Mrs Miles's diary : the wartime journal of a housewife on the home front

At The Outbreak Of The Second World War Constance Miles Was Living With Her Husband In The Pretty Surrey Village Of Shere. A Prolific Correspondent With A Keen Interest In Current Affairs, Constance Kept A War Journal From 1939 To 1943, Recording In Vivid Detail What Life Was Like For Women On The Home Front. She Writes Of The Impact Of Evacuees, Of Food Shortages And The Creative Uses Of What Food There Was, And The Fears Of The Local Populace, Who Wonder How They Will Cope. She Tells Of Refugees From Central Europe Billeted In Village Houses And, Later In The War, Of The Influx Of American Servicemen. She Travels Frequently To London, Mourning The Destruction Of Familiar Landmarks And Recording The Devastation Of The Blitz, But Still Finds Time For Tea In The Strand. A Woman Of Strong Convictions, Mrs Miles Is Not Afraid To Voice Her Opinion On Public Figures And Her Worries About The Social Upheavals She Feels Certain To Follow The War. But Most Of All Her Journals Record An Overlooked Aspect Of The Conflict: The Impact On Communities Outside Of Major Cities, Who Endured Hardships We Find Hard To Imagine Today. It Is A Fascinating Document That Makes For Compulsive Reading. "Many chaplains were not permitted to go near the Front in the First World War - others insisted on doing so, like Kenneth Best in the Gallipoli Campaign. Best had no military training before the war but he felt that he could only fulfil his pastoral role by getting close to the front line and working with the troops under fire. Best was attached to the 42nd East Lancastrians - the first Territorial Army Division to serve overseas in the conflict, so arguably the least experienced in the ways of war. In his diary we follow his progress through his initial training in Egypt and on to his arrival in Gallipoli in May 1915. Gallipoli has become notorious, even by the standards of the First World War. After a naval campaign to open up a supply route to Russia through Turkey failed, some 480,000 Allied troops were drawn into a land invasion in which hundreds of thousands were injured or killed. In his diary, Best records his efforts to encourage frightened men before they go over the top, to comfort the wounded and, when the fighting stops, to bury the dead. His empathy for the troops is matched by a forthright disgust for their leaders, few of whom share his insight into the horrific realities of trench warfare"--Publisher's description Better times will come again - a fascinating insight into how ordinary people cope in extraordinary circumstances. At the outbreak of the Second World War Constance Miles was living with her husband in the pretty Surrey village of Shere. A prolific correspondent with a keen interest in current affairs, Constance kept a war journal from 1939 to 1943, recording in vivid detail what life was like for women on the Home Front. She writes of the impact of evacuees, of food shortages and the creative uses of what food there was, and the fears of the local populace, who wonder how they will cope. She tells of refugees from central Europe billeted in village houses and, later in the war, of the influx of American servicemen. She travels frequently to London, mourning the destruction of familiar landmarks and recording the devastation of the Blitz, but still finds time for tea in the Strand. In a time when people were asked to put national interests above their own personal comfort and liberty, a time when they, too, were reassured that they'd meet loved ones again, Mrs Miles's diaries makes for compulsive reading. This, the first in a series of four unique War Diaries produced in conjunction with the Imperial War Museum, will tell a story that is rarely heard: the experiences of a nurse working close to the Western Front in the First World War. Incredibly, Edith Appleton served in France for the whole of the conflict. Her bravery and dedication won her the Military OBE, the Royal Red Cross and the Belgian Queen Elizabeth medal among others. Her diary details with compassion all the horrors of the'war to end wars', including the first use of poison gas and the terrible cost of battles such as Ypres, but she also records what life was like for nurses and how she spent her time off-duty. There are moments of humour amongst the tragedy, and even lyrical accounts of the natural beauty that still existed amidst all the destruction. This book, the second in a series of four unique War Diaries produced in conjunction with the Imperial War Museum, will tell a story that is rarely heard: the experiences of a nurse working close to the Western Front in the First World War. Incredibly, Edith Appleton served in France for the whole of the conflict In August 1939 a Surrey housewife in a pretty country village began to keep a war journal in which she recorded in vivd detail what life was like for women on the home front. The moving and gripping First World War diary of Chaplain Kenneth Best, who accompanied the East Lancastrians at Gallipoli and the Western Front. A British tank commander's diary of battling German panzer divisions in Northern France, 1944, during the push to liberate Europe By Trevor Greenwood ; Edited By S.v. Partington.