Diary of an Old Contemptibe: From Mons to Baghdad, 1914-1919

by Edward Roe, Peter Downham (Editor)

“First class . . . a book that helps the reader to understand just what the ordinary soldier thought about his lot in the Great War.” —The Western Front Association

This is a most unusual chronicle of the events of one man during the Great War. A professional soldier at the outbreak, Edward Roe was one of the first to cross over to France in 1914 and as such fought in the early battles of the war and took part in the Retreat from Mons. He was there for the crossing of the Marne and Aisne, the dreadful fighting at Ploegsteert and for the extraordinary events during the first Christmas. Remarkably he witnessed the debacle at Gallipoli and was part of the rear-guard of the Army during the re-embarkation and evacuation of the Peninsula. Thereafter the scene shifts to Mesopotamia and the Tigris Corps in the attempt to relieve General Townshend at Kut. Wounded he returned for the final campaign that captured Baghdad.

“The author of these unique and extraordinarily moving diaries, which are supported by excellent maps and footnotes, was Edward Roe, an Irishman who had already served nine years with the British Army by the outbreak of the first world war.” — The Times

352 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2004

About the author

Edward Roe (1886 - 1952 ) was an Irish-born British Army veteran of World War I.

Reviews

[David Tice · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you want to know what WW1 was really like from the perspective of an experienced soldier, this is the book for you. This contemporaneously written diary reveals the hardships of a WW1 soldier like no other. Two drawbacks: its length (which you can’t begrudge the author since he survived the whole war), and the fact less than half his service was on the Western Front; most of it was in Mesopotamia, a far corner of the war of little interest (then or now!).