about me

[Alecras234]

Hi my name's Ash, im 44 from North Wales in the United Kingdom.    I'VE posted on here before but i wanted to tell you a little about myself and my interests.   I'm disabled and i use a wheelchair.   I've suffered head injury when i was 6 years old, which makes learning new things difficult.   Now im reaching old age haha,  i have many interests which frustrate me because i have trouble learning.  I buy books but the language is often difficult to understand.   I'm interested in World war one, music, astronomy and surfing the internet.     With ww1, i'd like to learn more,   i have 2 books bu Rupert Colley, one is called, World War one history in an hour,   it gives brief summary of events and mentions key players.   The second book is still by Rupert Colley called The Battle of the Somme which tells all about the build up, key players and what happened, it doesn't go into too much detail, and he adds humour here and there.   I contacted Rupert Colley and said that his World war one history in an hour contained inaccuracies because i was reading the somme and it said the battle lasted 5 months, i thought WHAT?    So that's when he told me about his Somme book.   Anyway im reading Rupert Colley's battle of the Somme and i am understanding it as the words aren't complicated, but i forget about what i've read. 

[Mick M]

Hi Ash,

I think its great you have taken up WW1 to study it's a passion with me from my childhood having the great honour to get to talk to some survivors (Yes I'm much older than you!)....can I suggest you look at the Imperial War Museum, on line there is a huge amount of information including survivor testimony both written and audio. Their many books are easy to read and contain many pictures and you can rely on the content to be accurate. A visit there if you are sufficiently mobile or have assistance from friends would be a real treat..

The museum has a large pictorial library accessible on line and you can get lost surfing there.....

Good luck and ask questions you will find folk on this forum ready to help and must have huge patience to put up with me!

[Alecras234]

Where do i go on the IWM site to read about battles?   Every time i've typed in a particular battle it only shows photographs. I also contacted IWM asking could i learn from reading off the site, she replied we are not a learning resource.    

Ash

[Mick M]

19 hours ago, Alecras234 said:

Where do i go on the IWM site to read about battles?   Every time i've typed in a particular battle it only shows photographs. I also contacted IWM asking could i learn from reading off the site, she replied we are not a learning resource.    

Ash

Shame, their books are very good....if you are looking for something with witness testimony try their 'voices of series'.

Battles I recommend Lyn McDonald and a very good Somme book Martin Middlebrooks first day of the Somme.

[Alecras234]

I've started reading, 1914  voices from the battlefields, im enjoying it but i want to know something, the chapters are long  and go into detail, when i read i try to remember everything i read but i can't do that with this book as the chapters are long.   It starts off talking about 4th Middlesex regiment being at the railway station at Obourg.    I don't remember much but what i do remember from when i read that part is, an officer telling his men of the bef to attack with fixed bayonets but nearly all the men were shot down.   The officer that gave the order got his revolver out and then was shot in the wrist, calf and knee.    His sword attached on his side saved his life because a bullet hit that.   He lay on the ground for 24 hours before he was picked up by civilians and taken to a convent.    Then it goes onto the 4th Royal Fusiliers who lined the mons canal and guarded Nimy bridge.  Around 6 men from the 4th royal fusiliers  out of a platoon fighting by the canal were captured in a wood.  Then it talks about Maurice Dease and Sidney Godly, Dease defended Nimy bridge until he died but then Sid took over the machine gun and Sid was badly wounded and threw the machine gun in the canal and crawled onto the road where civilians took him to hospital.   That's all i remember from the chapter.    I suppose what im asking is should i just read without trying to remember bits?   Thank you

Ash

[JMB1943]

Ash,

If I were you, I would not worry about how much you can or cannot remember——read for pleasure and let the memories take care of themselves. 

I am getting closer to twice your age, and believe me that you are not the only one with memory issues.

I do keep Great War books that I have already read, because a good read is always a good read, and sometimes I’ll pick up some new understanding on a second reading.

You mention the Royal Fusiliers defending the canal with Godley and Dease as the main operators of the Vickers machine guns—-there was a TV series based on that about 3-4 years ago that was very good. Will post the title if I can find it online, neither my wife nor I can remember it.

