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A Subaltern's War; Being A Memoir Of The Great War From The Point Of View Of A Romantic Young Man, With Candid Accounts Of Two Particular Battles, ... They Occurred, And An Essay On Militarism
The two battles in which the "romantic young" author took part were the Somme and Ypres, which he somehow survived, and which he records with a special sense of humor and tragedy. He published his account in 1929 when it attracted immediate attention and went through three printings. His epilogue on militarism presents a moving retrospect, inquiring into why and how his generation fought and concluding "We must face the fact that death is inevitable and hate lamentably common." Reprint edition: 2006: 224 pages, 8 illustrations, 2 maps. Softcover. (Scholar's Bookshelf)
"Charles Edmonds" was pseudonym of Charles Carrington.
"Charles Edmonds" was pseudonym of Charles Carrington.
- GenresWorld War I
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1929
40 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 29, 2025
A note on editions to start with. The one I read was the one pictured, with a photo of the author, and his name given as “Charles Edmonds”. Charles Carrington was his real name. The subtitle of my edition is, “A former officer of the Royal Warwicks recalls the Somme and Passchendaele in one of the finest of all war memoirs.” However the text at the top of the GR page has the author’s real name, a slightly different subtitle and makes reference to an additional “essay on militarism”, which wasn’t included in my edition. My review therefore, does not cover that essay.
In Britain the popular view of WW1 is the “lions led by donkeys” line, which argues that the war itself was pointless and that the senior officers of the British Army were both callous and incompetent. The “war poets”, notably Sassoon, Owen and Graves, played a big part in formulating that view, although some historians argue that their opinions were not representative of most of the British Army at the time. I was curious to read Charles Carrington’s book as I had heard it offered an alternative viewpoint.
This is a short account that is largely limited to the author’s participation in the two battles mentioned in the subtitle, although there is also some very informative background on the nature of trench warfare, and the tactics involved.
“In this diary of the war there will be no disenchantment. No corrupt serjeant-majors stole my rations or accepted my bribes. No incompetent colonels failed to give me food and lodging. No casual staff officers ordered me to certain death, indifferent to my fate.”
Actually the author doesn’t gloss over the horrors of the trenches. Inevitably many of his friends and comrades are killed. He openly admits that by the time he got to the Battle of Passchendaele his nerves were shredded - “I never could stand shellfire” - was his own way of putting it. He spends much of the time getting hopelessly lost, since most of the movement near the frontline took place at night, in pitch darkness in an unfamiliar, blasted landscape with few landmarks. For all that, his book is a tribute to his fellow officers and the stalwart “Tommies” he fought with. His portrayal is of men who were war-weary but nevertheless dogged in their determination to see the war through, and whose morale remained high right to the end.
An interesting challenge to the image created by the war poets. Also a decent account in its own right.
In Britain the popular view of WW1 is the “lions led by donkeys” line, which argues that the war itself was pointless and that the senior officers of the British Army were both callous and incompetent. The “war poets”, notably Sassoon, Owen and Graves, played a big part in formulating that view, although some historians argue that their opinions were not representative of most of the British Army at the time. I was curious to read Charles Carrington’s book as I had heard it offered an alternative viewpoint.
This is a short account that is largely limited to the author’s participation in the two battles mentioned in the subtitle, although there is also some very informative background on the nature of trench warfare, and the tactics involved.
“In this diary of the war there will be no disenchantment. No corrupt serjeant-majors stole my rations or accepted my bribes. No incompetent colonels failed to give me food and lodging. No casual staff officers ordered me to certain death, indifferent to my fate.”
Actually the author doesn’t gloss over the horrors of the trenches. Inevitably many of his friends and comrades are killed. He openly admits that by the time he got to the Battle of Passchendaele his nerves were shredded - “I never could stand shellfire” - was his own way of putting it. He spends much of the time getting hopelessly lost, since most of the movement near the frontline took place at night, in pitch darkness in an unfamiliar, blasted landscape with few landmarks. For all that, his book is a tribute to his fellow officers and the stalwart “Tommies” he fought with. His portrayal is of men who were war-weary but nevertheless dogged in their determination to see the war through, and whose morale remained high right to the end.
An interesting challenge to the image created by the war poets. Also a decent account in its own right.
August 29, 2024
An excellent memoir of the Great War with detailed descriptions of the author’s experiences, written at the time, focussing a few days on the Somme and 3rd Ypres. These graphic accounts bring out the chaos, confusion, horror, brutality, bravery and even humour of intense combat and form the bulk of the book. Unsparingly in detail the two battles are described almost minute by minute detail rather than a day by day description of his entire service. The two battles were quite different in character and this book really brings it out. The Somme was a classic tangle of trenches, never clear of who was where, close quarters fighting, snipers and intense claustrophobic fighting at close quarters. Ypres by contrast was by this stage an open swamp of rain, mud, shell holes, concrete pillboxes and ill defined front lines, perhaps the stereotype of the Great War. Underplaying his role this earned him a MC.
Despite the deaths of friends and comrades, appalling conditions etc the author was not anti- war and indeed wrote the book as a counter to the pacifist anti- war narrative from the likes of Sassoon. His view was the war was necessary, the soldiers knew what they were fighting for and the sacrifices involved were justified. The final section is an essay on militarism is a defence of the army and its role and a reminder the war was very different to portrayed in Blackadder and men looked back on it with satisfaction of a tough job well done. Overall a very worthy book and original first editions can be found fairly easily.
Despite the deaths of friends and comrades, appalling conditions etc the author was not anti- war and indeed wrote the book as a counter to the pacifist anti- war narrative from the likes of Sassoon. His view was the war was necessary, the soldiers knew what they were fighting for and the sacrifices involved were justified. The final section is an essay on militarism is a defence of the army and its role and a reminder the war was very different to portrayed in Blackadder and men looked back on it with satisfaction of a tough job well done. Overall a very worthy book and original first editions can be found fairly easily.
February 13, 2009
One of the best memoirs of the Great War, although it takes a markedly different approach from Sassoon, Graves, et al.
August 15, 2021
The first two parts are astonishing, the latter essay drags a bit. Worth reading for the battle stories.
September 3, 2017
3.5 stars. Written immediately after WW I but not published until 1929. Focuses on author's experiences during the campaign in the Somme area (1916) and the battle of Third Ypres (1917). Good, and hard to find!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews