The Western Front Association: furthering interest in the Great War 1914-18 | explore | learn | share

ISBN: 07183 0247 8 Hardback 192 pp £8.50 (pub 1980)
Published by William Kimber.

Although published in 1980, and now sadly out of print, this book is, to me, a classic memoir of the Great War. Richard Talbot Kelly was a school boy at Rugby in 1914. He enlisted with a regular Commission in the Royal Horse Artillery and went to France with 52nd Brigade, Royal Field Artillery, which was part of the Divisional Artillery of the 9th Division.
Talbot Kelly joined the battery in May 1915. The memoirs, based on his diaries, give accounts of the actions in which he was involved, as well as the quieter times. A gifted water colour artist, the book is illustrated with his fine drawings, showing life in the trenches, and battles. There are few photographs in the book, but they show Talbot Kelley as a sensitive, very youthful officer. (He was later to feature in the BBC Television series, “The Great War”.)
Talbot Kelly saw action at the battles of Loos, the Somme, Arras and Third Ypres. He was awarded the Military Cross and Mentioned in Dispatches, facts that he does not mention in the memoirs, the information is gleaned from the notes. He describes in graphic detail the battles and the battlefields, at times with harrowing details and his disgust at the conditions is evident. When in quieter sectors, however, he delights in the wildlife around him.
The diaries end abruptly, in August 1917. A few days before his twenty first birthday, he was badly injured by a shell burst. He laconically states that he crawled out of the crater caused by the shell, he found men with shovels waiting to either dig him out or bury whatever remained of him. Although the shell caused no actual wound, he was seriously injured internally, and for some days he was dangerously ill.
Well worth tracking down, this fine book is recommended.

Reviewer - Michelle Young