Monday 30 November 2020

BOOK REVIEW: FIELD GUNS IN FRANCE.


 This is a book from my library. It was written by a regular army officer who went to France in 1915 in command of an 18 lb field gun battery. He remained in command of various batteries throughout the war before being gassed in summer 1918.

The author had an unusual attitude to war which meant his chief pleasure was to "snipe" German troops in the front lines with his battery. His view was that the more Germans he killed the better. It was almost like a form of sport, scoring as many hits as possible. In fact he actually kept a "game book" of German soldiers he personally killed. A rather cold blooded approach some may think but I guess he was just being perhaps more honest about his role as a professional soldier than usual.

Overall a good book with lots of interesting details about life in a gun battery from the perspective of the commanding officer.

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