The Russell Cawthorn Collection
The Great War 1914-1918, and Associated Conflicts Personal Accounts Collections of Letters
The Invisible Cross
ISBN
9781784292195
Purchase Price
£5.00 (second hand)
Date Purchased
August 4, 2018
Publisher
Heron Books, an imprint of Quercus Editions Ltd (2016, London)
Notes
We do not often bring into The Collection books about diaries/letters/reminiscences, whatever, of serving soldiers, especially those who served on the Western Front. There are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of them, and mostly they do not add very much to our understanding of what fighting in this war was like. But some are different. This book is one of them and that is why it is in The Collection. The book reproduces the letters that Graham Chaplin wrote home to his wife from the Western Front between the opening of the war and the beginning of 1917, when he was finally promoted to Brigadier-General and given a Brigade. He went on to survive the war, and - being a professional soldier - he saw service in various parts of the world after the war's end, including Ireland and Iraq. Chaplin started the war as a Major, second in command of the 1st Battalion The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles). He very soon succeeded to the command of the Battalion. He became the longest serving battalion commander on the Western Front. It was thought that he was passed over for promotion - which in view of his service record he would otherwise have obtained - because at the Battle of Loos he received an order from a Staff Officer to advance, and queried it, because it was a stupid order and if he had obeyed it without checking, his battalion would have suffered crippling casualties. This book is a gem, it does give us a really good impression of what life for a fairly senior officer on the Western Front was like. It is highly recommended.
9781784292195
Purchase Price
£5.00 (second hand)
Date Purchased
August 4, 2018
Publisher
Heron Books, an imprint of Quercus Editions Ltd (2016, London)
Notes
We do not often bring into The Collection books about diaries/letters/reminiscences, whatever, of serving soldiers, especially those who served on the Western Front. There are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of them, and mostly they do not add very much to our understanding of what fighting in this war was like. But some are different. This book is one of them and that is why it is in The Collection. The book reproduces the letters that Graham Chaplin wrote home to his wife from the Western Front between the opening of the war and the beginning of 1917, when he was finally promoted to Brigadier-General and given a Brigade. He went on to survive the war, and - being a professional soldier - he saw service in various parts of the world after the war's end, including Ireland and Iraq. Chaplin started the war as a Major, second in command of the 1st Battalion The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles). He very soon succeeded to the command of the Battalion. He became the longest serving battalion commander on the Western Front. It was thought that he was passed over for promotion - which in view of his service record he would otherwise have obtained - because at the Battle of Loos he received an order from a Staff Officer to advance, and queried it, because it was a stupid order and if he had obeyed it without checking, his battalion would have suffered crippling casualties. This book is a gem, it does give us a really good impression of what life for a fairly senior officer on the Western Front was like. It is highly recommended.