When The Somme Ran Red [Illustrated Edition]


Book Description

Captain Dugmore stands as a rather strange figure even in the mass of personalities that fought in the Great War: an artist of some standing, a writer, and traveller. When the war broke out in 1914, he visited Belgium as a private citizen; appalled by the damage that the Germans, who were overrunning country in short order at the time, were wreaking he decided to join the British Army. There was only one small problem: at the time he was forty-four, too years too old to enter the army. But he strode into his local recruiting office and demanded admission to the army, and if met with refusal, he stated, he would return with a changed appearance and falsify his age! The army accepted Mr Dugmore as an officer and sent him off for immediate training. Despite having spent a large slice of his life in the outdoors in Africa painting and writing about wildlife, he must have found the trenches a shock. As he recounts in his book, he was strafed, shot at, barraged, and gassed during his time at the front, finally wounded and passed unfit for service in 1916 during the later phases of the battle of the Somme. The author’s book is excellently written, filled with anecdote and detailed battle scenes. Author — Captain Arthur Radclyffe Dugmore 1870 - 1955 Text taken, whole and complete, from the edition published in New York, George H. Doran company 1918 Original Page Count – 285 pages Illustrations — 20 maps and illustrations




Red Lights on the Somme


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In a series of four books based on war, each with a different focus, G.S. Willmott has extensively researched war 'histories' and from them, has created 'his stories'. This, the fourth and most compelling, recreates a multitude of experiences of the young men caught up in the frenzy and futility of World War 1. Sex and death, eternal themes, bind together these individual stories; the shared experiences of love and death are the strong bonds which link these young Australian and British soldiers across France, Egypt, Flanders, even Syria. Their suffering is what makes us think deeply about ongoing conflicts which eternally destroy human lives and from which we seem to have learned nothing. In Red Lights on the Somme, Willmott unearths surprising and positive aspects of war; man's inhumanity to man is counter-pointed by mateship between soldiers, tenderness between lovers, and trust and inter-dependence between humans and animals. The contrast between the nobility and loyaty of non-humans (including dogs, pigeons, horses) forms a stark contrast against the brutality and treachery of mankind. 'This book tells the stories of young men far from home in the battle of their lives, fighting ultimately for their survival. Evocative, gruelling and often brutal the book touches on most aspects of life as an infantryman on the western front and the harshness, sadness and realities of life for those who participated in the first world war. Historically accurate, factual and graphic this well written book is a must read for anyone with an interest in Australians in World War One.' - Christine McLean-McIntyre




Books of 1912-


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Catalogue of Copyright Entries


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The Bookman


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The Nation


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Monthly Bulletin


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Monthly Bulletin


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