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Ghosts Have Warm Hands: A Memoir of the Great War, 1916-1919
Ghosts Will Have Warm Hands is a republication of And We Go On (originally published in 1930).
One of the most powerful memoirs ever written about the First World War. The Author served 1916-19 with the Black Watch of Canada. Bird’s memoir captures the most poignant side of the war, the sacrifices, the humour, the rats and the terror, so unique to the First World War. His experiences were not only physical but also ethereal. His beloved brother, Stephen, who was killed near Ypres in 1915 played a critical role in Will’s survival and “appears” to save him from death on more than one occasion. Stephen told Will in 1914 “if I don’t come back maybe I’ll find a way to come and whisper in your ear."
One of the most powerful memoirs ever written about the First World War. The Author served 1916-19 with the Black Watch of Canada. Bird’s memoir captures the most poignant side of the war, the sacrifices, the humour, the rats and the terror, so unique to the First World War. His experiences were not only physical but also ethereal. His beloved brother, Stephen, who was killed near Ypres in 1915 played a critical role in Will’s survival and “appears” to save him from death on more than one occasion. Stephen told Will in 1914 “if I don’t come back maybe I’ll find a way to come and whisper in your ear."
182 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1930
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
December 2, 2018
I don't know why I haven't read this book before. Perhaps the odd title had something to do with my decision..one might think the book was a foray into the horror genre, and it certainly is not. At least not that kind of horror. Bird claims that, on at least two separate occasions, he was led out of danger by the ghost of his brother, who was killed early in the war. His brother's spectre had warm hands, hence the title of the book. Now I would have to see the ghost myself before I would believe that story, but I know from personal experience that a soldier who has been deprived of sleep for a couple of days can hallucinate, and that could account for the spectral goings-on. Anyway, in spite of the apocryphal fraternal wraith, I believe this memoir should rank right up there with Junger's Storm of Steel, as long as you don't lose sight of the fact that one was written by a cultured officer and the other by a Private.
Bird was a member of the 42nd Battalion of the CEF, the famous Canadian "Black Watch". He fought through France and into Belgium for the last two years of WWI, and kept a diary in the process. He has given us an honest account of the Infantryman's wartime experience, and he names the names associated with the good guys and the not-so-good guys. His earthy descriptions of the soldiers' interactions with the civilian populace are often amusing, and his descriptions of the battles he fought will have you sitting on the edge of your seat. He downplays his own achievements and trumpets the accomplishments of his fellow soldiers. He would have been the perfect man to fight with and he also, much to his own surprise, turned out to be the perfect guy to write about it.
I heartily recommend this neglected volume to anyone interested in WWI memoirs. Bird didn't let us down in the Great War, and he won't let you down now.
Bird was a member of the 42nd Battalion of the CEF, the famous Canadian "Black Watch". He fought through France and into Belgium for the last two years of WWI, and kept a diary in the process. He has given us an honest account of the Infantryman's wartime experience, and he names the names associated with the good guys and the not-so-good guys. His earthy descriptions of the soldiers' interactions with the civilian populace are often amusing, and his descriptions of the battles he fought will have you sitting on the edge of your seat. He downplays his own achievements and trumpets the accomplishments of his fellow soldiers. He would have been the perfect man to fight with and he also, much to his own surprise, turned out to be the perfect guy to write about it.
I heartily recommend this neglected volume to anyone interested in WWI memoirs. Bird didn't let us down in the Great War, and he won't let you down now.
July 10, 2024
And We Go On is the original version of Will Bird's memoir of the First World War. This memoir would be edited and partially re-written as Ghosts Have Warm Hands, published decades later. Bird served in France with the Black Watch from 1916 until the end of the war.
It's always great to read something from the Canadian perspective, and Bird's memoir is a very good account. I thought the chapter on Passchendaele was particularly excellent - absolutely gripping and vivid:
I also really loved the end of the final chapter. Very moving, indeed. Here's a small passage from Bird's reflections of what he went through as the Canadian troops approached Halifax:
The afterword was interesting. It explains how And We Go On later became Ghosts Have Warm Hands, and some of the changes that took place between the two books. The author, David Williams, also situates it in the time period it was released. But the introduction, also written by Williams, I wasn't a fan of. Simply too detailed. Providing a little background on Bird and noting some themes to pay attention to in the memoir is fine. But Williams ends up quoting too much of Bird's writing, sometimes entire paragraphs. Like, I haven't even read the damn book yet. Don't spoil it for me!
Back to Bird's account, there's just something that prevents me from giving it 5 stars. Don't get me wrong, this is a great book. It just didn't grab me the way, say, Ernst Jünger's Storm of Steel does. It's not that I can't appreciate something that's different from Jünger's account (another favourite First World War memoir of mine is Als Arzt in Mazedonien, written by a doctor), but I wasn't as emotionally involved in Bird's.
I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this in the slightest. It's a very good read from start to finish, with certain parts being especially poignant and vivid.
It's always great to read something from the Canadian perspective, and Bird's memoir is a very good account. I thought the chapter on Passchendaele was particularly excellent - absolutely gripping and vivid:
All that long drag back was a hideous nightmare. The track was worse than when we had come in and the shelling was incessant. We moved with infinite slowness, every step a struggle, a tearing physical effort, and a vast noise was over all, a thundering, rolling clamour that dulled our thinking, mercifully smothering some of our agonized impressions of the night before.
I also really loved the end of the final chapter. Very moving, indeed. Here's a small passage from Bird's reflections of what he went through as the Canadian troops approached Halifax:
I'd seen men twisting and writing in their sleep after big battles, tortured by visions that held them on a rack, by screams and shouts and the sounds of fighting that still echoed in their ears, and I knew that years would not entirely remove such remembrances. Those images of war would be with us as long as memory remained, needing but a slight impetus to make many nights an ordeal of dread, haunting us like scuttling winged ghouls, obliterating the finer, saner susceptibilities.
The afterword was interesting. It explains how And We Go On later became Ghosts Have Warm Hands, and some of the changes that took place between the two books. The author, David Williams, also situates it in the time period it was released. But the introduction, also written by Williams, I wasn't a fan of. Simply too detailed. Providing a little background on Bird and noting some themes to pay attention to in the memoir is fine. But Williams ends up quoting too much of Bird's writing, sometimes entire paragraphs. Like, I haven't even read the damn book yet. Don't spoil it for me!
Back to Bird's account, there's just something that prevents me from giving it 5 stars. Don't get me wrong, this is a great book. It just didn't grab me the way, say, Ernst Jünger's Storm of Steel does. It's not that I can't appreciate something that's different from Jünger's account (another favourite First World War memoir of mine is Als Arzt in Mazedonien, written by a doctor), but I wasn't as emotionally involved in Bird's.
I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this in the slightest. It's a very good read from start to finish, with certain parts being especially poignant and vivid.
August 7, 2014
This is a riveting, honest, and breathtaking account of one Canadian soldier's experience in the First World War. Bird was there for some of the major battles of the last years of the war. He describes in spare prose the killing and the dying, the camaraderie and fun, the outwitting of authority and the displays of raw courage which were the soldier's lot in the mud of Flanders. He does not romanticize the war but he does highlight the spirit of the trenches, which, as he later wrote, if there were more of it in the world there would have been fewer wars. This book, written in 1930, was long out of print until Norm Christie and CEF books reprinted it, and it has now been reissued. Not only historians of the war, but all admirers of human character and courage owe a debt of gratitude to Bird for this reminiscence, and to Christie for making it once again available.
February 15, 2021
Erich Maria Remarque observed in his preface to All Quiet on the Western Front that he was writing for and about the men who may have escaped the shells but who were nonetheless destroyed by the war. Based on diaries written during the fighting, And We Go On is a testament to that perspective.
When the ghost of his dead brother appears to him in uniform, Bird resolves to "take up the quarrel with the foe" and joins up. It is the first of many supernatural experiences the author has during the war, giving the book a strange, otherworldly feel - entirely in keeping with the great interest in spiritualism that characterizes the post-war period.
As a common soldier, Bird has a lot to say about the officer class and about the conduct of the war; however, this book is mostly about the pointless waste, the price to be paid when we allow ourselves to be suckered into conflict. It is a lesson we would do well to remember in our current time of troubles. By turns gruesome, amusing, infuriating, and thought-provoking, this Canadian classic of the "Great War," is a must read.
https://youtu.be/jYuxU8KgR1A
When the ghost of his dead brother appears to him in uniform, Bird resolves to "take up the quarrel with the foe" and joins up. It is the first of many supernatural experiences the author has during the war, giving the book a strange, otherworldly feel - entirely in keeping with the great interest in spiritualism that characterizes the post-war period.
As a common soldier, Bird has a lot to say about the officer class and about the conduct of the war; however, this book is mostly about the pointless waste, the price to be paid when we allow ourselves to be suckered into conflict. It is a lesson we would do well to remember in our current time of troubles. By turns gruesome, amusing, infuriating, and thought-provoking, this Canadian classic of the "Great War," is a must read.
https://youtu.be/jYuxU8KgR1A
Read
April 24, 2023AMAZING.
March 1, 2025
"bill, if there is anything i can do for you, just let me know, and if i don't come back maybe i'll find a way to come sometime and whisper in your ear."
Read
September 27, 2015The most "recent" of the books on this list, but still powerful for all that. Bird was an important figure in the veterans' movement in the war's aftermath; he took it as his duty to keep the public's memory of all that had been sacrificed alive and to work for the welfare of those who had come home alive but still deeply scarred, whether physically or otherwise. A sympathetic and often harrowing book.
December 27, 2016
Excellent first-person account from a Canadian soldier on serving in the trenches of World War I. As realistic as you'd probably wish to read concerning the conditions, combat, friendships, military stupidity, the emotional lives of the soldiers, with touches of humor and a bit of pondering the fortunes of war...Highly recommended before a visit to Ypres Salient, Vimy or the Somme, all of which are areas where he fought.
September 9, 2019
What Will Bird went through was unimaginable and his story was probably similar to thousands of soldiers in WW1. Will had a guardian angel watching over him in many situations. I don’t think I would want to live through what he did and then have to try to go back to normal life after the horror of the trenches
July 23, 2025
A look into the life of a Canadian soldier in the trenches of World War One. Twists of fate that keep one alive, yet see your friend killed beside you, show how luck can play an outsized role in your fate. The break between the officer and soldier class is palpable, though notable differences to this also present themselves. How one survived for years on end through such misery one will never truly understand.
Read
April 29, 2021The story of this Canadian soldier is so powerful and offers a really unique perspective of his war experience. I really enjoyed the emphasis that was put on events that took place outside of direct action and battle as it offers a more personal account.
March 31, 2022
A vivid, pull-no-punches account of a Canadian soldier of the First World War. Will Bird gives a glimpse at the supernatural aspect of a soldier's psyche during the intense stresses of war.
November 13, 2022
A very fine memoir. It is touching and sticks with you. He writes without fuss
January 13, 2024
A must read for anyone interested in Canadian WW1 military history.
November 23, 2024
Loved it!
January 12, 2025
Grisly account of The Great War, from diaries and memories of the author, which also includes tales of fun and practical jokes and of his brother’s ghost leading him out of harm’s way on the battlefield more than once.
I heard of this book through The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden, which I found atmospheric and riveting.
I heard of this book through The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden, which I found atmospheric and riveting.
January 28, 2015
This is eyewitness history - a trench-fighting soldier's memoirs drawn from diaries he kept while at the Western Front in the Great War.
Read this just after Frances Itani's fictional novel "Tell" involving Kenan - a soldier who returns to Deseronto, Ontario disfigured and handicapped from the Great War. After reading Will Bird's account of his experiences, I think I can understand Kenan's head space much better. Would not be surprised if Itani read this account from Will Bird as research for her novel involving returning veterans. The word 'veteran' connotes age but when a 20-something year old returns shattered in all possible ways from trench warfare it gives a completely new understanding of this term. Some of Bird's words when he contemplates going home:
Besides Bird's memoir, "And We Go On", originally published in 1930, the McGill - Queen's University Press reissue in 2014 includes an introduction and afterword by David Williams which compares Bird's work with other, better-known war literature. Both introduction and afterward contain insights that are well worth reading.
