ISBN: 1 897632 05 3 Hardback 393 pages
I first read this superb book after its reprint and have always been grateful to Naval and Military Press for a chance to own a copy. John Lucy and his younger brother Denis both born in Southern Ireland joined the army in 1912. Not as one would expect into a local regiment but chose the Royal Irish Rifles with its depot in Belfast. He gives a very humorous and detailed insight into the training required to become a rifleman in that superb army which went to France in 1914. These chapters alone make the book worthwhile. Both brothers went to France as Lance Corporals in August 1914 with the regiment and took part in the battles of Mons, Le Cateau, taking part in the retreat and subsequent advance to the Aisne where the battalion fought north of Vailly close to Rouge Maison, a hamlet of a large farm. It was here that Denis met his death on September 15th and his body was never found. John’s description of their parting is very poignant. After the Battle of the Aisne the regiment moved to La Bassee where it took part in savage fighting around Neuve Chapelle witnessing the virtual destruction of the battalion. Having been brought up to strength it was then moved to the Salient and took part in the repulse of the German attacks of November 11th. By this time John was a 20 year old sergeant, one of four survivors of thirty two corporals who had sailed for France in August. He thought that the battalion was never the same again after 1914, a sentiment shared by many of those that survived the destruction of the old BEF. Here he writes of how to stay alive in the trenches which could have been issued to all those coming into the line for the first time. He went home sick at the end of 1915 not returning until mid 1917 during which time he had applied for a commission. He rejoined his old battalion in time to take part in the assault on Westhoek Ridge, an action which he describes the real horror of war. His war service came to an end when he was severely wounded in the German counter attack at Cambrai. He stayed in the army after the war and joined the Kings African Rifles and remained with them until 1932. He married in Bombay and finished his working life as a journalist and finally as a broadcaster for Radio Eireann. He also served in the second world war becoming Acting Lieutenant Colonel of the 70th Young Soldiers Battalion R.U .R
He started to write the book in 1936 and it was well reviewed on its publication in 1938. It is most certainly one of the most detailed and graphic accounts the life of an individual soldier, beautifully written by a dedicated professional. If there is one criticism it is that the names he mentions are pseudonyms making it hard to identify them with complete certainty. No matter , it is a marvellous chronicle of the Great War, especially the descriptions of 1914 from a born writer It would probably be the one which I would take with me to a desert island it is that good.
Reviewer: Maurice Johnson
