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William Beach Thomas

A rare and vivid account of life on the Battlefields of the Great War, The British Army on the Somme details the experiences of war journalist William Beach Thomas. One of only five men chosen in 1915 to document the war from the Western Front, Thomas was in the terrifying and unique position of supplying the people of England with a glimpse of the Somme. Whilst working for the Daily Mail, sections of Thomas' reporting featured in the newspaper in 1916. However, those excerpts appearing here have for the most part been rewritten to fill in the gaps left by the war censors during the war. First published in 1917 by Methuen & Co., under the title With the British on the Somme, Thomas' account provides a stark and unwavering account on what was one of humanities bloodiest battles. Moving and intriguing in equal parts, this book is sure to resonate with generations yet to come.

Pen & Sword Military

Eyewitnesses from The Great War

With the British Army on the Somme: Memoirs from the Trenches

Francis Buckley

This rare primary source account is the story of the hard fighting battalion of the 7th Northumberland Fusiliers, which saw action on the Somme, Passchendaele and in the Battle of Arras. This wonderfully detailed account provides a rare insight into the experiences of the common soldier on the front line during some of the bitterest conflicts of the war. Unembellished and unwavering in his account, Francis Buckley here records not only the events of the battles he fought in, but also provides an emotional tribute to the heroism of the friends he made and lost during his time in the field. As well as his fellow troops of the 7th Northumberland Fusiliers, Buckley also remembers, with great fondness, the bravery of the officers and men of the 149th Infantry Brigade, and of the 50th Division. His recollections here provide a poignant reminder of the true human cost of war in the modern age.

Recollections of the Great War: Three Years on Campaign in France and Flanders with the Northumberland Fusiliers

Daniil Alexandrovich Granin

In March 1915, a young French artist-turned soldier went missing in action. He left behind a remarkable series of letters which, due to wartime security, had to be edited and published anonymously under the title Letters of a Soldier 1914-1915. This powerful volume was for many years out of print, but this new edition corrects that unhappy situation and provides an English speaking readership with a rare and much-needed insight into what it meant to experience the Great War from the sharp end during the desperate struggles of the French Army fighting for its survival in 1914 and 1915. Originally published by Constable & Co. , London in 1917 with a preface by Andr Chevrillon, this evocative and moving primary source volume is essential reading for anyone who seeks to understand the role of the French army in the opening battles of the Great War.

Letters from a Soldier of France, 1914–1915

Captain A. Radclyffe Dugmore

Written by Captain A. Radclyffe Dugmore of the King's Own Light Infantry, this personal memoir provides an excellent account of the Great War up to the Battle of the Somme. A wide ranging and perceptive relation of events, Radclyffe Dugmore's pedigree as a professional writer shines through. In 1914, Radclyffe Dugmore travelled to Belgium as a civilian observer where he was wounded before spending a brief time in German captivity. These experiences gained Radclyffe Dugmore a highly unusual viewpoint for the opening battles of the war, that of a civilian, and later as a participant on thefront lines of the Somme. Originally published under the title When The Somme Ran Red in 1918, Radclyffe Dugmore's memoir has sadly been long out of print. Yet what the author modestly described as 'Being a very egotistical account of my own personal experiences and observations from the early days of the war in Belgium to the Great Battle of the Somme in July, 1916' proves to be anything but that, consisting of a fascinating and rare account, sympathetically dedicated to the memory of the officers and men of the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry who fell in the Battle of the Somme. This new re-print of Radclyffe Dugmore's classic volume is a worthy addition to the primary source literature of the Great War, and casts new light on the experiences of the brave men who saw the terror of the Battle of the Somme first hand.

Blood in the Trenches: A Memoir of the Battle of the Somme

G.H.F. Nichols

George Nichols was an artillery officer serving with the 82nd Brigade, Royal Field Artillery. He was wounded in 1917, and returned to the guns in March 1918, just in time to experience the fury of the Kaiserschlacht, the great German offensive designed to knock the British army out of the war. Nichols wrote a powerful account of the Kaiser's last great offensive battle from inside the eye of the storm, and it is one of the few primary source accounts which are told from the often overlooked perspective of the British artillerymen. Nichols, with wonderful British reserve, records how the men of the Royal Field Artillery steadfastly manned their guns. Nichols survived the onslaught and in 1919, was able to produce a full account of both the retreat and the British counter-attack which won back the lost ground. First published in 1919, while censorship was still in force, this wonderful primary source has long been out of print and it's welcome return makes for essential reading for anyone with an interest in the Great War.

