The Vanished Army by Tim Carew, initially published back in 1964. This covers the British Expeditionary Force to France and Belgium in 1914, and is a marvelous portrait of the end of the old regular army told in a very readable fashion from stories of the ordinary privates called back from reserve to those of the people at the top. It covers the period from a pre-war overview of the army, through mobilisation and deployment in France, ending in November 1914. Thoroughly reccommended if you can get hold of a copy.
I'll have to keep an eye out for this. My grandfather would have been one of those reservists I think. He was called back to the RHA for WWI anyway, I'm just not sure of the details of when and where.
ReplyDeleteWe hear a lot about the rush of volunteers (Pals Battalions, etc.)- more about these in my next BOTM - but seem to forget those old soldiers who thought themselves safely back on civvy street and dragged away by a simple telegram.
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