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***[http://www.new.dli.ernet.in/handle/2015/210683 1917 Volume I], [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.210683 Archive.org] ''The German Retreat to the Hindenberg Line and the Battle of Arras'';  [http://www.new.dli.ernet.in/handle/2015/210681 1917 Appendices, Volume I],  [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.210681 Archive.org].  
***[http://www.new.dli.ernet.in/handle/2015/210683 1917 Volume I], [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.210683 Archive.org] ''The German Retreat to the Hindenberg Line and the Battle of Arras'';  [http://www.new.dli.ernet.in/handle/2015/210681 1917 Appendices, Volume I],  [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.210681 Archive.org].  
**:[http://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.b3480009?urlappend=%3Bseq=7  ''1917 Volume II 7th June-10th November Messines and Third Ypres (Passchendaele)''] published 1948. HathiTrust Digital Library.  
**:[http://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.b3480009?urlappend=%3Bseq=7  ''1917 Volume II 7th June-10th November Messines and Third Ypres (Passchendaele)''] published 1948. HathiTrust Digital Library.  
***[http://www.new.dli.ernet.in/handle/2015/210686  1918]: The great German offensive [21st March 1918] and its preliminaries (1935), [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.210686 Archive.org]; [http://www.new.dli.ernet.in/handle/2015/210684 1918 Volume II], [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.210684 Archive.org]; [http://www.new.dli.ernet.in/handle/2015/210685 Volume III], [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.210685 Archive.org]
***[http://www.new.dli.ernet.in/handle/2015/210686  1918]: ''The German March Offensive  and its Preliminaries'' (1935) [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.210686 Archive.org]; [http://www.new.dli.ernet.in/handle/2015/210684 1918 Volume II], [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.210684 Archive.org]; [http://www.new.dli.ernet.in/handle/2015/210685 Volume III], [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.210685 Archive.org]
*[https://archive.org/details/despatchesoflord00fren ''The Despatches of Lord French : Mons, the Marne, the Aisne, Flanders, Neuve Chapelle, the second battle of Ypres, Loos, Hohenzollern Redoubt, and a complete list of the officers and men mentioned''] 1917 Archive.org.
*Books by two  out of  25 volunteer members of the RAC [Royal Automobile Club] Contingent, who volunteered with their own car,  who were sent officially by the War Office to drive officers of the General Headquarters Staff at the front. As a result, they were in constant contact with very senior officers, and personally observed the course of events over a wide field. It seems they officially joined the Army, and were given officer status.  
*Books by two  out of  25 volunteer members of the RAC [Royal Automobile Club] Contingent, who volunteered with their own car,  who were sent officially by the War Office to drive officers of the General Headquarters Staff at the front. As a result, they were in constant contact with very senior officers, and personally observed the course of events over a wide field. It seems they officially joined the Army, and were given officer status.  
**[http://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.$b42511?urlappend=%3Bseq=11 ''Adventures on the Western Front, August, 1914-June, 1915'']  by  A Rawlinson 1925 Hathi Trust Digital Library. The author, then aged 47, volunteered as a driver, who provided his own car, for service at the Front, as part of the RAC Contingent.  For a  book about later military related service  by this author, see [[Norperforce]].
**[http://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.$b42511?urlappend=%3Bseq=11 ''Adventures on the Western Front, August, 1914-June, 1915'']  by  A Rawlinson 1925 Hathi Trust Digital Library. The author, then aged 47, volunteered as a driver, who provided his own car, for service at the Front, as part of the RAC Contingent.  For a  book about later military related service  by this author, see [[Norperforce]].

Revision as of 07:28, 2 July 2018

As the First World War progressed more troops were needed for the Western Front. To meet this demand Expeditionary Force A from India was sent to reinforce the British Troops – particularly in France.[1]

Many men who fell during these campaigns are honoured by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Amongst these are 4,742 soldiers from India whose names are recorded on the Neuve Chapelle Memorial in France. In 1964 these names were expanded to also commemorate 210 servicemen of India whose graves at Zehrensdorf Indian Cemetery in East Germany could not be maintained.

Related articles

War Diaries

Included in the many records held at the National Archives Kew is the series WO 95 - War Office: First World War and Army of Occupation War Diaries.

In addition to Battalion war diaries, there may be higher level Brigade and Division war diaries, which may provide information about Battalions not be found in the relevant Battalion diaries, or Battalion diaries may not have survived.

Some War Diaries, many of which are handwritten, have been digitised and are available (on a pay basis) online from various sources: from the National Archives through the Discovery catalogue[2], from Naval and Military Archive[3], part of Naval & Military Press, which also publishes print and DVD-ROM versions, and through Ancestry which contains the database "UK, WWI War Diaries (France, Belgium and Germany), 1914-1920" (selected, and at times, part war diaries only)[4][5](search hints[6][7]) (and another database for Gallipoli). The Ancestry database also contains War Diaries for some Indian, Australian, New Zealand, and other regiments.
Some transcribed war diaries (where the handwriting has been deciphered for you!) edited by Martin Gillott, series title (and publisher) Great War Diaries, for British Army and Indian Army regiments, are available through Amazon.co.uk[8] in Kindle editions which have a Search facility (anyone with Kindle Unlimited can read them for free). (Download of a free Kindle App is available onto a PC, Mac or tablet - you don't need Kindle). The transcribed Indian Army Great War Diaries currently (2017/12) available are 15th Ludhiana Sikhs War Diary 1914-15: Indian Army on the Western Front; 57th (Wilde's) Rifles (Frontier Force) War Diary 1914-15: The Indian Army on the Western Front; 59th (Scinde) Rifles (FF) War Diary 1914-15: Indian Army on the Western Front.

