From Geordie Land to No Mans Land
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
My O/C was looking through his binoculars and without taking them from his eyes, he asked me to get the Adjutant on the phone. I rang up the brigade and got the Adjutant. Being curious, I placed my eye to the telescope and what I saw was a wide road away to the German rear and a batch of German infantry. They were close together and seemed to be making for the same direction. I knew it must be this that my O/C had been watching. Having the ear piece of the phone strapped to my head, this is the conversation I heard between my O/C and the Adjutant “Hello Brown, Langen speaking”, my O/C said, “Well, Langen, what can I do for you?” the Adjutant replied. “I have got a very good target for our counter battery if you can get them for me”. “All right Langen, just hang on and I'll get the heavies for you” the Adjutant replied as he left the phone, in about two ticks someone spoke. “Hello Major, this is the officer of the heavies speaking”. Then my O/C said, “I am sorry to trouble you, but I have such a good target I don't want to miss it. I can't reach it myself, so I want your assistance if you don't mind”. “I want you to put about a dozen shells on (a map reference meaning the roadway previously mentioned) as quick as possible”. “Alright major, just look out for them” replied the officer of the 8 inch Howitzer Battery and at that I immediately put the telescope to my eyes once more and my O/C had the binoculars to his eyes. Just as I got settled looking through the telescope, I hear the sound of six heavy shells going over our heads. On the road behind the German lines was the batch of German infantry still passing along. All I could see of the roadway was great billows of black and white smoke. I knew then where those six heavy shells were going. They had dropped dead on the road where the soldiers were marching along. This was repeated about twelve times at intervals of about thirty seconds. When the smoke did clear away, I couldn't see anything on the road. In all probability, the German infantry had been blown to pieces. During this, I heard my O/C say out loud “My God, My God, this is terrible”. He then got down and spoke to the officer of the heavy battery saying, “Thank you, and goodbye”. My Pal Teddy Watmough and I constructed our little dugout as we had been accustomed to sleeping together whenever the opportunity occurred. My Signallers had rigged up a telephone pit in the bank side, so we sat down at dusk around the inevitable petrol tin fire Someone shouted "Elder you're wanted', I came out of the telephone pit to see our Major standing there. "Oh! Elder" he said "Your leave has come through so get packed and off you go at once". I was overjoyed and started to tremble at the thought of it and it didn't take me long to get my kit together. I went to my Pal Teddy Watmough, held out my hand and said "Well. Ta Ta Ted". He said "Geordie, there's something going to happen to me here". "Oh shut up man, don't be daft" I replied, "You'll be here all right when I come back", "Oh well Geordie, I feel it" he said. After bucking him up as best I could, I promised to go and visit his mother when I got home. I then walked about 10 kilometres to the Station at Boyelles, where I boarded a train of cattle trucks going to Boulogne. Two days later, I stepped off the train at Newcastle at 11 pm and was soon in the arms of my wife and kiddies. The following day I was walking through the streets of Newcastle with my wife, when I saw one of our Headquarters' Signallers coming towards us, we met and shook hands. "Hello Geordie" he said, "Did you hear about Teddy", I nearly dropped at those words, my wife took hold of my arm and asked me what was wrong. Those words of my pal Ted Watmough immediately flashed through my brain. "Geordie, there's something going to happen to me". Then the Headquarters' Signaller told me the same night that I left my Battery, Teddy and a Driver who took my place, had been literally blown to pieces by an 8 inch German shell that dropped on top of the dugout. Poor Ted, he must have known, a finer lad one couldn't find. I was sick and faint with the shock of the news. I could no more visit my pal's mother than I could fly. He was uppermost in my thoughts all my fortnight at home and when my time was up to leave my wife and kiddies, it made me think deeply.
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
In writing his `one and only' book, George Elder, a proud Geordie, detailed many of his experiences endured whilst serving in the British Army during World War 1. Many of his tales would not have been appreciated by his peers, but they actually happened and would have been recognised by the common soldier. From Geordie Land to No Mans land was written to inform his family, friends and anyone buying his book of the real life events that occurred. How an ordinary man survived 4 years in the front line experiencing the horrors of war that most of us could not imagine, enduring many privations such as mud, cold, hunger, thirst and fear of imminent death all around him. George maintained his spirit by forming a close bond with his fellow Geordies even refusing to be transferred to Hospital in case he could not return to his original unit. His description of the intensity of shell fire that we have seen in pictures of the battlefields of Flanders and the Somme bring to life how men endured the unendurable, how men lived as animals, how men coped with all the privations of the battlefield. What he doesn't describe is how he coped with life immediately after the war, when he returned to civilian life. His post war diary did detail the problems his family faced with sickness and lack of money, but as we are now aware of the post Falklands and the Gulf wars the physiological effects on men is a story in itself. Coping with ordinary life after 4 years of war living on the edge in fear of imminent death would have been a major issue for George and his family.
About the Author
These are the First World War memoirs of George Russell Elder written on several notebooks after the war. George began working for W H Smith in 1907, who continued paying his wife 15 shillings a week whilst he was on active service. He continued his career with them for over 50 years retiring in 1957. On enlistment in 1915 George was trained as a Signaller and Telephonist and was promoted to Bombardier to take charge of the 1st Battery Signallers 315th Brigade Royal Field Artillery. His story graphically described many of his first hand experiences encountered from his initial training in Tyneside, embarkation to France in 1916, active service on numerous battlefields including the Somme, Ypres, Hill 60, Passchendaele, Arras and St. Quentin up to his demobilization in 1919. After the war, George made several unsuccessful attempts to have his diaries published and shortly before his death he passed them to Mabel his youngest daughter. Several years later other members of his family including his granddaughters deciphered, edited and arranged with Authorhouse to have them finally published. George's wish was to dedicate the book to his pal Teddy Watmough who was tragically killed in action the day after George went on leave in 1918.