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Last Man Standing: The Memoirs of a Seaforth Highlander during the Great War
While researching his excellent earlier book: Veterans of World War I, author Richard Van Emden encountered a fascinating personality of that long-ago conflict. After witnessing German naval attacks on British civilians, Norman Collins enlisted in the Seaforth Highlanders of the 51st Highland Division, even though he was under age. Collins fought at the battles of Beaumont Hamel, Arras, and Passchendaele, and was wounded several times.
Collins lived to be 100 and had an unusually detailed collection of letters, documents, illustrations and photographs. Richard Van Emden has written a moving biography of a unique personality at war, and his long life after the dramatic events of his youth.
205 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2002
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95 people want to read
About the author
Norman Collins
39 books26 followersNorman Collins born 3 October 1907, died 1982, was a British writer, and later a radio and television executive, who became one of the major figures behind the establishment of the Independent Television (ITV) network in the UK. This was the first organisation to break the BBC’s broadcasting monopoly when it began transmitting in 1955.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
June 5, 2021
I decided to read this as my paternal grandfather served on the Western Front with the Seaforths during 1917-18, and I wondered whether Noman Collins – the subject of this book - might have been in the same battalion. He wasn’t though.
Collins was born in 1897 and died in 1998, and at his death was thought to be the second last WW1 veteran of his regiment. Despite joining a Highland regiment, he grew up in the town of Hartlepool in the north-east of England. He had wanted to join a Scottish regiment as his father’s side of the family were of Scottish descent, but his parents did not want him to join up, so he went to the furthest away recruiting office he could find in the hope it would be more difficult for his parents to track him down before he did so. The office he went to was in Dingwall, to the north of Inverness, and that’s how he ended up in the Seaforth Highlanders. He initially joined as a private but later gained a commission.
One unusual feature of this book is that a large chunk of it consists of letters Collins wrote to his family whilst in the Army. He had imagined these letters had been destroyed, but it turned out his brother kept them all his life, and after his brother’s death he was given them by his sister-in-law. In the book, reproductions of these letters are interspersed with Collins’ own recollections. The letters have one big advantage, in that they record his actual impressions at the time, rather than memories that may have become distorted over time. They were also not written with the thought that anyone would be reading them more than a century later. There are pros and cons to that, but they do capture the everyday concerns of one of the PBI. They also include the slang of the period. Physical exercise was for some reason known as “Swedish drill” and Collins refers to people being killed as being “nah-poohed”, an expression apparently derived from the French phrase Il n’y en a plus.
I thought the early part of the book was only so-so. There’s a chapter in which Collins describes his childhood, and it seemed a fairly typical example of an elderly man reminiscing nostalgically about his formative years. Even after he joins the Army he spends over a year in Britain before being sent to France. It’s when he goes to the Front that the book really picks up, with vivid descriptions of his experiences. Collins was wounded 3 times and only spent a total of 17 weeks at the front, in batches of 6 weeks, 5 weeks and 6 weeks. That was enough though. The book’s author, Richard van Emden, comments that emotionally, Collins never really left the battlefields of France and Belgium. One particularly poignant section has copies of letters written to Collins by the heartbroken parents of young soldiers who had been killed. As a junior officer he had been given the job of writing to the parents about the death of their sons. He wasn’t allowed to subsequently engage in correspondence with them, but kept some of the letters.
Collins only ever returned once to the battlefields of northern France, in 1989, as he neared his 92nd birthday. When asked about whether he was up to the trip, he gave the following response, which I thought would be a suitable quote on which to end:
I would consider it amusing, if I were able to, if I passed out 73 years after the battle on the same spot where I should have passed on at 19 years of age. I’m sure I would be greeted with cries of ‘Late on Parade, Sir?’
Collins was born in 1897 and died in 1998, and at his death was thought to be the second last WW1 veteran of his regiment. Despite joining a Highland regiment, he grew up in the town of Hartlepool in the north-east of England. He had wanted to join a Scottish regiment as his father’s side of the family were of Scottish descent, but his parents did not want him to join up, so he went to the furthest away recruiting office he could find in the hope it would be more difficult for his parents to track him down before he did so. The office he went to was in Dingwall, to the north of Inverness, and that’s how he ended up in the Seaforth Highlanders. He initially joined as a private but later gained a commission.
One unusual feature of this book is that a large chunk of it consists of letters Collins wrote to his family whilst in the Army. He had imagined these letters had been destroyed, but it turned out his brother kept them all his life, and after his brother’s death he was given them by his sister-in-law. In the book, reproductions of these letters are interspersed with Collins’ own recollections. The letters have one big advantage, in that they record his actual impressions at the time, rather than memories that may have become distorted over time. They were also not written with the thought that anyone would be reading them more than a century later. There are pros and cons to that, but they do capture the everyday concerns of one of the PBI. They also include the slang of the period. Physical exercise was for some reason known as “Swedish drill” and Collins refers to people being killed as being “nah-poohed”, an expression apparently derived from the French phrase Il n’y en a plus.