Also see External links below.

The Australian War Memorial website[9] contains Australian and New Zealand Army War diaries (available for free).

There is also a record series, consisting of of printed volumes at the British Library, called "Indian Army First World War - War Diaries" IOR/L/MIL/17/5/2421-4246 : 1914-1921, which includes Western Front War Diaries. Includes War Diary [Collection], Army Headquarters India, Indian Expeditionary Force 'A' [France]. GSI, 1914-19. 26 vols IOR/L/MIL/17/5/3086-3149. This record series also includes records which do not specifically include the words "War Diaries" in the title, which may relate to the Western Front such as IOR/L/MIL/17/5/2421-2499. Note: this record series is not available online.

Recommended reading

Recommended by Peter Moore on the Military reading list
"Sepoy in the Trenches: The Indian Corps on the Western Front, 1914-15 by Gordon Corrigan, Kent, UK; first edition. 1999; 16 plates; 9 maps; hardcover; 274 pp. An excellent, updated account of the sufferings and heroism of the Indian regiments sent to France in the bitterest of winters clad only in tropical uniforms until transferred to the Mesopotamian Campaign in 1915. The author, a retired Major (late Royal Gurkha Rifles and ex-10GR), 1998), has an authentic feel for the old Indian Army and the times".

“Well worth tracking a copy, both as a fascinating book and a display of how good military history should be written.“[10]

For an interview with the author Gordon Corrigan, see below.

Time zones

During the First World War, France was in the same time zone as Great Britain, (Greenwich Mean Time). Germany was one hour ahead (GMT+1). Germany first introduced Daylight Saving time Sunday, 30 April 1916, 23:00:00 when clocks were forwarded one hour. France followed on Wednesday, 14 June 1916, 23:00:00 pm when clocks were forwarded 1 hour. (Details.[11])

Indian treacle (opium)

On the Western Front, Sikh troops were supplied with Indian treacle, an euphemism for opium, which was part of their ration.[12]

External links

Video and transcript: "Illiterate but Literary: The Censored Correspondence of Indian Soldiers in France, 1914-18" by Dr David Omissi, recorded on 2 November 2015 nam.ac.uk, including YouTube video.
See Historical books online, below.
Neuve Chapelle Memorial ww1cemeteries.com

Sketches

Maps

  • "How to read a Trench Map" by Howard Anderson, October 2008 Western Front Association, now an archived webpage.
  • Western Front Maps from McMaster University, Canada. Text Search using Place Name or Trench Name.
  • National Library of Scotland WW1 Trench Maps. View maps overlaid on a modern map. Allows you to swap between trench map and modern map. On the left hand side you will see a slider to change the transparency between the trench map and the underlying modern map.
  • Great War British Trench Map Coordinates Converter muninn-project.org. Allows you to enter specific map references.
  • Trench maps of the Western Front from the collection of the Australian Army History Unit. Mainly British maps, with the focus on battlefields where the Australian Imperial Force fought, but includes a few German maps.
  • 9 online French Trench Maps from the series "Maps of the French Artillery Survey Group", USA Army versions, based on French military maps. Website of The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
This series contains Plans Directeurs maps. Information about these types of maps is included in the article "The Great War and Modern Mapping: WWI in the Map Division" May 15, 2015. New York Public Library.
Volume II 10th edition with maps to 1918. Gallica BnF
Includes the National Archives series WO 153 "War Office: War of 1914-1918: Maps and Plans". The catalogue may be searched through Discovery. The maps and plans in this series were collected from various sources, mainly for use by the Official War Historians, and as such were originally held in the Cabinet Office Historical Section. Many were extracted from regimental war diaries. More details, Western Front maps.

Historical books online

Also see First World War - Historical books online, including general histories such as The Times History of the War with illustrations, and periodical publications with illustrations such as The Illustrated War News.

Histories and general

History of the First World War by B. H. Liddell Hart 1972 Archive.org Lending Library. B. H. Liddell Hart Wikipedia.
The Role Of British Strategy In The Great War by CRMF Cruttwell 1936 Archive.org
Volume of 14 Maps National Library of Australia, with a description in the catalogue entry.
World War I Collection Combined Arms Research Library [CARL] Digital Library.
The Army behind the Army by Major Alexander Powell USA 1919 Archive.org
American Armies and Battlefields in Europe: a History, Guide, and Reference Book prepared by the American Battle Monuments Commission 1938 Archive.org. A revision of the 1927 publication A Guide to the American Battlefields in Europe HathiTrust Digital Library
The Canadian Forestry Corps; its inception, development and achievements by C.W. Bird and J.B. Davies HMSO London 1919 Archive.org. Includes a chapter "Operations in France", which includes a brief mention, page 42, of the use of Indian labour. The final chapter from page 50 "An Imperial Link" is missing.
  • French Official Histories: Les Armées françaises dans la Grande Guerre sga.defense.gouv.fr. French language. Eleven Tomes, some with multiple volumes, mostly about the Western Front. With online maps (Cartes) and at times panoramic sketches (Croquis panoramiques).
Gallica – The BnF Digital Library contains many publications, mostly French language. Use specific search terms, or the Advanced Search for Sujet search terms such as Guerre mondiale ( 1914 -1918) -- Histoire des unités or Guerre mondiale ( 1914 -1918) -- Campagnes et batailles.
Also available from the Universty of Hamburg Library as pdf downloads: Der Weltkrieg and Schlachten des Weltkrieges, or if these URLs are not permanent, use Recherche [Digitalisierte Bestände].
Deutschlands Krieg in der Luft : ein Rückblick auf die Entwicklung und die Leistungen unserer Heeres-Luftstreitkräfte im Weltkriege by Ernst Wilhelm Arnold von Hoeppner 1921. Archive.org. German language. Also available National Library of Estonia - English webpage option available.
  • Some Regimental and Divisional Histories, and some Manuals from the British Library Digital Collection may be accessed by Searching the British Library Main Catalogue, using search term such as Army Great Britain or War Office Great Britain, or specific search terms. Then use side filters, Online, Books. Note: Selecting the filter for date does not appear to be accurate, so it is best to re-order the Search results according to date, and then select those applicable to WW1.
Books on Archive.org classified by the uploader "World War, 1914-1918 -- Regimental histories Great Britain". Also use the Search.
Books on Archive.org classified by the uploader "World War, 1914-1918 -- Campaigns" Includes some regimental histories.
The Doings of the Fifteenth Infantry Brigade August 1914 to March 1915 by its Commander Brigadier General Count Gleichen (now Major-General Lord Edward Gleichen) 1917 Archive.org
A History of the Black Watch (Royal Highlanders) in the Great War 1914-1918 [in three Volumes] Edited by Major General A G Wauchope 1926. lib.militaryarchive.co.uk. Requires Flash 'enabled' to view the books. If you see a Flash icon, click on it. Vol I (1st, 2nd & 3rd Battalions). Vol II (4th, 5th 6th, 7th Reserve Battalions, The Royal Highlanders of Canada & The Sydney Scottish Rifles). Vol III (8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th & 14th Battalions). Volume III transcribed edition lib.militaryarchive.co.uk.
The History of the Norfolk Regiment, 1685-1918. Volume II 4th August 1914 to 31st December 1918 by F. Loraine Petre, published 1926. lib.militaryarchive.co.uk. Requires Flash 'enabled' to view.
Maps issued in a separate case [Volume 2]: 19 maps and 5 photographs National Library of Australia
Specimens of British trench orders. This book discusses the duties of the Canadian Corps trench officers, based on examples from the British Army. Includes trench orders, battalion trench standing orders, brigade standing orders for the trenches, and the 55th (West Lancashire) Division trench orders. Link to pdf download, Combined Arms Research Library [CARL] Digital Library.

Medical Services including Veterinary

"At the Somme" [War Poetry] by Mary Borden-Turner published in The English Review, August 1917, page 97. Mary Borden Wikipedia.
Elsie and Mairi Go To War : two extraordinary women on the Western Front by Diane Atkinson 2010 Archive.org Lending Library
Also see Fiction below, for a book where there is a representation of these two women, but not as the main character.

Indian Army

Army Service Corps

Artillery

  • With the Guns by F. O. O. [Forward Observation Officer] [Cecil J. C. Street] 1916 Archive.org
The Making of a Gunner by F. O. O. [Forward Observation Officer] [Cecil J. C. Street] 1916 Archive.org
  • Battery Flashes by "Wagger" [Cecil W Longley] 1916 Archive.org. He was an artillery signaller, (who subsequently became an officer) and is considered to have been in the 2nd Gloucester Battery of 1st South Midland Brigade RFA (240 Bde).[16]
  • My .75 : reminiscences of a French gunner of a .75mm battery in 1914 by Paul Lintier, translated 1917 from the original French Ma Pièce. Souvenirs d'un canonnier, 1914. (Avec une batterie de 75.) published 1916. Archive.org. A book in the series Soldiers' Tales of the Great War.
  • Servants of the Guns by Jeffrey E Jeffery [catalogued Jeffrey E Marston] 1917 Archive.org. Most of the soldiers in the Battery were Welsh. The author became a Prisoner of War.
  • Carry On: Letters In War-Time by Coningsby Dawson, Canadian Field Artillery. 1917 Archive.org. Letters dated July 16, 1916, to February 6, 1917. The author was a Canadian novelist . Also published under the title Khaki Courage: Letters In War-Time
The Glory Of The Trenches: An Interpretation by Coningsby Dawson 1917 Archive.org
Living Bayonets: a Record of the Last Push by Coningsby Dawson 1919 Archive.org. Letters from April 14, 1917 to October 6, 1918.
The Test of Scarlet, a Romance of Reality by Coningsby Dawson 1919 Archive.org. A 2011 edition was published under the title The Test of Scarlet: Experiences of an Artillery Officer During the First World War.

Cavalry

Chaplains (Army)

  • A Padre in France by George Birmingham, the pseudonym for James Owen Hannay, c 1919. Archive.org. He was appointed to the Chaplains Department, British Army

Infantry and others

Hospital Days by "Platoon Commander" 1916 Archive.org.
Gentlemen At Arms by "Centurion" a Captain in the British Army who has served in France [J H Morgan] 1918 Archive.org. Stated elsewhere to be Volume 13 in the series Soldiers’ Tales of the Great War. [17]
  • Temporary Heroes by Cecil Sommers [Norman Cecil Sommers Down] 1917. Archive.org. With illustrations by the author. He was a Lieutenant, 1/4th Battalion Gordon Highlanders. Letters from February 22, 1915 to July 27, 1916. For another book see Egypt, Palestine, Syria (First World War)
  • "Contemptible" by "Casualty", a Subaltern. 1916 Archive.org. Book 6, or 7 (numbers seen can vary) in the series Soldiers’ Tales of the Great War. The IWM website catalogues him as Arnold Alfred Ernest Gyde, 2nd Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment.
  • On the Right of the British Line by Captain Gilbert Nobbs (late L.R. B.) [London Rifle Brigade] 1917 Archive.org. Some editions are titled Englishman, Kamerad! Right of the British Line. The author was blinded in battle, and became a POW. Biographical details qormuseum.org
  • Mud and Khaki, Sketches from Flanders and France by Vernon Bartlett 1917 Archive.org. Some of these sketches had appeared in the Daily Mail and the Daily Mirror. The author subsequently became a journalist and politician. Vernon Bartlett Wikipedia. On a list of "highly personal top 20 War Memoirs".[18]
  • Bullets & Billets by Bruce Bairnsfather 2nd edition 1917 Archive.org. Gutenberg.org edition, with cartoons collected at the front of the file. Bruce Bairnsfather Wikipedia. He was an officer in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, who became very well known for his cartoons.
Fragments from France by Captain Bruce Bairnsfather 1917 Archive.org. A collection of cartoons. Published in 1916 (2nd edition) as The Bystander's Fragments from France. Vol. I, More Fragments from France 
Vol. II, Still more Fragments from France 
Vol. III, Fragments from France 
Vol. IV University of Wisconsin Digital Collections; More Fragments from France Parts V-VIII c 1918 Archive.org.
From Mud to Mufti by Bruce Bairnsfather 1919 Archive.org American edition, with American Preface, London edition.
  • The Adventures of an Ensign by Vedette 1917 Archive.org "...the autobiography, thinly disguised as fiction and very cleverly written, of a subaltern who joined the Guards in France just before the battle of the Somme, in which he was wounded... The best chapters recount the magnificent advance of the Guards towards Lesboeufs on September 15th, 1916, the first day on which the tanks were used."[19]
  • Trench Pictures from France by Major William Redmond, MP [Member of Parliament], killed in action June 1917. [1917] Archive.org. The articles which make up the bulk of the book were originally contributed to the Daily Chronicle under a pseudonym. He joined the Royal Irish Division, Royal Irish Regiment.
  • Twenty-two Months Under Fire by Henry Page Croft 1917 Archive.org. The author belonged to 1st Battalion, Hertfordshire Regiment, a Territorial Regiment.
  • "Nothing of Importance": Eight Months at the Front with a Welsh Battalion by Bernard Adams 1918 Archive.org. Elsewhere, the regiment is stated to be the 1st Battalion, Royal Welsh Fusiliers.[20] On a list of "highly personal top 20 War Memoirs".[18]
  • "Ladies from Hell" by R Douglas Pinkerton 1918. The author was a member of the London Scottish.
  • The Big Fight (Gallipoli to the Somme) by Capt. David Fallon 1918 Archive.org. He served with the AIF (Australian Imperial Force) at Gallipoli , and subsequently became an officer with the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. He also flew as a military observer ("Chapter XI", page 131), and briefly commanded a tank ("Chapter XII", page 144).
  • The Diary of a Dead Officer, being the posthumous papers of Arthur Graeme West, c 1918. Archive.org. Includes Part V "Poems". Librivox audio version. Arthur Graeme West Wikipedia. He joined as a private; in August 1916 he became a second lieutenant in the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry.
  • A Private in the Guards by Stephen Graham 1919 Archive.org. Stephen Graham (author) Wikipedia. Also see a further book under Miscellaneous below.
  • Glimpses of the Great War: Letters of a Subaltern from Three Fronts Edited by his wife. 1919. The letters of George Herbert Whyte [London Irish Rifles]. He joined a volunteer hospital unit in France, in 1914, and became a Second Lieutenant in the London Irish Rifles in 1916. He was in France, Macedonia and Malta, Egypt and Palestine, where he died. He was a well known Theosophist. Digital Collection, Württembergischen Landesbibliothek, Stuttgart, with the library website in German. Read online or download, the latter is "Ganzes Werk herunterladen".
  • A Handful of Ausseys by C. Hampton Thorp, AIF 1919 Archive.org. Part of the series On Active Service. The latter part of the book is about the Western Front.
  • Combed Out by F A Voigt 1920 Archive.org. The author subsequently became an influential journalist. Frederick Augustus Voigt Wikipedia.
  • The Confessions of a Private by Frank Grey, late 8th Royal Berkshire Regiment. 1920. Hathi Trust Digital Library.
  • Toward the Flame: a War Diary by Hervey Allen. Revised edition, with illustrations 1934, first published 1926. Archive.org. The author was a Lieutenant in the United States Army, and subsequently became an author and poet. Hervey Allen Wikipedia.
  • Wine, Women and War: a Diary of Disillusionment by Anonymous. 10th edition 1927, first published 1926. Hathi Trust Digital Library. 2nd Hathi Trust file. The author is catalogued as Howard Vincent O'Brien, American novelist and journalist. Howard Vincent O'Brien Wikipedia. Appointed 1st Lieutenant Field Artillery, [US Army] November 1917, and later became a Liaison Officer.
  • A Subaltern on the Somme in 1916 by Mark VII [Max Plowman] 1928, first published 1927. Archive.org. 10th West Yorks. On a list of "highly personal top 20 War Memoirs".[18]
  • Undertones of War by Edmund Blunden 1929 Archive.org. Subaltern in Royal Sussex at the Somme & Passchendaele. On a list of "highly personal top 20 War Memoirs".[18]
  • Goodbye To All That by Robert Graves. New edition revised, November 1957, 2nd edition March 1958. First published 1929. Archive.org. (Catalogued with a different author). Graves was in the Royal Welch Fusiliers as a Special Reserves Officer. Robert Graves Wikipedia
  • A Passionate Prodigality: Fragments of Autobiography by Guy Chapman. 1966 edition, first published 1933. Archive.org Lending Library. [First you must register. Only one person at a time is able to read the book, as in a 'real' library, so you may need to go on a waiting list]. He was Adj. 13th Batt. Royal Fusiliers, who was gassed at Arras. On a list of "highly personal top 20 War Memoirs".[18]
  • A Brass Hat in No Man's Land by Brig.-Gen. F P Crozier 1930. Archive.org. Frank Percy Crozier Wikipedia. He commanded the 9th (Service) Battalion of the 107th (Ulster) Brigade and subsequently commanded the 119th (Welsh) Brigade.
  • "The Winter of 1916-17" by Capt G D Mitchell 10th and 48th Battns AIF, a series of articles appearing in Reveille, published by The Returned and Services League of Australia New South Wales Branch, commencing in December 1934, page 15 (digital 17) and continuing each month to at least October 1935. reveille.dlconsulting.com. Scroll from one issue to the next.There is reference elsewhere to further articles in Feb 1936 and Sept/Oct 1936. Mitchell, George Deane (1894–1961) Australian Dictionary of Biography. Also see Gallipoli for another series of articles.
  • The Liddell Hart Memoirs 1895-1938 Volume I 1965. Archive.org Lending Library. The author became an officer in the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry. B. H. Liddell Hart Wikipedia. Military historian and military theorist.

In the Air

The Story of the Lafayette Escadrille told by its Commander, Captain Georges Thenault. Translated by Walter Duranty 1921 Archive.org
The Lafayette Flying Corps ed. by James Norman Hall & Charles Bernard Nordhoff Volume I, Volume II 1920. Archive.org
Victor Chapman's Letters from France 1917. He was a member of the Franco-American Aviation Corps, who was killed 23 June 1916. Archive.org
With the French Flying Corps by Carroll Dana Winslow 1917 Archive.org
The Way of the Eagle by Major Charles J Biddle 1919 Archive.org. He was an American who joined the French Foreign Legion, Aviation Section, who flew in Escadrille Lafayette and subsequently in the AEF.
One Man's War : the Story of the Lafayette Escadrille by Lieutenant Bert Hall and Lieutenant John J. Niles 1929 Archive.org

Despatch Riders

  • Adventures of a Despatch Rider by Captain WHL Watson, 1915 Archive.org. Elsewhere it is stated that editions after the first edition were heavily edited for censorship reasons, but as this edition was published in 1915, it may be the original edition.
Captain WHL Watson was also the author of Tales of a Gaspipe Officer by Despatch Rider. ‘Military cyclists are popularly known as Gaspipe Cavalry’ Blackwood’s Magazine Nos 198, 199 and 201, December 1915-March 1916, and January 1917 Archive.org. Page 795, page 76, page 246, page 360, page 45.

Machine Guns

Tales from a Dugout by Arthur Guy Empey 1918 Archive.org.
First Call: Guide Posts to Berlin by Arthur Guy Empey 1918. A guide for new recruits into the American Army, and their families.
Arthur Guy Empey Wikipedia

Tanks

Eyewitness. Being Personal Reminiscences of Certain Phases of the Great War, Including the Genesis of the Tank by Major-General Sir Ernest D Swinton, R E (Retired) 1933 Hathi Trust Digital Library. Also available on Archive.org. Digital Library of India Collection 1932 edition.
Men and Tanks by J C MacIntosh. 1921 Archive.org. Part of the series On Active Service.

Secret Service and Spies

  • The Secret Corps : a Tale of "Intelligence" on all Fronts by Captain Ferdinand Tuohy 1920 Archive.org
  • Detective & Secret Service Days by Edwin T Woodhall 1929. Pdf download, in four parts, with one download titled "Book II : Secret service days". STOU Digital Repository Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University, Thailand. The 1937 edition was titled Detective and Secret Service Days. The author chronicles his experiences beginning briefly with his early days in 1906 in the London Metropolitan Police Force, and then on to when he subsequently became attached to the CID at Scotland Yard, the Special Political Department, the Secret Service Department and the Special Central Department. Details of the author casebook.org. Elsewhere it is stated that Chapter III "Military Ishmaels", page 143 is about Toplis who is discussed in an article,[22] and that Chapter IV, "A Charming Spy", relates to Mata Hari, see below.
  • Secret Service by Major-General Sir George Aston, formerly of the Naval Intelligence Department and the Secretariat of the War Cabinet 1930 Archive.org
  • The Intelligence Service within the Canadian Corps, 1914-1918 by Major J E Hahn, James Emanuel late General staff, 4th Canadian Division CEF 1930 HathiTrust Digital Library.
  • All's Fair : the Story of the British Secret Service Behind the German Lines by Captain Henry Landau 1934 Archive.org. Henry Landau Wikipedia.
Secrets of the White Lady by Captain Henry Landau 1935 Missing at least page 13 which is found in a 2nd digital file, also missing at least one page. Both editions HathiTrust Digital Library. The White Lady was the codename for an underground intelligence network which operated in German-occupied Belgium during World War I. Dame Blanche (resistance) Wikipedia.
  • Mata Hari by Major Thomas Coulson 3rd impression. Full title: Mata Hari Courtesan and Spy, first published 1930. Archive.org,
Also see Chapter IV "A Charming Spy" in Detective & Secret Service Days by Edwin T Woodhall 1929, above.
Official French files Margueritte Gertrude Zelle (French language), part of the database of those who were shot during the First World War. Click on the eye icons for the files. memoiredeshommes.sga.defense.gouv.fr. If this link is not permanent, try the website Search, using the French version website.
The National Archives Kew has two records KV2/1-2 "'Mata Hari' alias MCCLEOD Margaretha Geertruida (Marguerite Gertrude)", both available as a pay download. Catalogue record

Volunteers and others

  • The First World War, 1914-1918: Personal Experiences of Lieut.-Col. C. à Court Repington 1920. [An autobiography]. Volume I, Volume II Archive.org. Charles à Court Repington 1858-1925. Wikipedia. He was a former British Army Officer who was military correspondent for The Times 1904–1918, who had many influential contacts with officers in the Army's highest ranks.
  • The diary of an English resident in France during twenty-two weeks of war time by Rowland Strong 1915 Archive.org. Elsewhere it is stated Rowland Strong was/had been the Paris correspondent for the Observer, the Morning Post and the New York Times.
The diary of an English resident in France during war time. Second series, Jan.-Dec. 1915 by Rowland Strong 1916 Archive.org.
A Reporter at Armageddon: Letters from the Front and Behind the Lines of the Great War by Will Irwin. 1918. Archive.org.
"The Next War"; an Appeal to Common Sense by Will Irwin 1921 Archive.org.

Prisoners of War

Issue No 16 February 15, 1916 British Library Digital file. The British Library has additional digital files for Issues 17-27 (September 1916). To access, through the Main Catalogue, use the search term BLL01016586686 Then click on "I want this', select the required edition, and click Go. Alternatively, rather than using the Main Catalogue, the digital file for Issue 16, on the right hand side of the page, has an item "View the catalogue record".

Miscellaneous

Forty Years With Dogs by E H Richardson 1935. Pdf download, Digital Library of India. Archive.org version. "A Biography of E H Richardson" k9history.com, probably based on the autobiography.
Hathi Trust Digital Library catalogue record for 17 Volumes, viewable by those in regions such as North America. All except the last are stated to be Public Domain in the USA.
Gallica: Bibliothèque nationale de France There are 13 digital files for this publication on Gallica, but they are classified by year published, not volume number. (1919 (4), 1920-1923, 2 each year, 1924 (1)), and it is unclear whether these contain the complete series of 17 volumes, or 13 volumes. The last one digitized on Gallica is classified as 1924, and has the title 5th Annee Tome XVII, Volume 17. There is a Search facility (whole collection) or individual book files. For individual book files, click on the icon for Table des matières, for contents. Volume 17, the final volume, contains a Contents section which appears to cover all 17 Volumes, click on the icon for Table des matières. It is then possible to click through to relevant articles, which may be located in other volumes.

Vocabularies

German Army

Germany's Dishonoured Army by Professor J H Morgan (Late Home Office Commissioner with the British Expeditionary Force) 1915 Archive.org
German Atrocities: An Official Investigation by J H Morgan 1916 Archive.org.
  • My War Memories, 1914-1918 by General Ludendorff 1919. Volume I, Volume II Archive.org. Also published under the title: Ludendorff's Own Story, August 1914-November 1918. The Great War from the siege of Liege to the Signing of the armistice as viewed from the Grand Headquarters of the German Army by Erich Von Ludendorff Quartermaster-General of the German Army.
The General Staff and its problems : the history of the relations between the high command and the German Imperial Government as revealed by official documents by General Ludendorff... translated by F. A. Holt. 1920 Volume I, Volume II Archive.org
Die württembergischen Regimenter im Weltkrieg 1914 – 1918 Links to multiple volumes of different württembergischen Regimenter (German language). Digital Collection, Württembergischen Landesbibliothek, Stuttgart. If URL Is not permanent, use Suchen. Use the search term Weltkrieg, or Infanterie Regiment to locate many other regimental histories and and other publications. Also from this website Kriegsgeschichte der 12. Batterie Fußartillerie-Regiment Nr 13.
Digital Library of Wielkopolska (Network of Polish Digital Libraries} contains some online German Regimental Histories (German language).[24]
Links to further regimental histories (German language) may be found in the Great War Forum thread "Free German Regimental History Books"[25] and "More German Regimental histories due soon"[26]. For some of the latter Search SLUB Dresden Sächsische Landesbibliothek – Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Dresden (SLUB) Dresden.
German language digitised documents from State Archives of the Russian Federation. German language webpage, Google Translate English webpage. Includes KriegsTageBuch (KTB) and German maps. tsamo.germandocsinrussia.org

Post War including British Occupation of Germany

Fiction

Audio version: All Quiet On The Western Front Archive.org
About the book Wikipedia. First published 1929, original German title Im Westen nichts Neues Archive.org.
  • Half-novel, half-autobiography: The Middle Parts of Fortune: Somme and Ancre, 1916 by Frederic Manning 1929. Also published as Her Privates We. Pdf download of a transcription, University of Sydney Digital Collection. Considered “as being true to the actual experience of modern warfare in ways that nothing else had managed to be”.[27] On a list of "The 20 most significant novels of the Great War".[18]
  • The Silence of Colonel Bramble by André Maurois. Translated from the French by Thurfrida Wake. Verses translated by Wilfrid Jackson. 1920 Archive.org. The author, writing under a non de plume which subsequently became his legal name, was an Interpreter, and subsequently Liaison Officer with the IXth (Scotch) Division, when the book was written.
  • Verdun The Prelude, and The Battle by Jules Romains. Translated from the French by Gerard Hopkins. 1940, first published in English 1939. Archive.org Note: Lacks title page. Book 15 Prélude à Verdun and Book 16 Verdun (published 1938), Volume 8 (some editions), from the 27 volume series Men of Goodwill (Les Hommes de bonne volonté). 2nd Archive.org file
  • Peter Jackson, Cigar Merchant : a Romance of Married Life by Gilbert Frankau Seventh edition 1920. Archive.org. This book "is semi-autobiographical and gives an excellent feel for life as a Kitchener volunteer officer in both the infantry and then the RFA 1914-16… it was also one of the first books to reveal to the general public what Shell Shock was all about. A classic".[28]
  • Sketches by Boyd Cable, the nom de plume of Ernest Andrew Ewart, who was appointed Temporary Second Lieutenant 2nd September 1914 in the Royal Artillery where he served in France. By February 1917 he was Acting Captain while commanding a section of a Divisional Ammunition Column. In June 1918 he was awarded an OBE [Officer of the Order of the British Empire] at which time he was Captain, Propaganda Branch, Aircraft Production Department, Ministry of Munitions. Appointed Acting Lt-Colonel, whilst specially employed 12 November 1918.[29]
Between the Lines by Boyd Cable 3rd edition 1917, first published October 1915 Archive.org. Librivox Audiobook Between the Lines, read by Delmar H Dolbier. Archive.org.
Action Front by Boyd Cable 1916 Archive.org
Grapes of Wrath by Boyd Cable 1917 Archive.org
Front Lines by Boyd Cable 1918 Archive.org
Air Men o' War by Boyd Cable 1919 Archive.org
  • Novels by Sapper, the nom de plume of Herman Cyril McNeile , a writer of war stories that were hailed as realistic revelations of the truth about war. [30] He was the author of the later Bulldog Drummond series. Archive.org.
Men, Women and Guns 1916. Also available in an audio edition.
Sergeant Michael Cassidy, R. E. 1916
The Lieutenant and Others 1916
No Man's Land 1917
  • Edgar Wallace who subsequently became known as the ‘King of Thrillers’ wrote, between 1904 and 1918, a large number of mostly humorous sketches about life in the British Army relating the escapades and adventures of privates Smith (Smithy), Nobby Clark, Spud Murphy and their comrades-in-arms, including
Smithy and the Hun by Edgar Wallace 1915
Nobby: Jam for the Enemy by Edgar Wallace 1915
Nobby On Getting Commissions by Edgar Wallace 1915 . Transcriptions from Roy Glashan’s Library formerly FreeRead freeread.com.au.
  • Young Hilda at the Wars by Arthur H Gleason 1915 Archive.org. The photograph at the front of the book is stated to be that of Helen, the author’s wife. Other characters in the book are stated to be based on Ambulance drivers Elsie Knocker and Mairi Chisholm who worked as volunteers in Belgium.[31]
  • Green Envelopes No author appears on the title page. Published by John Murray London 1929. Letters home from the Front, from many soldiers, to a village in England. A review says "These are the familiar "green envelopes" of active service during the war. ...letters which were really written…" (names changed). The British Library catalogue entry includes the words "A novel", however in the collection of the Australian War Memorial, the book is classified WW1 Personal narratives, British. Digital Collection, Württembergischen Landesbibliothek, Stuttgart, with the library website in German. Read online or download, the latter is "Ganzes Werk herunterladen".
  • A novel: Across The Black Waters by Mulk Raj Anand. Reprint edition, possibly 1955, originally published 1940. Pdf download, Digital Library of India. A novel about Indian (Punjabi) soldiers who have crossed the black waters, against all the advice of their forefathers that calamity would befall anyone who went overseas, to join the British and their allies on the Western Front. The author was born in Peshawar in 1905, so was too young for first-hand experience of the war, but the book has a very authentic feel, suggesting that he not only did his research in books but also listened to the stories of older men who came back. He grew up in military cantonments, according to the introduction.[32] Review by Randeep Wadehra, August 6, 2000 The Tribune
  • A novel: The Ravi Lancers by John Masters 1972. Internet Archive (Archive.org) Lending Library. (Only one person at a time is able to borrow, so you may need to wait for the book to be returned. First you must register) . An Indian cavalry regiment is sent to France at the outbreak of the First World War.
  • A novel: Hira Singh: When India Came to Fight in Flanders by Talbot Mundy. Archive.org. Published in Britain as Hira Singh's Tale: When India Came to Fight in Flanders. Serialized in Adventure magazine, October 18 - December 3, 1917. Published in book form 1918. A fictional account of a cavalry regiment taken prisoners of war by the Germans.
  • William – an Englishman by Cicely Hamilton c 1919. Archive.org, missing pages 169-170, but file colour perhaps easier to read, Archive.org, all pages, Librivox audio recording Archive.org, missing pages 169-170. The author worked at the Scottish Women's Hospital at Royaumont and organised Concerts at the Front. The book, written in a tent within sound of guns and shells, won the Prix Femina-Vie Heureuse in 1919.[33]
  • A romantic novel: The Nurse's Story : In Which Reality Meets Romance by Adele Bleneau 1915 Archive.org. The hero of this romantic novel is a Captain in the Ludhiana Sikhs (page 97). There are suggestions that when it was published the book was considered to be fictionalized memoirs, perhaps not written under the author’s actual name. A film based on the book was made in 1919. The book is from the collection of the US National Library of Medicine, so perhaps is considered to have a realistic nursing background. For a review of this novel scroll if necessary to page 7, 5th column of the Pittsburgh Press (newspaper) dated August 7, 1917.
  • Rilla of Ingleside by L M Montgomert 1921 Archive.org. Librivox audio version, read by one reader, Librivox audio, multiple readers Archive.org. The final book in L. M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables series for girls, set in Canada. The story of the life of the women at home whose family members fought on the Western Front.
  • Biggles Pioneer Air Fighter by Captain W E Johns 1954. Archive.org, Digital Library of India Collection. Contains thirteen short stories, eleven of which were originally published in The Camels Are Coming (1932) and two of which were originally published in Biggles Of The Camel Squadron (1934), originally written for older adolescents. Note however Wikipedia states “The early First World War books were reprinted in the 1950s, when the Biggles books had acquired a younger readership and were bowdlerised.
  • Adventure stories for younger readers by Herbert Strang. gutenberg.org..
A Hero of Liége: A Story of the Great War 1914.
Fighting with French: A Tale of the New Army 1915.
Burton of the Flying Corps. 1916

References

  1. ↑ India and the Western Front bbc.co.uk/history
  2. ↑ Discovery catalogue
  3. ↑ Naval and Military Archive
  4. ↑ UK, WWI War Diaries (France, Belgium and Germany), 1914-1920 consisting of WO 95/1096–3948 records. Ancestry. However, within this series, there appears to be a further selection of diaries available - not all are included.
  5. ↑ stiletto_33853. Ancestry vs National Archives Great War Forum 26 January 2018. Retrieved 26 January 2018. Ancestry diaries may have large parts (many months) missing compared to TNA files.
  6. ↑ MrSwan. Ancestry war diaries Great War Forum 17 December 2017. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
  7. ↑ Guest. Finding War Diaries: Beating Ancestry's Poor Indexing Great War Forum 27 January 2018. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  8. ↑ Gallipoli Diaries and Great War Diaries amazon.co.uk
  9. ↑ Australian Imperial Force unit war diaries, 1914-18 War
  10. ↑ Filsell, David. Indian Re-evaluation Great War Forum 18 July 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  11. ↑ Time in France Wikipedia. France DST 1916, with links to other years. Germany DST 1916, with links to other years. UK DST 1916, with links to other years. timeanddate.com
  12. ↑ page 66, ‪British Logistics on the Western Front: 1914-1919‬ by Malcolm Brown. quoting end notes 84, 85 WO 95/74 Director of Supplies, War Diary 29 October 1914, 1 November 1914 page 72
  13. ↑ Indian infantry unit war diaries go online The National Archives
  14. ↑ Frederick Abernethy Coleman bonhams.com
  15. ↑ Larkin, Roy. The Motor-Bus in War. A.M.Beatson , 1918 Historic Military Vehicle Forum 8 February 2015. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
  16. ↑ Porter, David. was "wagger" a real gunner? Great War Forum 7 August , 2015. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  17. ↑ Page from Great War Dust Jackets Scroll down.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 18.4 18.5 18.6 18.7 Great War Dust Jackets page listing "War Memoirs : a highly personal top 20", by Great War Dust Jackets and "The 20 most significant novels of the Great War" from The Novels of World War 1 : An annotated bibliography by Philip Hager & Desmond Taylor. Garland Pub. 1981.
  19. ↑ The Spectator 29 December 1917, page 14.
  20. ↑ Naval & Military Press
  21. ↑ Three Chevrons Naval and Military Press
  22. ↑ "Monocled Mutineer, Percy Toplis" pixelsurgery.com
  23. ↑ CROONAERT German Map of the main French prison camps, labor commandos and hospitals Great War Forum 21 March 2017. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  24. ↑ charlie2. Free German Regimental History Books Great War Forum 1 May 2017. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  25. ↑ charlie2. Free German Regimental History Books Great War Forum 7 September 2017. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  26. ↑ charlie2. More German Regimental histories due soon Great War Forum 12 April 2018. Retrieved 17 April 2018
  27. ↑ "An outsider at war" by Richard Johnstone 4 June 2012. Inside Story.
  28. ↑ charlesmessenger Casemate Books - a question Great War Forum 12 November 2016. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  29. ↑ Details from the London Gazette.
  30. ↑ "‘Sapper’ : From Realism to Melodrama", a paper originally delivered at the conference of Les Amis du Roman Populaire in Amiens, in 2014. Great War Fiction. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  31. ↑ A page from Chapter V, Elsie and Mairi Go to War: Two Extraordinary Women on the Western Front by Diane Atkinson. Google Books.
  32. ↑ Liz in Eastbourne. Across the Black Waters by Mulk Raj Anand Great War Forum 3 March 2016. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  33. ↑ William – an Englishman by Cicely Hamilton persephonebooks.co.uk.

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