Harry Stinton

There all sorts of Histories and numerous sorts of historical documents.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'. "

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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.… (lisätietoja)