Weary Road. The Recollections Of A Subaltern Of Infantry: Weary Road. The Recollections Of A Subaltern Of Infantry

by Charles Douie

This book is based on a series of eight articles the author wrote in 1928 though, as he says, in writing it he has revised hasty judgements, made some rearrangement, rewritten ill-considered passages, and added a substantial amount of new material. One can certainly say that the result is an outstanding work and one that has been widely acclaimed. Douie was posted to the 1st Dorsets towards the end of 1915 when he reached the age of nineteen, though before reporting to them he spent a short time with an entrenching battalion, and this record is in the main concerned with his service in his battalion on the Western Front. He joined them at Rainneville a few miles to the north of Amiens, and was posted to No 1 Platoon of A Company of whom he The hand of death lay heavily on that company. To my certain knowledge fourteen, nearly one half, gave their lives, and of the remainder I do not know the fate of several. Apart from a brief two months in the Bethune sector (Aug/Sep 1916) Douie’s battalion (14th Brigade, 32nd Division) was on the Somme from the end of 1915 to May 1917, when the battalion was sent north to Nieuport, and it is this period that takes up much of his powerfully descriptive narrative. At the time of the Armistice he was in Italy, away from his battalion, and the final chapter deals with this period.

240 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1989

Reviews

[Graham Mott · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting memoir by a young officer of his service in the Great War. Episodic rather than a straight forward narrative of his service his poetic style feels very much of its time and personal. Some interesting and sometimes amusing recollections of his time around La Boiselle before the main Somme offensive and also around Nieuport on the coast are in a lot of detail whereas other times are barely mentioned. There is almost nothing about his time in Italy in 1918 which is a shame as it’s very much a forgotten front. Thoroughly recommended

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short memoir by a junior officer in the First World War. An impressive longevity of service through some of the major campaigns on the Western Front and Italy, including the Somme and Third Ypres.

Despite this, the author does not focus on his experiences of going over the top as part of major battles, but rather in every day trench life. He focusses on those bits that were interesting, or different.

An interesting and engaging memoir, that perhaps leaves the reader frustrated at missing details at times, but none the less well worth reading for anyone interested in the period and trench experiences.