The Life Expectancy Of A Junior Officer
There has been a common legend that the life expectation of a junior Officer in a front line battalion was only 3 weeks. While it is true that battalions suffered…
Progressing Backward
In 1925 Gertrude Jekyll remarked about the roads… The road was a kind of world in itself, full of personnel incident and human story. Now nearly all of this is…
Lord Kitchener's letter to the troops
Every soldier leaving for the front during 1914-15 received a copy of Lord Kitchener’s letter to the troops, it was a brief, soldierlike statement of the standard of conduct which…
What They Said – August 1914
On the outbreak of the Great War, August 1914. The lamps are going out over all Europe: we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime. Lord Grey (British…
The End of A World
On the 98th Anniversary of the outbreak of war between Great Britain and Germany, I thought I would post this amazing account by Esme Wingfield-Stratford from his excellent book “Before…
The Nurse on the SS Sussex
The British Nursing Journal on 1st April 1916 published this story of an unnamed British nurse and her actions on the SS Sussex. The risks run in the Channel crossing…
SS Sussex
SS Sussex was built by William Denny & Bros Ltd for the LBSCR. She was launched on 30 April 1896. She served on the Newhaven – Dieppe route. In 1913,…
At The Battle of Hessy Moor
During the English Civil War, Sir Phillip Monckton gives a good description of what it was like: “At the battle of Hessy Moor I had my horse shot under me…
Charles II Close Shave at Edgehill
Charles II Close Shave at Edgehill During the first battle of the English Civil war, at Edgehill, the parliamentarians came very close to capturing and taking prisoner, the Prince of…
Desperte Fighting at the Battle of Inkermann
This account of the Battle of Inkermann comes from Private Bancroft of the Grenadiers. He describes the desperate fighting around the Sandbag Battery, “I bayoneted the first Russian in the…