Three Chevrons - Couverture rigide

Bidder, H.F.

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 184734528X ISBN 13 : 9781847345288

Editeur : Naval & Military Press Ltd, 2006

Synopsis

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a * scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1919 edition. Excerpt: ...little house attached to it lives M. Leroy. A platoon is billeted in the room; M. Leroy, however, appears to be totally unconcerned. He is an old man, with dreamy eyes and a small far-away voice which it is extremely diffit to catch. He seems as though he had been shut up at the same time as the estaminet, and, like it, is falling into disrepair. But' there is nothing vague or uncertain about the bill for damages that he presents as our stay draws to an end. There it is--a detailed list, written out in a strong, clear hand, with the name of the Regiment (wrong, however) and the date of its arrival. If the platoon had spent their whole time, working with all available tools, they could hardly have got through the job; and, if the estaminet had been a spick-andspan going concern, the damage could hardly have been greater. Oak beams six inches square are reported to have been cut up and taken away; walls, windows, cupboards have been broken down; the fireplace (a mere hole in the wall) has suffered "degaV The old gentleman's Sunday clothes have gone, and a mattress has been damaged--and he points to a rent in a dirty old spring mattress lying in a corner of the room. As to the mattress, there is clear evidence that a cat was chased out of its interior, where it made its home, the evening we arrived; as to the rest, we pay him a few francs for the bundles of firewood that were actually used at Christmas time. He takes the payment, satisfied apparently, and relapses into vagueness: but no doubt presents the bill again to the next comer. M. Bertout, on the other hand, is a substantial farmer, short and dark, with small, beady eyes. His great old barns hold a company. He is quite easy and pleasant to deal with--it is a question of...

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur

This book consists of a series of letters, forty-four of them of varying length, written to relatives or friends, describing and commenting on the writer’s experiences as they occurred, without any thought of his remarks going beyond the family circle. The author of the foreword, identified only be the initials R.M.F, persuaded Maj Bidder to let him submit them for publication. He agreed, subject to the proviso that nothing should be altered nor anything added in the way of embellishment for the sake of effect. Some necessary cuts have been made but in the main they are reproduced here exactly as written, the first on 5th August 1914, the last but one on 9 Sep 1917 at X Corps HQ. The final letter is dated 12th November 1918. They make a most interesting and worthwhile read.'Harold Francis Bidder was born on 26 December 1875, was granted a commission in the 3rd (Militia) Battalion, R Sussex, served in S Africa and called up from the Reserve on 4th August 1914. He arrived in France on 21st December 1914 and was posted to "a strange regiment” - 1st Battalion S Staffs. After two months he was appointed OC 22nd Brigade MG Company, then X Corps MG officer and finally CO 1st MG Bn, and it is in his capacity as a MG company OC that these memoirs are particularly interesting, though at one point during the Battle of Loos (Hulluch) he was told to go and take command of a battalion [2nd Bedfords] whose CO [Maj J.C. Monteith] had just been killed.

Présentation de l'éditeur

Publishers, as a rule, look askance at letters ;for they know, by experience, how rare it is to come across private correspondence that has either value or interest for any other circle than that of the correspondents own immediate acquaintance. Written to relatives or friends, who read them with the eye of affection and the insight of a common understanding, such private letters may be intensely engrossing to their recipients. But take them out of their particular setting :expose them, in the cold light of print, to the eye of a public that reads only the written lines, not having the clues for reading between them in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred all the interest goes, all the charm evaporates. Their private virtues become, so to speak, public vices.
(Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don't occur in the book.)

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Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Naval & Military Press Ltd
• Date d'édition: 2006
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 184734528X
• ISBN 13: 9781847345288
• Reliure: Relié
• Nombre de pages: 252
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible