Trying to remember a book title

[Michelle Young]

Years ago I was loaned a book written about a padre involved in the build up to the March offensive. I seem to recall he was disliked by the CO and was having a hard time. The book would have been written in the 20s or 30s but I cannot for the life of me remember the name of it. Does this ring any bells with anyone?

Thanks, Michelle

[Alan Tucker]

Years ago I was loaned a book written about a padre involved in the build up to the March offensive. I seem to recall he was disliked by the CO and was having a hard time. The book would have been written in the 20s or 30s but I cannot for the life of me remember the name of it. Does this ring any bells with anyone?

Thanks, Michelle

If you have Richard Holmes'Tommy' to hand he uses sources likes this.

[Greenwoodman]

"March, kind comrade" by R H J Steuart??

[Michelle Young]

Thanks Richard, that could be it. I have rather lost touch with the person who loaned me the book so I can't check with them.

Michelle

[PhilW]

Michelle,

Could it be "The Fifth Army Fell Back" by CR Benstead ("originally published as "Retreat"" it says inside)

The opening sentence of the book is "Perhaps you'd care to sit in front padre" and is all about the "Reverend Elliot Warne" during the March Retreat

I have a copy, purchased by my father York Station in 1940 to read on the train when he was a schoolboy. When we researched (in 1990s) my Grandads WW1 service, we discovered that he had "lost his guns" overnight in late April 1918 (Aussie advance next day reclaimed them) at Villers - Bret, close to Bois l'Abbe during a German advance. He had returned in 1929 and found the fuse boxes abandoned there in 1918 and my Dad remembered reading something like this elsewhere. He eventually re-read the above book (Dad had a good memory!!) and found, on page 247 that at Villers-Bret "close to a wood" "Dalgith stopped here, thoughtfully surveying the shells he had, one day, to remove. (They had been abandoned by a British Battery driven from the position at the end of the retreat)"

Dad then tried to contact CR Benstead about this but he was long dead and in an exchange of letters, his son was unable to help further about whether the passage in the book actually referred to Grandad's guns. We still believe that "Grandad's guns " marked the furthest advance of the Germans during the March Retreat before they were driven back towards the Hindenburg line and eventual defeat!

Blimey, don't I go on!!!

Sorry if this is of no relevance to your original request, but your description "padre involved in the build up to the March offensive. I seem to recall he was disliked by the CO and was having a hard time. The book would have been written in the 20s or 30s" really rings a bell.

Book is long out of print I gather, and my copy is rather a treasured possession, but Michelle, if you would like to borrow it, as long as I can get it back, you never know!!

Scan of cover is at

http://s33.photobucket.com/albums/d73/Phil...ent=Bensted.jpg

Best wishes

Phil

[Michelle Young]

Thank you Phil, PM sent.

Regards, Michelle