Three years in France with the Guns: Being Episodes in the life of a Field Battery

Chapter 3: INTRODUCTION

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About This Book

This work recounts the experiences of a field battery during thirty-eight months in France, detailing the daily life, challenges, and camaraderie among soldiers in the Royal Field Artillery. It covers various episodes from their arrival in France, initial training, and participation in significant battles such as those at the Somme and Ypres. The narrative reflects on the adaptation to military life, the bonds formed under duress, and the realities of warfare, including the psychological and physical demands placed on the men and horses. The author aims to honor the spirit of teamwork and resilience that characterized their service.

INTRODUCTION

These brief notes of experiences with the guns for thirty-eight months in France were primarily penned for my own satisfaction. Friends who read the manuscript expressed much interest in it, and added the hope that it might be given a more permanent form. Hence it is that it is now printed for private circulation.

The story is a simple record of the fortunes of my own Battery and Brigade, and is intended as a tribute to the good comradeship which existed, under all conditions, among all ranks.

C.A.R.

Edinburgh,
January, 1919.

The “Grey Battery” at St. Omer, May 1917