What do you think?
Harry's War: A British Tommy's Experiences in the Trenches in World War One
This touching, brutally honest diary of a First World War soldier contributes to our understanding of what life was like for the British Tommy. Combining frank, unadorned prose with the author’s own evocative paintings, it’s a unique historical document, admirable for its unromantic, matter-of-fact perspective on coping dutifully with horrific conditions. Harry was a member of a bombing platoon known as the “suicide club,” because of the extreme danger involved. Upon returning to civilian life, he recorded his wartime experiences in a humble black notebook, but never revealed its existence to anyone.
- GenresHistoryWorld War I
224 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 2003
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 17, 2014
Harry Stinton served in the British forces for two years, four months and a few days, seeing action at some of the most famous places known from World War One: Ypres, Sommes, Passchendaele. In this diary, edited by Virginia Mayo, illustrated with Harry's drawings, the reader sees the war first hand in it's tedium, day-to-day misery and discomfort as the trenches and fields overflow with rain and mud, and the terror of the fighting with its often dumb-luck life or death results, as well as the occasional fun of a pick-up football match or having a go at killing rats. They took their fun where they could.
Mayo provides a brief summary for each chapter and appears to have "cleaned" up Harry's English a bit, given the difference in spelling between the captions seen in the illustrations and the spelling in the body of the diary. I have no problem with this as I believe these corrections likely made my reading much easier without changing the meaning. Slang does not appear to have been changed at all...there were many words that I will need to look at further.
An example of a day and what duties might fall his way:
When the rations and post arrived, they were shared
out and then it was up to the men to cook it. We got beef,
mutton, bacon, cheese, butter, jam, bread, and an extra
issue of biscuits. Cigarettes were also issued in the line.
As a rule, the men using a dugout all mucked in together
sharing the food, cooking it and another tiresome job ---
getting water. This sometimes had to be carried from a mile
away in petrol tins. On these journeys, the men got sniped
at or shelled, for the enemy realised that these trenches
were being continually used by men, going and returning
from the front line. (p 53)
And that is perhaps the most amazing fact for me, reading this diary; the constant flow of men to and from the front line, building and rebuilding the trenches, trying to empty the constantly flowing mud, then involved in a firefight with blimps and aeroplanes overhead. It seemed surreal at times as I was reading.
I strongly recommend this to anyone who would like a taste of what a soldier experienced during the Great War, an average English mill worker called up to serve.
I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley for the purpose of review.
Mayo provides a brief summary for each chapter and appears to have "cleaned" up Harry's English a bit, given the difference in spelling between the captions seen in the illustrations and the spelling in the body of the diary. I have no problem with this as I believe these corrections likely made my reading much easier without changing the meaning. Slang does not appear to have been changed at all...there were many words that I will need to look at further.
An example of a day and what duties might fall his way:
When the rations and post arrived, they were shared
out and then it was up to the men to cook it. We got beef,
mutton, bacon, cheese, butter, jam, bread, and an extra
issue of biscuits. Cigarettes were also issued in the line.
As a rule, the men using a dugout all mucked in together
sharing the food, cooking it and another tiresome job ---
getting water. This sometimes had to be carried from a mile
away in petrol tins. On these journeys, the men got sniped
at or shelled, for the enemy realised that these trenches
were being continually used by men, going and returning
from the front line. (p 53)
And that is perhaps the most amazing fact for me, reading this diary; the constant flow of men to and from the front line, building and rebuilding the trenches, trying to empty the constantly flowing mud, then involved in a firefight with blimps and aeroplanes overhead. It seemed surreal at times as I was reading.
I strongly recommend this to anyone who would like a taste of what a soldier experienced during the Great War, an average English mill worker called up to serve.
I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley for the purpose of review.
June 10, 2014
There all sorts of Histories and numerous sorts of historical documents. My favorites happen to the more personal ones. Formal histories and biographies and strategy books all have their purposes, but it's the small records that bring the times come alive for me.
And so it was with a certain eagerness that looked forward to reading this World War One recollection. The author, Harry Stinton, was a regular person. A very young man who signed up to serve his country. He entered the war as a private, and exited it two years and 4 months later as a private as well. Harry Stinton, it seems, was like many soldiers who were fortunate enough to return from their war. He found himself revisiting his experiences. He wrote. He drew. But he wrote and drew with no idea of publishing, so I gather that putting his notes into order took considerable effort. And Virginia Mayo should be applauded for her efforts.
What you'll get in this memoir is broad look at the war and of England and France at the time. I quite appreciated this aspect of the book which begins with Harry and friends bicycling around the English countryside. He gives us his understanding of what caused the war, and how eager he was to sign up. His gentleness and civility makes reading about his training and how he was billeted and fed almost painful, because I know what is coming. The trenches and the wretched bombs and horrible food, the mud and cold. I'm not sure anyone would have signed up if they knew what was coming. And in fact, a man Harry knew in hospital, who had the same bullet injury to his arm told Harry that he meant to ignore the doctors' advice about exercising and getting his arm better. He said, "he didn't want it better whilst he was in the army..." He told Harry, 'I have had enough of the trenches. If my arm gets well I will be sent out again. Let them give me my discharge and then I don't mind getting my arm better!"
But before we get to that part of the story, which is quite near the end, you'll learn a great deal about the army. Simple but significant things like how the men were housed and fed. How the Scotsmen had a rough crossing of the channel, and how Harry got training to be a bomber. Harry writes about how the French were eager to get any food he and his friends had left over from their meals.
And there are simply unique moments that you'll share by reading this book that you won't get from other history books. Harry writes that "[E]arly one evening we got orders to pack up to go to the front and relieve some Australian troops. We marched for hours in pouring rain along roads, across fields and through woods, arriving at our journey's end some time in the early morning. It was still pitch dark and, learning we were in front line trenches, we were greatly surprised not to hear shells and bullets flying about. There were some but they were hardly noticed. We asked some Australians what the place was like and they said"
'It's fine. If you don't fire at the enemy, they fire at you'. "
~
I enjoyed reading HARRY'S WAR. His drawings and words humanized the war for me. And I am thankful that Virginia Mayo worked to preserve these records.
--ereview ecopy
--art is in full color
And so it was with a certain eagerness that looked forward to reading this World War One recollection. The author, Harry Stinton, was a regular person. A very young man who signed up to serve his country. He entered the war as a private, and exited it two years and 4 months later as a private as well. Harry Stinton, it seems, was like many soldiers who were fortunate enough to return from their war. He found himself revisiting his experiences. He wrote. He drew. But he wrote and drew with no idea of publishing, so I gather that putting his notes into order took considerable effort. And Virginia Mayo should be applauded for her efforts.
What you'll get in this memoir is broad look at the war and of England and France at the time. I quite appreciated this aspect of the book which begins with Harry and friends bicycling around the English countryside. He gives us his understanding of what caused the war, and how eager he was to sign up. His gentleness and civility makes reading about his training and how he was billeted and fed almost painful, because I know what is coming. The trenches and the wretched bombs and horrible food, the mud and cold. I'm not sure anyone would have signed up if they knew what was coming. And in fact, a man Harry knew in hospital, who had the same bullet injury to his arm told Harry that he meant to ignore the doctors' advice about exercising and getting his arm better. He said, "he didn't want it better whilst he was in the army..." He told Harry, 'I have had enough of the trenches. If my arm gets well I will be sent out again. Let them give me my discharge and then I don't mind getting my arm better!"
But before we get to that part of the story, which is quite near the end, you'll learn a great deal about the army. Simple but significant things like how the men were housed and fed. How the Scotsmen had a rough crossing of the channel, and how Harry got training to be a bomber. Harry writes about how the French were eager to get any food he and his friends had left over from their meals.
And there are simply unique moments that you'll share by reading this book that you won't get from other history books. Harry writes that "[E]arly one evening we got orders to pack up to go to the front and relieve some Australian troops. We marched for hours in pouring rain along roads, across fields and through woods, arriving at our journey's end some time in the early morning. It was still pitch dark and, learning we were in front line trenches, we were greatly surprised not to hear shells and bullets flying about. There were some but they were hardly noticed. We asked some Australians what the place was like and they said"
'It's fine. If you don't fire at the enemy, they fire at you'. "
~
I enjoyed reading HARRY'S WAR. His drawings and words humanized the war for me. And I am thankful that Virginia Mayo worked to preserve these records.
--ereview ecopy
--art is in full color
May 31, 2014
Harry's War is a journal that was kept by a British soldier during World War I. It is remarkable not because it is eloquent or poetic in any way, but because it is complete (regarding his own experience) and because he is capable in his explanations. The illustrations are particularly interesting, well done and useful to the reader, breaking up what might otherwise become dull text in places. He also mentions small but singular experiences that break up a sometimes-monotonous march.
Harry is chosen to toss bombs because of his excellent throwing arm. This talent gets him out of some of the unpleasant detail such as night watch duty, but it is also a position even more fraught with danger than what others experienced. He lasts nearly two and a half years before being wounded and sent home. Part of the time he serves is in the less dangerous capacity of "batman", which was a term that designated the personal assistant of an officer, and it's possible this accounts for some of the time he stayed out of harm's way. In particular, he is able to view the battle at the Somme where some 60,000 casualties occurred as an onlooker rather than as a participant; in some ways, this makes his account more useful, because he saw a wider swath of the action. Most of the time, though, he is doing what a soldier does.
I was particularly bemused by the change in his perspective as his tenure became more intense. Before seeing battle, he complains about things like not having privacy for his bath, and being expected to sleep in a "dirty barn" instead of a house. Later he considers himself fortunate when he gets into a nice dry trench, especially when there are no rats or lice about. He becomes increasingly more stoic and toward the end when he says a thing is "unbearable", you know it really is.
Harry marches across France and through Belgium, and he also encounters soldiers from Canada, Scotland, and Australia. It's quite an education for him, and he relays it well to the reader, though it is unlikely he ever expected such a wide readership.
As is so often the case when reading military history, you really don't want this on an e-reader. Get the book so you can see the illustrations. They are frequent and lend much to the reader's understanding of the text.
Harry is chosen to toss bombs because of his excellent throwing arm. This talent gets him out of some of the unpleasant detail such as night watch duty, but it is also a position even more fraught with danger than what others experienced. He lasts nearly two and a half years before being wounded and sent home. Part of the time he serves is in the less dangerous capacity of "batman", which was a term that designated the personal assistant of an officer, and it's possible this accounts for some of the time he stayed out of harm's way. In particular, he is able to view the battle at the Somme where some 60,000 casualties occurred as an onlooker rather than as a participant; in some ways, this makes his account more useful, because he saw a wider swath of the action. Most of the time, though, he is doing what a soldier does.
I was particularly bemused by the change in his perspective as his tenure became more intense. Before seeing battle, he complains about things like not having privacy for his bath, and being expected to sleep in a "dirty barn" instead of a house. Later he considers himself fortunate when he gets into a nice dry trench, especially when there are no rats or lice about. He becomes increasingly more stoic and toward the end when he says a thing is "unbearable", you know it really is.
Harry marches across France and through Belgium, and he also encounters soldiers from Canada, Scotland, and Australia. It's quite an education for him, and he relays it well to the reader, though it is unlikely he ever expected such a wide readership.
As is so often the case when reading military history, you really don't want this on an e-reader. Get the book so you can see the illustrations. They are frequent and lend much to the reader's understanding of the text.
June 16, 2014
Most books of war that I've read talk about World War II. That's why Harry's War was so interesting to me - it's an account of a British soldier's life during World War I.
Harry's war was written by Harry Stinton, possibly as a way of coping with the aftershocks of war. He hadn't intended to publish his memoirs, but after his death, his diaries were discovered and published. He writes in a fairly unemotional tone, as though he was just recording the facts and wasn't actually involved (although to me, that shows how much he was affected, that he needed the distance).
What I got from this book was a detailed look at how the trench war was fought, and in particular, the part bombers (of which Harry was one) played in the war. While it isn't as emotional as Dulce et Decorum Est, the level of detail in this book made it easy for me to visualise what a terrible place it must have been.
Apart from Harry's narrative, there are several pictures that Harry drew in this book. Apparently, these are the only pictures he's drawn, and they were very helpful in illustrating certain aspects of the war. While he did not draw the gorier aspects, he did show me the details of how the war was fought.
This is not the most emotional of books. For a diary, it's surprisingly matter-of-fact and for some readers, may be boring. But it gave me valuable insights into the first World War, and I think it's a good introduction to life as a solder during the war (particularly for people who are squeamish) due to its matter-of-fact nature.
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a free and honest review.
This review was first posted at Inside the mind of a Bibliophile
Harry's war was written by Harry Stinton, possibly as a way of coping with the aftershocks of war. He hadn't intended to publish his memoirs, but after his death, his diaries were discovered and published. He writes in a fairly unemotional tone, as though he was just recording the facts and wasn't actually involved (although to me, that shows how much he was affected, that he needed the distance).
What I got from this book was a detailed look at how the trench war was fought, and in particular, the part bombers (of which Harry was one) played in the war. While it isn't as emotional as Dulce et Decorum Est, the level of detail in this book made it easy for me to visualise what a terrible place it must have been.
Apart from Harry's narrative, there are several pictures that Harry drew in this book. Apparently, these are the only pictures he's drawn, and they were very helpful in illustrating certain aspects of the war. While he did not draw the gorier aspects, he did show me the details of how the war was fought.
This is not the most emotional of books. For a diary, it's surprisingly matter-of-fact and for some readers, may be boring. But it gave me valuable insights into the first World War, and I think it's a good introduction to life as a solder during the war (particularly for people who are squeamish) due to its matter-of-fact nature.
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a free and honest review.
This review was first posted at Inside the mind of a Bibliophile
January 6, 2015
Personal words and illustrations show the mind and heart of a young man placed in WW1. Astonished at the clarity and nonchalance of this young man's words even in the midst of the horror of war, loss, and suffering.
January 12, 2015
Read this book! It's not academic or a scholarly dissertation. But it is so real--bored, descriptive, exciting and mundane. It's war from a young man's perspective. Nothing like it, a revelation.
October 1, 2014
This book is amazing!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews