A gunner’s Great War: an artilleryman’s experience from the Somme to t

[Chris_Baker]

A gunner’s Great War: an artilleryman’s experience from the Somme to the Subcontinent

by Ian Ronayne

published by Pen & Sword Military, 2012

ISBN 978 1 84884 608 1

cover price – £19.99

Hard, 174pp plus introduction, sources and index. Illustrated.

reviewed by Chris Baker

This is an edited version of the journal of Clarence Ahier, a man from the island of Jersey who enlisted into the Royal Field Artillery in October 1915. He subsequently served with the 23rd Divisional Ammunition Column and “C” Battery of 103rd Brigade, both units being part of the artillery of 23rd Division. He saw service in the early stages of the Battle of the Somme and at Ypres. Clarence was moved to “C” Battery of 157 Brigade in January 1918 and soon afterwards became a victim of mustard gas shelling which caused his skin to blister. After evacuation home for treatment he returned to service in September 1918 and much to his surprise was sent for garrison duty in India.

Clarence wrote a journal describing his experiences at some point after the war, and Ian Ronayne’s book is based upon them. In many ways, with the exception of his Indian period Clarence had a rather typical war and much of his memory deals with events and conditions that will be familiar to many readers – not that it makes them less interesting.

The author says in his introduction that “the principal question was whether and how much to edit Clarence’s original material”: it seems that it was to a great extent left as written. But the journal was, if that is correct, not extensive for at least a third of the book (more in places) is contextual and background material written by Ian Ronayne. It is well written and for the uninformed will provide a valuable backdrop; those with existing knowledge of the war may find themselves skipping parts of it to see what Clarence did next! I found the descriptions of service life in India most interesting, for this is a subject not well covered by similar work.

Overall I could not say that this is a genuinely important addition to our knowledge of the Great War in a way that the recently produced “Joffrey’s war” (as an example) is, but it is well written, engaging and worth a read.

This review first appeared on my website a few minutes before posting it here. Link: http://www.longlongt...ners-great-war/

[swizz]

I was interested to read this review as I got this book for my birthday! I was a bit surprised on flicking through it to see how much contextual material there is.

[harkerr@btinternet.com]

Could either of you give some indication of how much of the content relates to his time in the DAC and how detailed it is in regard to their activities and daily workload.

Regards

Richard

[swizz]

Hi Richard

I haven't read it yet! I'll answer here once I do

Catherine

[swizz]

Well I've now had a chance to read this. Although I enjoyed the sections taken from Ahier's journal, I was surprised at just how much contextual material there was. I can absolutely see why Chris suggested some readers might skip through these. And I agree, the Indian section was interesting and not something I'd really read anything about previously.

As for the DAC, there's very little. From memory, Ahier was only ever with the DAC for a few days respite. If this is the specific aspect you're interested in, I wouldn't bother getting the book.

[harkerr@btinternet.com]

Hi Swizz

Thanks for taking the trouble to reply.

Your advice will be followed!

Regards

Richard