ISBN: 0-7509-3739-4 Hardback 286 pages £19.99 Published by Sutton Publishing. Edited by Roynon. Gavin.
Captain Sir Morgan Crofton was 34 at the outbreak of the war, and had recently retired from the Army and was on the Reserve of Officers. He was a veteran of the South African War, 6th baronet of Mohill and an expert on Napoleon and the Waterloo campaign.
The diaries cover the period October 1914 to June 1915, when Crofton became an instructor at Windsor. He later saw service in East Africa and again on the Western Front, and was awarded the DSO.
Crofton went out with the 2nd Life Guards in October 1914. His diary is a vivid record of the effects of war on men, horses and the surrounding area. It is very witty-at times it had me laughing aloud at some passages- and then poignant, describing the hardships of the horses officers and men in the bitter cold and rain. Crofton deplores the destruction of buildings and describes graphically the destruction of the town of Ypres.
As at times Commanding Officer of the Machine Gun Section, and in charge of the Signallers, Crofton did not see a great deal of front line service. His bitter observations of the state of the trenches, and the disgust he feels are eloquently displayed on the occasions that he does spend time at the front.
Crofton took great delight in the surrounding countryside and often describes with great fondness the villages and the inhabitants of the villages where the 2nd Life Guards were billeted. He also reserves some pithy comments for the state of sanitation in some places!
Perhaps surprisingly for a fairly senior officer, and member of the Aristocracy, Crofton is sometimes critical of the conduct of the war and the higher command. He attacks the principle of retaining Ypres at all costs, and is acerbic of the attitudes of the civilians at home.
Gavin Roynon has done an excellent job in preparing these diaries for publication. The notes are, pleasingly at the foot of pages rather than as is so often the case placed at the end in an appendix. The book is lavishly illustrated with excellent photographs, many taken by Crofton, and being published for the first time; in addition, the reproduction quality is excellent. The foreword by Sir Martin Gilbert and the Biographical notes are informative, and a very useful short chapter entitled Ypres Then and Now provides useful information. Recommended.
Reviewer: Michelle Young
