Haunting Years

[gem22]

This is the story of the news editor of the Dundee Advertiser and his time in the 1st/4th , later to become 4th/5th, Black Watch.

Written in narrative form this is a superb piece of writing. His journalistic skills served him well and this is as good an account of trench warfare as one can hope to read from an O.R.

Indeed it is vastly superior to many of those written by officers. There is none of the diary style of writing that contain so many references to parcels arriving, or rain.

he talks of the people he knew, the friends who died, the conditions they served under and the battkes he fought in.

He gives some lovely examples of the way things were.

One that will stay with me was his description of a ration party trip during third Ypres. The Germans were shelling the board track as usual. One soldier threw down his load and attempted to run back to the rear. Andrews, who as CQMS, was at the rear of the party stopped the soldier and threatened to shoot him if he didn't take the rations up. Eventually the soldier was persuaded to go on by two of his chums.

I wonder? If Andrews had not threatened the man but reported him to the company commander instead what would have been the outcome?

I suspect a court martial and a firing squad for desertion is a very strong possibility.

I cannot condone Andrews actions but from the safety of the 21st century I cannot condemn him. It is very likely that any other course of action could have resulted in the soldier's death.

People lived in a different time to us and held very different beliefs. Who can say they were wrong.

A fascinating book thankfully reprinted by Naval and military Press.

Garth

[Malcolm]

Agreed! It is an exceptional piece of writing. and the foreword alone sums it all up. I second Garth's recommendation of Haunting Years as a ' must read ' for anyone trying to understand what it must have been like.

I also have an article from ' I Was There ' written by him.

Aye

Malcolm

[andigger]

Bringing this up since there hav been some recent posts on first hand experiences. Has anyone else read this book recently? Andy