his attaining high rank which was a tremendous personal achievement.

Wullie's son, General Sir Brian Robertson. His path to a high position in the military structure of WW2 and that of post war would have been easier than his fathers having the assumed the pedigree of culture and being a gentlman's son,the prerequiste for being an officer.A far cry from being a Lincolnshire "yellow belly"

It has been said that culture had a particular role to play in the British Army for it was culture rather than doctrine that determined the British Army's method of prosecuting the Great War.

One of my bedside books at the moment is "Seeking Victory on the Western Front" by Albert Palazzo.You can always be guarranted an informative read from the "colonials".A good insight to the British Army's use of chemical warfare on the Western Front.

Incidentally did the AIF allocate batman to their officer ranks? I cannot say I have seen a reference to AIF batman deployment before.

Regards

Frank East

[Dawson]

Reading Sagittarius Rising by Cecil lewis.

And while I'm on does anyone know of any books written about the newfoundlanders, as It's a subject I'd like to know more about, there was one book that's now out of print called 'The Fighting Newfoundlanders' but it would be easier to find rocking horse droppings.

So any Ideas?

Take Care

Ian.

[Tom Morgan]

Ian,

I'm sure you'll know this excellent one but just in case:

"Pilgrimage" - A Guide to the Royal Newfoundland Regiment in World War One by W. David Parsons.

I was just looking in the Ray Westlake catalogue to see if he's got it (couldn't see it) when I found another:

THE NEWFOUNDLAND REGIMENT IN WORLD WAR ONE - Memoirs of a Blue Puttee. A.J. Stacey. Fine memoir of Anthony James Stacey - veteran of Canada's Newfoundland Regiment. Served Gallipoli, Egypt, on the Somme, Ypres, Vimy ridge etc. SB. 190 pages. £9.95.

Tom

[Graham-McAdam]

I’ve been reading ‘Passchendaele – The Sacrificial Ground’ by Nigel Steel and Peter Hart (two IWM boffs). I haven’t seen any reviews of this and would be interested to know what anyone thinks of it. It’s a big smart hard back (£4.00 from Foleys of Bingham) and an easy read. I’ll have to go back to Lynn MacDonald, who invented the mode, to remind myself of her version This one seems to use more testimonies by generals and officers (including Maxse, Blackadder and Luddendorff) and be more interested (perhaps because 30 years newer) in the gruesome and awful, with reports from more unusual people like duckboard layers, cyclists and bombardiers. A challenging read.

Also, has anyone read Henry Williamson’s 16 part novel of the war ‘A Chronicle of Ancient Sunlight’. A friend has loaned me ‘The Golden Virgin’ which is part Six, but I think I’d like to start at the beginning if I’m going to get into it at all

[mordac]

I have Will Bird's account of his trip to the battlefields after the War and that's on my to read list.; it's recently been reprinted.

Hi Hedley:

In an earlier post you mentioned you have Will Bird's "Thirteen Years After" on your reading list. Have you started it yet? I just finished reading it yesterday and would like to hear what your thoughts and comments on the book. Thanks.

Garth

P.S. I've started to read "Death So Noble: Memory, Meaning And The First World War" by Jonathan F. Vance.

[paul guthrie]

Thirteen Years After is a terrific after the battle account as you would expect from the author of the superb Ghosts Have Warm Hands.