SMG65 Posted 10 September , 2008 Share Posted 10 September , 2008 If anybody is just starting out in the infinite quest for knowledge on the Great War or for those like me who have been at since they were 11 but want to know more then read this book by Charles Carrington. It has greatly expanded my knowledge and things I took for granted I now have to look at in a different light and start thumbing through my 300 Great War books in search of more detail, (at least the winter nights will pass quicker). His battalion was holding their front with a few wel sited posts in the Spring of 1917 when we think of battalions still holding a continous line. They didn't use bombers to bomb their way up a trench, Carrington quotes 'It was my experience after four bombing operations, that bomb and bayonet rarely got you anywhere', his battalion used 'rifle and bayonet over the top' to capture a trench. This is just a couple of many examples that Carrington gives that challenge our pre conceptions of trench warfare. The chapter titled 'Some Random Recollections' is priceless. You can pick this book up quite cheaply and my copy is by Pen and Sword, that I got for £9.99 Sean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris_Baker Posted 10 September , 2008 Share Posted 10 September , 2008 He also comprehensively demolishes the "lions led by donkeys" theories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Armstrong Custer Posted 10 September , 2008 Share Posted 10 September , 2008 I've mentioned before that this was the first serious book on the Great War which I read as a schoolboy many years ago. It is also a book that I've quoted from or mentioned in passing in the context of several topics on the forum. It is, in short, an invaluable first hand account and reflection upon the Great War and one which I turn to again and again to see what Carrington has to say upon various subjects which crop up. Chris has mentioned Carrington's demolition of the Lions led by Donkeys myth. Carrington also reminds us that many who fought the war saw their victory as a hard won, costly, but nonetheless worthwhile national endeavour - something to be celebrated for its achievement as well as commemorated for its cost. I fully endorse Sean's positive review of this classic book. ciao, GAC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom A McCluskey Posted 10 September , 2008 Share Posted 10 September , 2008 Sean, A great book. If you liked Carrington's book, you would probably like Lord Moran's: Anatomy of Courage too. Aye Tom McC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Nulty Posted 1 May , 2009 Share Posted 1 May , 2009 I bought this book a few weeks back and have just started reading it. It is well written, interesting and presents a good view of the life of an private soldier. Factually, it isn't adding anything other than another view of well documented events, but this view is well presented and I can recommend it to hose looking for a good memoir of the war. Written in 1964 when there were still lots of veterans around, it is quite poignant to read Carrington's words about a man , e.g Fred Smith, followed by a comment "Are you still alive out there, Fred Smith?". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Nixon Posted 2 June , 2009 Share Posted 2 June , 2009 Charles Carrington was a guest speaker in London at an early WFA meeting which I attended, probably in 1981 or 1982. It was a pretty full house in an audience populated by WW1 vets, one of whom got quite animated if I remember correctly. Afterwards C E Carrington signed the two copies of his bookes that I'd brought along with me specifically for that purpose. I think I'd just received Soldier from the wars... in the post that morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vista52 Posted 2 June , 2009 Share Posted 2 June , 2009 Charles Edmond Carrington also wrote 'A Subaltern's War' under the name of Charles Edmonds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Nixon Posted 2 June , 2009 Share Posted 2 June , 2009 Yes, and that was the other book I took with me. He signed that one Charles Edmonds, and the other one, C E Carrington. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil andrade Posted 2 June , 2009 Share Posted 2 June , 2009 Charles Carrington was a guest speaker in London at an early WFA meeting which I attended, probably in 1981 or 1982. It was a pretty full house in an audience populated by WW1 vets, one of whom got quite animated if I remember correctly. Afterwards C E Carrington signed the two copies of his bookes that I'd brought along with me specifically for that purpose. I think I'd just received Soldier from the wars... in the post that morning. That event sticks in my memory, too, Paul. I remember his opening words..." Please let me ask the audience, are there any veterans here who fought in that old, old war ?" How privileged I am to have been present at that meeting ! He was dapper and sprightly, and was keen to strike a controversial note. He made it apparent that, in his view, it was the Germans rather than the British and their allies who displayed momentous military and diplomatic ineptitude....although he added, in a rather sotto voce manner, that he reckoned the counter attack launched by the Germans at Gommecourt on July 1st 1916 was one of the finest feats of soldiering he had ever witnessed. Phil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Nixon Posted 2 June , 2009 Share Posted 2 June , 2009 You have a better memory than I do, PJA, but I do recall that it was a fascinating afternoon, well worth the hike from Essex to Chelsea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil andrade Posted 2 June , 2009 Share Posted 2 June , 2009 You have a better memory than I do, PJA, but I do recall that it was a fascinating afternoon, well worth the hike from Essex to Chelsea. Goodness Gracious, how time flies ! To think that the current D-Day commemorations are the same distance in time from the event as Carrington's lecture was from his tour of duty in the trenches.....! Phil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Reed Posted 2 June , 2009 Share Posted 2 June , 2009 Well, that makes three of us who were there. It was 1982, and my first attendance at a WFA meeting. It was quite something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gheluvelt Posted 2 June , 2009 Share Posted 2 June , 2009 I've just ordered it from Amazon, after ordering Ian Beckett's "Ypres" last week. I'm going to have to stop reading these book reviews - it's costing me a fortune ! Looking forward to reading it. Regards, Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Nixon Posted 2 June , 2009 Share Posted 2 June , 2009 Just found my copy of the 1965 Hutchinson original and I see from the slip inside that I paid £6 for it from P G de Lotz Books in March 1982. Now he was a man who had a fantastic collection of WW1 books. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Reed Posted 2 June , 2009 Share Posted 2 June , 2009 Blimey Paul - you are really taking me back now. Peter de Lotz. I haven't heard that name in a very long time. You'll mention Ron Speight next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Nixon Posted 2 June , 2009 Share Posted 2 June , 2009 Blimey Paul - you are really taking me back now. Peter de Lotz. I haven't heard that name in a very long time. You'll mention Ron Speight next. Ah yes, he was another of my well-patronised book-sellers in the early eighties. I've just had a quick look on my shelves and see that I bought, amongst others, A Private in the Guards from him in 1981 for £6.10 (including postage). I never met Ron, and he always signed the invoices R H S Speight, but I did go to Peter's house in Hampstead one day and drool over his book stock. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Reed Posted 3 June , 2009 Share Posted 3 June , 2009 Yes, it was always R H S Speight. He compiled a very useful bibliography of divisional histories which I still have tucked away somewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enoch beard Posted 4 June , 2009 Share Posted 4 June , 2009 He also comprehensively demolishes the "lions led by donkeys" theories. isnt it'lions led by eugenicists' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripeyman Posted 8 June , 2009 Share Posted 8 June , 2009 Well, that makes three of us who were there. It was 1982, and my first attendance at a WFA meeting. It was quite something. Four now, as I traveled down from Wigan by train to be there with some battlefields finds for a small display. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Nixon Posted 9 June , 2009 Share Posted 9 June , 2009 Ah good, Bob. I wonder how many other GWF members were there on that day. Maybe worth a separate topic in chit chat along the lines of, "WFA Carrington 1982 - I Was There!" Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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