Synopses & Reviews
and#147;Lieutenant William Andrews and his Sappers had been working through the night building a machine gun emplacement in the ruins of the newly retaken French village of Contalmaison when a blast blew him off his feet. The 23-year-old Irishmanand#8217;s helmet had taken the full force of a piece of flying shrapnel which smashed a four inch gash from rim to crown, knocking him unconscious. As William lay on the ground, still dazed but unmarked and strapped to a stretcher, he heard a young soldier suggest they throw away the battered headgear. Outraged, William, a lieutenant in the 128th Field Company of the Royal Engineers, called out: and#145;Give it here to meand#151;it saved my lifeand#151;I want to preserve it for my grandchildren.and#8217;and#8221;
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Lieutenant Andrewsand#8217;s story is just one of the thirty-two true-life accounts found in Jackie Storerand#8217;s Hidden Stories of the First World War. Storer traveled across Europe, interviewing hundreds along the way and collecting old memorabilia and photographs, to immortalize these forgotten true tales of love, death, and adventure from the battlefields to the home fronts of World War I. From the gifted chemist who faked his own suicide to go on the run with his bigamous bride, to the boy who survived the sinking of Kitchenerand#8217;s ship only to drown months later, to the woman who helped a priest swim to freedom, these accountsand#151;written in the form of feature articlesand#151;tell the extraordinary experiences of ordinary people who were caught up in the Great War.
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Copiously illustrated with photos, maps, and documentsand#151;among them a recently discovered postcard from a wounded Adolf Hitlerand#151;this collection, published to coincide with the centenary of World War I, offers a touching personal dimension to the four-year conflict.
About the Author
Jackie Storer is a freelance journalist and was formerly a reporter for the BBC and the PR coordinator for the Europeana 1914-18 project.
Table of Contents
Authorand#8217;s Note and Acknowledgements
and#8216;Damn the warand#8217;: A Pacifist on the Front Line
and#8216;An Alsatian from Franceand#8217;: Fighting for the Enemy
and#8216;The eggs were laidand#8217;: The Sinking of HMS Audacious
and#8216;Our friends the enemyand#8217;: The Christmas Truce
and#8216;Injustice and fateand#8217;: A Tale of Casual Revenge?
and#8216;It was me who killed himand#8217;: Haunted by an Act of War
and#8216;Just a piece of shrapneland#8217;: The Man from the Pruand#8217;s Big Adventure
and#8216;Soul matesand#8217;: Captive Hearts in the Trentino
and#8216;Two scrapes with deathand#8217;: A Familyand#8217;s Fortunes in War and Peace
and#8216;Thoughts of a homeward journeyand#8217;: A Canadianand#8217;s War
and#8216;Our shipand#8217;s gone downand#8217;: The Strange Demise of Lord Kitchener
and#8216;It saved my lifeand#8217;: A Close Encounter on the Somme
and#8216;No More Warand#8217;: Brothers in Arms
and#8216;At a great risk of lifeand#8217;: An Unlikely Friendship
and#8216;A couple of francs per bottleand#8217;: Adventures of an Under-Age Recruit
and#8216;The fire had burned so fiercelyand#8217;: Rise and Fall of a Prodigy
and#8216;I knew it was my turnand#8217;: Wounded on the Somme
and#8216;Are you a good swimmer?and#8217;: A Perilous Escape
and#8216;I am in Munichand#8217;: A Message from Hitler
and#8216;Big scrap with Hunsand#8217;: Exploits of a Flying Ace
and#8216;If you fell off a duckboard you were done forand#8217;: A Baptism of Mud
and#8216;A very gallant officerand#8217;: An Orcadian at Passchendaele
and#8216;They were inseparableand#8217;: Revolution, Marriage and a Tale of Two Wars
and#8216;It was a miracleand#8217;: You Only Live Twice
and#8216;What better epitaph?and#8217;: Acts of Kindness and Salvation
and#8216;The pair fell in loveand#8217;: A Transatlantic Tryst
and#8216;It was absolutely concentrated helland#8217;: A Prisonerand#8217;s Diary
and#8216;Off to Franceand#8217;: A Family Fragmented
and#8216;We were really hungry, ravenousand#8217;: Never Saying Die and#8211; In Love or War
and#8216;Adventurous peopleand#8217;: From Cairo to the Western Front
and#8216;To dadand#8217;s little Ghislaineand#8217;: The French Lieutenantand#8217;s Daughter
and#8216;A lucky boyand#8217;: Saved by a French Surgeon
Index