Western Front

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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. The vast majority of war diaries for RFA units [Royal Artillery] were kept at the brigade level.[2]

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[3], from Naval and Military Archive[4], 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)[5][6](search hints[7][8]) (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[9] 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[10] 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.“[11]

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

Time zones

During the First World War, unoccupied France and Belgium were in the same time zone as Great Britain, (Greenwich Mean Time). Germany was one hour ahead (GMT+1), as were the German occupied areas of France and Belgium. 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.[12])

Indian treacle (opium)

On the Western Front, Sikh troops were supplied with Indian treacle, an euphemism for opium, which was part of their ration.[13]

Holding section (resulting from technical problems)

External links

"Illiterate but Literary: The Censored Correspondence of Indian Soldiers in France, 1914-18" by Dr David Omissi, recorded on 2 November 2015. YouTube video, NationalArmyMuseumUK. Transcript of the video nam.ac.uk, now archived.
See Historical books online, below.
Neuve Chapelle Memorial ww1cemeteries.com
Video: "Sepoys in the Trenches: The Indian Corps on the Western Front 1914-15" Major Gordon Corrigan MBE (Retd, Royal Gurkha Rifles), talks about the vital but unrecognised role of the Indian Army in the First World War, highlighting the Sikh contribution. A talk from a symposium convened by the UK Punjab Heritage Association on 31 August 2014. YouTube.
"The first dentists sent to the Western Front during the First World War" by F S S Gray, British Dental Journal volume 222, pages 893–897 (2017). nature.com

Sketches

War Drawings by Muirhead Bone. From the Collection presented to the British Museum by His Majesty's Government in six Parts, total 60 drawings. published 1917-1918. British Library Digital file, where images may be rotated. There appears to be some overlap.

Maps

  • Guides and articles
    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.
  • TrenchMapper Western Front Association. Access link for the public. WFA members get privileged access via the WFA login page. The site launched on 28th March 2022 with more than 1,100 maps but in the future that number is planned to reach approximately 7,000. The main emphasis at introduction is on the Western Front and Gallipoli but other theatres will be added in the future. All maps are free to use, while some maps can be downloaded for a fee. WFA members get two free maps a month and are able to zoom in further for more detail. For the left hand side menu select "Frequently Asked Questions" which has links to many other sections with information such as Using the site; About the project; Knowledge Centre.
  • Western Front Maps from McMaster University, Canada. Text Search using Place Name or Trench Name.
World War I (1914-1918) [Maps] Digital Archive@McMaster University Library.
  • 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.
  • Gazetteer of the Western Front - 2020 - part of the tMapper Suite. tmapper.com. An expanded update of the 2013 publication Gazetteer of the Western Front by John Reed. Search parameters include Trench name. "Each successful search elicits a trench map reference and latitude, longitude and these form the database anchor for a researcher wishing to delve deeper, asking to see nearby towns, populations, elevation, Victoria Cross recipients, battles and Commonwealth War Graves cemeteries within a defined range". Details.[15]
  • The British Library has produced some digitised maps including the Western Front, which are accessed from the catalogue Search. Using the Search term map, then filter the results by using the left hand side filters on the webpage, selecting the access option Online, and Subject filter World War, 1914-1918. If the latter filter doesn't display, go into the Creation Date filter and select the relevant date range.
  • World War I Maps North Carolina Digital Collections, digital.ncdcr.gov. Mainly France and Belgium. Click on maps to enlarge.
  • Carte du théâtre des opérations: (front occidental) avec répertoire alphabétique (Map of the theater of operations [Western Front] with alphabetical directory) is a set of 15 detailed military maps produced in 1915 by the Geographical Service of the French Army. World Digital Library, a project of the U.S. Library of Congress, from National Library of Brazil.
  • Maps of the French Artillery Survey Group, 1917 - ca. 1919. USA Army versions, based on French military maps. Contains 9 online French Trench Maps. Click on “Search within this series”, then click on “Archival Descriptions with digital objects” (Left hand side of webpage). 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.
Initial Burial Plats for World War I American Soldiers, 1920 – 1920 Digitised maps detailing the location of American soldier battlefield grave sites. Series RG92: WWI Grave Plats. Click on “Search within this series”. The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
Volume II 10th edition with maps to 1918. Gallica BnF
Survey on the Western Front: Provisional. (Winterbotham’s preliminary report. This was consulted and largely used in preparing the official report EMJ) 1918. Historical Papers: Defence Surveyors' Association Scroll down. Direct pdf.
Conventional map signs, British and French [Military] Also some German. Printed by U.S. Geological Survey, 1918. Harvard University Digital Library.
  • Also see next section "Historical books online" for some maps, including sections "Histories and General", "Prisoners of War" and "German Army"

Historical books online

British Autobiographies : an annotated bibliography of British autobiographies published or written before 1951 by William Matthews. Index page 372: World War I. 1984 reprint edition, first published 1955. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. Sample pages Google Books
British Diaries: an annotated bibliography of British diaries written between 1442 and 1942 by William Matthews 1950. Archive.org Texts to Borrow.
A subject bibliography of the First World War : books in English, 1914-1978 by A. G. S. Enser 1979. 1990 revised edition including title wording 1914-1987 Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library.
A later book is World War I Memories: An Annotated Bibliography of Personal Accounts Published in English Since 1919 by Edward G. Lengel 2004, available at the British Library UIN: BLL01013277719 . Lengel has a website which includes information about WW1 books.
"Bibliography" encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net. There are filtering options available, by language, geographical regions and by themes.

Official Histories and Battles

The complete series, together with a later Index, is available in reprint editions[17], which in turn are available as one digital book of 1224 pages titled Order of Battle of Divisions on the Ancestry owned pay website fold3, located in Military Books-located by the Search/Britain.
There were subsequent publications Order of Battle of Divisions Part 5A, Divisions of Australia, Canada and New Zealand and those in East Africa, compiled by F.W. Perry c 1992. Available at the British Library UIN: BLL01006378898 and Order of Battle of Divisions. Part 5B, Indian Army Divisions compiled by F. W. Perry c 1993 available at the B.L. UIN: BLL01008151437 . The latter is also catalogued with the additional title History of the Great War : based on official documents.
Despatch from Field-Marshal Sir Douglas Haig ... covering the period from 8th December, 1917, to 30th April, 1918 London : Printed under the authority of H.M.S.O. 1918. Harvard University Digital Library.
Sir Douglas Haig's Despatches (December 1915-April 1919) edited by Lieut.-Colonel J H Boraston (Private Secretary to Earl Haig) 1919. Microform edition has a series of maps (in sections). Archive.org
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
  • The First World War : an Illustrated History by A J P Taylor. 1980? edition, originally published 1963. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library.
  • The First World War : a Complete History by Martin Gilbert 1994 File 1, File 2, File 3 Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. Martin Gilbert Wikipedia. British historian. Also see his book further below Somme : the Heroism and Horror of War.
  • The First World War by John Keegan 1999. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. About the book penguinrandomhouse.com which says "The definitive account of the Great War and national bestseller".
An earlier book was The Face of Battle by John Keegan 1976. File 2. Includes "Chapter 4 The Somme July 1st, 1916", pages 204-284. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. John Keegan Wikipedia. Military historian.
Volume of 14 Maps National Library of Australia, with a description in the catalogue entry.
The German Air Force in the Great War by Major Georg Paul Neumann (late of the German Air Force) abridged and translated by J E Gurdon (John Everard), c 1921 Archive.org from the original which was approximately three times larger: Die deutschen Luftstreitkräfte im Weltkriege 1920. Niedersächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Göttingen.
Volume III The Australian Imperial Force in France, 1916 by C E W Bean 1929 Archive.org
Volume IV The Australian Imperial Force In France 1917 by C E W Bean 1933 Archive.org
Volume V The Australian Imperial Force in France During the Main German Offensive 1918 [December 1917-May 1918] by C E W Bean 1937 Archive.org. Also available 1983 edition, based on 1943 edition Archive.org Lending Library.
Volume VI ( but catalogued Vol IV) The Australian Imperial Force In France during the Allied Offensive, 1918 by C E W Bean 1942 Archive.org
Volume VIII The Australian Flying Corps in the Western and Eastern theatres of war, 1914-1918 by F M Cutlack 2nd edition 1933, first published 1923. Archive.org
  • France 1916 Page 301 Khaki and Gown : an Autobiography by Field-Marshal Lord Birdwood 1941. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. Birdwood was Commander Australian and New Zealand contingent. Appointed Commander of the Fifth Army in France 31 May 1918.
  • The Australian Victories in France in 1918 by Lieutenant-General Sir John Monash [1920] Archive.org. Images and maps from the book (different digital file) Archive.org. Monash became Commander of the Australian Corps late May 1918.
Chapters on the Western Front from page 277 John Monash : a Biography by Geoffrey Serle 1983, first published 1982. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library.
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
Soldiers of the Great War Volume I, Vol. II, Vol. III comp. by W.M. Haulsee, F.G. Howe and A.C. Doyle. Soldiers Record Publishing Association Washington, D.C., 1920. A Register of those who died. Archive.org.
The U.S. Air Service In World War I in four volumes, edited by Maurer Maurer, The Office of Air Force History. 1978 Archive.org.
Canada in Flanders: The Official Story of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. Volume I 1916, Volume II 7th edition 1917. The Preface includes errors in Volume I. Volumes I and II by Sir Max Aitken MP who became Lord Beaverbrook; Volume III by Major Charles G D Roberts 1918 Archive.org. The Preface includes errors in Volume II. All Archive.org.
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.
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.
  • German Official, or semi Official Histories: Der Weltkrieg 1914 bis 1918: die militärischen Operationen zu Lande 16 Volumes. Schlachten des Weltkrieges 22 Volumes. German language. Maps (Karten) are often at the back of individual volumes, and there may be photographs, all of which can be located by clicking on the Thumbnail gallery, and then selecting specific pages. Although not stated, the digital Volume 13 Der Weltkrieg is the 1956 reprint edition, Vol. 14 was also published 1956, the first public printing, maps are in black and white both volumes (Maps in Vol 14, part 2]. The Digital State Library of Upper Austria.
Also available from the University of Hamburg Library - read online or download a pdf: Der Weltkrieg 1914 bis 1918 and Schlachten des Weltkrieges, and click on Bandliste, for a list of the volumes available, or if these URLs are not permanent, use Recherche [Digitalisierte Bestände]. The digital Volume 13 Der Weltkrieg is the original edition, with maps in colour. (Comparing one map, the University of Hamburg version is better, as it has colour, and could be enlarged, against black and white in the State Library of Upper Austria version.[20]) Vol. 14 is the 1956 edition, but part 2 with the maps may not be included.
Both series of digitisations lack the 2010 publication Der Weltkrieg 1914 bis 1918 : die militärischen Operationen zu Lande / Bd. 2 ; Das deutsche Feldeisenbahnwesen ; Die Eisenbahnen von Oktober 1914 bis zum Kriegsende / hrsg. von Horst Rohde / bearb. im früheren Reichsarchiv. Published: Hamburg [u.a.]: Mittler ; 2010
Germany's Western Front : Translations from the German Official History of the Great War edited by Mark Osborne Humphries and John Maker. Volume 1 1914 published 2013, Sample pages Google Books, Volume 2 1915 published 2010, Sample pages Google Books. Available at the British Library UIN: BLL01016765118 and UIN: BLL01014837141 .
E. A. James is the author of the book, whose title in later editions from 1978 is British Regiments, 1914-1918 (previously published in two volumes, first published 1969 and 1974, and a previous one volume book published 1929, each edition expanded). Sample pages, reprint edition Google Books.
The Battle of the Somme by John Masefield 1919 Archive.org
The Somme Battlefields : a Comprehensive Guide from Crécy to the Two World Wars by Martin and Mary Middlebrook 1991. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library.
Gough also wrote The Fifth Army, published 1931, available at the British Library UIN: BLL01011508934 . Elsewhere it is stated that this latter book was ghostwritten by the novelist Bernard Newman, at the instigation of Basil Liddell Hart.
Soldiering on : being the memoirs of General Sir Hubert Gough 1957, first published 1954. Includes WW1. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library.
Maps issued in a separate case [Volume 2]: 19 maps and 5 photographs National Library of Australia
To Win a War : 1918, the Year of Victory by John Terraine 1981. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library.
See above for his Mons book, and further below for an additional book by John Terraine about Douglas Haig. John Terraine Wikipedia.
1914 by Lyn Macdonald 1988.
1915, the Death of Innocence by Lyn Macdonald 1995, first published 1993. File 2, 2000 edition.
Somme by Lyn Macdonald 1983.
They called it Passchendaele : the story of the Battle of Ypres and of the men who fought in it by Lyn Macdonald 1993, first published 1978.
To the Last Man: Spring 1918 by Lyn Macdonald 1998.
1914-1918: Voices and Images of the Great War by Lyn Macdonald 1988. File 2, 1991 edition.
All Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. Also see her book about nurses under Medical Services, below.
Legacy of the Somme, 1916 : the battle in fact, film, and fiction by Gerald Gliddon 1996. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library.
Somme 1916 : a Battlefield Companion by Gerald Gliddon first published 2006, catalogued 2013. An updated edition of When the Barrage Lifts 1987 and Battle of the Somme 1994. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library.
  • The Western Front by Richard Holmes 2000. Additional title on cover Ordinary Soldiers and the Defining Battles of World War I.
The First World War in Photographs by Richard Holmes in association with Imperial War Museum (Great Britain) 2001
Tommy : the British Soldier on the Western Front, 1914-1918 by Richard Holmes 2005.
Shots from the front : the British soldier 1914-18 by Richard Holmes 2010, first published 2008. All Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library.
Voices from the Front : an Oral History of the Great War by Peter Hart 2015.
All Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library.

Generals and Army Headquarters

Sir Douglas Haig's Command, December 19, 1915, to November 11, 1918 by George A. B. Dewar, assisted by Lieut.-Col. J. H. Boraston 1922. Volume I, Volume II Archive.org
Twenty-five Years With Earl Haig by Sergt T Secrett 1929. Archive.org
Field-Marshal Earl Haig by Brigadier General John Charteris 1929 (391 pages). Haig by Brig.-Gen. J Charteris 1933 (144 pages) Archive.org. Also see another book by Charteris At G.H.Q further below in this section.
Haig by Duff Cooper first published 1935. Haig: The Second Volume by Duff Cooper 1935. Comments about the books from pages 184-188 of Cooper's autobiography. All Archive.org.
Ordeal of Victory by John Terraine 1963. Published in England under the title Douglas Haig: The Educated Soldier. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. John Terraine wrote additional books, see below in this section.
Haig : the Evolution of a Commander by Andrew A West 2005. Archive.org Lending Library
The Chief : Douglas Haig and the British Army by Gary Sheffield 2011. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library
"The Great War" page 41 Tim Harington Looks Back by General Sir Charles Harington 1941 reprint, first published 1940. 2nd file, images slightly better Both Archive.org. The author was Chief of Staff to General Herbert Plumer, Commander of the Second Army. Charles Harington Harington Wikipedia.
Swinton was Official Correspondent with the British Expeditionary Force in France, as newspaper correspondents were not allowed.
A year ago; eye-witness's narrative of the war from March 20th to July 18th, 1915 by Lieutenant-Colonel E D Swinton RE and Captain The Earl Percy 1916 Archive.org
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) 1932. Archive.org. Digital Library of India Collection
Sir Ernest was the 1904 author of The Defence of Duffer’s Drift, see Military periodicals online.
  • 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.
    With Cavalry In 1915. The British Trooper in the Trench line : Through the second battle of Ypres by Frederic Coleman 1916. Archive.org. Also published with the title beginning With Cavalry in the Great War.... He was attached, with his car, to the Head-quarters Staff of the 1st Cavalry Division. These two titles were later reprinted by Leonaur as A Twilight of Centaurs
    Frederic Coleman, an American resident in London, is elsewhere [24] described as the journalist and Motoring [figure], Frederick Abernethy Coleman, who popularized the White Steam car in England and was a prominent figure in English motoring. He appears to have spent time in China, at the time of the Boxer Rebellion, possibly as a journalist. He was also the author of
    Our boys over there; to the young American in khaki - what he will find when he gets to France by Frederic Coleman 1918 Archive.org
  • The British Army at War by Frank Fox RFA. 1917 Archive.org. A simplified overview which aimed to give “a general impression of the extent and variety of [the British] Army’s energies”, designed, (according to Wikipedia) to educate the American Public about the British war effort.
G.H.Q. (Montreuil-Sur-Mer) by “G.S.O”. [Sir Frank Fox] 1920 Archive.org. Frank Fox (author). He served as Staff Captain at the Quartermaster General's branch, General Headquarters, in France. He had previously been an officer in the Royal Field Artillery, and pre-war a journalist.
  • At G.H.Q by Brigadier-General John Charteris 1931 Archive.org. John Charteris (Wikipedia) was the Chief of Intelligence at the British Expeditionary Force General Headquarters from 1915 to 1918. Also see his books on Field-Marshal Haig, above.
  • Reputations, Ten Years After by Sir Basil Henry Liddell Hart 1928. Link to a pdf download, STOU Digital Repository Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University, Thailand. Note, this website has been noticed to be unavailable at times, possibly it may only be accessible during "office hours". Archive.org mirror version. An examination of 10 leading personalities of WWI, including Joffre, Foch, Petain, Lundendorff, Pershing, and others.

Other histories (regimental, corps etc.) and general

Other regimental histories, see Hodson's Horse; 41st Dogras, 2nd King Edward's Own Goorkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles); 8th Gurkha Rifles- the 2/8th Gurkha Rifles had many deaths on the Western Front; 9th Gurkha Rifles; 2nd Bombay Pioneers; Bengal, Madras, Bombay Sappers and Miners.
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"; Archive.org Search result British Army regimental histories/World War 1914-1918 includes Regimental and some Divisional histories. Also use the Search using your own Search terms.
McMaster University collection in the Internet Archive contains many Regimental and Battalion Histories. In addition the website McMaster University Digital Archive includes additional histories.
Books on Archive.org classified by the uploader "World War, 1914-1918 -- Campaigns" Includes some Regimental histories.
HathiTrust Digital Library regimental histories, some of which are available full view. Search the catalogue for specific titles.
The Ancestry owned pay website fold3 contains many online Regimental and Divisional histories consisting of online versions of reprints from Naval & Military Press in respect of WWI (and other) periods, located in Military Books-located by the Search, then select Britain, or France. The category International also contains a sub category Australia Military Book Collection, which appear to be original scans from "Gould Genealogy and History"/"Australian and States Military Collection"). There are also additional titles in other categories, catalogued under the actual title, rather than under Military Books.
Findmypast, pay website, includes a database British Army Records & Regimental Histories, located in Armed Forces & Conflict/Regimental & Service Records, introduced 2019/03/22, when it contained two WW1 Regimental histories, (but perhaps additional titles will be added). Click on 'Browse Title', select title, then click on 'View Results'. Note the fold3 version is easier to read online than the Findmypast version, for books which are on both pay websites.
The Territorial Divisions 1914-1918 by J Stirling, late Major 8th Batt. Royal Scots 1922 Archive.org
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
The Irish Guards in the Great War (2 Vols) by Rudyard Kipling, whose son, killed in action, was in this regiment. Vol. 1, Vol. 2 1923 editions. Archive.org. 1997 Reprint editions with new Forewords Vol. 1, Vol. 2 Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. The regiment was founded in 1900.
The History of the Lancashire Fusiliers 1914-1918 by J C Latter 1949. Volume I, V.I Contents; Volume II, V. II Contents. Transcribed editions by OCR, so subject to errors. lib.militaryarchive.co.uk, now archived (Previously 20th Reg.)
Fife and Forfar Yeomanry and 14th (F.& F. Yeo) Battn. R.H. 1914-1919 [R. H. = Royal Highlanders] by Major D D Ogilvie 1921 Archive.org.
Morale: a study of men and courage; the Second Scottish Rifles at the Battle of Neuve Chapelle, 1915 by John Baynes 1967 Archive.org Lending Library
Archive.org titles using keywords, Hussars and War
History of the Sixteenth, the Queen's Light Dragoons (Lancers) 1912-1925 by Colonel Henry Graham 1926. Archive.org.
Pdf downloads available from the Light Dragoons Regimental Association. WW1 period also appear to be available Archive.org
  • The Royal Army Service Corps: A History of Transport and Supply in the British Army, Volume II by Colonel R H Beadon 1931. Archive.org mirror version from Digital Library of India. Includes the First World War period, with chapters on the British Expeditionary Force.
A Short Account of Canteens in the British Army by John Fortescue 1928 Archive.org. Includes WW1, when the organisation was known as the Expeditionary Force Canteen, EFC. It appears that at least in the later years of WW1, Canteen personnel were either Army Service Corps personnel, or were administered by the ASC. Medals awarded were inscribed Canteens.
Army Service Corps of the British Army, and, the organization of the transport and transportation at the front in France : lectures delivered before the officers of the Quartermaster Corps and Quartermaster Reserve Corps at Washington, D.C., May 1917 by Lieut. Col. F K Puckle, A S C, British Army. Archive.org.
A. and Q. or, Military Administration In War by Lieut.-Col. W G Lindsell RA 1928. Archive.org.
The Work of the Royal Engineers in the European War 1914-1919. Seven full view editions from HathiTrust Digital Library: Water Supply - France. Part I. General development of organization, plant and works. Part II. Operations (1921); Work in the field under the engineer in chief, B. E. F.. Geological work on the Western Front (1922); Military mining (1922); Supply of engineer stores and equipment (1921); Bridging (1921); Miscellaneous: The organization and expansion of the Corps, 1914-18. Organization of engineer intelligence and information. Camouflage service. Concrete defence works and factories. Forward communications. Machinery, workshops, and electricity. Anti-Aircraft searchlights. Inundations. Schools. Compiled by Colonel G. H. Addison. 1926. (372 pages). All the Miscellaneous sections have been reprinted as separate volumes by Naval&Military Press; Work in the field in other theatres of war. Egypt and Palestine--Water supply (1921). The Work of the Royal Engineers in the European War, Archive.org collection, five (of the previous 7) volumes. Four of these editions are available as pdfs from nzsappers.org.nz under Heritage Material/World War One.
Available at the British Library: Water supply. [Containing 9 maps showing the] Water supply in France] (1921) UIN: BLL01004844114 ; Work under the Director of Works (France) (1924) UIN: BLL01006788368 .
Artillery Survey in the First World War by Sir Lawrence Bragg, Major-General A H Dowson, Lieut.-Colonel H H Hemming 1971. Historical Papers: Defence Surveyors' Association Scroll down. Direct pdf link
Also see Maps, above.
"Inland waterways and docks, royal engineers in war time, with special reference to the mystery port of Richborough (Lecture & Discussion)" by Captain A E Battle, RE Proceedings of the Victorian Institute of Engineers 1923-1924, pages 104-116. Includes mention of Train Ferries from 1917. Melbourne University Digital Collection.
Chapter 1 Salute the Sappers by Neil Orpen with H.J. Martin. Series South African Forces World War II, Volume 8, Part 1. Published Johannesburg : Sappers Association, c1981-c1982. Details the formation of the S.A. Signal Company, R. E., and other South African Engineer units who served in France and East Africa. Transcription from ibiblio.org/hyperwar.
The Hawke Battalion. Some Personal Records of Four Years 1914-1918 by Douglas Jerrold 1925. Archive.org
Page 161 Georgian Adventure The Autobiography of Douglas Jerrold 1937 Archive.org
The RND transferred from the authority of the Admiralty to the War Office on 29 April 1916.
A later publication is The Royal Marines on the Western Front by Daniel J McLean ISBN: 9781526763860 .
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. Archive.org.
A General's letters to his son on Minor Tactics [by "X. Y. Z."] 1918 Archive.org. The author is a “Senior General Officer of wide experience, who is on the active list”.
Later books are Pill Boxes on the Western Front: A Guide to the Design, Construction and Use of Concrete Pill Boxes, 1914-1918 by Peter Oldham published 1995. Sample pages Google Books 2011 reprint edition; Armageddon's Walls: British Pill Boxes 1914-1918 by Peter Oldham 2014. Sample pages Google Books.
Old Chemical Weapons Reference Guide: May 1998. American Chemical Munitions USA Army publication. Includes WW1 information. bulletpicker.com
Seeking Victory on the Western Front : the British Army and Chemical Warfare in World War I by Albert Palazzo. Catalogued 2003, originally published 2000. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library.
The British Gas Units were part of the Royal Engineers, see Engineers, below.
The Men I Killed by Brigadier General F P Crozier 1937, see Infantry and others, below.
For the Sake of Example : Capital Courts-Martial, 1914-1920 by Anthony Babington 1983 Archive.org Lending Library. Executions in the British Army.
Executed at Dawn : British Firing Squads on the Western Front, 1914-1918 by David Johnson 2015. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library.
The Soldier's War: The Great War through Veterans’ Eyes by Richard Van Emden 2010, first published 2008. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library.
Meeting the Enemy : the Human Face of the Great War by Richard Van Emden 2013. 2nd file, 2014 edition. Both Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. Includes the experiences in Germany, of British citizens at the beginning of the war.
Mr. Punch's History of the Great War Published by arrangement with the Proprietors of Punch. 1919 Archive.org

Medical Services including Veterinary

Location of hospitals and casualty clearing stations, British Expeditionary Force, 1914-1919 published by Ministry of Pensions 1923 is available in a reprint edition[26], which in turn is available online on the Ancestry owned pay website fold3, located in Military Books-located by the Search/Britain.
Sanitation in the trenches by Champe Carter McCulloch MD 1917. Reprinted from articles in The Journal of the American Medical Association. Archive.org
Second edition. Injuries and Diseases of War : a Manual based on experience of the present campaign in France. January 1918. 40 Misc. 2051 His Majesty's Stationery Office 1918. A Manual for RAMC personnel. UNSW Library (Sydney) Digital Collection.
Injuries... [Same title as immediately above ] Reprint of the Official British Manual Washington DC 1918 Google Books.
"With a Royal Marine Battalion in France" by Temporary Surgeon J N MacBean Ross, Medical Officer, 2nd Battalion, Royal Marine Light Infantry. Journal of the Royal Naval Medical Service, Vol 3 1917, page 465. Commentary on “With a Royal Marine Battalion in France” Surg Lt Cdr JG Penn-Barwell J Royal Naval Medical Service 2014, Vol 100.2
"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
"The Two Madonnas of Pervyse" YouTube video. Also see Fiction below, for a book where there is a representation of these two women, but not as the main character.

Indian Army

Collected stories

In the Line of Battle: Soldiers' Stories of the War edited by Walter Wood 1916 Archive.org
  • True Stories of the Great War. Tales of Adventure-Heroic Deeds-Exploits Told by the Soldiers, Officers, Nurses, Diplomats, Eye Witnesses. Edited by Francis Trevelyan Miller 1917. In six volumes: Volume I, Vol. II, Vol. III, Vol. IV, Vol. V, Vol. VI. All Archive.org
  • Deeds that Thrill the Empire. True stories of the most glorious acts of heroism of the Empire's soldiers and sailors during the Great War. Originally published in 1916 in fortnightly editions, then published c 1917 as a two volume set, c 900 pages in total, and also published as a five volume set. Information about the contents[28] advises 56 VCs are covered. Contain many specially commissioned illustrations- some samples. YouTube video about the books and their illustrations.
Available at the British Library UIN: BLL01000891226 and in a reprint edition[28], which in turn is available online on the Ancestry owned pay website fold3 as UK, WWI, Stories of Heroism, 1914-1918 (located in International/scroll down to letter U, or in World War I/United Kingdom).
4 of the 5 volume editions, being Volumes I, II, III and V are available for free, provided you register, on the otherwise pay website forces-war-records.co.uk in the Historic Document Library. Select Browse and Type "Other", then scroll down to letter D.
Victoria Cross Heroes by Michael Ashcroft 2006. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. Includes WW1.
A number of the accounts have been transcribed on Memoirs & Diaries firstworldwar.com including "The First Gas Attack" by Anthony R. Hossack, Queen Victoria Rifles [9th (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment]. To locate other entries, either scroll through all entries in the Memoirs & Diaries category or use your Search engine, with terms "Everyman at War" firstworldwar.com/diaries.
  • War Letters of Fallen Englishmen edited by Laurence Housman [1930] Archive.org
  • Twenty Years After. The Battlefields of 1914-18: Then and Now, edited by Maj Gen Sir Ernest Swinton, published by George Newnes. A series of 64 weekly editions, also reprinted as three volumes, written by those who had served, with their own photos and biographical accounts, published in the mid-late 1930s, most likely from late 1936. The weekly editions may be accessed (for free) through Vickers MG Collection and Research Association website, the actual downloads being available from the Vickers MG Collection page at patreon.com
  • Vain Glory. A miscellany of the Great War 1914-1918 written by those who fought in it on each side and on all fronts edited, and with an Introduction, by Guy Chapman 1937 Archive.org
  • The Great War…I Was There! Undying Memories of 1914-1918 (a description greatwardifferent.com, archived) edited by Sir John Hammerton originally published in 51 weekly parts 1938-39, (first appearing around the 20th anniversary of the end of the war), and also published 1938-39 in a three volume edition, 2060 pages (V.1. August 4, 1914, to July 1, 1916; V.2. July 4, 1916, to October 22, 1917; V.3. Oct. 25, 1917 to Jan. 1919 (with pages V1 1-696, V2 697-1376, V3 1377-2060)(Amalgamated Press)), the latter available at the British Library UIN: BLL01001581634 . There was also a four volume publication (1930s) by Waverley (with pages V1 1-496, V2 497-1016, V3 1017-1536, V4 1537-2056 with Supplement and General Index).
Contents sample, pages 1545 to 1734[29], which indicates that the majority of the accounts were extracts from previously published books.
The weekly issues are being uploaded to the Patreon.com platform by the Vickers MG Collection and Research Association, and at 25 August 2024 Issues 22-48 were available to download as pdfs for free, and more uploads were expected. Note, previously Issues 1-21 were also available. You could try contacting Vickers MG Collection and Research Association if you would like to see the earlier volumes, or perhaps they are now only available to subscribing members of this Association.
The weekly magazines are available as a database on the pay website findmypast, titled Britain, The Great War, I Was There located in Armed Forces & Conflict/First World War, which advises the 51 editions ran from 29 September 1938 to 19 September 1939. To browse the pages, do not use a Search term but click on the Search icon, when a series of 1186 pdf images, (each of two pages), will be displayed in image order. From any image you can navigate to the next image, or the previous image. (This function is located near the top of the findmypast webpage, not near the actual image). Part 1 consists of 29 images, perhaps larger than the average, if in fact all issues are included.
Some of the weekly issues (Parts 1-41, (for the period to 23 April 1918) and Part 46 (Sept-Oct 1918) are available on the Library subscription website "The First World War" by Adam Matthew Digital, module "Personal Experiences", see Subscription websites - First World War databases for details of this database. To locate this publication, it is classified as a "Printed Book" and it appears in five separate listings, the editions to Part 41 in four listings and Part 46 as a separate listing. The British Library is listed on the database website as a Participating Library. Card holders of the State Library of NSW can access The First World War: Personal Experiences module on their home computers.
A similar type of publication was Great War Adventures, with the first two issues titled War Adventures and More War Adventures, and some of the later editions also titled War Adventures, with the earlier issues called Series. The catalogue of Oxford University Library indicates it holds volumes 1-34 and v36, published 1932-1942. The British Library seems to hold 8 volumes, details not known. A description of the Seventh Series [issue/volume] indicates it consisted of 128 pages presenting 10 true stories. Covers may be seen at greatwardustjackets.co.uk and philsp.com

In the Air

  • The War in the Air: being the story of the part played in the Great War by the Royal Air Force (in seven volumes). Part of the series History of the Great War based on official documents.
The German Air Force in the Great War by Major Georg Paul Neumann c 1921
For both these titles see Official Histories and Battles above.
1981 edition of 1967 reprint with additional material ; 2002 edition with additional material the latter two Archive.org Lending Library.
Billy Bishop, VC by William D Mathieson 1989 Archive.org Lending Library.
Billy Bishop Wikipedia . He was the top Canadian ace of the war.
  • The Royal Flying Corps in the War by "Wing Adjutant" 1918 Archive.org. The author is catalogued as W. T. (Wilfrid Theodore) Blake. Sketches, some personal experiences. Digitised microfiche.
Plane Tales from the Skies by "Wing Adjutant" [Wilfrid Theodore Blake] 1918 Archive.org
The Red Knight of Germany : the story of Baron von Richthofen, Germany's great war bird by Floyd Gibbons. 1959 “new illustrated abridgement”, first published 1927. Elsewhere the author is stated to have been war correspondent with the Chicago Tribune. Archive.org Lending Library.
Richthofen, the Red Knight of the Air by Claud Sykes (Vigilant) 2004 reprint edition, first published 1934. Archive.org Lending Library. As a reprint, part of the series Fortunes of War.
Who killed the Red Baron? by P J Carisella and James W Ryan. 1969. 1979 reprint. Both editions Archive.org Lending Library.
The Day the Red Baron Died by Dale M Titler 1970. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library
The Red Baron by Nicholas Wright 1977 Archive.org Lending Library. “Written especially for young readers”.
Richthofen : beyond the legend of the Red Baron by Peter Kilduff 1994, first published 1993. Archive.org Lending Library.
The Bombing of Bruges by Paul Bewsher, Captain, RAF 1918 Archive.org. A collection of short poems reprinted in part from the Graphic and the Weekly Dispatch.
More about Balloonists:
Memoirs of an old Balloonatic by Goderic Hodges 1972 Archive.org Books to Borrow;
"Flight Sergeant Bernard Oliver" pages 73-82 Voices in Flight: Conversations with Air Veterans of the Great War by Anna Malinovska and Mauriel Joslyn 2006. Google Books Limited View. Also see further below in this section for the entire book. Oliver also produced an 1975 album/booklet Looking back sixty years. Memoirs ... Three years' service in Ieper, Ypres, Salient in balloons of the Royal Flying Corps by Bernard Oliver 1975 (Details[31]), available at the British Library UIN: BLL01002704754.
The Balloonatics by Alan Morris 1970. Available at the British Library UIN: BLL01002554345

Army Service Corps and others

History of the American Field Service in France, "Friends of France", 1914-1917, told by its members. With illustrations. Vol. III Contains “The Camion Section” Archive.org
Camion letters from American college men. Volunteer Drivers of the American Field Service in France 1917, edited by Martin W Sampson, 1918. Archive.org. Most of the letters are from Cornell men.
A Stop at Suzanne's: And Lower Flights by Greayer Clover 1919. Archive.org. Note poor quality scanning and missing pages at least 24-43, but see Transcribed version, (ourstory.info, now archived). Includes Clover's time as a Camion driver. He subsequently joined the aviation service (AEF) and died in a flying accident 30 August 1918.

Artillery

The Marne - and After, a companion volume to "The Retreat from Mons" by A Corbett-Smith, Major RFA. 1917 Archive.org
  • 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
Subsequent career Capt. Cecil John Charles Street bloodysunday.co.uk.
  • 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).[35]
  • 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 [pseudonym of 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.
  • The Breaking of the Storm by Captain C A L Brownlow RFA 1918 Archive.org. He was in a Brigade Ammunition Column, believed to be 3rd Division.
  • Letters of a Headmaster Soldier Letters of Harry Sackville Lawson, [Lieutenant RFA] 1918. Digital Collection, Württembergischen Landesbibliothek, Stuttgart, with the library website in German. Read online or download, the latter is "Ganzes Werk herunterladen".
  • Leaves from an Officer's Notebook by Eliot Crawshay-Williams 1918 Archive.org. The author was in a Battery of the Royal Horse Artillery (Territorial Force). Also includes service in Egypt.
  • A College Man in Khaki. Letters of an American in the British Artillery by Wainwright Merrill 1918 Archive.org. He enlisted as Arthur A Stanley as a gunner in the Canadian Field Artillery, and was killed in November 6, 1917 at Ypres.
  • Pushed and the Return Push by Quex [G H Nichols, RFA] 1919 Archive.org
  • Three Years in France with the Guns : being episodes in the life of a Field Battery by C A Rose, late of the Royal Field Artillery. 1919 Archive.org. Gutenberg.org version where photographs may be easier to view.
  • The Boy with the Guns by the late Lieut. George W Taylor, Royal Field Artillery, 1919. Archive.org. A book in the On Active Service series. Western Front and Serbia.
  • The Grey Wave by Major A. Hamilton Gibbs 1920. American title Gun fodder; the diary of four years of war 1919. Both Archive.org. He was on the Western Front in two roles, initially as a trooper, 9th Lancers, and latterly as an officer, later Battery Commander, Royal Field Artillery from page 123. In between he was with 67 Artillery Brigade, in Egypt and Salonika. A. Hamilton Gibbs (Wikipedia), novelist.
  • From the Somme to the Rhine by S Ashmead-Bartlett. Dust jacket/book cover has additional wording An Intelligence Officer's narrative of the last phase of the Great War [36] . [1921] Archive.org. A book in the On Active Service series. Elsewhere it is stated he was Major Herbert Seabury Hunt Ashmead-Bartlett (known as Seabury) 173 Infantry Brigade, Royal Field Artillery. The author’s war diary for The Battle of Ypres May 1915. He appears to be a brother of Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett, the war correspondent, and had himself briefly worked as a journalist. In 1922, as a condition for an inheritance, he changed his surname to Burdett-Coutts.
  • A Memoir of Lt.-Col. Edward Anthony Steel, RHA and RFA, 1880-1919 : consisting chiefly of his letters and diaries with numerous illustrations 1921 Archive.org. During WW1 he was on the Western Front with 35th Battery, briefly in Mesopotamia late 1918/early 1919, and finally posted to Vladivostok with the British Military Mission to Siberia, where he died 17 October 1919 in Omsk, of influenza.
  • With Lancashire Lads and Field Guns in France, 1915-1918 by Lieut.-Col. Neil Fraser-Tytler RA (TA) 1922. Archive.org. Also published later(?) under the title Field Guns in France by Lieut.-Col. Neil Fraser-Tytler RA (TA) 1922. Archive.org
  • The War Diary of the Master of Belhaven, 1914-1918 by Ralph GA Hamilton 1924. University of Oxford Digital Collection. Alternative direct pdf link, same website. Archive.org version. Diary of the Hon. Ralph Gerard Alexander Hamilton, Master of Belhaven. Served as an interpreter with the Expeditionary Force in 1914 until wounded, returned to France in September 1915 as O/C “C” Bty., 108 Bde. Royal Field Artillery, 24th Div. Later rose to command the brigade. Killed in action 31st March 1918.
  • WW1 period page 139 Clouds That Flee by Colonel Montague Cooke 1935. Archive.org. Born 1877, a career soldier, Cooke was in France two periods 1914-1916 and 1918, initially with the 5th Royal Horse Artillery Artillery Brigade as a Battery Commander.
  • WW1 period page 241 Sword And Stirrup by Hervey De Montmorency 1936 Archive.org. Initially the author commanded D Battery, 75th Brigade Royal Field Artillery. After the war he worked as an Intelligence Officer in Ireland.
  • Blasting & Bombardiering by Wyndham Lewis 1937. 1967 reprint Both Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. Wyndham Lewis Wikipedia. Writer and artist. He served as a second lieutenant in the Royal Artillery, with much of his time spent in Forward Observation Posts.
  • Moments of Memory: Recollections and Impressions by Herbert Asquith 1938. Archive.org. The author was the son of H H Asquith who was Prime Minister of Great Britain at the commencement of the war until December 1916, and an officer in the Royal Marine Artillery. Herbert Asquith (poet)
  • The Ebb and Flow of Battle by P. J. Campbell (Patrick James) 1977. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. He also wrote In the Cannon's Mouth by P. J. Campbell 1979 (146 pages), searchable but not viewable at HathiTrust Digital Library. There was also an edition with the latter title published containing both volumes (317 pages), published 1986.
  • A Time to Leave the Ploughshares : a Gunner Remembers, 1917-18 by William Carr 1985. He was a subaltern in the 169 Army Brigade Royal Field Artillery who arrived in France c May 1917 and was posted to 377 Battery. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library.
  • A Canadian's Road to Russia : Letters from the Great War Decade by Stuart Ramsay Tompkins 1989. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. He was initially in France with Calgary’s 31st Battalion, Canadian Second Division, (infantry) then transferred to the 6th Canadian Brigade Trench Mortar Battery. He subsequently joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force in Siberia, arriving in Vladivostok January 1919. He later became a university professor specialising in Russian history.
  • Family at war : the Foljambe family and the Great War by Jolyon Jackson 2010. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. Francis Foljambe had been commissioned into the Royal Field Artillery in 1912. While in France he transferred to the Royal Horse Artillery.
  • Amateur Gunners : the Great War adventures, letters and observations of Alexander Douglas Thorburn edited by Ian Ronayne 2014. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. Revised, expanded edition of Amateur Gunners published 1933, additional title Recording some of the exploits of the 2/22nd County of London Howitzer Battery RFA on active service. Archive.org. Western Front, ‎Salonika, ‎‎Palestine.
  • The Royal Marine Artillery was part of the Royal Marines. For chapters in a history, see Other histories (regimental, corps etc.) and general, above.
  • Naval Guns in Flanders 1914-1915 by L. F. R. (Lt. Lionel F Robinson RN) 1920 Archive.org. In October 1914 the author, a naval Gunnery Officer, was ordered to Belgium to command a unit of naval guns on railway mountings, HM Armoured Train 'Jellicoe', one of three armoured trains in operation until the spring of 1915. This unusual unit moved around Flanders giving invaluable artillery support. The trains were under the command of the RNAS.
  • Also see In The Air, below, for letters of George Weston Devenish, Lieut. R.A., attached R.F.C.
  • Also see Engineers, below, for One Mole Rampant, for the experiences of Walter Gardner as private in the Honourable Artillery Company.
The Honourable Artillery Company in the Great War, 1914-1919 by George Goold Walker 1930 Searchable but not viewable Google Books.
  • Also see German Army, below, for With the German guns : four years on the Western front, 1914-1918 by Herbert Sulzbach
  • Also see Fiction below for sketches written by Boyd Cable, the nom de plume of Ernest Andrew Ewart, an officer in the Royal Artillery.
  • Journal of the United States Artillery by Artillery School, Fort Monroe, Virginia USA. Archive.org. Multiple volumes from 1892 to 1922. The title then changed to
The Coast Artillery Journal Archive.org. Multiple volumes from 1922 to 1949.
  • Volumes, from 1911, of The Field Artillery Journal published by The United States Field Artillery Association, are available on the webpage Fires Bulletin Archive published by the US Army Field Artillery. sill-www.army.mil Fort Sill, Oklahoma USA.
Field Artillery Journal Collection of digitised microfilm from 1911 at Archive.org.
  • "Our Baptism of Fire" by Major A Seeger, Commanding the Horse Artillery Battalion, 15th Field Artillery, German Army, translated by First Lieut. Edmund L Gruber. The Field Artillery Journal October-December 1915: Vol 5 Iss 4, page 659 Archive.org

Cavalry

See Medical Services including Veterinary above for the book Unwilling Passenger by Arthur Osburn who was Medical Officer-in- Charge of the 4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards.

Chaplains (Army)

The Soul of the Soldier; Sketches from the Western Battle-Front by Thomas Tiplady, Chaplain to the Forces. 1918 Archive.org. Includes "Chapter XI “Missing”" page 130, which explains when this classification was used.
  • "France" page 160 Letters of Oswin Creighton, C.F., 1883-1918 edited by Louise Creighton 1920 Archive.org
  • Letters of an Army Chaplain by William Duncan Geare 1918. Classified by IWM as Royal Army Chaplains Department, Liverpool Regt., Bn. 7, Liverpool Regt., Bn. 9. Digital Collection Württembergische Landesbibliothek, Stuttgart. English text, German website. For download, select "Ganzes Werk herunterladen". To read online, select "DFG-Viewer".
  • 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
  • John Ayscough's letters to his mother during 1914, 1915, and 1916 1919 Archive.org. The Roman Catholic priest Francis Bickerstaffe-Drew wrote novels under the name John Ayscough. Initially during the war he was an Army Chaplain attached to 15 Field Ambulance, subsequently he was on garrison and hospital duty at Dieppe and Versailles.
  • From Cloister to Camp : being reminiscences of a priest in France, 1915-1918 by Fr Dominic Devas OFM. 1919 Archive.org. He was a Franciscan and RC Chaplain , British Army. He was initially attached to the 1/1 South Midland Field Ambulance

Despatch Riders

Later in 1915 published as Adventures of a Despatch Rider by Captain WHL Watson, 1915 Archive.org. However, some of the text differs between that published in Blackwood’s Magazine.[39] Also published in 1917 in an edition edited for censorship reasons. There was a 2012 reprint with the title A Motorcycle Courier in the Great War.
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. Page 795, page 76, page 246, page 360, page 45. Archive.org. There was a 2021 reprint with the title Tales of a Gaspipe Officer: With the Cyclists on the Western Front During the First World.

Engineers

  • Fighting the Boche Underground by H. D. Trounce, "formerly of the Royal British Engineers, now Captain of Engineers, USA". 1918 Archive.org. Gutenberg.org version, with photographs correctly rotated. The author, born in Britain, became a civil and mining engineer in the USA and had become a USA citizen. An account of his time in the Royal Engineers from late 1915 to July 1917.
  • One Mole Rampant by W G [Walter Gardner], printed for private circulation 1920 Archive.org. Prewar he had studied mining engineering at Columbia (page 124) but joined the Honourable Artillery Company as a private. In March 1915 he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in 172nd Company, Royal Engineers, who were working in the vicinity of St. Eloi, and was mentioned in dispatches. In August 1915 he was recalled to England to work for the Ministry of Munitions (pages 217-218).
  • The Riddle of the Rhine, Chemical Strategy in Peace and War by Victor Lefebure, originally published 1921. Archive.org. Commissioned into the 3rd Essex Regiment, he was transferred to the Special Brigade, RE, where he was a Company Commander. In 1917 he was appointed British Chemical Warfare Liaison Officer with the French.
  • "Gas!" The Story of the Special Brigade by Maj-Gen C.H Foulkes 1934 is available in a reprint edition[40], which in turn is available as an online book on the Ancestry owned pay website fold3, located in International/Military Books/Britain (scroll to letter G)
Chemical Soldiers : British Gas Warfare in World War I by Donald Richter 1992. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. The role of the British Special Brigade.
  • A Soldier's Diary by Ralph Scott [George Scott Atkinson, Royal Engineers] 1923. Archive.org. Sapper officer’s day-to-day diary with 2nd Army in the Ypres Salient, April- Nov. 1918. He was an officer in 237th F. Coy R.E, born 1899.
  • My Story of the Great War by Captain O H Woodward [Oliver Holmes], 1st Tunnelling Company AIF. Published Adelaide SA 1932. 1933 title: The War Story of Oliver Holmes Woodward, Captain 1st Australian Tunnelling Company, Australian Imperial Force. A series of 17 extracts appearing weekly in The Recorder Port Pirie, SA, 25 February 1933 to 17 June 1933, with Introductory article and book review both 13 February 1933, same newspaper. trove.nla.gov.au. Includes the firing of Hill 60 mines. Pre war, the author held a senior position in a mining company. Brief Chronology of the 1st Aust Tunnelling Coy, allocated to the Second Army tunnellers.net
  • Tunnellers: The Story of the Tunnelling Companies, Royal Engineers, during the World War by W. Grant Grieve and Bernard Newman 1936 is available in a reprint edition[41], which in turn is available as an online book on the Ancestry owned pay website fold3, located in Military Books/Britain (scroll to Tu).
  • Tunnel-master and Arsonist of the Great War. The Norton-Griffiths Story by Tony Bridgland and Anne Morgan 2003. Archive.org Books to Borrow. 171 Tunnelling Company, Royal Engineers.
  • My Sapper Venture by Lieut-Colonel V F Eberle 1973 Archive.org Books to Borrow. He was involved with some development of the "Bangalore Torpedo", see Chapter 11, page 76.
  • Sapper Martin : the Secret Great War Diary of Jack Martin edited and introduced by Richard van Emden 2010, first published 2009. Archive.org Books to Borrow/ Lending Library. Martin served with the 122nd Infantry Brigade Signal Company, part of the 41st Division. Diary entries from September 1916.
  • See Despatch Riders above, for the story of David Winder Small, a Despatch Rider in the Royal Engineers Signals Service.

Infantry and others

Hospital Days by "Platoon Commander" 1916 Archive.org.
Carrying on - After the First Hundred Thousand by Ian Hay 1917 Archive.org. Also published under the title All in It : K(1) Carries On: A Continuation of the First Hundred Thousand.
The Last Million; how they invaded France - and England by Ian Hay 1919. Archive.org. Some editions were published under the title The Last Million.
An earlier book: The Amateur Army by Patrick MacGill 1915 Archive.org. Initial training in the UK.
The Great Push : an Episode of the Great War by Patrick MacGill, 1917 Archive.org. 2000 reprint edition with "Introduction" by Brian D Osborne. Archive.org Books to Borrow.
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. [42]
  • Student and Sniper-Sergeant, a Memoir of J. K. Forbes by William Taylor and Peter Diack. 1916 Archive.org, Granth Sanjeevani Collection. Forbes was in the 4th Battalion Gordon Highlanders and killed in action 25 September 1915.
  • 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. His character "Old Bill" is stated to be based on Lance Corporal Thomas Henry Rafferty 7840, 1st Battalion.[43]
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.
"L. M. 8046" : an intimate story of the Foreign Legion by David Wooster King 1927 Archive.org. An American, he joined the French Foreign Legion in August 1914, based in France, transferred to the French Army October 1915, and subsequently transferred to the American Army, including an Intelligence role. Some biographical details oac.cdlib.org, and more.
American Fighters in the Foreign Legion, 1914-1918 by Paul Ayres Rockwell 1930 Archive.org.
List of Books about the French Foreign Legion, including some titles of fiction/adventure stories. booksandwriters.co.uk
He had previously written War and the creative impulse by Max Plowman; with preface by Henry W. Nevinson. 1919 HathiTrust Digital Library. Max Plowman (Wikipedia), actual name Mark.
  • A Subaltern’s War by Charles Edmonds (pseud.) [Charles Edmund Carrington] 1929 Archive.org. Full title A Subaltern’s War being a memoir of the Great War from the point of view of a romantic young man, with candid accounts of two particular battles, written shortly after they occurred, and an essay on militarism. The Preface advises most of the book was written in 1919 and 1920. Carrington was a Lieutenant in the 1/5th Battalion of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. Rated "#8 Best World War I Memoir" by Edward Lengel. On a list of "highly personal top 20 War Memoirs"[33]. Charles Carrington (historian) Wikipedia. Carrington was also the author of Soldier From The Wars Returning 1965, available at the British Library UIN: BLL01008268973
  • The Weary Road : Recollections of a Subaltern of Infantry by Charles Douie 1988, first published 1929. Archive.org Lending Library. On a list of "highly personal top 20 War Memoirs"[33]. In August 1914 he joined “a Territorial unit of the 51st Highland Division”. He was commissioned as a temporary Second Lieutenant in the 7th (Service) Battalion, the Dorsetshire Regiment (9 January 1915) and subsequently transferred to the 1/Dorsets, joining them in France 15 February 1916.
  • A Soldier’s Diary Of The Great War with an Introduction by Henry Williamson 1929 Archive.org, Public Library of India Collection. Published anonymously, but by Douglas H. Bell according to a page from henrywilliamson.co.uk. Bell was with different battalions of the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders, and then joined the Royal Flying Corps.
  • Undertones of War by Edmund Blunden 1929 Archive.org. Subaltern in Royal Sussex at the Somme & Passchendaele. Rated #4 of the top ten personal accounts by Edward Lengel. On a list of "highly personal top 20 War Memoirs".[33]
  • 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, (more details [51].) Robert Graves Wikipedia.
Robert Graves: the Assault Heroic, 1895-1926 by Richard Perceval Graves [nephew] 1987 Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library.
  • Siegfried Sassoon was an officer in the Royal Welch Fusiliers. See his entry under Fiction, below, which also includes a link to his handwritten Journals.
  • A Brass Hat in No Man's Land by Brig.-Gen. F P Crozier 1930. Archive.org.
The Men I Killed by Brigadier General F P Crozier 1937 Archive.org, Public Library of India Collection. Frank Percy Crozier Wikipedia. He commanded the 9th (Service) Battalion of the 107th (Ulster) Brigade and subsequently commanded the 119th (Welsh) Brigade. Biographical details, including obituary theauxiliaries.com. For a book about Crozier's early Army experiences in West Africa 1901-5, see East Africa.
  • A Passionate Prodigality: Fragments of Autobiography by Guy Chapman. 1966 edition, first published 1933. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. Contains a Preface by the author written specifically for the 1966 edition, setting out his reasons for writing the book. He was Adj. 13th Batt. Royal Fusiliers, who was gassed at Arras. On a list of "highly personal top 20 War Memoirs".[33]
A Kind of Survivor : the Autobiography of Guy Chapman 1975 Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library.
  • Twelve Days by Sidney Rogerson with a foreword by B. H. Liddell Hart, and eight drawings by Stanley Cursiter. 1933. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. "It deals with the “fag-end” of the Battles of the Somme in 1916". Subsequently reprinted under the title Twelve Days on the Somme : a Memoir of the Trenches, 1916. The reprint description states Rogerson was in 2nd Battalion of the West Yorkshire Regiment, B Company. Reprint review researchgate.net. He was also the author of The Last of the Ebb (1937), reprinted as The Last of the Ebb : the Battle of the Aisne, 1918.
  • Scots Guard by W. H. G. Ewart [Wilfrid Herbert Gore] 1934. Posthumously published papers of Wilfrid Ewart, with reminisces of service as an officer with the Scots Guards from 1915 to the Armistice. Link to a pdf from the University of Oxford. Direct pdf. Also see Fiction below.
  • From Mons to 1933 by Gerald Lowry 1934. Archive.org. A Lieutenant in the Special Reserve of the Royal Irish Rifles, he was blinded by a sniper on 26 October 1914. He subsequently qualified as a masseur, then as an osteopath.
  • There and Back: The Story of an Australian Soldier 1915-35 by Rowland Edward Lording, writing as A. Tiveychoc 1935. Chapter 11 onwards details his time in France, part of 30th Battalion, AIF. He was severely wounded at Fromelles, aged just 17, and spent years in hospital. Project Gutenberg Australia. Biographical details adb.anu.edu.au/biography
  • A Rifleman Went to War (subtitle) being a narrative of the author's experiences and observations while with the Canadian Corps in France and Belgium, September 1915-April 1917. With particular emphasis upon the use of the military rifle in sniping, its place in modern armament, and the work of the individual soldier, by Herbert W McBride Captain 21st Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force and United States Army. 1987 reprint, originally published 1935. Includes the use of the machinegun, pistol and sniper rifle in battle. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library.
  • "And on to Messines" by Capt G D Mitchell 10th and 48th Battns AIF, page 6, (digital page 8) Reveille, July 1, 1936 (commenced in June 1936 issue). nla.gov.au. He was commissioned as an officer, in the field, with a group of other NCOs. Reveille was published by The Returned Services League of Australia New South Wales Branch. Mitchell also wrote "The Winter of 1916-17" a series of articles appearing in Reveille commencing December 1934, page 15 (digital 17) and continuing each month to at least October 1935, previously online, but not currently so. 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. Mitchell was the author of Backs to the Wall 1937, published in a 2007 reprint edition[52] as Backs to the Wall: A larrikin on the Western Front - Sample pages Google Books.
  • "Stand To" A Diary of the Trenches 1915-1918 by Captain F.C. Hitchcock 1937 is available in a reprint edition[53] which is in turn available as an online book on the Ancestry owned pay website fold3, located in Military Books/Britain. Hitchcock was an officer of the 2nd Battalion the Leinster Regiment.
  • Page 97 Alarms & Excursions : Reminiscences of a Soldier by Lieut.-Gen. Sir Tom Bridges. 1938. At the start of the war he was with Cavalry, see above, then he was sent on a Mission to Belgium in respect of the situation in Antwerp which fell to the Germans c 9 October 1914 and subsequently became Head of the British Mission with the Belgian Army. Next, he took over command of the 19th (Western) Division (this seems to have been prior to May 1915), (where he had a pet lion, Poilu as mascot of the 19th (page 144)), was wounded Sept 1917, when he lost a leg (which he ordered to be fed to the lion (page 22)). Before and after this, he was part of Missions to the USA. He then was sent on a Mission to the Balkans, and to Turkey. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library.
  • Sky: Memoirs by Blaise Cendrars [pseudonym], translated by Nina Rootes 1992, originally published in French as Le Lotissement du ciel 1949. 2nd file Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. A volume in the author’s war memoirs tetralogy, which includes WW1 chapters. Swiss born, during WWI he joined the French Foreign Legion and served in France, where he lost an arm. "The hazy world of Blaise Cendrars" by Lee Rourke 23 July 2007 The Guardian. "Cendrars eschews biographical detail and morphs fact and fiction". The other volumes in the tetralogy are Astonished Man (L 'Homme foudroyé, 1945), Lice (La main coupée, 1946), Planus (Bourlinguer, 1948). Blaise Cendrars Wikipedia.
  • Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis Wikipedia. During WW1, he was in the Irish Guards, initially Lieutenant 1st Battalion, appointed Commander 2nd Irish Guards in October 1917, aged 25. For online biographies published 1952-1973, containing chapters on WW1, see Second World War - Historical books online and scroll down.
  • "The Army in France 1918" Chapter Five, page 75 Old Men Forget: The Autobiography of Duff Cooper (Viscount Norwich) 1954 Archive.org. He was an officer in the 3rd Battalion, Grenadier Guards, and served in France for six months. Duff Cooper Wikipedia. He became a British Conservative Party politician, diplomat and military and political historian.
  • 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.
  • The Memoirs of a Malayan Official by Victor Purcell 1965 Archive.org Lending Library. The initial four chapters are Purcell's account of his time as a young officer with the 11th (Service) Battalion of the Green Howards, including his time as a Prisoner of War.
  • "The First World War" Chapter Three page 59 Winds of Change, 1914-1939 by Harold Macmillan 1966. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. Harold Macmillan (Wikipedia) later British Prime Minister. He was an officer of the Grenadier Guards in France.
  • Ghosts have Warm Hands by Will R. Bird 1968. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. Rated "#5 Best WWI Memoir" by Edward Lengel. About 60% of this book consists of much of the content of the earlier publication And We Go On, published 1930, reprinted 2014.[54] Sometimes classified as fiction, but based on Bird's diaries. Bird served with the 42nd Battalion, Royal Highlanders of Canada (Black Watch), composed largely of men from Ontario and the Maritimes. Will R. Bird , a Canadian who became an author.
  • A Life Apart by Alan Thomas 1968. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. Alan Ernest Wentworth Thomas served with the 6th Battalion, Royal West Kent Regiment. Elsewhere it is stated he had a varied career, including as a barrister, editor for nineteen years, between 1939 and 1957, of The Listener, and as an author.
  • Memoirs of War, 1914-15 by Marc Bloch. Translated and with an introduction by Carole Fink 1988 edition, first published 1980. Translation of the French language Souvenirs de Guerre, 1914-1915 published 1969. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. Born 1886, Bloch was a French medievalist and economic historian who was shot by the Germans in WW2 as a leader of the French Resistance. The first part of the account covers the months August 1914 to January 1915, and was written later in 1915. He joined the 272nd reserve regiment (18th company 4th platoon) with the rank of sergeant, and later became an officer. Marc Bloch Wikipedia.
  • A Victorian Son: an Autobiography, 1897-1922 by Stuart Cloete 1973. WW1 period commences page 181. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. Stuart Cloete (Wikipedia) says he was commissioned into the 9th King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, before later transferring to the Coldstream Guards. He later lived in South Africa and became a novelist.
  • "Fifteen rounds a minute" : the Grenadiers at war, August to December 1914 Edited from the diaries and letters of Major 'Ma' Jeffries and others by J M Craster 1976. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. 2nd Battalion, Grenadier Guards.
  • Another World, 1897-1917 by Anthony Eden, Earl of Avon 1977. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. Eden served with the 21st (Yeoman Rifles) Battalion of the King's Royal Rifle Corps (KRRC). Anthony Eden Wikipedia.
  • Cannon Fodder : An Infantryman's Life on the Western Front, 1914-18 by A Stuart Dolden 1980 Archive.org Lending Library. “Dolden was a solicitor who enlisted as a Private soldier …an excellent account of the life of an enlisted man, sometime bomber, sometime cook in D Company, 1st/14th London Regiment …a must read for those who want to know “what it was like”.”[48]
  • Some Desperate Glory : the World War I Diary of a British Officer, 1917 by Edwin Campion Vaughan 1988, first published 1981. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. The author appears to have been Second Lieutenant, Warwickshire Regiment.
  • A Man at Arms : Memoirs of two World Wars by Francis Law 1983. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. Law was an officer in the Irish Guards who came to the Western Front in 1915, aged 18 (born 1897).
  • Somme Mud : the experiences of an infantryman in France, 1916-1919 by E P F Lynch (Edward P F), edited by Will Davies. Published 2008, written in 1921. Lynch was in the Australian Imperial Force. The "Foreword" says "This book compares with All Quiet on the Western Front...". “A memoir built on a wartime diary and a unit history” in the form of a novel, and considered to be such by some, although the book details state "This book is a work of non-fiction". Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. Also by the editor, a companion volume: In the Footsteps of Private Lynch by Will Davies 2010, first published 2008. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. Edward Francis Lynch Wikipedia.
  • Blood and Iron : Letters from the Western Front by Hugh Montagu Butterworth. Edited and with an Introduction by Jon Cooksey 2011. Butterworth was an Officer 9th Battalion, The Rifle Brigade who was KIA 25 September 1915. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library.
  • To Fight Alongside Friends : the First World War Diaries of Charlie May edited by Gerry Harrison 2014. Captain Charlie May was killed, aged 27, on 1 July 1916, leading the men of 'B Company', 22nd Manchester Service Battalion (the Manchester Pals) into action on the first day of the Somme. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library.
  • The Forgotten Soldier: He wasn’t a soldier, he was just a boy by Charlie Connelly 2014. File 2. Catalogued as The forgotten soldier : he went off to fight in the Great War - and never came home. Private Edward Charles John Connelly of the 10th Battalion, Queen’s (Royal West Surrey) Regiment killed in Flanders 4 November 1918, aged 19. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library.
  • The Battle of Booby's Bluffs by Major Single List 1922. Archive.org. Reprinted from the Infantry Journal 1921 [USA]...designed to teach the application of the principles as developed in the World War, showing the best methods of using the combined arms. …the general plan is the same as in The Defence of Duffer’s Drift. For the latter see Military periodicals online.
  • For a record of the "Sea Soldiers" of The Royal Marines, see Other histories (regimental, corps etc.) and general, above.

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
Also see Fiction, below.
  • Suicide Battalions by Wendell Westover, Captain, 4th M. G. bn., A. E. F.; with 46 illustrations by Lucien Jonas... 1929 Archive.org. A series of sketches of American machine-gunners.
  • A Brief Narrative of the Guards Machine Gun Battalion during the year 1918 by Lieut.-Colonel R. Bingham. With an appendix entitled "Machine-Gun Tactics and Organisation." 1931. Typescript manuscript. British Library Digital Collection.
  • The Canadian Emma Gees; a History of the Canadian Machine Gun Corps by Lt-Col C S Grafton 1938 Archive.org
  • Chapter 20 "The Western Front" page 105 Farewell to the Horses : A Diary of a British Tommy 1915-1919 [Cady Cyril Hoyte] edited by Robert Elverstone 2014. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. Hoyte spent a short time in France as part of the 100th Battalion Machine Gun Corps from July 1918, until he was demobilised January 1919.
  • Machine Guns by Julian S Hatcher, Glenn P Wilhelm, Harry J Malony of the Machine Gun School, Harlingen,Texas, USA. 1917. Archive.org
  • See Sketches, above for sketches by Leslie Gore. Originally with the AIF. he went to France as Brigade Machine Gun Officer of the 6th Infantry Brigade, and subsequently took command of the 6th M.G. Coy.

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. Tuohy also wrote The Battle of Brains 1930, consisting of some true stories, some semi-fiction, about Secret Service/spies, much of which had appeared serially in the Graphic, Archive.org. Another book about his war experiences is The Crater of Mars 1929 Archive.org. Also see a postwar book below. The author, 1891-1953[58] was/became a news reporter and post-war foreign correspondent.
  • Detective & Secret Service Days by Edwin T Woodhall 1929. Archive.org. Mirror from 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 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 Book II [digital Pt3] Chapter III "Military Ishmaels", page 143 is about Toplis who is discussed in an article[59]. Chapter IV, "A Charming Spy", page 156 relates to Mata Hari, see below. He was also the author of Spies of the Great War : adventures with the Allied Secret Service by Edwin T. Woodhall 1932. Extracts from the latter book are included in Fifty Amazing Secret Service Dramas, available online, 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, relevant pages from 158 by Edwin T Woodhall 1929, mentioned above. Archive.org.
Inquest on Mata Hari by Bernard Newman 1956. Archive.org. Bernard Newman also wrote a 1935 work of fiction titled Spy, see Fiction below. Although this latter book was written in the first personal Newman had not been a spy himself.
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, correspondents and others

The Diary of an English Resident in France during war time. Second series, Jan.-Dec. 1915 by Rowland Strong 1916 Archive.org.
  • First from the Front by Harold Ashton, War Correspondent of The Daily News [1914] Archive.org. Part of the book is about France.
  • Fighting in Flanders by E. Alexander Powell, Special Correspondent of The New York World, with the Belgian Forces in the Field. 1915, first published 1914. Archive.org.
Vive la France! by E. Alexander Powell, War Correspondent of The New York World, the London Daily Mail, and Scribner’s Magazine, with the Allied Armies. 1915 Archive.org.
He was also the author of Slanting Lines of Steel [An account of the author's experiences as war correspondent in the European War, 1914-1918]. 1933
  • With the Allies by Richard Harding Davis, War Correspondent, with the Allies, of the Wheeler Syndicate of Newspapers and the London Daily Chronicle. 1918, first published 1914. Archive.org. This edition is Volume I of The War on All Fronts, a five volume series, multiple authors.
  • Paths of Glory: impressions of war written at and near the Front by Irvin S Cobb. Revised version, with two extra chapters. 1918 Archive.org. A series of first hand impressions originally written in 1914, and published 1915, while on staff service for the Saturday Evening Post. Irvin S. Cobb Wikipedia. Not to be confused with a novel with a similar title by Humphrey Cobb.
  • A Woman's Experiences in the Great War by Louise Mack 1915 Archive.org. Louise Mack Wikipedia. An Australian, she was the first female War Correspondent and was in Belgium at the beginning of the war, working for British newspapers.
  • France at War by Rudyard Kipling 1915 Archive.org. Kipling Society page . Originally published in the Daily Telegraph.
  • In the Claws of the German Eagle by Albert Rhys Williams, Special War Correspondent in Belgium of The Outlook [A New York City weekly magazine]. 1917. Archive.org. Also reprinted under the title The Kaiser's Captive. The early days of the war. Albert Rhys Williams Wikipedia. He later wrote many books about the Russian Revolution.
  • Over There; War Scenes on the Western Front by Arnold Bennett 1915. Archive.org. Bennett lived in France from 1903-1911, and was the first established author to be invited to tour the front for propaganda purposes, spending three weeks in France and Belgium in June 1915 and publishing this account later in the year. He was appointed Director of Propaganda in the Ministry of Information in 1918.[60]
  • Fighting France : from Dunkerque to Belfort by Edith Wharton, 1918 edition, first published 1915. Archive.org. This edition is Volume III of The War on All Fronts, a five volume series, multiple authors. Edith Wharton Wikipedia. The American novelist was living in France at the outbreak of war.
  • Over the Front in an Aeroplane, and Scenes inside the French and Flemish Trenches by Ralph Pulitzer 1915 Archive.org. The author was a New York newspaper proprietor.
  • Roadside Glimpses of the Great War by Arthur Sweetser 1916 Archive.org. He was an American journalist who was in France from the early days of the war.
  • Men, Women and War by Will Irwin 1915 Archive.org. The author was an American journalist. The author's Wikipedia page.
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.
On the Edge of the War Zone, from the battle of the Marne to the entrance of the Stars and Stripes by Mildred Aldrich 1917
The Peak of the Load; the waiting months on the hilltop from the entrance of the Stars and Stripes to the second victory on the Marne by Mildred Aldrich 1918.
When Johnny comes marching home by Mildred Aldrich 1919. All Archive.org.
Mildred Aldrich Wikipedia. American journalist and writer.
  • Padre, a Red Cross Chaplain in France by Sartell Prentice 1919 Archive.org. An American, he worked at an American Army hospital.
  • 28 June 1914 onwards Page 406 More Changes, More Chances by Henry W. Nevinson 1925 HathiTrust Digital Library. He was in Berlin when war was declared.
"War, Chapter I" page 1 Last Changes, Last Chances by Henry W. Nevinson 1928 Archive.org.
Elsewhere, the author was stated to be "the leading war correspondent of the Edwardian era." Also see Gallipoli. Henry Nevinson Wikipedia.
  • The war years from page 90 Paint And Prejudice by C.R.W. Nevinson 1938. An artist, initially he was with the Red Cross as an ambulance driver/medical volunteer. He was subsequently a private in the RAMC until he was discharged on medical grounds probably c mid 1915. His father was the war correspondent Henry W. Nevinson, see immediately above.
  • The Irish Nuns at Ypres : an Episode of the War by D M C [Dame M Columban], (Member of the Community) [Benedictines] 1915 Archive.org.
  • Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC)
  • A Minstrel in France by Harry Lauder 1918 Archive.org. Harry Lauder (Wikipedia) was a very well known Scottish singer and comedian who had achieved international success.
  • The Canteeners by Agnes M Dixon 1917 Archive.org. She volunteered with the Cantines des Dames Anglais organised by the London Committee of the French Red Cross, from October 1915 to July 1916.
  • Canteening Overseas, 1917-1919 by Marian Baldwin 1920 Archive.org. The author was mostly with the American YMCA in France.
  • Betty Stevenson, Y. M. C. A., Croix de Guerre avec Palme; Sept. 3, 1896-May 30, 1918 edited by C G R S and A G S 1920. Archive.org. She helped Belgium refugees in England, then worked in Paris in a YMCA canteen, initially with her aunt, then her mother. She subsequently became a YMCA driver in Étaples where her duties included driving relatives come to visit sick and dying relatives, but then due to health issues went back to canteen duties until she was killed in a bombing raid, aged 21. She is buried in a military cemetery.
  • "In France" page 113 That Friend of Mine : a Memoir of Marguerite McArthur by Josephine Kellett 1920. Archive.org. In France, McArthur was with the YMCA, working with libraries and educational classes for soldiers, at Étaples, from March 1918 to February 1919 when she died of pneumonia following influenza. Although a civilian, she was given a military funeral. Earlier, she had worked for two years in the Intelligence Department of the War Office in the Translation Bureau, and had also done volunteer war work in England.
  • A Scavenger in France : being Extracts from the Diary of an Architect, 1917-19 by William Bell 1920 Archive.org. The author was a member of the F W V R C, Friends’ War-Victims’ Relief Committee, a Quaker organization.
  • War Memories by Princess Marie de Croy 1932 Archive.org. A resident of Belgium, her house was turned into a hospital until the Germans took it over. In 1915 she was convicted by the Germans for sheltering Allied soldiers. Nurse Edith Cavell who was tried at the same time was shot for her part in these activities, however Princess Marie was sent to a civil prison in Germany which held criminals such as murderers and remained there until the war ended in 1918. Princess Marie of Croÿ Wikipedia.
  • The Case of Edith Cavell: A Study of the Rights of Non-Combatants by James M Beck [1915]. Reprinted from New York Times. Gutenberg.org
Edith Cavell: The Crime that Shook the World by S Theodore Felstead c 1940 Archive.org.
Books about Edith Cavell on Archive.org
  • History of the American Field Service in France, "Friends of France", 1914-1917, told by its members. With illustrations. 1920. Vol. I, but missing at least pages 8-9, Vol. I, 2nd file; Vol. II; Vol. III Contains “The Camion Section” and Appendices with Roll of Honor, Roster of Volunteers etc. All Archive.org
[American] Field Service/Library, now archived, contains transcribed accounts by American volunteers including some who drove ambulances and transport trucks. At least some of these volunteers/possibly all were formally part of the French Army. Introductory article, same website. Current website the-afs-archive.org, perhaps may have some of the accounts mentioned on the old website.

Prisoners of War

Beyond the Tumult by Barry Winchester 1972. Additional wording on front cover: The true story of the greatest escape in the annals of wartime adventure. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. Pilots from the Royal Flying Corps lead the escape from Holzminden.
Restricted basis: British Library registered readers and/or staff: 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.

Miscellaneous

Forty Years With Dogs by E H Richardson 1935. Archive.org version, mirror from Digital Library of India. "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
Handbook of the German Army in War. Issued by the General Staff, British Army "For Official Use Only". January 1917; November 1918 British Library Digital Collection. January 1917; April 1918; November 1918 Archive.org.
  • Index to the German Forces in the Field. October 1917 by [Great Britain] General Staff, War Office. Archive.org, Google Books.
Foot Artillery Index to the German Forces in the Field, Volumes 1 and 2 compiled by the General Staff, War Office. 2nd revision February 1918. HathiTrust Digital Library. Vol. 1 Sectors Archive.org, Google Books; Vol. 2 Index of Batteries Archive.org, Google Books.
Use the Search term Erinnerungsblätter deutscher Regimenter Ehemals preußische Truppenteile in the Search from Deutsche Digital Bibliothek from the collection of Deutsche Nationalbibliothek, for 56 results (online histories) for Prussian histories. Omitting the last 3 words in the Search gives even more results.
Deutsche National Bibliothek catalogue entry: Infanterieregimenter Select the main category and subcategories, then select Publikationen, then use the filter on the RHS of the page "Online (frei zugänglich)". (German language). Also see the Great War Forum topic "Regimental histories at the German National Library (DNB)".[64] Deutsche National Bibliothek catalogue entry: Deutsches Heer includes links to categories Kavallerie, Artillerie etc, however only a few titles appear to have been digitised.
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).[65]
Links to further regimental histories (German language) may be found in the Great War Forum topic "Free German Regimental History Books"[66] and "More German Regimental histories due soon"[67]. For some of the latter Search SLUB Dresden Sächsische Landesbibliothek – Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Dresden (SLUB) Dresden.
Note, some Digital Libraries may provide a Full text option, which may be copied to Google Translate or similar, for an English translation if this is required.
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
  • Die graue Felduniform der deutschen Armee 5th edition [1915] Württembergische Landesbibliothek Stuttgart. Read online, or download. File of images, Archive.org 1910 edition
  • With the German Armies in the West by Sven Hedin. Translated from the Swedish by H G de Walterstorff 1915 Archive.org. Another version Archive.org where illustrations may be clearer. The author travelled from Sweden, which was a neutral nation, so that he could view the war with his own eyes, and study the psychology of war.
  • The Diary of a German Soldier by Feldwebel C… First Sergeant 88th Infantry 21st Division, 18th Army Corps. 1919. Translated from the original 1918 French edition Archive.org
  • Memoir of German officer Ernst Jünger's experiences on the Western Front. On a list of "highly personal top 20 War Memoirs".[33]. Rated "#3 Best WWI Memoir" by Edward Lengel. First published in 1920, there were many German revisions by the author later published. There have been two English translations, based on different German editions. The 2003 Hofmann translation is considered more literary, but Hofmann was ignorant of German military matters, whereas the 1929 translation by Creighton, who had served in the Great War, was more literal[68] and is more accurate from a military point of view.
The Storm Of Steel: From the Diary of a German Storm-Troop Officer on the Western Front by Ernst Jünger, Lieutenant, 73rd Hanoverian Fusilier Regiment. Reprint of the 1929 translation [by Basil Creighton of the 1924 German edition]. Archive.org.
Storm of Steel by Ernst Jünger. Translated by Michael Hofmann 2003, from the 1961 German edition. Archive.org Lending Library.
In Stahlgewittern: Aus dem Tagebuch eines Stoßtruppführers by Ernst Jünger 1922. Gutenberg.org. German language.
Storm of Steel (Wikipedia).

Post War including British Occupation of Germany

  • The Occupation of the Rhineland : 1918-1929 by J. E Edmonds, (James Edward, Sir). Originally published under restricted circulation 1944. Series: History of the Great War. Available in a reprint edition,[69] which in turn is available as an online book on the Ancestry owned pay website fold3, located in World War II/Military Books/Germany.
  • My Rhineland Journal by Henry T. Allen, Major-General USA. 1923 Archive.org
Occupied, 1918-1930; a postscript to the Western Front by Ferdinand Tuohy 1931. Archive.org.
Also see his book under Secret Service and Spies, above.
Edgar Vincent, 1st Viscount D'Abernon Wikipedia. British Ambassador to Berlin. He was called "the pioneer of appeasement".

Fiction

Some Do Not & No More Parades by Ford Madox Ford, reprint edition, first published 1924 and 1925. Archive.org. Volumes #1, #2, #3, #4 fadedpage.com
Parade’s End 1950 edition, 2001? edition Penguin Classics both Archive.org Lending Library
Parade's End: Radio audio adaptation Probably from the BBC.
"Julian Barnes: a tribute to Parade's End by Ford Madox Ford" 25 August 2012. The Guardian. BBC/HBO five-part TV serial was made in 2012. Biography fordmadoxfordsociety.org. He was christened Ford Hermann Hueffer, and changed his name after the War. Ford joined the army in 1915, serving as an officer in the Welch Regiment.
  • All Quiet On The Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, translated from the German by A W Wheen. 1930 edition, first published 1929. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. Other digital files, including Notes are available to borrow. Note however a comment that the later 1994 translation by Brian Murdoch is deeply flawed.[71] On a list of "The 20 most significant novels of the Great War".[33]
1930 Movie version: All Quiet On The Western Front Archive.org. Selected and preserved by the United States Library of Congress' National Film Registry as being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
About the book Wikipedia. German title Im Westen nichts Neues, 1929 first published 1928. Archive.org.
  • Half-novel, half-autobiography, the author states the events described actually happened : The Middle Parts of Fortune: Somme and Ancre, 1916 by Frederic Manning 1929. Pdf download of a transcription, University of Sydney Digital Collection. Also available 1997 reprint Archive.org Books to Borrow/ Lending Library. Subsequently published in an expurgated version as Her Privates We by Private 19022. 1930 Archive.org. Considered “as being true to the actual experience of modern warfare in ways that nothing else had managed to be”.[72] On a list of "The 20 most significant novels of the Great War".[33]
  • Paths of Glory A Novel by Humphrey Cobb, 1987 edition, originally published 1935 . Archive.org Lending Library. With an Afterword by Stephen E Tabachnick. The story was suggested by actual events. A film version by Stanley Kubrick was produced in 1957. On a list of "The 20 most significant novels of the Great War".[33]
  • 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. On a list of "The 20 most significant novels of the Great War".[33]
  • 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.[73]
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. He had been in the Royal Engineers since 1907. [74] 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
The Human Touch 1918, first published 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.[75]
  • 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.[76]
  • The Secret Battle by A P Herbert 1919. Archive.org. One of three novels published in 1919 praised for its convincing account of war, and recommended by Churchill.[77] The first part of the book is set at Gallipoli, the latter part on the Western Front. The Secret Battle Librivox audio book by A P Herbert. Archive.org. A. P. Herbert Wikipedia.
  • 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.
  • The Happy Foreigner by Enid Bagnold 1920 Archive.org. “Set in the winter and spring following the Armistice, this fictionalized account of Bagnold's experience as a driver for the French Army remains a valuable record of haunted battlefields and scant army rations…”[78]. Enid Bagnold Wikipedia. She was English, and became an author and playwright.
  • 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".[79]
  • Way of revelation : a novel of five years by Wilfrid Ewart 1922 Archive.org.
When Armageddon came; studies in peace and war by Wilfrid Ewart 1933. Catalogue entry, Oxford University Library with link to digital copy, Direct pdf. Biographical details lib.utexas.edu. He died in 1922. Ewart was an officer in the Scots Guards, refer Infantry and others above.
Revised edition, classified Juvenile/Young Adult Fiction: Generals die in bed : a story from the trenches 2002. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library.
  • Green Envelopes No author appears on the title page, however the author is identified as Colonel Lionel James, pre WW1 war correspondent and WW1 Commander of King Edward’s Horse[80]. 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". Archive.org mirror version.
  • The W Plan by Graham Seton 1930 Archive.org. Also see Machine Guns, above.
  • Roads to Glory by Richard Aldington 1930. Archive.org Lending Library.
  • The Cavalry Went Through by Bernard Newman 1930 Archive.org Books to Borrow. Also released in America under the title The Cavalry Goes Through!. Trove review “a georgeous stunt, an impudently satirical narrative”. The novel is one of the first in the genre of virtual history, according to the article from Great War Fiction Plus
Spy by Bernard Newman 1935 Archive.org Books to Borrow. Although written in the first person, this is a book of fiction, not an autobiography. Newman wrote other books about Spies as a historian.
Bernard Newman (writer) Wikipedia.
  • Company K by William March, originally serialised 1930-32 and published as a book 1933, from A William March Omnibus published 1956. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. Company K Wikipedia. "...among the most important of all war novels". March (pseud.) was a decorated U S Marine, birth name William Edward Campbell.
  • We That Were Young : a Novel by Irene Rathbone, with a preface by E.M. Delafield ; and with a new introduction by Lynn Knight. 1989 reprint, first published 1932. Also reprinted in England in 1988 in the series Virago Modern Classics (no. 306). The author volunteered for war service, working at two YMCA camps in France and as a VAD in London. Her novel draws upon those experiences as well as upon those of a close friend who worked in a munitions factory. Archive.org Books to Borrow/ Lending Library.
  • Winged Victory by V M Yates 2010 reprint of 1934 original edition. Based very largely on the author’s experiences as a fighter pilot. 1985 reprint of 1961 edition which contained a new preface and a tribute by Henry Williamson. The latter volume a volume in the series Echoes of War. Both Archive.org Books to Borrow. Also see In the Air above, for more about the author.
  • In Parenthesis by David Jones 1937. Archive.org. David Jones (artist-poet) Wikipedia. “...a mixture of verse and prose-lines but the rich language establishes it as poetry”.
  • Across The Black Waters by Mulk Raj Anand. Reprint edition, possibly 1955, originally published 1940. Archive.org. mirror from 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.[81] Review by Randeep Wadehra, August 6, 2000 The Tribune
  • Three Cheers for Me. The Bandy Papers. Volume One by Donald Jack 2017 reprint of the revised 1973 text, first published 1962.
That's Me in the Middle: The Journals of Bartholomew Bandy Volume Two by Donald Jack 1978 reprint, first published 1973.
It’s Me Again: The Journals of Bartholomew Bandy Volume Three by Donald Jack 1975. All Archive.org Texts to Borrow.
Volumes One, Two and Three in the series The Bandy Papers, or The Journals of Bartholomew Bandy. A series of novels chronicling the exploits of a World War I fighter ace Bartholomew Wolfe Bandy. The Bandy Papers Wikipedia. “The books are noted for their humour and word play, as well as technical and historic accuracy.” Review of Volume Three, the final volume set in the WW1 period.
  • The Ravi Lancers by John Masters 1972. Internet Archive (Archive.org) Lending Library. A novel about an Indian cavalry regiment sent to France at the outbreak of the First World War. Believed to be based on the real-life Jodhpur Lancers (Indian States Forces)[82].
  • Regeneration Trilogy by Pat Barker. On a 2012 Guardian list of "The 10 best historical novels". "...the story of psychiatrist William Rivers and his pioneering treatment of various First World War soldiers - including Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen - for shell shock at the Craiglockhart war hospital near Edinburgh"[83]
Regeneration by Pat Barker 1992. 2nd file
The Eye in the Door by Pat Barker 1994. 2nd file
The Ghost Road by Pat Barker 1995. 2nd file. All Archive.org Lending Library.
  • Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks 1997, first published 1993. Archive.org Lending Library. Birdsong: Audio 2008 BBC Radio Drama. Archive.org.
  • Songs from the Trenches by Capt. C W Blackall 1915 Archive.org. During the period when Charles Walter Blackall wrote these poems he was serving with the 1st Bn. Royal Welch Fusiliers. He was KiA 24th March 1918.[84]
"All's Well!" Some Helpful Verse For These Dark Days of War by John Oxenham, pseudonym of William Arthur Dunkerley. Eighteenth edition, 1917, first published 1915. Archive.org
A Gloucestershire lad at home and abroad by F W Harvey. Fourth impression 1917, first published 1916. Gloucestershire friends: poems from a German prison camp by F W Harvey 1917. Both Archive.org. F. W. Harvey Wikipedia. His war memoir was Comrades in Captivity: a Record of Life in Seven German Prison Camps 1920, available at the British Library UIN: BLL01001610788
Up the line to death: the war poets, 1914-1918 An anthology selected and arranged with an introduction and notes by Brian Gardner 1967 Archive.org Lending Library.
World War One British poets : Brooke, Owen, Sassoon, Rosenberg, and others Edited by Candace Ward 1997 Archive.org Lending Library.
  • When this bloody war is over : soldiers' songs of the First World War by Max Arthur 2002. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library.
  • The Somme Stations by Andrew Martin. 2012, first published 2011. File 2. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. A crime novel and volume in the Jim Stringer, Steam Detective series.
  • The Dead of Mametz by Jonathan Hicks 2011. Demons Walk Among Us by Jonathan Hicks 2013. Murder investigations by Captain Thomas Oscendale of the Military Police, written by a military historian. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library.
  • The Balloonist by James Long 2014. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. Balloonists directed artillery fire along the Western Front. If there was only one occupant he was always an appropriately trained officer. By mid 1916 a two man crew was the norm, the balloon commander and the observer. The Balloon Section in France became part of the Royal Flying Corps in the autumn of 1915,[85] after initially being part of the Royal Naval Air Service. "Observation Balloons On The Western Front" by Dr David Payne westernfrontassociation.com, archived.
  • The Care and Management of Lies by Jacqueline Winspear 2014. Some editions have the additional title A Novel of the Great War. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. Book website. Book Review npr.org
  • Field Service by Robert Edric 2015 Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. Set against the background of the work of the War Graves Commission in the wake of the Great War. Robert Edric Wikipedia.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Dastral of the Flying Corps by Rowland Walker. First published 1917. Gutenberg.org. Archive.org version About the author. The author was in the RFC. An adventure story.
  • Aces Up by Covington Clarke 1929 Gutenberg.org. Librivox audio version. Archive.org. About American aviators.
  • 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".
Biggles in World War 1 Archive.org collection of 5 volumes of short stories which originally appeared in magazines.
"Biggles" by Daniel Tangri. friardale.co.uk.

References

  1. ↑ India and the Western Front bbc.co.uk/history
  2. ↑ rflory. ROYAL FIELD ARTILLERY Great War Forum 2 December 2018. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
  3. ↑ Discovery catalogue
  4. ↑ Naval and Military Archive
  5. ↑ 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.
  6. ↑ stiletto_33853. Ancestry vs National Archives Great War Forum 26 January 2018. Retrieved 26 December 2020. Ancestry diaries may have large parts (many months) missing compared to TNA files.
  7. ↑ MrSwan. Ancestry war diaries Great War Forum 17 December 2017. Google cache version, archived.
  8. ↑ Guest. Finding War Diaries: Beating Ancestry's Poor Indexing Great War Forum 27 January 2018. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  9. ↑ Gallipoli Diaries and Great War Diaries amazon.co.uk
  10. ↑ Australian Imperial Force unit war diaries, 1914-18 War
  11. ↑ Filsell, David. Indian Re-evaluation Great War Forum 18 July 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  12. ↑ 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. Belgium DST 1916 , with links to other years. timeanddate.com
  13. ↑ page 66, ‪British Logistics on the Western Front: 1914-1919‬ by Ian Malcolm Brown, quoting end notes 84, 85 WO 95/74 Director of Supplies, War Diary 29 October 1914, 1 November 1914 page 72
  14. ↑ Indian infantry unit war diaries go online The National Archives
  15. ↑ WhiteStarLine. Gazetteer of the Western Front - 2020 Reboot Great War Forum 17 May 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  16. ↑ MLW. Online German documents in Russian Archives WW2Talk Forum 19 March 2015. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  17. ↑ Order of Battle of Divisions by A.F. Becke Parts 3A and 3B, Index by Ray Westlake. Naval & Military Press editions.
  18. ↑ Greenwoodman. Official Inquiry into Conduct of WW1 Great War Forum 19 June 2006. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  19. ↑ Report of the Committee on the Lessons of the Great War Naval & Military Press reprint edition.
  20. ↑ Volume 13 Der Weltkrieg University of Hamburg version digital page 530; State Library of Upper Austria version.
  21. ↑ Who's Who in America 1938 page 957. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library.
  22. ↑ Saunders, Jonathan. Lyn MacDonald Great War Forum 10 April 2005. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  23. ↑ Haig’s ‘unique’ WWI diaries The Diary Review.
  24. ↑ Frederick Abernethy Coleman bonhams.com
  25. ↑ lklawson. Free Combat Revolver manual MartialTalk 10 January 2018. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  26. ↑ Location of hospitals and casualty clearing stations, British Expeditionary Force, 1914-1919 Naval & Military Press reprint edition.
  27. ↑ Maureene. Online books-accounts by nurses etc Great War Forum 2 November, 2015. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 Deeds that Thrill the Empire. True stories of the most glorious acts of heroism of the Empire's soldiers and sailors during the Great War naval-military-press.com
  29. ↑ stiletto_33853 . I Was There Volumes Great War Forum 26 December 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  30. ↑ Resurgam13. Rarest book? Great War Forum 26 April 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  31. ↑ "Uncle Bernard and WW1 kite balloons" Suitcase of memories.
  32. ↑ Dan_San_Abbott. War Birds: Diary of an Unknown Aviator The Aerodrome Forum 20 July 2002. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  33. ↑ 33.00 33.01 33.02 33.03 33.04 33.05 33.06 33.07 33.08 33.09 33.10 33.11 33.12 33.13 33.14 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.
  34. ↑ Larkin, Roy. The Motor-Bus in War. A.M.Beatson , 1918 Historic Military Vehicle Forum 8 February 2015. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
  35. ↑ Porter, David. was "wagger" a real gunner? Great War Forum 7 August , 2015. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  36. ↑ Dust Jacket Collector. On Active Service Series Great War Forum 27 November 2019. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 June 2019 catalogue turnerdonovan.com.
  38. ↑ archaeologydataservice.ac.uk. Appears to be taken from the book A guide to the historical and archaeological publications of societies in England and Wales, 1901-1933 compiled for the Institute of Historical Research by E. L. C. Mullins 1968. Available at the British Library UIN: BLL01011582477 Snippet Google Books
  39. ↑ vintagesunbeam. 2 German Staff Cars Captured by 2nd Bn DWR 01/09/1914 Great War Forum 18 November 2019. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  40. ↑ "Gas!" The Story of the Special Brigade Naval & Military Press
  41. ↑ Tunnellers Naval & Military Press
  42. ↑ Page from Great War Dust Jackets Scroll down.
  43. ↑ "Thomas Henry Rafferty, (my great uncle)" died at Ypres 25th April 1915. thomasrafferty.org.uk
  44. ↑ bmac. Book 'ONE YOUNG MAN': Sidney Baxter / Reginald Davis Great War Forum 2 January 2006. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  45. ↑ The Spectator 29 December 1917, page 14., which now requires a subscription.
  46. ↑ Turner Donovan December 2019, item 259
  47. ↑ Naval & Military Press
  48. ↑ 48.0 48.1 The London Scottish Regiment, WW1 londonscottishregt.org, archived page.
  49. ↑ delta, and johntanner AIF memoirs, letters and other works (not Battalion histories) Great War Forum 5 November 2021. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
  50. ↑ ilkley remembers. [Great War] Autobiographies Anonymous Great War Forum 1 March 2019. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  51. ↑ Muerrisch. "Goodbye to all that" = Fact or Fiction? Great War Forum 4 November 2019. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  52. ↑ Backs to the Wall: A larrikin on the Western Front by G D Mitchell.
  53. ↑ "Stand To" A Diary of the Trenches 1915-1918 Naval & Military Press reprint.
  54. ↑ Review: And We Go On: A Memoir of the Great War Review by Hanna Smyth. muse.jhu.edu
  55. ↑ Three Chevrons Naval and Military Press
  56. ↑ Turner Donovan December 2019, Item 110.
  57. ↑ Dust Jacket Collector et al. Arthur Jenkin 'A Tank Driver's Experiences' Great War Forum 10 January 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  58. ↑ 58.0 58.1 (James) Ferdinand Tuohy 1891-1953, born in Cork, Ireland and died 1953 Southwark London, was a journalist for a New York daily and then foreign correspondent in Europe for the Sphere, see The FictionMags Index, Biographical Notes: Page 503
  59. ↑ "Monocled Mutineer, Percy Toplis" pixelsurgery.com
  60. ↑ Over There: War Scenes on the Western Front by Arnold Bennett ww1centenary.oucs.ox.ac.uk
  61. ↑ CROONAERT German Map of the main French prison camps, labor commandos and hospitals Great War Forum 21 March 2017. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  62. ↑ Tulloch-Marshall, Tom et al. The White Cross Touring Atlas Great War Forum 22 February 2010 onwards. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  63. ↑ knittinganddeath Useful Links for Researching German Soldiers Great War Forum 24 August 2024. Retrieved 3 September 2024.
  64. ↑ Ken S. Regimental histories at the German National Library (DNB) Great War Forum 10 February 2016. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  65. ↑ charlie2. Free German Regimental History Books Great War Forum 1 May 2017. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  66. ↑ charlie2. Free German Regimental History Books Great War Forum 7 September 2017. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  67. ↑ charlie2. More German Regimental histories due soon Great War Forum 12 April 2018. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  68. ↑ Trajan et al. Ernst Junger War Diaries Great War Forum 14th February 2019. Retrieved 15 February 2019. Review of the Hofmann translation "A Homer for the 20th century" by Daniel Johnson 25 August 2003 The Telegraph.
  69. ↑ The Occupation of the Rhineland : 1918-1929 by J. E Edmonds. Naval & Military Press reprint edition.
  70. ↑ Spectator review of Life in the Occupied Area by Katharine Tynan 1925.
  71. ↑ David Filsell all quiet on the western front Great War Forum 11 August 2004. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
  72. ↑ "An outsider at war" by Richard Johnstone 4 June 2012. Inside Story.
  73. ↑ Details from the London Gazette.
  74. ↑ "‘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.
    "H.C. McNeile (“Sapper”)" and "H.C. McNeile (“Sapper”) in the Great War" Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers in the Great War.
  75. ↑ Pages 126-127 from Chapter V, Elsie and Mairi Go to War: Two Extraordinary Women on the Western Front by Diane Atkinson. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library.
  76. ↑ William – an Englishman by Cicely Hamilton persephonebooks.co.uk.
  77. ↑ Pages 51-52 English Fiction and Drama of the Great War, 1918–39 by John Onions. Google Books
  78. ↑ "Enid Bagnold's The Happy Foreigner: The Wider World Beyond Love" by Stella Deen muse.jhu.edu
  79. ↑ charlesmessenger Casemate Books - a question Great War Forum 12 November 2016. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  80. ↑ Ebay listing ResurgamBooks (dilapsus) and Lionel James "He Wielded Pen and Sword" northwoodvillage.org.uk
  81. ↑ Liz in Eastbourne. Across the Black Waters by Mulk Raj Anand Great War Forum 3 March 2016. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  82. ↑ Comment by Peter Moore on an archived webpage Soldiers Stories: Lieutenant Frank de Pass nam.ac.uk
  83. ↑ "The 10 best historical novels" by William Skidelsky 12 May 2012 The Guardian
  84. ↑ Turner Donovan December 2019, Item 132.
  85. ↑ Scroll to Burns, Ian. History of No.14 Balloon Section Cross & Cockade International Forum 29 June 2014. Retrieved 7 June 2021.

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