Kate Wills Posted 28 October , 2002 Share Posted 28 October , 2002 May I be permitted to add another long-standing favourite? People at War, edited by Michael Moynihan, is a suberb collection of first-hand accounts culled from the IWM document archives. One memoir, written in long-hand in an exercise book, was mercifully rescued from a rubbish dump by someone who realised its significance. There are around half a dozen substantial accounts, ranging from 'Shilling a day Soldier' to 'Cavalryman in the Flying Machines'. Oh, and Barrie, next time I bump into you, remind me to buy you a coffee, or maybe something even more sophisticated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Phillips Posted 29 October , 2002 Author Share Posted 29 October , 2002 Well thanks for all of the recommendations! I am pleased that some more less known texts have come to light. I have read some of the books mentioned - I must admit that I found 'The bells of Hell go Ting-a Ling-a Ling' a little strange. I also find it difficult to give a borrowed book back and try to buy as many books as my bank balance (and wife!) will allow. Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul guthrie Posted 29 October , 2002 Share Posted 29 October , 2002 Possibly the best account by a true working class other ranks man is My Bit, A Lancashire Fusilier At War, George Ashulst. I think he was a veteran member of WFA. Great book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew_jackson Posted 29 October , 2002 Share Posted 29 October , 2002 Sidney Rogerson's 'Twelve Days'? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Morgan Posted 29 October , 2002 Share Posted 29 October , 2002 Sorry to join the discussion so late - been "over there" for the last 10 days. Norman Gladden would be high on my list. The Somme and Ypres volumes of his memoirs are excellent, though probably out of print now. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenwoodman Posted 29 October , 2002 Share Posted 29 October , 2002 Norman Gladden's "Across the Piave" is the best of his three I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted 30 October , 2002 Share Posted 30 October , 2002 Forgot to mention three books to do with the war in the desert that I really enjoyed reading. 'The Desert Column' by Ion Idriess. Idreiss was a trooper in the 5th Light Horse Regiment and this book recounts his time at Gallipoli and the desert. 'The Great Ride' by Henry Bostock Bostock was a trooper & scout in the 10th Light Horse Regiment. 'Guests of the Unspeakable' by Thomas White White was one of the first four men in Australia to be trained as a pilot and thus was a member of the Australian half-flight sent to Mesopotamia. The book recounts his time with the half flight, his capture, captivity and his escape. He escaped to Russia only to find the revolution was in full swing. A very intersting book which shows what it was like to be a prisoner of the Turks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cynthia Posted 30 October , 2002 Share Posted 30 October , 2002 I found "Other Ranks" by Tilsley to be one of the best firsthand accounts I have read. Perhaps I enjoyed it even more as it was so difficult to come by, thereby making it more desirable a read! The starkness and clarity of the writing made me feel as if I were standing next to him as he went through his experiences. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul guthrie Posted 30 October , 2002 Share Posted 30 October , 2002 I certainly agree about many of these. I. L. Read's Of Those We Loved is as good as any and he too was a ranker soldier but not at all working class like George Ashulst. Will R. Bird's Ghosts Have Warm Hands is another superb account by an OR soldier. An amazing amount of good writing came from Canadian men. Some may remember an article I wrote for Stand To! a few years ago, the tragic account of Alexander McClintock who won a DCM with Canadian forces. His book, Best O' Luck, How a Fighting Kentuckian Won the Thanks of England's King has been reprinted. Westlake has it, quite good, some humor too. I have the records of all the men named in the book. Canadian records are great, you get medical and pay records, medical are quite useful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham-McAdam Posted 30 October , 2002 Share Posted 30 October , 2002 A couple of years ago I came across the books of Wilfred R Bion DSO, which nobody else has mentioned. He was a tank commander (born 1897!!) at Passchendale, Cambrai (part of E Battalion at Flesquieres) and Amien in spring 1918. and wrote the most completely involving writing about what it was like - he later became an eminent psychoanalyst of the third generation. There's a volume of 'War Diaries' covering those engagemants but an even more remarkable book called 'The Long Week-end' written during his last few years and published in 1982. If you want to know how a boy is turned into an incredible man by such experience, this is for you. Also more detailed description of tank life than anyone else including how to go into battle with a temperature of 104 - the answer is champagne and a batman. Both from Karnac Books, London & New York Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Carter Posted 1 November , 2002 Share Posted 1 November , 2002 Has anybody read "The Winding Road Unfolds" bt T.S.Hope first published in 1937. I have recently bought a tatty old paperback 1965 edition off Ebay. It concerns the war memoirs compiled from his diary of then a 16 year old who was drafted to the Western Front in time for the Third battle of Ypres. In the Foreward the author makes the following comment : "In the slight editing that has been necessary for publication I have altered most of the surnames, including my own: otherwise I have adhered strictly to facts. People tell me that some of the sentiments expressed are not those of a boy of sixteen, but I have not changed anything, because I know and believe that what I have written is correct." Has any Forum member done any research on this guy? What was his real name? what regiment did he serve in? Could he possibly still be alive? He would be 101 ..ish by now. The reason I ask is that for a 16 year old taking part in the last year of the war he seemed to have been in more scrapes, blown up, trench raids, taken prisoner, escaped, bayoneted the enemy etc etc than any other soldier that I have read about...... which is why I recommend this book Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham-McAdam Posted 7 December , 2002 Share Posted 7 December , 2002 As a coda to the discussion here which petered out some weeks ago I can't resist pointing you to a book review, presumably by David Fletcher. Its of one of Wilfred Bion's books, and the review was noticed by someone on a Bion website (mainly used by world psycho-analysts, so not a normal meeting place for WF buffs). I don't know how any of you can resist reading him - don't forget also The Long Weekend, even more startling. http://www.tankmuseum.org/librarybookreview0601.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robwilliams Posted 13 December , 2002 Share Posted 13 December , 2002 I know it's already been mentioned but Some Desperate Glory is one of my favourites, made even more so by my having the medals of one of the officers frequently mentioned in it, SH Anstey. Certainly adds to the man behind the medal feeling! Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walter Kortooms Posted 14 December , 2002 Share Posted 14 December , 2002 A recent favourite is "The Last of the Ebb" by Sidney Rogerson. Walter Kortooms PS Some Desperate Glory is also one of my favourites Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Alwyn Posted 29 September , 2003 Share Posted 29 September , 2003 Those who mentioned Up to Mametz by Wyn Griffith might be interested to know that a copy of the book is transcribed on my website here: http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~alwyn/Mametz/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koyli Posted 30 September , 2003 Share Posted 30 September , 2003 And what about : - Armageddon road, A VC's Diary 1914-1916. - The war Diary of the master of Belhaven. - Letters of Agar Adamson. - The Burgoyne Diaries. Koyli Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mordac Posted 4 October , 2003 Share Posted 4 October , 2003 Letters Of Agar Adamson, 1914-1919 (by Agar Adamson) The Journal Of Private Fraser, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 1914-18 (by Donald Fraser) The Great War As I Saw It (by Frederick G. Scott) The 50th Battalion In No Man’s Land (by Victor W. Wheeler) Silhouettes of The Great War (by John Harold Becker) Garth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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