I sat down the other day and thought to myself what books would I take if I was to be morooned on a desert island. I sat down with a few basic rules, not unit histories-just stories about men and what the war was to them, then I limited it to five, thus rulingout the whole of the battleground europe series which are brilliant.
Well here goes here are my five:
1, To Hell and back with the Guards-Norman Cliff (ISBN 0 86303 403-9)
This book goes down as my favourite. It was published after Norman Cliff's death in 1977. It tells of his life and experiences in the 1st Battalion Grenedier Guards from just after Loo's until the armistice. Norman Cliff was awarded the military medal for bravery in bringing in a wounded man under fire. His description of the harshness of the regime in the Guards explains why they are so rigid, the training of a Guardsman was never altered during the war which made them the closest to an elite force there was. What is so special about this book is the description of the characters he served with and what actually happened. Cliff was a journalist by trade and it shows in the descriptions. This rates as one of the few books that I have started to read in bed at night and a few hours later finish it without thought of sleep. The experiences of the first war left Cliff a pacifist in the second, he wasn't a coward, he had seen enough. Here is a quote from the book I find quite touching, it is describing Cliff just after the war had ended.
-"Accompanying my joy,relief and amazement at finding myself still alive-and,the greater miracle still apparently relatively sane-was a crushing weight of grief for those who nhearted. Only slowly did I recover".
This is a superb book, get it.
2, Gallipoli As I saw it-By Joseph Murray. (William Kimber 1965)
Joseph Murray died relatively recently (1995), but he left behind a hugh legacy of notes and reels of interviews about his war which can be found at the IWM. Joe Murray joined the RNVR on the outbreak of the war and was drafted to the Hood battalion of the RND. His brother was killed on HMS Good Hope at the end of 1914. This book describes the time before jioning up , the experiences at Blandford and the death of his brother. It then takes us on the troopship to Egypt and then to the landings. Murras description of the second battle of Krithia on 4th June is something else and the conditions generally. He then spent some time with the engineers. As a miner he was employed on mining duties and gives an excellent account of the war underground which I never knew existed. he then returns tothe Hood ( he was a runner for Freyberg) and lasts out the campaign and describes the evacuation. This book again is about men, anyone who looks on Gallipoli as a mere sideshow had better return to school, it was hard. Murray was a harsh judge of the conduct of the campaign and the quote which ends the book is;
" perhaps as the years roll by we will be remebered as the expidition that was betrayed by jealousy, spite, indecision and treachery. The Turks didn't beat us -we were beaten by our own high command".
This is another excellent book that can be picked up from WW1 book dealers, in paperback it is called Gallipoli 1915
3 Call to Arms- Joseph Murray (William Kimber 1980 isbn 07183 0297 4)
Yes another book from the above author. These books are so good they are worth listing for me. The author I have described, this bok came out 15 years after the Gallipoli book, Joe Murray went on to serve with the Hood in France, being wounded at Beaucourt 13-11-17 and at Gavrelle 23-4-17, after the last wounding he was sent to sea for the rest of the war. The book covers his enlistment and Gallipoli again breifly but then leads on to France. His description of the night of 12th November is a well used one, Freyberg going from shell hole to shell hole to encourage and see his men came across Joe and recognised him and said"you too are still with us, take care in the morning". Murray was wounded in the abdomen the following day and Freyberg won the VC. Murray recovered quickly. Murray before that had been sent home on leave, the first time for nearly two years and the description of his reception is vert touching. Also visiting the mothers of the palls he lost in Gallipoli and their reaction to seeing hime alive. What also made things difficult was the Somme had just started and the Northumberland Fusiliers had suffered badly and consiquently so had his village. The next front he was on was the Gavrelle battle of 23-4-17, he describes what happened and being badly wounded. He was brought in with the help of a German who was less wounded a man he calls a friend, they parted with a handshake and Murray states he often thinks of him.
again this is a book you will find in your local library or secondhand book dealer, get it you won't be disappointed.
4, Goodbye to all that-Robert Graves.
What can I say about this one , a true classic. Once you get throught the peice on Graves activities at public school, you get to probably one of the best descriptions of the war, notably from an officers point of view.
5 My Bit by Jack Ashurst edited by Richard Holmes (ISBN 1-85223-199-8)
This is another good book from a man who served the entire length of the war and saw service at 1st Ypres, Gallipoli and the Somme. He was a pre war special reservice recalled on the outbreak and was gassed at 1st Ypres.On recovery he was sent to Gallipoli and when that was over he served on the Somme. His description of the 1st day of the somme in the sunken road for me is quite haunting as now that road, still there is tranquil- the photo along side is this road, compare this view with that on the welcome page in Tom Morgans website. Ashurst survived that only to be wounded when having a fight with another soldier!, he then returned and was commissioned in the final phases of the war. This book is another soldiers story, not glamourising his part, telling you what it was like in an unbiased way, very readable. I recommend this to anyone, you can shut your eyes and picture the scene in that sunken road.