The War The Infantry Knew
1914-1919

Old Duffer's Book Corner

Reviewed by Charles Vasey

Captain J.C. Dunn

I finally acquired a used copy of this book (although it has been reprinted recently). Captain Dunn edited an anthology of the memories of the officers of the 2nd Royal Welsh Fusiliers. This covered from the beginning of the war until after its end. The result is a most interesting book for it tells you what units actually did, and what they spent very little time doing was advancing through machine-gun fire. I imagine being a foot-slogger in 1944 was much more bloody than the World War One version because in the ordered world of the trenches reliefs came regularly and frequently. Once the Germans begin to fall back in September 1918 the fighting becomes very reminiscent of the later war. The real killers were certainly major attacks, but a lot of bodies were lost in raiding and sniping, and the strafes that occurred after both. A very valuable book, and a specific to lots of historical misdirection.

It reads like Normandy 1944 at this stage of 1918. But it forgets rather too conveniently the German losses in prisoners. Perhaps these cunning fellows were only pretending to surrender, and would then pop out of the cage and capture the rear-area services. Unfortunately frozen by fear of the elite American forces the German political will broke before this Cunning Plan could be completed (it says here).

In similar vein (your successes are unimportant, mine are decisive) Mosier notes how America funded the war to a considerable degree (in the sense of lent against debts although I'm not sure he grasps this). But when confronted with the undeniable fact that the US Army was French equipped huffily says they paid for all the equipment. I can assure Mosier we paid for all that funding too! You will be interested to hear that Vimy Ridge finished off the Canadians too, though no one informed them at the time.

Putting aside the anti-climax of finding out much we already knew, pushing through his anti-British contempt, German pandering and America boosterism, we find that his is not a foolish thesis. I do not believe the US Army won the war, but having a million plus men in the line did not hurt either. Though considering how many British and French troops were in Africa, the Middle East and Salonika (and even just in Britain) the size is perhaps not what one imagines. If Mosier could but express himself with less crassness his work would appear much better. I think we must certainly all agree with his central tenet that attacking Germans was a good deal less effective than the Allied generals thought, and that the Germans had a very fine army.

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