Book Recommendation
Feeling quite honoured at having the opportunity to post the first thread in this new sub-forum.
I recently read 'A Soldier's Diary of the Great War', with an introduction by Henry Williamson. Originally published (1929) anonymously, the diaries are those of Captain Douglas Herbert Bell MC, who began his military life as a Territorial rifleman with the 1st Bn, The London Rifle Brigade.
Bell went on to have a varied military career, gaining a commission and transferring to the Cameron Highlanders, and then transferring again later to the Royal Flying Corps, finally resigning his commission in 1920.
There were many passages I underlined in the text, including this one, in which Bell describes the process by which he and his comrades in the battalion volunteered to serve overseas:
'The battalion volunteered for foreign service, and will go as a battalion. Eighty per cent volunteered, and of the remaining 20 per cent some have applied for commissions. We have started recruiting again to fill up from 800 to 1000, so as to go at full strength. We are all congratulating ourselves.
No pressure was put on any man to volunteer. Each man was called out of the ranks by the Company Commander, and quietly said Yes or No to him; that was all that happened.' [1]
252 pages... very enjoyable read, and highly recommended. Happy reading.
Sources:
[1] 'A Soldier's Diary of the Great War' p 14 & 15
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