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Remembered Today:

What WW1 books are you reading?


andigger

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I have been reading two books about the escape of twenty nine officers from Holzminden P.O.W camp in July 1918 . The first is 'The Tunnellers of Holzminden'

written by the camp adjutant at the time of the escape and the second ' Beyond the Tumult ' , which is the story of three of the ten officers who managed to make

it back home.

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It is our uni winter break here and I am having a break myself from prepping classes and writing articles - and catching up on reading! 

 

So, having finished and enjoyed Gallipoli 1915: Bloody Ridge (Lone Pine) Diary Of Lt. Mehmed Fasih 5th Imperial Ottoman Army Gallipoli 1915, by Mehmed Fasih, I quickly stormed through Ordered to Die: A History of the Ottoman Army in the First World War, by E.Erickson, which was a bit of an eye-opener in how he demonstrates just how well the Ottoman army did when all things are considered - and places the blame for much of the Ottoman Army's failings on Enver Pasha, a man of small stature and hands to match, but with a massive ego and who evidently greatly over-rated his own military competence.

 

Now I am into La Guerre turque dans la guerre mondiale, by Maurice Larcher , which found by chance in our uni library (a bequest item). Well, skimming through really, as my French is not-so-good, but it is well-written in a simple enough language that I rarely need a dictionary (well, not for the bits I have read!). It is certainly allowing me to get to grips in greater detail than Erickson allows with what the Ottoman army was involved in between 1914-1918. Oh, and nice maps and diagrams as well, and also some nice snippets that catch the eye (e.g., Odysee des marins de l'"Emden" en Arabie, yet another WW1 thing I knew zilch about!) .

 

Julian

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2 hours ago, trajan said:

It is our uni winter break here and I am having a break myself from prepping classes and writing articles - and catching up on reading! 

 

So, having finished and enjoyed Gallipoli 1915: Bloody Ridge (Lone Pine) Diary Of Lt. Mehmed Fasih 5th Imperial Ottoman Army Gallipoli 1915, by Mehmed Fasih, I quickly stormed through Ordered to Die: A History of the Ottoman Army in the First World War, by E.Erickson, which was a bit of an eye-opener in how he demonstrates just how well the Ottoman army did when all things are considered - and places the blame for much of the Ottoman Army's failings on Enver Pasha, a man of small stature and hands to match, but with a massive ego and who evidently greatly over-rated his own military competence.

 

Now I am into La Guerre turque dans la guerre mondiale, by Maurice Larcher , which found by chance in our uni library (a bequest item). Well, skimming through really, as my French is not-so-good, but it is well-written in a simple enough language that I rarely need a dictionary (well, not for the bits I have read!). It is certainly allowing me to get to grips in greater detail than Erickson allows with what the Ottoman army was involved in between 1914-1918. Oh, and nice maps and diagrams as well, and also some nice snippets that catch the eye (e.g., Odysee des marins de l'"Emden" en Arabie, yet another WW1 thing I knew zilch about!) .

 

Julian

 

       Then  we may ask to pick your brains in due course-  In my local area, there is a manuscript privately held which is the war experiences of a Sergeant of the  4th Essex taken prisoner by the Turks. It is a full and properly prepared book-double-spaced typed  and read-for-press in the 1930s when he wrote it up- provisionally entitled by him as "Crusader in Khaki".  As well as its military interest, it is full of insights into the Turks- eg he describes yogurt-now a commonplace but a novelty for soldiers of the British Army of the First World War.  We have thoughts that it's owner, the great-nephew of the author, will allow it to be prepared for publication in due course,with some scholarly editing and footnotes-He even had a series of photographs ready for the projected book-He was told by publishers in the 1930s that there was no longer any market for war memoirs.

 

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9 minutes ago, voltaire60 said:

... Then  we may ask to pick your brains in due course ...

 

There are many others on GWF with much better knowledge than me on such matters but if I can help then I will! Was your chap a Gallipoli or Palestine capture? Either way, yes, these days there is certainly a lot more interest in the type of material you have seen. And yoghurt, yes must have been a surprise to poor old Tommy Atkins... It still comes as an adjunct to many a home-cooked meal - honestly!

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29 minutes ago, trajan said:

Was your chap a Gallipoli or Palestine capture?

 

    Palestine 1917. We might make a start on trying to get it published but it nee a scholarly setting,which will take time.