Now I'm on to reading 'November 1916' by Solzhenitsyn. More war writing, this time historical fiction that seems well researched. I've read some Solzhenitsyn short stories that deal with the Great War before and found them fascinating (in terms of discovering WW I era technology) and well-written.
Read this just after Frances Itani's fictional novel "Tell" involving Kenan - a soldier who returns to Deseronto, Ontario disfigured and handicapped from the Great War. After reading Will Bird's account of his experiences, I think I can understand Kenan's head space much better. Would not be surprised if Itani read this account from Will Bird as research for her novel involving returning veterans. The word 'veteran' connotes age but when a 20-something year old returns shattered in all possible ways from trench warfare it gives a completely new understanding of this term. Some of Bird's words when he contemplates going home:
Prisoners! We were prisoners, prisoners who could never escape. I had been trying to imagine how I would express my feelings when I got home, and now I knew I never could, none of us could. We could no more make ourselves articulate than could those who would not return; we were in a world apart, prisoners, in chains that would never loosen till death freed us."
Besides Bird's memoir, "And We Go On", originally published in 1930, the McGill - Queen's University Press reissue in 2014 includes an introduction and afterword by David Williams which compares Bird's work with other, better-known war literature. Both introduction and afterward contain insights that are well worth reading.
Now I'm on to reading 'November 1916' by Solzhenitsyn. More war writing, this time historical fiction that seems well researched. I've read some Solzhenitsyn short stories that deal with the Great War before and found them fascinating (in terms of discovering WW I era technology) and well-written.
December 15, 2014
An excellent account for readers interested in the actions of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. Additionally this work provides a good primary source for readers interested in some of the more ethereal aspects of the Great War as the title would imply (I won't ruin it); themes include: the randomness of trench warfare, fatalism, and symbolic aspects of the Great War. In short, an incredible combat account, and yet so much more.
September 8, 2014
Amazing first hand account of a soldier in the trenches of the first World War-a Canadian officer from Nova Scotia. Hailed by veterans as one of the most accurate accounts of both the horrors and the courage and camadarie of the soldier's life in WWI, it transports the reader to the real life of trench warfare.
Highly recommended and republished Sept. 30, 2014 with the original title: And We Go On.
Highly recommended and republished Sept. 30, 2014 with the original title: And We Go On.
August 16, 2012
For a historian or genealogist, there is a depth of richness here. Bird detailed his life in the trenches with journals. He wrote about poor management, gruesome deaths, small delights, and in so doing has left a remarkable record of World War One from the perspective of a Canadian soldier. It's not easy reading, but it's interesting stuff for a scholar or researcher.
December 27, 2018
If you are a reader who believes in ghostly encounters this maybe the war memoir for you. This is a famous Canadian first hand account of fighting on the western front. Bird vividly tells it like it is and pulls no punches. He was a capable solider who did his job well and with a bit of supernatural help made it home safely to Canada. An interesting and well written read.
February 22, 2019
My grandfather fought with the Canadians in WWI and of course never talked about it. I have always wanted to know what it was really like, aside from movie depictions. The author was with the Canadian units and wrote this account based on diaries he kept over the time he served so I feel that his book gave me a truer understanding of what the soldiers went through.
July 3, 2015
Can't recommend this honest memoir of the First World War highly enough. At times it reads like a list of events, but that's because Will Bird based it on his wartime diary. This was life on the Western Front for an ordinary (though not so ordinary) Canadian soldier.
February 13, 2019
Fascinating. Keep the Library and Archives Canada list of WWI military abbreviations handy as the author uses abbreviations for various things.
https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discove...
A knowledge of WWI era slang helps too.
https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discove...
A knowledge of WWI era slang helps too.
December 26, 2016
Solid book hands down
February 14, 2019
NF Memoir
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August 1, 2021
Single best book of the experience of a First World War infantryman I have ever rea.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews