Category: History - British

Soldiers' Stories of the War

[History does not give a more splendid story of courage and endurance than that which is afforded by the battle of Mons and the subsequent retreat. The British Expeditionary Force, straight from home, with no time for preparation, and only two days after a concentration by rai...

Chapters

39. CHAPTER XX

[One of the most moving statements in the earlier official reports dealing with the war was that about the fighting at Mons and elsewhere, which cost us 6000 men, and no paragra...

29. CHAPTER X

[Not one of the almost numberless valiant deeds of the war has proved more thrilling and splendid than the exploit of L Battery, Royal Horse Artillery, at Nery, near Compiègne,...

44. CHAPTER XXIV

[On the road from Béthune to Armentières, four miles to the north of La Bassée, is the little straggling frontier village of Neuve Chapelle, which first came into notice in Octo...

24. CHAPTER V

[In the first four months of the war nineteen Victoria Crosses were gazetted for valour in the field, and of these no fewer than five were awarded for the sanguinary fighting at...

20. CHAPTER I

[History does not give a more splendid story of courage and endurance than that which is afforded by the battle of Mons and the subsequent retreat. The British Expeditionary For...

43. CHAPTER XXIII

[The official writers have told us of the almost superhuman efforts made by the Germans to break through to Calais so that they might, from that place, either raid or bombard En...

33. CHAPTER XIV

[Within a few minutes, on the morning of Tuesday, September 22nd, 1914, three large British cruisers, sister ships, foundered in the North Sea, after being torpedoed by German s...

23. CHAPTER IV

[The Battle of the Aisne began on Sunday, September 13th, 1914, when the Allies crossed the river. The Germans made furious efforts to hack their way through to Paris, but after...

27. CHAPTER VIII

[The winter of the war was marked by an abnormal rainfall and storms of uncommon severity: also by the extraordinary development of trench warfare. The rain and storms, the fros...

37. CHAPTER XVIII

[Sir John French has repeatedly praised the splendid work of the Royal Artillery during the war and glowing tributes to the courage and resourcefulness of British gunners have b...

22. CHAPTER III

[The King’s Royal Rifle Corps, the famous old 60th Rifles, the “Greenjackets,” I have had a large share in the war and have added to their glorious distinctions. Many of the off...

42. CHAPTER XXII

[“Eye-Witness,” in his descriptive account of November 4th, dealing with the first phase of the desperate fight for Ypres, said that a special feature of the battle was that it...

25. CHAPTER VI

[We very slowly learned something of the many extraordinary features of this amazing war. Nothing is too astonishing or stupendous to happen in connection with the fight to crus...

26. CHAPTER VII

[“Die hard, my men, die hard!” shouted the heroic Colonel Inglis, when, at Albuhera, in the Peninsular War, his regiment, the 57th Foot, were furiously engaged with the enemy. A...

31. CHAPTER XII

[In this story we become acquainted with a brilliant bit of work done by our brave little Gurkhas, fresh from India, and we learn of a splendid achievement under a deadly fire--...

21. CHAPTER II

[The war was begun by Germany in a spirit of ruthlessness which was to spare neither man, woman nor child, and was to leave innocent people “only their eyes to weep with.” The n...

35. CHAPTER XVI

[The Highland regiments have made a great impression upon the Germans since the war began, and the kilted troops have added to their laurels in the field. This story of fighting...

32. CHAPTER XIII

[Particularly hard and responsible work has been done for the British Army by motor cycle despatch-riders. Many members of this fine branch of our fighting men abandoned very pr...

30. CHAPTER XI

[Indomitable cheerfulness and consistent courage are two of the outstanding features of the conduct of the British soldier in the war, and these qualities are finely shown in th...

38. CHAPTER XIX

[One of the battalions which composed the 5th Division of the British Expeditionary Force was the 1st East Surrey Regiment. It was on the 5th Division that so much of the heavy...

28. CHAPTER IX

[In blowing up bridges, repairing the ravages of the enemy, in throwing pontoons over rivers, and in countless other ways, the Royal Engineers have contributed largely to the su...

36. CHAPTER XVII

[It was estimated that, early in the war, no fewer than 10,000 vehicle workers were serving with the colours--3000 taxicab drivers, 3000 tramway men, and 4000 motor-’bus drivers...

34. CHAPTER XV

[“Practically the whole fast cruiser force of the German Navy, including some great ships vital to their fleet and utterly irreplaceable, has been risked for the passing pleasur...

40. CHAPTER XXI

[Sir John French, in one of his despatches, expressed his great admiration of the splendid work which has been done at the front by our Territorials--that work, indeed, by this...

41. did. They came along as if they were satisfied that nothing could happen

to them--certainly the German body that was making its way along the road had no idea that a disguised motor-car was ready to give it a welcome as soon as it got within striking...

19. CHAPTER XXIV

4. CHAPTER V

17. CHAPTER XXII

18. CHAPTER XXIII

14. CHAPTER XIX

1. CHAPTER I

2. CHAPTER III

7. CHAPTER VIII

5. CHAPTER VI

8. CHAPTER IX

10. CHAPTER XI

11. CHAPTER XII

12. CHAPTER XVI

13. CHAPTER XVIII

3. CHAPTER IV

9. CHAPTER X

15. CHAPTER XX

16. CHAPTER XXI

6. CHAPTER VII