The Memoir Club, 2008.
98pages, 19 black & white illustrations.
ISBN 978 1 84104 192 6
Jeremy Mitchell has based his book on the trench diary and notes that his father George Oswald Mitchell wrote during his service with the 1/6 Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment and then with the Royal Engineers Special Company. George had been a Territorial soldier since about 1911 and received his mobilisation orders (Army Form E635) on Tuesday, August 4 1914. The Mitchell family lived in Bradford, and George reported to the Belle Vue barracks the following day. After months of training (and weeding out the men who were not physically fit to fight), the 1/6 battalion was sent to France in April 1915 where George saw his first front line service at Fauquissart.
Mr Mitchell intersperses his father's account of front line activity with excepts from Captain EV Tempest's 'History of the 6th Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment' so the reader's interest is maintained.
After spending a lengthy stay in the trenches during the spring of 1915, George's battalion is sent to Ypres from where, in July , he is sent for training in gas warfare. Here he will become one of the 'Comical Chemical Corporals' as he was joining the Royal Engineers' Special Companies in which the lowest rank was corporal. After undergoing his special training George is sent to the preparation area for the Battle of Loos, September 1915. In this section George's account of the battle (and its chaotic conditions including faulty equipment) is supplemented by excepts from Special Brigade Newsletters, and various histories and memoirs describing the battle.
The Battle of Loos was George's most memorable battle since he was not involved in the Battle of the Somme, instead staying up near Armentieres, where he was involved with diversionary gas attacks during which he received minor wounds. In September 1916, George is promoted to sergeant. As George's war winds its way slowly to 1918, we read about his home leave in July 1917 when he proposed marriage to his future wife, Josephine (who became the author's mother). George and Josephine were married in September 1918 and, instead of returning to the front, George was sent for officer training at Pembroke College, Cambridge. George completed his officer training and received his Commission as Temporary Second Lieutenant in May 1919 followed by his demobilisation.
This is a fascinating short account of a survivor's war. There is enough supplementary detail for the reader to follow the progress of the war as George gives his own, very personal story. The author, George's son, adds details from time to time as he records the stories his father told him and places the family friends and acquaintances as they crop up in the account. All in all, this is an excellent read. Mr Mitchell is not a historian and his account of his father's war depends heavily on the trench diary and several selected texts. but that does not detract from the enjoyment of reading a little gem like this.
Reviewer: Peter Palmer.
