Books / Memoirs about the Base Area & Lines Of Communication troops

[Marilyne]

On 28/05/2021 at 13:20, bootneck said:

Finally, I’ve got a visit to Kew coming up shortly and I’ve ordered WO 158/2-3 to see what’s in it but as I’ve got a lot of material to get through and it will probably have to wait for a longer look at on a further visit.

 

Duncan, can you keep me informed about whether it's interesting enough? If I come over from Belgium, I'll have to be very picky on what documents to read... and if C Phillips' book is good? 

Ian Brown's book is really good but it deals with the political/strategic level: how Geddes came to save the day after the shell crisis and the main LOC.

And you're right about Maginniss... it is an academic work and so much less readable. 

 

M.

[bootneck]

Chris Phillip's book arrived earlier this week and I must admit that I found it impressive. It is written in an easy to read style, well foot noted (rather than end notes); has a good bibliography, maps and index. So far I've only read the introduction but it has got my attention. 

 

I bumped into an academic yesterday who is mentioned in the bibliography who thoroughly recommends this book and said that it is going to be the 'go to' book on the subject. He said it is academically well researched and written. He also said that reading it in conjunction with the OH volume on transportation and Edwin Pratt's British Railways and The Great War and the Railway Gazette special transportation issue would give me a go overview of both railways and inland waterways during the war. He also mentioned WO 158/2-3 as worth looking at.     

[Robert Dunlop]

"Schlump. The Story of an Unknown Soldier" is a semi-autobiographical anecdotal history of a German soldier in the war. It contains some interesting insights into lines of communication troops, particularly in the latter phases of the war.

Robert

[bootneck]

Marilyne,

 

WO 158/2-3 is another copy of The Directorate of Supplies report mentioned earlier in this thread. It has many diagrams, maps and charts. To my mind it appears to be an invaluable document, and well worth looking at. It was a pity that I didn't have time to photograph it.

 

If you do get to Kew, please be aware that if you want to photograph documents all seats now have a camera stand; however, the new ones are rather flimsy (I managed to wreck one without trying); so that if you have an old fashioned or weighty camera it would be advisable to ask for one of the older more solid camera stands.

 

Duncan       

[green_acorn]

On 12/04/2021 at 16:25, Gardenerbill said:

I have a copy of 'Notes from Calais Base and Pictures of it's Many Activities' by C.E. Montague. It's a thin volume with just 26 pages of text but there are 48 pages of photographs. May be worth a look depends on what you are looking for. 

https://archive.org/details/notesfromcalaisb00mont/mode/2up

On 12/04/2021 at 16:25, Gardenerbill said:

I have a copy of 'Notes from Calais Base and Pictures of it's Many Activities' by C.E. Montague. It's a thin volume with just 26 pages of text but there are 48 pages of photographs. May be worth a look depends on what you are looking for. 

https://archive.org/details/notesfromcalaisb00mont/mode/2up

On 12/04/2021 at 16:25, Gardenerbill said:

I have a copy of 'Notes from Calais Base and Pictures of it's Many Activities' by C.E. Montague. It's a thin volume with just 26 pages of text but there are 48 pages of photographs. May be worth a look depends on what you are looking for. 

https://archive.org/details/notesfromcalaisb00mont/mode/2up

 

[Marilyne]

On 03/06/2021 at 09:19, bootneck said:

Chris Phillip's book arrived earlier this week and I must admit that I found it impressive. It is written in an easy to read style, well foot noted (rather than end notes); has a good bibliography, maps and index. So far I've only read the introduction but it has got my attention. 

 

 

 

Thanks... found ot for 5€ on Kindl and have downloaded it. 

 

12 hours ago, bootneck said:

If you do get to Kew, please be aware that if you want to photograph documents all seats now have a camera stand; however, the new ones are rather flimsy (I managed to wreck one without trying); so that if you have an old fashioned or weighty camera it would be advisable to ask for one of the older more solid camera stands.

