SOME RECENT WAR BOOKS. * AMONGST the military sentiments emphasized by
the late War may be counted that variety of esprit de corps which is known as esprit de division. To the majority of infantry officers and men, indeed, the division in which they saw practically the whole of their active service came in for that loyal affection which, in the Regular Army, was the heritage of the regiment. Every soldier who was worth his rations was convinced that his own division, though perhaps not the luckiest nor even the best led, was the best fighting division in the Army. But it is a safe guess that ninety per cent. of the troops, if they had been allowed to choose the other divisions that were to be engaged on either flank of them in a tough fight, would have selected the famous 51st Division for one. There are no finer examples of brilliant dash or patient endurance in the history of • war than were shown by these inexperienced Highland Territorials, of whose " glorious achievement " Lord Haig speaks with national pride in his preface to Major Bewsher's excellent history of the division.' Even the ranks of Tusculum could not forbear to cheer. It has been stated that the 51st Division long stood at the head of the German " black list." And Major Bewsher tells us that, after the five days in which the Hi. hland Division held back the onrush of at least nine German divisions during the offensive of March, 1918, the enemy showed their appreciation of the stubborn resistance offered by the Jocks by floating over to our lines a white paper balloon, on which was written, " Geed old 51st, still sticking it out." One of the best things in MajOr Bewsher's book is the account of the methods of training by which General Harper developed the fighting • (1) The History of the 51st (Highland) Division, 1914-1918. By Major F. W. B?wsher, D.S.O., M.C. London : Blackwood. [35s. net.)—(2) The Fifth Division in the Great War. By Brig.-Gen. A. H. Hussey, C.B., C.310., and Major D. S. Inman. London : Nisbet. [15s. net.]—(3) The 56th Division (181 London Territorial Division). By Major C. H. Dudley Ward, D.S.O., M.C. London : Murray. [218. net.]—(4) The History of the London Rifle Brigade, 1859-1919. London : Constable. [218. nct.1--(5) Nine Days. By Arthur F. Bchrend. Cambridge : Helfer. [7a. 6d. net.)—(6) ReCords of the Dorset Yry (Queen's Own). 1914-1919. By Major-Gen. C., W. Thompson, C.B., D.S.O. n 8herborne : Bennett. [12s. ad. net.)—(7) An Explorer in the Mx Service. By Hiram Bingham. London Milford. [42s. net.)—(8) V. B. 7a a French Military Hospital. By Harold J. Reekitt. London : Heinemann. . [21a. net.]—(9) A Memoir of Lied.-Col. E. A. Steel, D.S.O. By Col. J. 1'. Steel. London : Simpkin, Marshall. [6s. net.]---(10) University of Edinburg,4 Rolf of Honour, 1914.1919. Edinburgh : Oliver and Boyd. 140s. net.]
capacity of the troops who, some time after he got oommend of them in 1915, were disrespectfully known as " Harper's Duds." Emphatically " Uncle Harper" was the right man in the right command, and the success of the 51st is attributable, as Major Bewsher says, " to the happy combination of the particular qualities of the commander and his troops, and to the brilliant manner in which the directing genius of the former was seconded by the genius for fighting of the latter." The record of the 51st Division is so inspiring that we nlust regret the decision to issue it at so high a price, and hope that a cheap reprint may soon be within the reach of every gallant survivor of that " band of brothers."
The Fifth Division, of whose " very fine and gallant record," as Lord Haig justly calls it, a worthy chronicle has been prepared by General Hussey and Major Inman' formed part of the original Expeditionary Force. The early pages of this book give a terse but readable account of the marvellous achieve- ments of our regular soldiers, the " Old Contemptibles," who set the standard which it was the ambition of later formations to equal—no troops that ever lived could surpass it. The authors say of the Fifth Division at the end of October, 1914 :-
" In the space of sixty days it had fought at Mons, stood the brunt of the battle of Le Cateau, taken part in the terrible retreat, fought again on the Marne and the Aisne, and already on this front had almost reached its limit ; it was now holding a long line with worn-oat and exhausted troops, with no reserves, and was attacked all day and every day. The Division and Brigade Staffs were continually being faced with a crisis • either a battalion appealed for help, which could not be sent, or a report arrived that the enemy had broken through ; but the men fought stubbornly, lost trenches were recovered, heavy shelling, wet and exhaustion were borne unflinchingly, and a standard of human endurance established that no one hitherto thought possible ; the Staffs, too, learnt that though the Germans might capture a trench it did not mean that they could break through."
Perhaps in the whole after record of the regular divisions, glorious as it was, there was nothing that contributed more fully
to the ultimate victory than the setting up of this standard and the teaching of this lesson.
Major Dudley Ward's brief but excellent history of the 56th Division' is of special interest to Londoners, for the infaItry was entirely composed of London Territorials—two battalions of the Middlesex and ten of the London Regiment.
When the division was assembled in the spring of 1916 these units were already veterans, having been sent out individually to France as fast as they could be got ready. Its first experience, as a division, was the i11-fated attack at Gommecourt in July, 1916. In 191'7 it participated with better success in the battles
of Arras, Third Ypres and Cambrai. Lord Home has singled out as its greatest achievement the holding of the Vimy Ridge on March 28th, 1918, when " at nightfall the division still held its ground, having beaten back three separate assaults
delivered in great strength by picked German troops, specially trained in the attack and inspired with confidenee, resulting from the successes of the previous week. It was the German failure to break the pivot of our line at Arras on this day which General von Ludendorff afterwards noted as the turning-point -of the 1918 campaign. As Major Dudley Ward says, there could be no better condemnation of " the tendency of late years to look down on the men of London, to dismiss them as weaklings, as men of poor physique, with maybe smart tongues and clothes, but without the necessary stamina for hardy soldiers."
A quite admirable history of the London Rifle Brigade" has been compiled from regimental records, war diaries and the papers and recollections of a number of officers. The first battalion was in the 56th Division, and'the detailed narrative of the attack on Gommecourt, with maps, operation orders, &c., forms a valuable supplement to the divisional history. It is worth noting that the casualties of the battalion on that day were about 70 per cent., and yet a few weeks later the battalion was able twice to sustain casualties of over 40 per cent. in attacks and to continue in the line without flinching. The second battalion was in the 58th Division, which left England in January, 1917, and of its achievements also a full narrative is given. Books like this are of great value to the future historian of the War, and reflect credit alike on the military intelligence and the enthusiasm of those who compile them.
One of the best first-hand descriptions of the German attack in March, 1918, that we have yet seen is to be found in Captain Behrend's plain but thrilling narratives of his adventures as Adjutant of the 90th Brigade R.G.A., attached to the Third
Army, from March 21st to 29th. It bears the stamp of simple truthfulness, and is exceedingly readable, as Well as instructive. No more vivid aocount of the realities of war could be desired, and we commend this unpretentious little book to all who wish to know how the great German attack really looked to those who were in the front of the British battle.
Amongst other books on our list apace allows us only to mention General Thompson's narrative of the work of the Dorset Yeomanry" in Gallipoli, Egypt, and Palestine ; Colonel Bingham's very interesting aecount7 of the training methods adopted in the American Air Service ; Mr. Reckitt's description' of the services rendered by the hospital which he assisted to organize ; and Colonel Steel's brief, but deeply interesting biography' of the gallant son whom he lost in the great War. The handsome volume published on behalf of the University of Edinburgh" contains the names of '944 members of theUniversity who lost their lives in the War, and about '7,000 who were more fortunate, with a brief record of service in each case.
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