Your humble scribe is a bit - okay, a lot - of an anorak about military history, particularly the First Unpleasantness (a.k.a. The Great War or even World War One), which was mostly sparked by Prof. Gary Sheffield's iconoclastic "Forgotten Victory". This has caused me to frequently swear at print or broadcast media when they lazily wrote the First Unpleasantness off with a trite phrase. For the past few years, it being centenary time, they have been doing better.
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| - so far, Auntie. |
Behold the beast. This is a Teuton heavy machine-gun, the MG08, and the "heavy" part is entirely appropriate, as it comes in (with a gallon of water in the cooling jacket) at 152 pounds. Your humble scribe attempted to lift it and could not - if I'd tried any harder I'd have gotten a hernia. A passing guide explained that one man would get under it and raise it on his back, with two others hefting it by the rear legs, and even that would be a struggle. Teuton machine-gun teams would also be issued with leather harnesses that had a big steel ring on, which allowed four men to attach themselves to each leg and carry the thing that way.
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| That's still 35 pounds each |
A Battalion War Diary
Back to the First Unpleasantness - SIT BACK DOWN! This IS interesting, so there. Many years ago I purchased the right to print a battalion war diary, that of the 2nd Battalion the Lancashire Fusiliers, and my employer at the time very generously allowed me to print it off at work. Art?
Here an aside. The BWD was compiled on a daily basis by one of the battalion's officers, usually the Intelligence Officer, but the duty could be, and frequently was, foisted off onto junior officers. Thus it's entirely down to how diligent an officer was as to how detailed the entries were; some could be terse, and some verbose.
The thing is, these entries were usually written up in pencil, or chinagraph, perhaps very occasionally in ink, never typewritten, and by different people under different circumstances, so one has to interpret a lot of indifferently reproduced handwriting. Art?
"Why bother?" I can hear you say - yes I have sharp ears. "A load of dull old stuff a hundred years out of date!"
Pausing only to reach down the broadband and slap your chops, I shall elucidate. BWDs are primary sources, created at the time by people involved in the events they describe, and are thus a first port of call for anyone researching a particular unit. They can't be taken as gospel, since they lack any vision of the big picture and may err, yet they are crucial. And, with an infantry division having 12 Battalions (and 2 Artillery Brigades), there are a lot to get through.
"The Journey's End Battalion: The 9th East Surrey In The Great War" By Michael Lucas
A bit of a long title! I've just finished reading this very good battalion history. Ol' Mike makes frequent reference to the BWD for the 9th (see above) in a thorough and detailed description of their time in the First Unpleasantness. Art?
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| My edition |
FYI, "Journey's End" was a play written by one R. C. Sherrif, who served at the front for 10 months with the 9th, until seconded back to Blighty. It was novelised, and has been filmed, twice. Er - I have to confess I've not seen the play, nor either film, nor read the novel. I may have to correct this oversight.
Blimey - nearly at count, and it's all been on pretty grim subjects. Time to add some lovely fluffy bunnies or something - Art?
No, Art, no <sounds of Tazer being charged up>
And on that light and bubbly note, we take our leave!
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