What WW1 books are you reading?

[charlie2]

On 31/01/2023 at 15:36, trajan said:

first hand accounts from the German side

You might want to try „Die Stürmer vom Douaumont“ by Cordt von Brandis, who was awarded the Pour-le-Merit for his part in the capture of the fort.

[trajan]

15 hours ago, GWF1967 said:

One and the same. 
 As Paul Calf (Steve Coogan) would say - “every sack of s**t has a speck of gold”!

My flabber is well and truly gasted....

Julian

[trajan]

15 hours ago, charlie2 said:

You might want to try „Die Stürmer vom Douaumont“ by Cordt von Brandis, who was awarded the Pour-le-Merit for his part in the capture of the fort.

Thanks! Interestingly enough, I googled it and discovered it is part of a series I did not know existed, Unter dem Stahlhelm with the first volume titled Einzelschriften aus dem Weltkriege. Time to check Abe books, methinks!

Julian

[charlie2]

9 minutes ago, trajan said:

Unter dem Stahlhelm

There are 10 books in the series, I didn‘t mention them all as you were specific as to which books were of interest. Some of them are also available outside the „Unter dem Stahlhelm“ series, and also as reprints. 
Sturmtruppe Picht

Sternenbanner gegen schwarz weiß rot

Flieger im Westen

HK das Schicksal eines Berges im Weltkrieg

Kemmel, Sturmen und sterben um eines Berg

Die Große Schlacht in Frankreich - also published as Der Tag X

Die Stürmer vom Douaumont

Um Finnlands Freiheit

U Boot Abenteuer - sechs Jahre U-Boot Fahrten

Weit im Rücken des Feindes

 

[trajan]

36 minutes ago, charlie2 said:

There are 10 books in the series, I didn‘t mention them all as you were specific as to which books were of interest. Some of them are also available outside the „Unter dem Stahlhelm“ series, and also as reprints. 

Thanks Charlie! There are some interesting titles there! I'll try Inter-library loan for those ones.

Julian

[MartyG]

I’m currently engrossed in Jünger’s Storm of Steel.

Today, based on the recommendations here, I bought Mike Hill’s Christmas Truce and also treated myself to:

 

 

[RobertBr]

I have just finished 'Johnny Get Your Gun'.  I have a particular interest in the 56th London Division and it did help in my understanding of what the division went through. However it was written many years after the event. Many individual events were probably accurately recalled but others were not or were muddled or misplaced. This particulaly applies to the Spring of 1918.

I will refrain from saying anything else which might spoil what is in general a good read.

Robert

[HughesAbroad]

I came across "Cannon Fodder: An Infantryman's Life on the Western Front, 1914-1918" by A. Stuart Dolden - apologies if this is one that's well-known and done the rounds! I thought it was very good, albeit quite short. It's based on Dolden's diary and recollections, written (if I remember correctly) in 1930 or so.

[MartyG]

On 11/02/2023 at 20:04, RobertBr said:

I have just finished 'Johnny Get Your Gun'.  I have a particular interest in the 56th London Division and it did help in my understanding of what the division went through. However it was written many years after the event. Many individual events were probably accurately recalled but others were not or were muddled or misplaced. This particulaly applies to the Spring of 1918.

I will refrain from saying anything else which might spoil what is in general a good read.

Robert

Thanks Robert, although any inaccuracies will probably escape my befuddled brain! 

[Marilyne]

Back to work this morning... had less than 4 weeks to nurse my ribs back to health... I'm afraid it's going to be a very long week... 

Enfin soit, 

Getting back on the train every morning and after the previous very good reads, I started now with Diane Graves' "A crown of life: the world of John McCrae" and as I'm starting the research on the women in Wimereux, I'll also read Moore's book on Endell Street and the very good Flora Murray's "Women as Army Surgeons" . 

Toedeloe, 

M.

[The Scorer]

I would very much recommend "Moore's book on Endell Street".

[Marilyne]

On 11/02/2023 at 21:04, RobertBr said:

I have just finished 'Johnny Get Your Gun'. 

Just got it for Kindl... don't know when I'll get to reading it, but it's there... 

M.

[Werner]

On 27/03/2009 at 15:48, J Banning said:

Just finished "Langemarck and Cambrai" by Captain Geoffrey Dugdale MC, an officer in the 6th KSLI. It describes his part in the 20th (Light) Division's attacks at Langemarck on 16 August 1917 and Cambrai in Nov 1917. I thoroughly enjoyed it and was pleasantly surprised by his admission of nerves causing him to burst into tears and weep for half an hour in front of his General at Cambrai. Picked this up from N&MP on one of their special offer promotions and thought it well worth the cash.

http://www.naval-military-press.com/langem...i-pr-20676.html

Honour to whom honour is due!

Captain Geoffrey Dugdale, M. C., had experienced hell on earth during his front-line service in France and Belgium in the First World War, and after the war he was disturbed to see how the development of weapons, strategies and tactics was progressing and that people were unaware of the great dangers of another war in which the struggle might continue until our present civilisation would be almost annihilated. He was convinced that another world war, because of the state of development of weapons, strategies and tactics, would be a disaster of such magnitude that no one living could predict the consequences and that it would mean total disaster for the nations concerned, and must therefore be prevented at all costs.

The existing apathy of the world's population towards the possibility of another war was incomprehensible to him, the thought "Somehow they must be made to understand its perils, that is, if civilisation is to continue as we know it today " prompted him to write his book "LANGEMARCK" AND "CAMBRAI" published by Wilding & Son Limited, Shrewsbury in 1932. He wanted to make people understand the dangers and become world savers.

He entitled Chapter XIX Conclusion, his conclusions were:

„Surely it is time that they began to take an intelligent and comprehensive interest in the last war, for if there is to be another, it is they who will have to do the fighting.“

„If the prophets are to be believed, the young generation may take part in another war VERY SOON.“

„It is obvious that the Great War was a picnic in comparison with what the next war will be.“

„Our sons will have to endure far worse terrors than their fathers did, …“

„If, in another war, infantry proved a failure, it might mean that neither side could force a decision, in which case the struggle might continue until our present civilisation would be almost annihilated.“

„Another world war would be a disaster of such magnitude that no one living can foretell the results.“

„Those of us who fought in the last war realise that another war, magnified to hideous proportions, would mean utter disaster to the nations concerned.“

He concluded with the flaming appeal:

„It is, therefore, the duty of every citizen, young or old, of all nationalities, to encourage those who are working for the settlement of international disputes by peaceful means ; to remove the causes of war, and to ostracize the aggressor from the Community of Nations.“

Peace to the people on earth! He was convinced that peace must be preserved at all costs, and although traumatised by his frontline deployment, Captain Geoffrey Dugdale was prepared to go through hell on earth once again for the sake of world peace. He dug into his memoirs to tell readers about his experiences and trauma, and to describe the dangers of another war that must be prevented at all costs. It should have been clear to military, political and administrative leaders that this great admonisher for peace was right in his warnings and appeal and that no greater favour can be done to the world's population than to make Chapter XIX, with his conclusion about the First World War, compulsory reading for all people on earth.

For his conclusion about the First World War, Captain Geoffrey Dugdale should have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. - If only people had listened to this admonisher for peace; then the Second World War could have been prevented and humanity would have been spared great suffering.

This anti-war book belongs on the World Document Heritage List! A reprint was published in 2005 by Naval & Military Press, ISBN 9781845742683, buy it, read it, give it as a gift and recommend it to others, become an instrument for peace and fulfil your duty to support those who work for the settlement of international disputes by peaceful means; to eliminate the causes of war and exclude the aggressor from the community of nations!

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.

Matthew 5:9

On earth, ingratitude was the world's reward; may heaven repay him for his commitment to peace!

Captain Geoffrey Dugdale thought the lone gunner of Flesquières a brave man. It is with high regard that I pay my deepest respects to Captain Geoffrey Dugdale for his exceeding bravery in recalling his time in hell on earth; he was indeed a brave man and he has succeeded in the triumph of reason over the onward-so, making and keeping peace without arms must be the watchword.

It is a shame that this great fighter for peace and his commitment to peace in the world is hushed up in the UK. A soldier who was traumatised at the front, who spoke openly about his trauma and wrote about the fear of soldiers in battle, is nothing to be ashamed of, rather one must be ashamed of those who have brought heavy guilt upon themselves because they did not take his precise warnings seriously; humanity had to pay a high price for the stupidity of these people.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[phil andrade]

“ It is obvious that the Great War was a picnic in comparison with what the next war will be. “
 

A brief survey of the numbers of names on war memorials throughout Britain would repudiate that.

 

Britain was very much more damaged in terms of loss of life in the Great War than she was to be in the Second World War.

 

The same, of course, was not the case for Russia and Germany.

 

Phil

 

 

Edited 20 March , 2023 by phil andrade

[kenf48]

I've recently read "The Searchers" by Robert Sackville West. coincidentally @David Tattersfield has posted a WFA Webinar on the forum by the author.  Thank you again David for posting these presentations they enrich the forum.

It could be argued 'The Searchers' is covering old ground, but it is a good compendium on the issues of Remembrance and more accessible for the general reader than, for example, Winter's seminal but academic "Sites of Memory Sites of Mourning", and less focussed than say, 'Empires of the Dead' by David Crane or other books on the work of the CWGC.  The presentation, linked to above is well worth a look in its own right and as an introduction to the book which has much more detail, especially if unfamiliar with his major themes.

Coincidentally (again) when I acquired this book I was reading  Richard van Emden's 'Missing - The Search for Closure after the First World War', which I preferred.  Richard van Emden is to my mind much more of a storyteller, which is no criticism and certainly does not imply his books are 'lightweight' or lacking in detail.  In this book, his focus on one woman's search, whilst pulling in new and refreshing anecdotes is an innovative and engrossing tale of suspense and heartache whilst still exploring the major themes of remembrance.   As for revisiting the battlefields, my favourite account remains Howard Williamson's,  slim volume "The Wet Flanders Plain" which I returned to after reading, 'The Searchers", although in diary form another great storyteller and old soldier revisiting the familiar sites of war.

[The Scorer]

I've just finished reading "Keeping the Home Fires Burning" by Phil Carradice. 

It's subtitled "Entertaining the Troops at Home and Abroad During the Great War", and is the story of the "propaganda machine" known as Wellington House and led by Charles Masterman.  I knew a little about the subject, but I never realised that a lot of what I knew was so officially sanctioned - and, indeed, officially arranged. It covers all of the areas of entertainment, including music halls, films, art, the Church and lots more. It's written in a very friendly style (If that makes sense?) and is an easy read. 

I enjoyed it, and would recommend it to anyone who has an interest in the subject. 

 

[Ron da Valli]

Just started reading this book. Very promising start & a subject I know very little about.

[Michelle Young]

Reading I Wish They’d Killed You In A Decent Show by @Colin W Taylor Having been in the area last week, it was high time I read it. Looking at the photo of Héninel-Croisilles RD Cemetery in the book, it’s interesting to compare the view now. The whole area is covered in Éoliennes. 

[Knotty]

1 hour ago, Michelle Young said:

Looking at the photo

Sorry to bring this up here Michele, but in the Photo thread you posted a set of steps on 22/12/22, and they still not have been identified, it’s doing my head in, can you give us another clue pretty please😁

[Marilyne]

Just finishing Wendy Moore's book on the WHC in Endell Street and turning to the "Other ANZACS". Fact is that I find my knowledge on the dominion nursing services lacking a bit, so I've been going through some of the sources on the Canadian nurses and now want to dig a bit deeper into the Australians and New Zealand nurses. So next up in the reading list is Peter Rees' "ANZAC Girls" and I'm halfway through Kirsty Harris' "More than Bombs and Bandages". 

MM.

[Marilyne]

Quick pass at the Defence Library this morning saw me leaving with this gem ... I'd better NOT tak that with me as a quick read on the train and will make sure this WE it is way out of sight of my sister-in-law's two brats who are staying over and sleeping in my office: 

 

M.

[PTrenton]

I appreciate this thread. There is such a wealth of titles to check out! My own list of literature related to The Great War that I've actually read is embarrassingly short:

poems of Siegfried Sassoon (there are several other Great War poets I've read from as well)
Sagittarius Rising by Cecil Lewis 
Soldier's Pay by Faulkner
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
The Middle Parts of Fortune by Frederic Manning

I've read some history too.  I would have to list these as my favorite so far:

Back to the Front by Stephen O'Shea
The Guns of August by Barbara W. Tuchman

 

 

[pylon1357]

Currently reading No 3 Canadian General Hospital (McGill) 1914-1919. It goes nicely in regards to researching my Nursing Sisters Trio with RRC 2nd Class and MID.

[Marilyne]

10 hours ago, pylon1357 said:

Currently reading No 3 Canadian General Hospital (McGill) 1914-1919. It goes nicely in regards to researching my Nursing Sisters Trio with RRC 2nd Class and MID.

that the one by R.C. Featherstonehaugh??? 

I've got that one somewhere on the list too .

M.

[MikeyH]

Just picked up a second hand paperback 'Code Breakers', refreshingly, not about Bletchley Park in WW2, but Room 40 in WW1.   The authors are James Wylie and Michael McKinley, first published in 2015.  with some very interesting chapter headings.  346 pages including index etc.

Mike.

Edited 3 April , 2023 by MikeyH