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The author served in 10th Worcesters of 57th Brigade, 19th Division from September 1916 to the first day of the German March 1918 offensive when he was wounded. Plenty of front line action and no punches pulled. Fine description of the start of the British Messines offensive on 7 June 1917.
This is a candid and outspoken account of trench life from the point of view of an infantry private on the Western front. The author served in the 10th Worcesters (57th Brigade, 19th (Western) Division) which he joined in September 1916 near Hazebrouck where the battalion was absorbing drafts and training; on October 6th the battalion moved back to the Somme. This book is full of front line action, vividly described with no punches pulled. There were macabre moments, too, such as on the Ancre when crouched at the bottom of a captured German trench, waiting to go over the top: “Shift up a bit,” came a voice. “Keep quiet, you idiot!” whispered other voices. “Shift up a bit, will yer; I’m sitting on a dead Jerry!” In February 1917 Russell was involved in a two-company raid, described in the regimental history as a ‘successful raid;’ Russell’s view was markedly different: The advantage gained by the raid was nil. We occupied no new trenches; we had not taken a prisoner. We had certainly given the enemy a fright. and we had paid the price in dead wounded and missing [59 casualties, enemy casualties nil]. This incident he calls a ‘stunt.’ His battalion was in divisional reserve at Messines, in the trenches forward of Vierstraat, and he describes the moment on the morning of 7th June 1917 when the mines went up: There was a huge tearing crash, the trench shook as if by an earthquake, and over the length of the front from Hill 60 to Messines appeared a scene like so many volcanoes in eruption. Simultaneously, from the rear came the dreadful roar of a thousand cannon, and the rattle of countless machine-guns.......The volume of sound made men sweat in an agony of fear.
Russell’s war came to an end on the first day of the German offensive, 21st March 1918, when he was wounded and evacuated to England. He did not return to the battlefields.
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| Details |
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| Product Code: |
5789 |
| Author: |
by Henry Russell |
| ISBN: |
9781843421368 |
| Format: |
2001. SB. N & M reprint (original pub 1928). 288pp.
Published Price £11.95 |
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Usually despatched Next Day |
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£11.95 |
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£7.95
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