FROM MONS TO YPRES WITH FRENCH

Frederic Coleman, the author of what he calls this ‘plain tale’ of the opening weeks of the Great War, was a well-off American in the summer of 1914. Fired by enthusiasm for the ‘righteous cause’ of the Allies, he volunteered to use his – then rare – skills as a motorist to drive British Staff officers around the fighting front in France. During the next ten months, Coleman had a ringside seat for the crucial manoeuvres, retreat, battles and advances that formed the Western Front. Rubbing shoulders with Generals such as Sir John French, C.inC. of the BEF; Sir Douglas Haig, commander of 1st Corps (and French’s eventual successor) and Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien, commander of 2nd Corps, Coleman witnessed the great retreat of the BEF from Le Cateau before the advancing German hordes; the battle of Nery and subsequent fighting on the Aisne and at Messines; the arrival of the first Indian troops in France; the first battle of Ypres and the Christmas truce in the trenches. This book is a rare find – illustrated by some extremely unusual photos of the 1914 campaign, and written in a direct and vivid style, it will fascinate anyone interested in the vital opening campaign of the Great War.