The Unreturning Army

Ranks alongside Guy Chapmans' "A Passionate Prodigality" as one of the finest personal memoirs of the conflict. Huntly Gordon is in his final years in Clifton College when the war breaks out, and the initial chapters describe rather eerily the growing realisation that this is an immense and society shattering conflict without precident. The list of Clifton Old Boys killed and maimed grows steadily through 1914 and 1915 and the reader gets a good understanding of the domestic impact of loss, in this instance on a public school, but it must of been similar in all realms of society. Huntly Gordon firmly believing that this German outrage needs to be repulsed becomes an artilleryman, and quite matter of factly accepts that his new profession (and he sees it very much as his job) is to kill as many Germans as possible. The book is brilliant on detail, and provides a fascinating close up view of the appalling 3rd Ypres battles of 1917 where in fact he encounters action for the first time, and describes the practical realities of trying to stop horses, mules and men from drowning in mud. It also gives a matter of fact, but unnerving description of the experience of being under heavy shellfire. In late 1917 and early 1918 Huntly is withdrawn to quieter sectors (although he is in reserve at Cambrai), and then catches the full force of the German onslaught in the spring/summer of 1918, where his account of the chaos of the Allied retreat really enhanced my understanding of this phase of the conflict. He is badly wounded during a "backs to the wall" stand at Meteren and his life his saved by the prompt, brave and competent action of a fellow officer and loyal men. When they get him on to a stretcher and have to cross open space under heavy machine gun fire seeing a brave and badly wounded man, the German gunner ceases fire. The book is full of poignant personal moments like this. The description of his medical treatment and recovery is fascinating, and it makes one realise just how medieval the treatment of badly wounded men was in a pre-antibiotic and pre-painkiller age. This compelling account is interspersed with great humour, and lovely and moving personal vignettes, such as the account of him having to discipline a bus driver for being late for work in his post war employment as an inspector for London Transport. The driver asks him if he happened to have been a British Officer badly wounded during the Meteren actions in the spring of 1918. The driver turns out to be one of the men that dragged him to safety under heavy fire. The matter of fact, but somewhat incongruous nature of this piece of happenstance reduced me to tears. There was no glory in this conflict, just endurance, professionalism, and a commitment to professionalism and doing your own job well. Huntly Gordon was not yet 20 years old. A brilliant, informative and moving account which ranks with the greats. Essential reading for those interested in social and behavioural aspects of the First World War, but also strong on technical and military detail.

This is the story of a young man's journey through public school and following the outbreak of WWI, his training as a Regular Officer in the Royal Artillery and subsequent service through the battle of Passchendaele and the final German Spring Offensive in 1918, where he was severely wounded. First published in 1967, it has been revised and extended by Huntley Gordon's son David with a new introduction for this edition and a postscript providing details of his father's life after the war ended. The memoir is derived from Huntley Gordon's letters home combined with an extensive memoir written immediately after the war ended when memory was fresh. The writing is superb, with an eye for detail, self deprecation as a young junior officer finding his feet and not a little wry humour. The memoir is particularly interesting from two aspects. First is that unlike most of the famous WWI memoirs told from an infantry perspective, this is about a field artillery officer's experience, where the popular belief was that the artillery were sited well back from the front line. In the field artillery's case they were well forward in support of troops but without the benefit of trenches for protection. Gordon's descriptions of enemy shelling are particularly forceful. The second departure is that the events happened after the 1916 Somme offensive and deal with the final stages of the war, particularly Passchendaele and the huge German offensive of spring 1918. Both Gordon and his son David have avoided any descriptions of the strategic sweep of these actions, but have grounded the narrative in the day and night experiences of Gordon and his Battery, in their immediate war of fields, ditches, destroyed villages and OPs. The writing is immediate and grips the reader. Once I started to read it I finished it in two sittings, such was the immersive quality of the writing. The battle areas described are accompanied by excellent uncomplicated maps that allow you to follow Gordon's progress. The text is also supplemented with very carefully chosen photographs, where a short textual quote accompanies each one bringing the narrative further to life. One in particular stands out of a gun crew coming into action near Meteren where Gordon was seriously wounded. The youth of the subaltern in the picture is striking - a further reminder that Huntley Gordon was only 19 when he was commissioned and went to war. Finally each chapter is headed with a very fine ink line drawing of WWI scenes to complement the chapter subject. This is a first rate account of a young man at war and deserves to be read by anyone interested in peronal experiences of WWi. Highly recommended.

Really good and can recommend!!

"The Unreturning Army" is a personal account of what it was really like to be an Officer in the British Artillery, mainly at Passchendaele, Belgium in 1917. The book is extremely well written and spares no detail of how absolutely obscene the Great War was for a whole generation of young men from Britain and its Colonies and Germany. Any World War One historians wanting to build on their understanding of the conflict should get hold of a copy of this little book. Jim

This an excellent, well-written account of WWI by an officer in the RFA. He was a prolific letter writer and includes much detail of the various gun positions his unit held during the last two years of the war on the Western Front including Ypres, Bapaume, Armentieres, and elsewhere. In fact, his descriptions are so good that I was easily able to follow his account using Google maps and trench maps available online. He was later seriously wounded and his section nearly wiped out during the last great German offensive in 1918. However, he still documented his life and death struggle in the hospitals in France and in England. I should add that he also gives a tremendous amount of detail on battery activities and his work in the front lines as a forward observer. One of the better first-person accounts of WWI. Would like to have met him.

This is a must read for anyone interested in WWI, whether for study or family research. It gives an extraordinary insight into the horrors of trench warfare, the class system of the time, and the resilience of the Britisher's "stiff upper lip". Well worth republishing this best-seller in time for the upcoming anniversary.