Have you tried looking for good reads in the sub-forum “Books and Book Reviews”?

Do not feel afraid to post questions on here, the people here are fantastic and very friendly!

Regards,

JMB

Edit: The tv series was called “Our World War” , in three episodes, produced by BBC 3.

Episode 1 was called “The First Day” and is all about the defense of the Nimy Bridge.

Hope that you may be able to see it on BBC re-runs.

Edited 19 June , 2022 by JMB1943

[Alecras234]

Hi JMB thanks for your message.   Yes I've watched the first episode of the TV series Our World War, all about Mons, i haven't watched the others but im sure i can watch them on you tube.   I have stopped reading the book,  Voices of the battlefields because the chapters are too long,  I think that the book, Forgotten voices of the great war will be easier to read because they are short stories of events that happened.   Will i learn about ww1 from this book?   The book states before each of the stories whether that person was in a battalion,  field artillery Lancers or whatever.   I don't understand all these units, does it matter that i dont know as long as i understand the story?   Regards,

Ash

Edited 20 June , 2022 by Alecras234

[sassenach]

Ash

I agree that you should not bother about not remembering everything you read; I doubt if anyone can. Like you I am not a fan of long chapters. Soldiers' memoirs/diaries are often set out by date, which can help. I recently read "From Mons to the First Battle of Ypres" by JWG Hyndson MC. There are around ten pages in each chapter, BUT they are written with the actual dates just like any diary, so you could just treat each day as a sub-chapter and read as many or as few as you like in a sitiing. For example, the chapter on Mons contains eleven days of his thoughts, none more than a page and a half or so. Makes it much easier to go back and read again if you haven't taken everything in.

 

[RedCoat]

Ash,

I absolutely agree with the 'Forgotten Voices' series of books. If you get tired of reading and would prefer listening to the men themselves recount their stories, please see the link below:-

https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/search?query=&pageSize=30&media-records=records-with-media&style=list&filters[webCategory][Sound]=on&filters[periodString][First+World+War]=on

Click on each one of the red links and you will be able to play the recording.

Cheers
RC

[Alecras234]

Hi guys, im reading forgotten voices of the great war which im enjoying but it doesn't talk much about what happened at mons or the marne, so i looked at another book called                  1914, voices from the battlefields.    That book i found interesting because it says more about what happened before during and after the battle of mons.    The book covers the first 5 months of the war but i haven't managed to read much of it because theres too much in the chapter.    Theres more information in 1914 voices from the battlefields which im struggling with as the chapters are long, but i find forgotten voices of the great war easier because theres less text.    I want to read and understand the book im struggling with but it's too long.   The thing with forgotten voices is if i want to read about mons theres not much said,  whereas with the book im struggling with talks about various officers, where a company was situated, who died,  Theres no mention of those things in forgotten voices.    How can i read and understand the book thats too long??   I hope you understand all that.

Ash 

[clk]

Hi Ash,

Please don't take this the wrong way, but rather than reading a book if it were to be easier for you to watch a video it may be worth going through this thread - link. There are  lots of really interesting and informative linked vids (including some from the Western Front Association) on a of number of subjects. I guess that the real pain though would be to go through it, with no guarantee of finding something on your specific research interests.

Regards
Chris

[johnboy]

Hi Ash. I have had a stroke and my attention span and memory is not as good as it was. I find reading something in small  sections helps. I also find readingbooks online or downloaded help..... being able to flick back quickly. I find this site is good

 

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/bookshelf/142

[Alecras234]

Hi thanks for all your suggestions but im still struggling.   I read books on ww1 on kindle as i find it easier than holding a book because i have difficulty using my hands, but the books i have i don't really understand and each chapter is so long, it feels like it goes on forever, and that puts me off reading. .   I know the war started for the british with the battle of mons, then Le cataeu and then the schlieffen plan ended when both the allies and germans both reached the marne river.    After that the germans retreated to the river aisne but it's there my knowledge  of ww1 stops.    I want to learn a few details about the battles of mons up to ypres and beyond but these books go on forever.   I don't want to get too complicated as i have difficulty understanding due to my head injury.

Edited 27 June , 2022 by Alecras234