A Doctor On The Western Front The Diary Of Henry Owens 1914 1918 Large Print 16pt

Henry Owens Great War diary provides a vivid and complete narrative, seen from the perspective of an army doctor, of what it was like to live and fight in the trenches of the Western Front. Owens, a member of the original British expeditionary Force, the Old Contemptibles, was among the first British soldiers to set foot in France. He spent the next four years in the front line as a doctor and a diarist, an eyewitness to some of the most bitter and violent struggles of the greatest conflict the world had ever seen. His writing, edited and with a full introduction by John Hutton, gives us an inside view of the duties and experiences of a doctor tending the fighting troops, and it paints a graphic portrait of the daily lives of the men themselves. Henry Owens was born into a doctors family in Long Stratton, Norfolk in 1889. When war was declared in 1914, he joined the Royal Army Medical Corps and was sent to France with the British Expeditionary Force. He served as a front-line medical officer throughout the conflict and he kept a diary and notes. After the war he used this material to assemble this meticulous account of his experiences. After being demobilized in 1919 he returned to civilian medical practice and married, but he died after a sudden illness in 1921, aged just 31. After the death of his wife in 1980, the diary came into the possession of the Imperial War Museum.

Henry Owens Great War diary provides a vivid and complete narrative, seen from the perspective of an army doctor, of what it was like to live and fight in the trenches of the Western Front. Owens, a member of the original British expeditionary Force, the 'Old Contemptibles', was among the first British soldiers to set foot in France. He spent the next four years in the front line as a doctor and a diarist, an eyewitness to some of the most bitter and violent struggles of the greatest conflict the world had ever seen. His writing, edited and with a full introduction by John Hutton, gives us an inside view of the duties and experiences of a doctor tending the fighting troops, and it paints a graphic portrait of the daily lives of the men themselves. Henry Owens was born into a doctor's family in Long Stratton, Norfolk in 1889. When war was declared in 1914 he joined the Royal Army Medical Corps and was sent to France with the British Expeditionary Force. He served as a front - line medical officer throughout the conflict and he kept a diary and notes. After the war he used this material to assemble this meticulous account of his experiences. After being demobilized in 1919 he returned to civilian medical practice and married, but he died after a sudden illness in 1921, aged just 31. After the death of his wife in 1980, the diary came into the possession of the Imperial War Museum.

Despite the numerous vicious conflicts that scarred the twentieth century, the horrors of the Western Front continue to exercise a particularly strong hold on the modern imagination. The unprecedented scale and mechanization of the war changed forever the way suffering and dying were perceived and challenged notions of what the nations could reasonably expect of their military. Examining experiences of the Western Front, this book looks at the life of a soldier from the moment he marched into battle until he was buried. In five chapters - Battle, Body, Mind, Aid, Death - it describes and analyzes the physical and mental hardship of the men who fought on a front that stretched from the Belgian coast to the Swiss border. Beginning with a broad description of the war it then analyzes the medical aid the Tommies, Bonhommes and Frontschweine received - or all too often did not receive - revealing how this aid was often given for military and political rather than humanitarian reasons (getting the men back to the front or munitions factory and trying to spare the state as many war-pensions as possible). It concludes with a chapter on the many ways death presented itself on or around the battlefield, and sets out in detail the problems that arise when more people are killed than can possibly be buried properly. In contrast to most books in the field this study does not focus on one single issue - such as venereal disease, plastic surgery, shell-shock or the military medical service - but takes a broad view on wounds and illnesses across both sides of the conflict. Drawing on British, French, German, Belgian and Dutch sources it shows the consequences of modern warfare on the human individuals caught up in it, and the way it influences our thinking on 'humanitarian' activities.

The voyage out-Havre-Leaving Havre-R.M.S.P. "Asturias"- St Nazaire-Orders at last. Station duty-On train duty-Orders again-Waiting to go-Still at Le Mans-No.- Stationary Hospital-Off at last-The Swindon of France. Ambulance Train-Under fire-Tales of the Retreat- Life on the Train. Rouen-First Battle of Ypres-At Ypres-A rest- A General Hospital. The Boulogne siding-St Omer-Indian soldiers-His Majesty King George-Lancashire men on the War-Hazebrouck-Bailleul-French engine-drivers-Sheepskin coats-A village in N.E. France-Headquarters. The Army and the King-Mufflers-Christmas Eve- Christmas on the train-Princess Mary's present-The trenches in winter-"A typical example"-New Year's Eve at Rouen- The young officers. The Petit Vitesse siding-Uncomplainingness of Tommy-Painting the train-A painful convoy-The "Yewlan's" watch-"Officer dressed in bandages"-Sotteville-Versailles-The Palais Trianon-A walk at Rouen-The German view, and the English view-'Punch'-"When you return Conqueror"-K.'s new Army. The Indians-St Omer-The Victoria League-Poperinghe-A bad load-Left behind-Rouen again-An "off" spell-En route to tretat-Sotteville-Neuve Chapelle-St Eloi-The Indians-Spring in N.W. France-The Convalescent Home-Kitchener's boys. Good Friday and Easter, 1915-The Maire's Ch[teau-A walk to Beuvry-The new billet-The guns-A Taube-The Back of the Front-A soldier's funeral-German Machine-guns-Gas fumes-The Second Battle of Ypres. The noise of war-Preparation-Sunday, May 9-The barge-The officers' dressing station-Charge of the Black Watch, May 9-Festubert, May 16-The French Hospital-A bad night-Shelled out-Back at a Clearing Hospital-"For duty at a Base Hospital."

"Olive Dent served two years of the Great War, and kept this extraordinarily vivid diary of day-to-day life - ever cheerful through the bitter cold, the chilblains, hunger and exhaustion. Resilient, courageous and resourceful, nurses, doctors and patients alike do their best to support each other. A Christmas fancy-dress ball, a concert performed by a stoic orchestra covered in bandages, church services held in a marquee and letters from Blighty all keep spirits up in camp, as wounded soldiers suffer terribly with quiet dignity on the makeshift wards, and nurses rush round tirelessly to make them as comfortable as possible. With original illustrations throughout by fellow V.A.D.s, Olive's memoir is a fascinating period piece, a rare first-hand account of this little-known story." -- Publisher's description.