Chapter I: Introduction

All the stories in this volume are told by men who were seen personally, and who, with one or two exceptions--cases of soldiers who had returned to the front--read the typescripts of their narratives, so that accuracy should be secured. The narrators spoke while the impressions of fighting and hardships and things seen were still strong and clear; in several cases full notes had been made or diaries kept, and reference to these records was of great value in preparing the stories. When seeing an informant I specially asked that a true tale should be told, and I believe that no unreliable details were knowingly given.

I have been fortunate in getting a good deal of exclusive matter--the full record of the noble achievement of L Battery, Royal Horse Artillery, for example, has not been given anywhere in such detail as is presented here, and the same remark applies to the story of the three torpedoed cruisers.

During the earlier periods of the war British soldiers told me tales of barbarities and outrages committed by German troops which were so terrible that it was impossible to believe them, and I omitted many of these details from the finished stories; but I know now, from reading the Report of the Committee on Alleged German Outrages, presided over by Viscount Bryce, formerly British Ambassador at Washington, that even the most dreadful of the statements did not do more than touch the fringe of the appalling truth.

Though much has been already published in the form of tales and letters from our soldiers at the front, yet I hope that this collection of stories will be accepted as a contribution from the British fighting man to the general history of the earlier stages of the war--those memorable preliminary operations which have made a deep and indelible impression on the British race throughout the world.

WALTER WOOD.

CONTENTS

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CHAPTER I MONS AND THE GREAT RETREAT 1 PRIVATE J. PARKINSON, 1st Battalion Gordon Highlanders.

CHAPTER II GERMAN ATROCITIES 17 DRIVER G. BLOW, Royal Field Artillery.

CHAPTER III “GREENJACKETS” IN THE FIRING LINE 29 RIFLEMAN R. BRICE, King’s Royal Rifle Corps.

CHAPTER IV THE STRUGGLE ON THE AISNE 41 PRIVATE HERBERT PAGE, Coldstream Guards.

CHAPTER V “THE MOST CRITICAL DAY OF ALL” 54 CORPORAL F. W. HOLMES, V.C., M.M., 2nd Battalion King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry.

CHAPTER VI BRITISH FIGHTERS IN FRENCH FORTS 70 PRIVATE J. BOYERS, Durham Light Infantry.

CHAPTER VII GERMAN TREACHERY AND HATRED 82 CORPORAL W. BRATBY, Middlesex Regiment.

CHAPTER VIII LIFE IN THE TRENCHES 94 PRIVATE G. TOWNSEND, 2nd Battalion East Lancashire Regiment.

CHAPTER IX SAPPING AND MINING: THE “LUCKY COMPANY” 108 SAPPER WILLIAM BELL, Royal Engineers.

CHAPTER X L BATTERY’S HEROIC STAND 118 GUNNER H. DARBYSHIRE, Royal Horse Artillery.

CHAPTER XI SIXTEEN WEEKS OF FIGHTING 135 PRIVATE B. MONTGOMERY, Royal West Kent Regiment.

CHAPTER XII A DAISY-CHAIN OF BANDOLIERS 146 PRIVATE W. H. COOPERWAITE, Durham Light Infantry.

CHAPTER XIII DESPATCH-RIDING 158 CORPORAL HEDLEY G. BROWNE, Royal Engineers.

CHAPTER XIV THE THREE TORPEDOED CRUISERS 169 ABLE-SEAMAN C. C. NURSE.

CHAPTER XV THE RUNAWAY RAIDERS 182 SAPPER W. HALL, Royal Engineers.

CHAPTER XVI CAMPAIGNING WITH THE HIGHLANDERS 191 PRIVATE A. VENESS, 2nd Battalion Seaforth Highlanders.

CHAPTER XVII TRANSPORT-DRIVING 203 PRIVATE JAMES ROACHE, Army Service Corps.

CHAPTER XVIII BRITISH GUNNERS AS CAVE-DWELLERS 213 CORPORAL E. H. BEAN, Royal Field Artillery.

CHAPTER XIX WITH THE “FIGHTING FIFTH” 225 PRIVATE W. G. LONG, 1st Battalion East Surrey Regiment.

CHAPTER XX THE VICTORY OF THE MARNE 236 CORPORAL G. GILLIAM, Coldstream Guards.

CHAPTER XXI AN ARMOURED CAR IN AMBUSH 256 TROOPER STANLEY DODDS, Northumberland Hussars.

CHAPTER XXII EXPLOITS OF THE LONDON SCOTTISH 264 PRIVATE J. E. CARR, 14th (County of London) Battalion London Regiment (London Scottish).

CHAPTER XXIII THE ROUT OF THE PRUSSIAN GUARD AT YPRES 277 PRIVATE H. J. POLLEY, 2nd Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment.