Civil Service Rifles - All Bloody Gentlemen

[John_Hartley]

Picked up a remaindered copy recently.

An excellent example of the modern battalion history - I reckon it's the gold standard for those of us who might consider writing something similar. As might be expected these days, the story bounces along drawing heavily on personal accounts, as well as the original history published in 1921. I particularly like the way Jill usually managed to include which government department a man had come from - it makes it much more personal.

Worth getting hold of, even if you have no particular interests in the London Regiment.

Long standing GWF pals will recall that Jill was a Forum member before her untimely death.

[River97]

John,

I concur absolutely. I purchased the book from the Naval and Military Press here about a year ago and it's a beautiful, personal read, with a great deal of photo's that not too many have seen.

All for under a fiver as well.

Cheers Andy.

[squirrel]

Agree whole heartedly with the above - a superb book.

[SiegeGunner]

Jill at the re-dedication of the CSR Memorial at Somerset House in 2002.

[Bardess]

Not having heard of Jill or her book I Googled and look what I found. Nice work!

[Waddell]

Thanks for that Dianne. I was just about to ask what started her interest in the Civil Service Rifles as her book has been mentioned before.

Nice story about Jill Mick.

[daggers]

What a splendid pair of tributes, to the author and 'her' regiment.

D

[Guest Norman Wells]

As a new member who's just bought the book, I agree it's an excellent account. My grandfather, Fred Wells, was with the CSRs pre-war, and I'm pretty certain he's in the group photo on pages 24-25 of the book. He later served, it seems, with the 1/12 Rangers in France throughout 1917 before going back to the CSRs in 1918, when he won the MM for an incident described in Feilding's War Letters to a Wife. Anyone know how I can find out about Fred's pre-war service with the CSRs?

Thanks, tootsmate