Rifle Brigade - memoirs / letters / diaries

[Jim Hastings]

Dear All,

Just wondered if any GWF member had come across any of the above for the Rifle Brigade? I know of the Hugh Butterworth 'Blood and Iron' letters, just wondered if there are any more?

Many thanks

Jim

[Black Maria]

Two men a memoir,O.U.P 1919

Villiers-Stuart goes to war,Pentland 1990

The Anger of the Guns,Kimber 1979

Andrew R Buxton A Memoir ,Scott 1918

Letters to his wife(R.E Vernede),Collins 1917

The making of an officer(capt A.C Burnell),p.p 1916

Edward James Kay-Shuttleworth,pp 1918

Dan a Memorial,pp 1918

Geoffrey Watkins Smith,pp 1917

Gilbert Walter Lyttelton Talbot ,S&J 1917

James Colin MacLehose,pp 1918

An Episode of The Great War Lt R.N.R Blaker pp 1919

The Letters of Donald Hankey,Melrose 1922

Armageddon Road a V.C's Diary, Kimber 1983

Many of these are privately printed memoirs and very rare.

[charlesmessenger]

Argameddon Road: A VCs Diary 1914-16 edited by Terry Norman (Kimber, London, 1982). This is Billy Congreve, who won the DSO, MC and a posthumous VC, and the diary is fascintaing..

Just to amplify blackmaria's post.

Charles M

[Jim Hastings]

Blackmaria,

Again indebted to you for advice on the memoirs/diary front (you've advised me in the past on QVR works and your recommendation on Frank Hawkings was spot on!), thank you

Charles,

Thank you for your reply, appreciated, and must add that I enjoyed 'Call to Arms' and 'The Day We Won The War'. Already checked out 'Armageddon' on Amazon ...

Good evening and best wishes both

Jim

[Black Maria]

Your welcome Jim,glad to be of help.

Best wishes,

John.

[stiletto_33853]

Jim,

A lot of these are on the forum and as stated they are memorial books or a lot of them are, there is plenty of literature from RB officers and some men. Try "The Congreve's" Father and son, to my mind a better read than Armageddon Road, as you have an interest in the 1st RB try "From Verse to Worse" by Lionel Lord Tennyson covering the onset of WW1 and the early part until he was wounded. "A Soldiers Diary" by Captain H. Raymond Smith, an OR with the 8th Worcesters then an officer in the 11th RB's and so the list goes on.

The Blaker account I placed on here some time ago, 13th RB and a personal account of their last action, as rare as rocking horse ..........!!!, only produced for his personal family so that his children may understand what he went through.

Another covering the 13th RB is "For The Duration"

Andy

[Jim Hastings]

Thank you Andy,

As per PM looked for Tennyson's work - cheapest £50 so may try library first

Could you send me the link to the Blacker post as I cannot find it on the forum please, when you get a chance.

Found the Butterworth link which was interesting reading

Cheers

Jim

[Guest b10845]

Tennyson’s From Verse to Worse is know available on the Kindle platform: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00X6EDKQ8.

[JOHN BALL]

Jim,

Just finished reading one of the above books (kindle version), Andrew R Buxton A Memoir. Serving with the 3rd R.B, the book is mainly based on letters written to his closest family. A good read.

Obtained from a good selection of R.B. material available on the Open Library site.

Cheers, John

[stiletto_33853]

old post but here goes, not going to broach the higher formation books which cover the RB but as the OP requested, memoirs/letters/diaries with biographies and autobiographies added

For the Duration - the story of the 13th RB

The Congreve's, Father and son (a far better read than Armageddon Road)

General Sir John Cowans (2 volumes) - QMG to the Forces 1912-19

Johnnie Gough V.C.

The Story of Donald Hankey - 7th RB for a time.

