MartinWills Posted 15 July , 2009 Share Posted 15 July , 2009 This originally appeared in 1921 with an Intro by Sir Ian Hamilton. 500 short tales/snippets garnered from the London Evening News It is reprinted by Amberley books as a PB ISBN 978 1 84868 424 9 see www.amberley-books.com 156 x 235 mm | paperback | 224 pages | 70 black and white illustrations Published Price £12.99 (cheaper on the publishers website) Why on earth, I thought, would I want this volume. None the less, I could not put it down when a local second hand dealer proferred it. Well, it doesn't really tell me anything about the war I didn't know. It does not add to any scholarly or revisionist debate. It's really just a load of one paragraph anecdotes. None the less I still could not put it down. What is it about this volume? Why do I enjoy dipping into it time after time? Well, quite simply it says so much about the Londoners who served and how they coped and came through the war. Each little anecdote conveys that sense of humour that kept "Tommy Atkins" going. In many ways it is a piece of it's time but I still chuckle at tale after tale. Most encouragingly it also covers the broad scope of the war, not just the Western Front - here are tales from Italy, Salonika, Gallipoli, Egypt & Palestine , Mesopotamia, on the oceans and beyond. Just imagine the ranker who, stumbling through the mud filled trench falls into a deep and disused dug-out. His fellows fear the worst but call down into the dark only to be met with some ribaldry about having found the Channel Tunnel. It is the sort of book you just find difficult to put down conveying, as it does, the trench humour of the period. It's a pleasure to dip into and says so much about the nature and humour of the soldier in the great war. Great Fun, hugely entertaining and highly recommended, just don't take it too seriously. PS Did I mention the super "Bert Thomas" cartoons that illustrate it. Wonderful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cockney tone Posted 15 July , 2009 Share Posted 15 July , 2009 Martin, thank you for bringing this to my attention, will have to get a copy to see if any of my family were contributors! Regards and best wishes, Scottie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vista52 Posted 16 July , 2009 Share Posted 16 July , 2009 Greetings Scottie from California Here's a preview on-line. I've never found the time to go through all of them. If anyone finds the one with the "Knight in Shining Armor" (you'll know it when you find it) would you let me know where it is. http://www.firstworldwar.com/diaries/cockney_intro.htm Martin, thanks for the link. I'm gonna get it!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vista52 Posted 16 July , 2009 Share Posted 16 July , 2009 Just as a PS Some of these are really humorous. I just wondered if some of the really good ones couldn't be reproduced here on the forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vista52 Posted 16 July , 2009 Share Posted 16 July , 2009 Me again, Found it....In Shining Armour http://www.firstworldwar.com/diaries/cockn...wicenightly.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cockney tone Posted 16 July , 2009 Share Posted 16 July , 2009 Vista, great link, thanks for posting it! Regards and best wishes, Scottie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herbie4798 Posted 16 July , 2009 Share Posted 16 July , 2009 Thanks Martin, Had read a couple online, Now just orderd it. Look forward to reading it. James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squirrel Posted 16 July , 2009 Share Posted 16 July , 2009 Just ordered it through the Amazon link on the donations page - used one of their other book sellers as, including the p & p, it was cheaper than the Amazon price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Reed Posted 16 July , 2009 Share Posted 16 July , 2009 One word of warning... John Laffin used the material in this book for a publication called 'On The Western Front - Soldiers Stories from France & Flanders' that was originally published in the 80s and reprinted in the last couple of years I believe. He doesn't source any of the stories, but I after I picked up an original copy of 'Best 500 Cockney War Stories' many years ago realised that it was all strangely familiar! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wizzywadey Posted 16 July , 2009 Share Posted 16 July , 2009 here's a good one Mine that was his Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartinWills Posted 16 July , 2009 Author Share Posted 16 July , 2009 Paul is quite right - tales like these do get used and abused elsewhere. At least this new edition (and the original) attribute the tales, often with units as well. It's an entertaining read, a good bedside volume to dip into, but as I said originally, don't take it too seriously - just enjoy. Thanks to those contributing to the forum by using the Amazon Link - if everyone buying from Amazon did this it would greatly help with forum costs at no cost to yourselves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vista52 Posted 16 July , 2009 Share Posted 16 July , 2009 And another, An' that's all that "appened http://www.firstworldwar.com/diaries/cockn...otsreveille.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IPT Posted 3 November , 2009 Share Posted 3 November , 2009 Found the above site by chance and spent a happy hour reading through them. Apart from the anecdotes, it's amazing how much actual information can be gleaned from these stories. I was interested to see that one of them was sent in from Lady Lawton, about something her husband found amusing when commanding the 41st division. When I found the husband on Wikipedia, I realised that his wife would have had some quite different stories to tell about him a few years later.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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