 

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2 hours ago, voltaire60 said:

... Palestine 1917. We might make a start on trying to get it published but it nee a scholarly setting,which will take time.

 

 

Oh, there are 'scholars' enough out and about for that bit! If you have the basic details of your man's attestation, training, etc., then it becomes fairly straightforward - methinks! Your man's great-nephew needs to be aware that there would need to be a fair bit of cross-referencing to other works by other prisoners on the same subject, so for example, those discussing the main Anatolian camp at Afyonkarahisar in my neck of the woods, but it does seem - in theory - a viable project.

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I'm reading 'French Cinema and the Great War, Remembrance and Representation', edited by Marcelline Block and Barry Nevin, published by Rowman and Littlefield. It's a series of essays covering film from the war period to the present, including, of course, 'La Grande Illusion', as well as 'Un Long Dimanche de Fiançailles' (A Very Long Engagement), 'Joyeux Noël', 'La Vie et Rien d'Autre' (Life and Nothing But) and 'La Victoire en Chantant' (Black and White in Colour).

 

Some of the writing is a bit stilted, partly because some of the essays are translated from French, and there are historical inaccuracies, but it gives new insights into films I have seen and curiosity about ones I have not, including especially 'Le Roi de Coeur' (King of Hearts), made by Philip Broca in 1966.

 

Cheers Martin B

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Now just starting Mortlock's The Landings at Suvla Bay 1915, but with the new term about to start I don't know how long it will take to read through... But, all grist to the mill!

 

Trajan 

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Have just read one of the most unpleasant WW1 books I've had the misfortune to come across - James Hanley's 'The German Prisoner', privately printed in 1930 in an edition of 500 copies. In a brief introduction, Richard  Aldington claims the book bravely shows us the truth from the trenches in the language of the soldier. It tells the story of two soldiers, an Irishman and an Englishman, caught in a shell hole during an attack. They encounter a surrendering young German whom they sexually assault and torture to death. Even with today's blunted sensibilities it's a hard thing to read. It makes me wonder what Hanley was trying to achieve. The level of violence is so shocking that if such a thing did happen it would have been extremely rare. If he was trying to suggest that War brutalises us that's rather undermined by the fact that both men are shown to have been unspeakable villains before the war began. The language is also as bowdlerised as in most other accounts, unlike in the similarly private editions of Aldington's own book or Manning's 'Middle Parts of Fortune'.

The only redeeming feature is a rather fine engraving by William Roberts for the frontispiece, although even that is rather questionable as it shows duck boards on the floor of the shell hole.

There has been a recent reprint but I wouldn't recommend it.

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On 27/01/2017 at 23:57, voltaire60 said:

 

    Palestine 1917. We might make a start on trying to get it published but it nee a scholarly setting,which will take time.

 

Most of the accounts of POWs in Turkey were by officers, who seemed generally to have had a much better experience than other ranks, If you want to see what other accounts are available, see the FIBIS Fibiwiki page Prisoners of the Turks (First World War). There is also reference to a good map showing the various camps, in the footnotes.

http://wiki.fibis.org/index.php?title=Prisoners_of_the_Turks_(First_World_War)

 

I don't think generally it matters where people were captured, they all seem to end up in the same system. The men from Kut fared worse, as they were in poor health due to restricted diet even before they became prisoners.

 

Cheers

Maureen

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     Maureen-Thank you very much-  I have a couple of local casualties for the Roll I attempt to do that were prisoners of the Turks- but information is sparse. I was totally unaware it might be covered by FIBIS.  I hope to find out if there was any equivalent of the ICRC record cards for POWs of the Turks- the only casualty of the Turks I have done so far (Ironically surnamed Turk) died in hospital in Damascus in 1918 (Hopefully not as bad as the one described by Lawrence)-but his details seem to have come through the Americans as he died in an American Red Cross Hospital.

   Trying to tempt an old friend who is a good Great War researcher into jointly having a go at editing the thing- Pen and Sword look the likeliest publisher, despite my misgivings (as a semi-retire bookseller) that their publications o tend to come out looking pretty much the same.

 

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I'm going to have to restart my current book, Givenchy by Phil Tomaselli. Started it last week, but was not quite at the races owing to taking lots of zapain. Not a lot made sense! 

Michelle 

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I've got 'Givenchy' on it's way to me. 

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I've been finishing off my MA dissertation recently on the Guards at Loos. Headlam's Divisional History has really stood the test of time very well indeed especially when matched against the war diaries  - even though he got the artillery fire plans for Sept 27/28 the wrong way round!

 

Nick Lloyd's book on Loos really is outstanding on the first two days if you have not read it yet.

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Dear All,

I am reading "An ANZAC on the Western Front", by Harold Roy Williams, originally published in 1933.

It is the well-written autobiography of his war as a Digger, then Officer, with 56th Battalion, AIF - ending in his being wounded at Peronne, in the successful 1 Sep 1918 attack on Peronne.

Interestingly, Williams placed great emphasis on the self-confidence of the Australians, vis-a-vis other troops, especially during his OTC sojourn at Cambridge...

I read his account of the Peronne action with high interest: my grandfather was a Coy Cdr with 53rd Battalion, AIF, during the self-same attack (wounded, MC).

Unfortunately, the 2012 reprint lacks a portrait of H. R. Williams.

I was particularly struck by his description of the battle for Peronne - and it was far worse than I had imagined, despite my having read the lengthy official War History account.

Kindest regards,

Kim. 

Gen Birdwood GOC AIF.jpg

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  • 3 weeks later...

I just picked up at auction a 1916 first edition of "The ANZAC Book".  I find books like this a great way to understand what the families back home learned about what was going on half way across the world.  My wife's family had 3 sons in the AIF and 1 in the Manchester Regt.  Sadly no letters have survived, but they may have read this book back in Hobart.

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I've nearly finished 'Rendezvous with Death' by David Hanna, subtitled 'The Americans who joined the Foreign Legion in 1914 to fight for France and for Civilization.'

 

An easy read but quite comprehensive, covering those who remained in the Legion such as Alan Seeger, those who were transferred to other infantry units and those who flew with the Lafayette escadrille and elsewhere in the French air service, all of them distinctive individuals driven largely by high ideals, but with a few black sheep as well.

 

 Cheers Martin B

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I've just finised reading 'The Harrogate Terriers - The 1/5th West Yorkshire Regiment in the Great War by John Sheehan.

 

It's excellent and not just because it's my local regiment.

 

The book is available on Amazon and I've given it a lengthy 'highly recommended' review.

 

Don't take my word for it, buy a copy and see for yourself!

 

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Stuck in bed for  week and so I read the learned and saintly Max Hastings' 'Catastrophe', found in the uni-library Certainly opened my eyes to the real catastrophes in Alsace-Lorraine in 1914... Very annoyingly, I was reading the paperback edition and this had no footnotes - or, rather, it did, at the end, but there were no superscript numbers in the text to guide one to these...

 

Julian

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Just finished 'Letters From France written between June1915-July 1917' . The letters of A.J Sansom adjutant of 1/5th Royal Sussex Regt and

Lieut-Col of 7th Royal Sussex who was killed by a shell whilst visiting his forward trenches. A splendid book and worth the fifteen year wait

it took me to find a copy !

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I am currently reading "I will hold", the story of USMC legend Clifton B. Cates, from Belleau Wood to victory in the Great War.  This was written by James Carl Nelson.

 

Cates was commander of the 23rd Marines during WW2 on Iwo Jima.  My uncle was in that regiment.

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Hello!

Recently I read:

"Der Durchbruch" by Konrad Krafft v. Dellmensingen (published 1937, 463 pages).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konrad_Krafft_von_Dellmensingen

It´s a study of "breakthroughs" of the german army in the first world war. Dellmensingen was the leader of the german alpine-corps.

 

Edited by The Prussian
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Now onto: Anzac Battlefield: A Gallipoli Landscape of War and Memory, by Sagona, A., et al, Cambridge University Press 2015. It's an archaeological survey and study of the ANZAC sector and looks to be well-written and readable.

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"The Great War Generals on the Western Front" by Robin Neillands which I am so far enjoying.  It is written in language I understand, and since I have only read the first few chapters.

 

Hazel C.

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I have been reading some of the Australian accounts over the last few months . 'Desert Column' by Oin L Idriess, is considered a classic in Australia, about the middle east campaign. 'Hell's Bells and Madememoiselles' by Maxwell about the Western front is a rollicking good read and I have just finished 'The Gallant Company' by H R Williams which I think is full of drama and great detail of the training initially, toughening up in Egypt and deployment to the Western Front. 'Jacka's Mob' by E J Rule is the next on the shelf, another supposed classic.

You should give them a try, if you haven't already!

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