Letters of Donald Hankey

Field Marshall Sir Henry Wilson Bart GCB, DSO (2 Volumes)

Brasshat - A biography of Field Marshall Sir Henry Wilson 1864-1922

The Lost Dictator - Field Marshall Sir Henry Wilson GCB, DSO

Three persons (Field Marshall Sir Henry Wilson, Colonel E.M. House and Colonel T.E. Lawrence)

Bloody Red Tabs General officer casualties of the Great War - covers Brigadier General J.E. Gough V.C., Brigadier General R.C. Machlachlan, Major General G.H. Thesiger C.B., C.M.G., Lieutenant General W.N. Congreve V.C., C.B., M.V.O., Brigadier General E.P.A. Riddell D.S.O. all RB officers

From Chauffeur to Brigadier - covers Brigadier General C.D. Baker-Carr

Reminiscences - Lieutenant Colonel R.E.B. Crompton, early RB officer during WW1 was mainly involved on developing the tank

Khaki and Rifle Green - memoirs of Henry Cornelius O'Callaghan Prittie, commanded the 10th Londons at Gallipoli until wounded then adjutant at the Rifle Depot.

Reminiscenes - Major General Sir Francis Howard, served as inspector of Infantry, New Armies until 1918, but useful in covering stories of RB officers that reached higher rank in WW1.

The Anger of the Guns - John Nettleton - Artist Rifles commissioned into the 2nd RB in 1916. Interesting comparison of the differences of serving with a regular battalion and then serving with a new army battalion.

Big Game, Boers & Boches -Lieutenant Colonel Sir William Prescott-Westcar Bart, D.S.O. - CO 10th RB until wounded on 3/9/16

Not in Front of the Children - Henry Sherek, served in both wars, 4th RB during WW1

Letters from Flanders - 9th RB KIA 25/9/15 Lt. Hugh Montagu Butterworth

Blood and Iron (Modern version of above except in far more detail, based on his letters)

D.R. Brandt - Some of his letters, st RB, KIA 6/7/15

The making of an officer or a boy's life told in letters - Arthur Coke Burnell, 4th RB, KIA 18/3/16

Dan - A memorial - Daniel Edward Bradby, 9th RB KIA 9/4/17

Andrew Buxton - 3rd RB, KIA 7/6/17

Armageddon Road - Billy Congreve

Pages from a Family Journal - Countess of Desborough covering her sons Julian Grenfell and Billy Grenfell

Edward James Kay-Shuttleworth - Captain 7th RB killed in 1917 as staff captain 218th Brigade

James Colin MacLehose - 2nd Lt. Rifle Brigade

Geoffrey Watkins Smith - 13th Rifle Brigade

Two Men A Memoir - E.H.L. Southwell and M.G. Wight two schoolmasters at Shrewsbury, both killed on The Somme (one of the best Memorial books I have read)

Gilbert Walter Lyttelton Talbot - 7th RB - more a commemoration of his life, very little covering the war

Letters to his wife - R.E. Vernede

The Joyous Patriot - The life and letters of Sir Ralph Verney - wounded in 1915 then ADC to the Viceroy of India

Villiers-Stuart Goes to War - 9th RB CO until relieved after 25/9/15

Miles Christi - Cecil Francis Wegg-Prosser KIA 1916

Arthur Franklin Willmer - KIA 20-9-16

Pass Guard at Ypres - A novel by Ronald Gurner based on his time with the 8th RB

An Episode of The Great War 4/11/18 - 13th RB, Lt. R.N.R. Blaker M.C.

From Verse to Worse - Lionel Lord Tennyson

A Soldiers Diary - Captain H. Raymond Smith, OR in 8th Worcesters commissioned into the 11th RB.

The War Diary of an English Soldier - 3rd RB, very modern publication covering 12/9/14 to 19/12/14.

Most of these are very difficult to get hold of these days and when you can they tend to be quite costly.

There are many more, however these cover mainly WW1 period, there are others that touch on the war but not in great detail, then there are of course the books by Lieutenant Colonel Charles a Reppington, although a Rifle Brigade Officer at the time of the war he was the correspondent for The Times and are somewhat opinionated, outrageous, indiscreet but very entertaining.

Andy

[Doug Johnson]

Just obtained a copy of 'My Dearest' (pub 2014), a compilation of letters etc from and to 2lt David Taylor, 2nd KRRC covering from his enlistment in December 1915 to his capture on 10th July 1917 and then his imprisonment at Karlsruhe and Holzminden. I have not read it yet so can not say what it contains in detail but the book is some 500+ pages. The book is mostly raw data, i.e there is little commentary.

Doug