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BRECKENRIDGE (William)
From Vimy to Mons: A Historical Narrative by William Breckenridge, ex 42nd Canadian Black Watch, Canadian Expeditionary Force.
254pp., dup. typescript, large format (275x220mm approx.) compiled by the author in 1919 but issued by him in this duplicated form in 1957.
#66441
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![[HLMainPic]](booksThumbs/66441.jpg "Click on the left or right of the image for more images")
A rare personal memoir of service with the 42nd Bn. CEF in France & Flanders, compiled by the author in 1919 but not circulated by him until 1957, & then presumably in a limited edition. He was a signaller & joined his battalion with a draft in 1916. Foreword states: "Of the many stories that have been written about wars but few of them have given the truth concerning the suffering & hardships that the front line fighting infantrymen are called upon to endure.. In this story I have endeavoured throughout to give the front line fighting infantryman's account... I have given the plain facts regarding the actualities of battle, naturally as I, in my own small way, saw them, & every statement or fact about any incident mentioned can be accepted as true... I have served on more than three dozen front line sectors... from Ypres to Amiens... I was fortunate to pass through many of the principal battles with the first wave of attacking troops & return unscarred... many dear friends fell... I saw my regiment decimated five times - at Vimy, Passchendaele, Amiens, Arras & Cambrai... Every trench that I have mentioned, & the dates given, are genuine... The official signalling messages & documents that I refer to are in my possession & are the original papers that were actually received in the trenches, & the names of the persons used are not fictitious..." The Contents include: Going to the Front; Life in the Trenches; Battle of Vimy Ridge; Dodging Trench Mortars in Avion; Fritz Uses Mustard Gas...; Almost Drowned in Flanders Mud; The Great Battle of Amiens; Smashing the Hindenburg Line, &c., & the whole piece is informative, well-written & gripping: a fine personal account. Issued by the author in card wraps., this copy bound in handsome black cloth with gilt title to sp., with author presentation inscription: "To Mr C.E. Dornbusch, The Author, William Breckenbridge." See illustrations on our website.
£350
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