Johnny get your gun : a personal narrative of the Somme, Ypres and Arras

At the age of seventeen-and-a-half, full of idealism and patriotism, John Tucker enlisted as an Infantryman in the London Kensington Regiment and reached France, after training, in August 1915. Against all odds he survived three years of bitter trench warfare, was seriously wounded, and returned to Blighty a few months before Armistice Day. During those years he took part in the Battle of the Somme, the battles of Arras and Cambrai, and the Third Battle of Ypres. Yet though his patriotism remained unflinching, his idealism gave way to the grim realities of day to day survival in the trenches and, as he began to understand what constitutes courage, he grew from boyhood to manhood.#8232;#8232;The author contrasts the beauties of the French countryside with the ugliness of widespread death and destruction, and paints a picture of French country life hardly less squalid than the soldiers' own lot. But above all, he makes the reader realise what it was like to fight in the war to end all wars.#8232;#8232;These are the memoirs of one Infantryman, but through his eyes a vivid canvas of the whole war gradually unfolds. [Elib] A British Infantryman recounts his harrowing experiences on the Western Front of the Great War, from the Battle of Somme to Arras and beyond.At the age of seventeen, full of idealism and patriotism, John Tucker enlisted in the London Kensington Regiment. Deployed to France in August 1915, he survived three years of bitter trench warfare, was seriously wounded, and returned home to Blighty a few months before Armistice Day. During those years, Tucker took part in the Battle of the Somme, the battles of Arras and Cambrai, and the Third Battle of Ypres. While his patriotism remained unflinching, his idealism gave way to the grim realities of day to day survival in the trenches. As he began to understand what constitutes courage, he grew from boyhood to manhood.In Johnny Get Your Gun, Tucker contrasts the beauties of the French countryside with the ugliness of widespread death and destruction, and paints a picture of French country life hardly less squalid than the soldiers'own lot. But above all, he makes the reader realize what it was like to fight in the war to end all wars. At the age of seventeen-and-a-half, full of idealism and patriotism, John Tucker enlisted as an Infantryman in the London Kensington Regiment and reached France, after training, in August 1915. Against all odds he survived three years of bitter trench warfare, was seriously wounded, and returned to Blighty a few months before Armistice Day. During those years he took part in the Battle of the Somme, the battles of Arras and Cambrai, and the Third Battle of Ypres. Yet though his patriotism remained unflinching, his idealism gave way to the grim realities of day to day survival in the trenches a. Read more... Abstract: A Great War memoir of a young man who fought throughout the whole campaign, seeing action on the Somme, Arras, Cambrai and Third Ypres.Originally published in 1978, this edition brings this classic book back into print for the Great War Centenary and includes a new introduction from eminent author Nigel Cave. Read more... Content: Cover Title Copyright Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgements Foreword I Diversion -- The Awakening II The Weaning Period III Grim Reality IV A Quiet Front V Total Dedication -- Spanners in the Works VI Will It Never End? VII Blighty -- End of Diversion Brief Re-union Epilogue Index