Defiance!: Withstanding the Kaiserschlacht

George Brenton Laurie

'Follow me! I will lead you!' were the last words of Lt. Col. George Brenton Laurie, who commanded the 1st Battalion Royal Irish Rifles and was killed at Neuve Chapelle in March, 1915. He died with his revolver in hand while leading his men in an assault on the German lines. Laurie left behind a remarkable collection of letters, which provide us with a privileged insight into the day to day experience of a battalion commander and his struggles to make sense of the developing madness of trench warfare.Leading his battalion amidst the constant mud, shelling, sniping and waterlogged trenches of Flanders occupied every waking moment of the life of Lt. Col. Laurie, from the moment the battalion was deployed in November, 1914 through to his death in March, 1915.His surviving letters give a clear sense of the ever present danger from the bullets, and shells, and the miserable squalorendured by the men who fought the early trench battles during the first winter of the Great War. Laurie was a hands oncommander who visited the front lines daily, and this fascinating collection provides an all too rare primary account ofthe BEF as witnessed from the perspective of a battalion commander.

Follow me! I Will Lead You!: Letters of a BEF Battalion Leader, 1914–1915

D. D. Ogilvie

In 1914, the Fife and Forfar Yeomanry Regiment was a cavalry regiment with its headquarters in Kirkcaldy and squadrons based in Dunfermline, Cupar, Dundee and Forfar. The regiment was sent to Gallipoli in September 1915, and fought there as a dismounted cavalry formation and served until the final disembarkation, being one of the last units to leave. In just two months the regiment lost three-quarters of its strength to casualties and disease. The survivors were sent to Egypt where, in 1917, they formed the cadre of an infantry battalion, the 14th Battalion Royal Highlanders; better known as the famous Black Watch. The 14th Battalion formed part of the 74th (Yeomanry) Division commanded by Major General Eric Girdwood. In Egypt and Palestine, the 14th Battalion fought with distinction against the Turkish forces at the Battle of Sheria in November 1917, and played a vital role in the events leading up to the fall of Jerusalem. Following the German offensive on the Western Front in March 1918, the 14th Battalion was rushed to France and saw action in Picardy during the closing stages of the war. On the Somme, the battalion suffered heavily in the fighting aroundMoislains in September 1918. This classic account, based on wartime diaries, written by Major D.D. Ogilvie, details the absorbing story of how the Fife and Forfar Yeomanry evolved over the course of the war, and presents a rare primary source record of a hard-fighting battalion that saw action on three fronts.

Fighting on Three Fronts: A Black Watch Battalion in the Great War

Alan Bott

Originally published under the title An Airman's Outing, this magnificent title chronicles the daily life of the Flying Officer during the Great War. Touchingly dedicated to 'The Fallen of Umpty Squadron R. F. C.', Bott chronicles the lives and losses of his squadron as they carried out their duties over France in 1916. A modest and unflinching account of Great War aviation, Bott neither aggrandises nor dismisses any achievement of his crack squadron. 

A squadron that suffered so heavily, holding the record for casualties sustained by any flying squadron during three months, from the beginning of the war to the end of 1916 - a testament to the bravery and determination of the men who continued to serve within it. 

Tinged by this sadness, My War in the Air 1916 still conveys the aspirations of the British Royal Flying Corps in their early days, and the hope its many flying aces placed in the establishment, as a powerful tool to defend and protect. As W. S. Brancker states inside, 'War has been the making of aviation; let us hope that aviation will be the destruction of war.'

My War in the Air, 1916: Memoirs of a Great War Pilot

Gilbert Nobbs

Initially published in 1917 under the title On the Right of the British Line, this is the first book written by the extraordinary Captain Gilbert Nobbs. Dedicated to his ever loving wife, the harrowing memories and experiences of Nobbs at the Battle of the Somme and after are captured here in a rare account of what proved to be one of the most ultimately futile battles and the agonising aftermath. Following his journey from the fields of the Somme into German custody, In Battle & Captivity, 1916-1918 provides an unflinching report of the dramatic losses felt during the horrific Battle of the Somme. However, the book manages to maintain a message of hope that, despite experiencing the barbarity of German captivity, there can still be happiness, as Nobbs proclaimed, 'I do not deplore the loss of my sight, for I can say in all sincerity that I was never happier in my life than I am today.' During the Somme Offensive, he led his company in an assault on the German trenches and sustained a shot to the head, which left him permanently blind when the bullet exited through his right eye. Grievously wounded, Nobbs lay undiscovered in a shell-hole as the battle raged round him. After two days he was found and awoke to find himself in a German hospital. Once his wounds had been treated Nobbs was sent to a POW camp where he remained for three months. Fortunately, one month later the truth was discovered, and in December 1916, Nobbs returned to England, where his home, wife and family awaited him. This is the astonishing autobiographical account of Henry Gilbert Nobbs, an extraordinary man of inexhaustible energy whose memoirs will forever provide one of life's enduring monuments to the human spirit.

In Battle & Captivity, 1916-1918: A British Officer's Memoirs of the Trenches and a German Prison Camp

Edward Gleichen

Edward Gleichen commanded the 15th Infantry Brigade during the tumultous opening battles of the Great War. The division was mobilised by 10 August 1914, and fought in the opening battles at Mons, Le Cateau and the Marne. The 15th Infantry Brigade was a regular formation tht comprised four battalions from Bedfordshire, Norfolk, Dorset and Cheshire.

 Detailed accounts by battlefield commanders from 1914 are surprisingly rare. This long out of print account of the actions of the British Expeditionary Force, which was first published in 1917, was based on a diary of events written at the time by Brigadier General Edward Gleichen. It originally appeared under the title The Doings of the Fifteenth Infantry Brigade - August 1914 to March 1915.

 This volume is much more than a brigade diary, providing the reader with a detailed and privileged insight into the problems of command during the confused actions in Flanders and France from the perspective of the men who helped to forge the legend of the Old Comtemptables.

Memoirs from the British Expeditionary Force, 1914–1915

Albert Rhys Williams

Albert Rhys Williams was an American journalist and author. In 1914, Williams travelled to Europe as the special war correspondent for Outlook magazine, tasked with the duty of reporting the events of the Great War. In these early days of the conflict, Williams had the misfortune to fall into the hands of the Imperial German Army. He was arrested in Belgium and marched into captivity on the suspicion that he was a British spy. On his return to the United States, Williams published In the Claws of the German Eagle in 1917. This fascinating book details Williams' experiences both on the front and in German captivity and provides a rare opportunity to discover the events as they unfolded behind the German lines.

The Kaiser's Captive: In the Claws of the German Eagle

Philip Gibbs

Edward G. D. Liveing

The 1st July 1916 was the blackest day in the history of the British Army when 60,000 unsuspecting men of the British 4th Army advanced into the teeth of a hurricane of German fire. This well-illustrated anthology examines the events of that terrible day from two very different perspectives. The vivid eyewitness account of the battle from the soldier's point of view is provided by Edward Liveing of the London Regiment. After joining the London Regiment in 1914, Liveing was deployed to both Palestine and to France, where he was wounded at the Battle of the Somme in 1916. This book describes his war on the front line up until his injury on the Somme. Also on the field that day and engaged in filming the battle for posterity was cameraman Lieut. Geoffrey Malins, who produced the famous documentary film of the battle. At the outbreak of war in 1914, Malins, aged 28, traveled to the Western Front where he acted as a freelance war correspondent, filming newsreels in Belgium and France. 1915 brought a fateful change of direction for Malins when he was recruited by the British Kinematograph Manufacturers Association to make a film of the preparations and the execution of a battle on the Western Front. This proved to be a dangerous business and by the end of the first year Malins, now with the rank of Lieutenant, had found himself deafened, gassed and twice wounded in the line of duty. Malins continued his work as a wartime cameraman before he was discharged from the army in 1918, having suffered bad health for sometime previously. These two contrasting accounts provide a remarkable insight into the chaotic events as they unfolded on the battlefield and provide the reader with two very different views of the battle as well as the visual records as produced by Malins, and the other photographers and artists at work on the Somme that day.

Walking Into Hell: The Somme Through British and German Eyes

Walter Raleigh

This magnificent and comprehensive volume was written in 1922 by Professor Walter Raleigh. Originally entitled The History of the War in the Air (Being the story of the part played in the Great War by the Royal Air Force) this all embracing and vital work features the most important account of the aerial battles, the men and the machines. Raleigh was Professor of English Literature at Glasgow University and Chair of English Literature at Oxford University. On the outbreak of the Great War, he turned to the war as his primary subject. His finest book on the subject is this, the first volume of The War in the Air, which was an instant publishing success. Unfortunately, the projected second volume was never completed as Raleigh died from typhoid (which he contracted during a visit to the Near East) in 1922. Nonetheless, Professor Sir Walter Alexander Raleigh has attained classic status as a result of this mighty work and this legendary volume ensures his status as a military author par excellence.

The History of the War in the Air: 1914-1918

Sven Hardin

An indispensable World War I history volume, With the Kaiser’s Army in 1914 is an eyewitness account originally published during the conflict.

In 1914 Swedish professor, writer, illustrator and adventurer Sven Hedin was granted a car and escort and given a comprehensive tour of the German Armies fighting in Belgium and France during September and October 1914. Hedin was given unfettered access to German armies and leadership. 

The resulting book, With the German Armies in the West, was quickly finished and published, originally in Swedish, in 1914 then swiftly translated and printed in early 1915 by John Lane of The Bodley Head Press, London, at a time when the events described in the book were still fresh. During his battle-front tour, Hedin took the opportunity to roam around the Army’s rear areas and to visit the frontline trench network. In the process he conducted many interviews, ranging from ordinary German privates to the most senior commanders and also with British and French POWs. He was an artist of great skill and was allowed to sketch many scenes depicting German infantry, cavalry, logistics and artillery batteries. He also documented the condition of post-August 1914 Belgium and described the situation in a very different light to the febrile tones of most neutral sources.

This invaluable study of the Kaiser’s Army in the early stages of the First World War is a great addition to the literature of the Great War providing a rare glimpse into the German Army of 1914.

With the Kaiser's Army in 1914: A Neutral Observer in Belgium & France

Bob Carruthers

During the Great War Adolf Hitler served in the ranks of the 16th Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment from 1914 to 1918, and was awarded the Iron Cross. In later years, under the masterful control of Doctor Goebbels, Hitler was successfully portrayed by the Nazis as a valiant front-line soldier who, for four long years, had fought many hard battles in the front-line of trenches.The world has long accepted the Nazi version, and Hitler is often referred to as a Corporal, but a series of clues remained which pointed to an alternative version of the truth. Even at the zenith of his power, Hitler was always mindful that there were those who maintained that, far from being a brave front-line fighter, he was actually a fraud; a draft-dodger and rear area malingerer who in four years of war had only ever fought in one action.Hitler knew the uncomfortable truth. The Nazi machine acted ruthlessly and former colleagues such as Hans Mend, who didn't toe the party line, soon ended up in concentration camps.Now, almost a century later, as a result of a series of painstaking investigations, the producers of the ground-breaking documentary Private Hitler's War have resolved the century long controversy over Hitler's service in the Great War. This powerful documentary tie-in book finally turns the Nazi myth on its head and reveals the full unvarnished truth concerning Adolf Hitler's actions in the Great War.

Private Hitler's War, 1914–1918

The 1st of July 1916, the opening day of the Battle of the Somme, was the blackest day in the history of the British Army. 60,000 men became casualties on that one day alone.In a major new documentary film premiering on the Discovery Channel next year, Emmy Award winning film maker Bob Carrruthers returns to the battlefield on 1st July and retraces the events which unfolded on that disastrous day. Drawing extensively on rare film and photographs from both British and German sources, the spirit of the men who fought and died on that day is beautifully evoked by these powerful and haunting images from 1916.The film also reveals how the sacrifice of the men of the Somme is being honoured today by the work of the historians and enthusiasts who strive to increase our understanding of the battle and to commemorate the memory of that terrible day.This is the companion book to the documentary film and is written by well-known author and film maker Bob Carruthers.

Spirits of the Somme

Major Georg Paul Neumann was a former German Air Force officer who had served in the Great War. He produced his outstanding survey of the German Air Force in 1920 while the events were still recent history. He was able to draw on his own experience and his contacts to compile a large number of personal accounts from officers and men who had so recently fought in the cause. The result is an accurate, faithful and comprehensive review of the aircraft, personnel and organisation of the force which began life in 1910 as the Imperial German Army Air Service and ended the war as the Luftstreitkrfte.This comprehensive and compelling review includes a series of primary sources dealing with some of the unusual and lesser known aspects of the Luftstreitkrfte including a gripping account of defending a Zeppelin against attack by British fighters.Major Neumann's indispensable work has never been surpassed and this English language translation is essential reading for anyone with an interest in the realities of the war in the air in the Great War.

The German Air Force I Knew 1914-1918: Memoirs of the Imperial German Air Force in the Great War

W.H.L. Watson

William Watson was a young Oxford post-graduate at the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. Along with several friends from Oxford he enlisted in the army expecting the war to last six weeks. Watson began his service in the Great War as a British Army motorcycle despatch rider. He saw active service during the key battles of 1914 and early 1915. Watson was then commissioned and became a tank commander and saw active service with the tanks most notably at Cambrai in 1917. This well written and evocative memoir was originally published under the tile 'A Company Of Tanks' it constitutes a wonderful primary source and is an invaluable addition to the library of anyone with an interest in the evolution of the tank as a decisive weapon on the battlefield. Highly detailed, but nonetheless accessible this superb new illustrated edition, edited by Emmy AwardTM winning historian Bob Carruthers is greatly recommended for serious enthusiasts and casual readers alike.

With the Tanks, 1916–1918: Memoirs of a British Tank Commander in the Great War

Julius Koettgen

A firsthand account of a German soldier’s horrific experiences fighting in France and Belgium, culminating in his escape from military service.

In 1913 Julius Koettgen, a pacifist and a socialist, was drafted into the ranks of sapper battalion No. 30. He dutifully fought in the ranks of the Kaiser’s armies during 1914 and 1915 and saw action in France and Belgium where he describes the terrible events which were to become known as “the rape of Belgium” and also details the extent of the fighting including being forced to form part of a firing squad, crossing the Meuse under heavy fire, using corpses as road building materials, annihilating a cavalry charge, hand-to-hand bayonet fighting, and the awful events of the disastrous German retreat from the Marne.

Koettgen also experienced the horrors of trench warfare and the famous Christmas truce of 1914. In 1915 he decided that enough was enough and escaped military life by deserting the colors and slipping through the lines to neutral Holland. His was memoirs were published by a gleeful allied press under the title A German Deserter’s War Experience.

This English translation—edited and introduced by Emmy Award™-winning historian Bob Carruthers—provides a rare primary source of insight into the German side during the crucial opening battles of the war and is essential reading for anyone with an interest in the Great War from the German perspective.

A German Deserter's War Experiences: Fighting for the Kaiser in the First World War

James McConnell

“The memoir of … an American pilot flying with the famous French Flying Corps’ American Layfayette Escadrille and provides a unique personal insight. ”—Firetrench

In 1915 James Roger McConnell enlisted as a US volunteer in the French Flying Corps. He was part of a remarkable band of American volunteers which were formed into the famous Lafayette Escadrille, which was then based at Verdun. This book brings his personal account of the war, Flying for France, to a new generation of readers. His memoirs produce an amazing insight into the early aerial battles and trace the evolution of aerial warfare as the rickety aircraft of 1915 rapidly evolved into the purpose-built fighters of 1917.

Casualties among the American Escadrille were very high and McConnell’s own luck finally ran out when he was ambushed by two German fighters and was killed in action in March 1917. His gripping and detailed memoir of the war is his lasting memorial; his honest account of the everyday life of a pilot in the Great War is matched only by Sagittarius Rising. However, his dramatic description of the battlefield of Verdun viewed from above is one of the classic descriptions of any wartime memoir and is unmatched by any other Great War writer.

“Resurrects an important part of the first-person literature of the Lafayette Escadrille. A long-lost gem. ”—Over the Front

“The memoir and letters give a surprising amount of detail about the pilot’s life and tactics employed. McConnell’s story is certainly an interesting one and this is a short and easily digestible introduction to the life of a First World War pilot. ”—WW1 Geek

Eyewitnesses from The Great War - Bogserien

Eyewitnesses from The Great War - Bogserien

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