 

Thanks for the tip, I'll definitely try to remember that! 

 

M. 

[bootneck]

I've just ordered copies of J C Harding-Newman's Modern Miltary Administration, Organisation and Transportation (Aldershot, 1933) and W G Lindsell's A and Q: Or Military Administration in War (Aldershot, 1929 edition) for further background reading. Both are by Gale & Polden and the second appears to be a primer for Sandhurst and Woolwich. 

 

Duncan   

[bootneck]

You will find the following item at Kew, Branches and Services: Director of Transport. General Survey Chapter 1-10 Appendices and Charts covering the period 1914 to 1918 under their reference WO 95/71/8. It has been digitised and currently can be downloaded for free from their website. It looks extremely interesting.

[Marilyne]

Hi, 

I hope you don't mind if I'm steering this thread into a somewhat different direction... we've been talking about the LOC, and the work done by the logistics/administration part of the BEF, as in: the real army stuff. But I'm reading up on what I wrote about Etaples and there were all those extra means by which the soldier could supplement his diet, particularly the YMCA and various church huts... there's a good list of them in the Long Long trail. 

But I was wondering if any literature exists about the numerous individual initiatives on the western front, mainly that of fortuned ladies who wanted to do a bit of good (well, mostly trying Lady so-and-so trying to outdo one another, but I guess the men did not care) by setting up their canteens. Lady Forbes was one of them ... Haig kicked her out of Etaples, but there certainly were others. In a way, they are a part of logistics, right?? 

any leads?

Thanks, 

M.

[Kath]

On 11/04/2021 at 20:35, RussT said:

I likewise have a growing appetite to learn more about the goings-on in the back areas and how it all worked, so to speak.

 

Many thousands of soldiers passed through Infantry Base Depots and yet there is very little written about them. Just snippets here and there.

 

So I was very glad to come across this Title recently "Etaples - Britain's Notorious Infantry Base Depot 1914-1919".

 

But it turned out to be the most disappointing book I've ever purchased, and I've bought a few over the years.

 

So, I would also be interested to hear from others as to what may be available

 

Russ

 

 

 

 

 

Russ, Have you seen this?

https://libcom.org/history/articles/etaples-mutiny-1917

The Etaples mutiny, 1917 - Dave Lamb - Taken from Mutinies by Dave Lamb

 

 

[stiletto_33853]

JSTOR

Mutiny at Etaples Base 1917

Etaples Mutiny 1917.pdf

[RussT]

Thanks for posting links to those articles - I was aware of the mutiny and I had read some general accounts of it - but I had not before seen those specific articles.

Regards

Russ

[alf mcm]

For new books on Labour Corps there are;-

'The Coolies Great War' subtitled 'Indian Labour in a global Conflict 1914-1921' by Radhika Singha. This covers Indian Labour Corps and the Indian Jail Labour Corps in great detail.

and;-

'Asia in Flanders Fields' subtitled 'Indians and Chinese on the Western Front, 1914-1920 by Dominieck Dendooven concentrates on the Indian and Chinese Labour Corps in Flanders. He discusses how the Indians and Chinese reacted to Europeans and their lifestyles, and also how these local poulation got on with them. The book highlights the differences between the Chinese and Indian Labour Corps.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Coolies-Great-War-Conflict-1914-1921-ebook/dp/B08Q8LCZP7/ref=sr_1_1?crid=38S3RGYNEVRDN&keywords=THE+COOLIE'S+GREAT+WAR&qid=1643928012&s=books&sprefix=the+coolie+s+great+war%2Cstripbooks%2C72&sr=1-1

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Asia-Flanders-Fields-Indians-19141920/dp/1526763338/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3J42PSXQ1E6C7&keywords=ASIA+IN+FLANDERS&qid=1643928064&s=books&sprefix=asia+in+flanders%2Cstripbooks%2C70&sr=1-1

  Both of these books are, I think, unique in what the cover. They are both very good, and compliment each other.

Regards,

Alf McM