I thought the early part of the book was only so-so. There’s a chapter in which Collins describes his childhood, and it seemed a fairly typical example of an elderly man reminiscing nostalgically about his formative years. Even after he joins the Army he spends over a year in Britain before being sent to France. It’s when he goes to the Front that the book really picks up, with vivid descriptions of his experiences. Collins was wounded 3 times and only spent a total of 17 weeks at the front, in batches of 6 weeks, 5 weeks and 6 weeks. That was enough though. The book’s author, Richard van Emden, comments that emotionally, Collins never really left the battlefields of France and Belgium. One particularly poignant section has copies of letters written to Collins by the heartbroken parents of young soldiers who had been killed. As a junior officer he had been given the job of writing to the parents about the death of their sons. He wasn’t allowed to subsequently engage in correspondence with them, but kept some of the letters.
Collins only ever returned once to the battlefields of northern France, in 1989, as he neared his 92nd birthday. When asked about whether he was up to the trip, he gave the following response, which I thought would be a suitable quote on which to end:
I would consider it amusing, if I were able to, if I passed out 73 years after the battle on the same spot where I should have passed on at 19 years of age. I’m sure I would be greeted with cries of ‘Late on Parade, Sir?’
November 17, 2016
I didn't care for it at first, but the book grew on me. It starts off slowly, but by page 135 or so Collins' horrific experiences at the front start coming through, though not in the letters he writes home. Most of these are from his diary or interviews with him in later years, and they're terribly poignant. Collins says:
"On the day of the Armistice I was on leave....Incredibly the war was over, but my one thought was ‘It’s too late – all my friends are gone – it’s too late. It’s no good having an Armistice now.’
I had a vision, and I was standing in a trench. I could not put my head up because I was under fire, but above me, at eye level, walking past were hundreds and hundreds of boots and puttees. I thought of all those I had known; it was like a panorama of passing people, people from the cadet battalion, through the various training courses and out in France. They went on and on for hours, and I realised it was the dead all walking away and leaving me behind. I felt worried and frightened that they were leaving me by myself; that I had been left behind. They were marching away into the distance, where I would never follow. All the people I knew had gone, except me. That was a vivid dream and I dreamt it on many occasions, although I never told anyone until I was a very old man, because I felt it was a private matter between my old comrades and myself. It was a most intense feeling and it remained so."
The editor notes: "Norman returned to France for the one and only time 14 April 1989, two days before his 92nd birthday. He was unconcerned about such a visit even given his great age; on the contrary, he noted in his taped diary that ‘I would consider it amusing, if I were able to, if I passed out 73 years after the battle on the same spot where I should have passed on at 19 years of age. I’m sure I would be greeted by cries of ‘Late on parade, Sir?’"
"On the day of the Armistice I was on leave....Incredibly the war was over, but my one thought was ‘It’s too late – all my friends are gone – it’s too late. It’s no good having an Armistice now.’
I had a vision, and I was standing in a trench. I could not put my head up because I was under fire, but above me, at eye level, walking past were hundreds and hundreds of boots and puttees. I thought of all those I had known; it was like a panorama of passing people, people from the cadet battalion, through the various training courses and out in France. They went on and on for hours, and I realised it was the dead all walking away and leaving me behind. I felt worried and frightened that they were leaving me by myself; that I had been left behind. They were marching away into the distance, where I would never follow. All the people I knew had gone, except me. That was a vivid dream and I dreamt it on many occasions, although I never told anyone until I was a very old man, because I felt it was a private matter between my old comrades and myself. It was a most intense feeling and it remained so."
The editor notes: "Norman returned to France for the one and only time 14 April 1989, two days before his 92nd birthday. He was unconcerned about such a visit even given his great age; on the contrary, he noted in his taped diary that ‘I would consider it amusing, if I were able to, if I passed out 73 years after the battle on the same spot where I should have passed on at 19 years of age. I’m sure I would be greeted by cries of ‘Late on parade, Sir?’"
November 12, 2021
A poignant, vivid set of memoirs written by Collins, who served as an officer during the First World War.
A mix of letters, diary entries and reminisces written by Collins, this book vividly brings to life the horror, pain and loss of war.
The deaths of some of Collins's fellow officers and soldiers are described in moving detail, including an incident where he and a burial party buried over thirty Canadian soldiers.
A highly moving book, revealing the horror of war, and why it is so important to remember the sacrifices made by the armed forces, both past and present.
A mix of letters, diary entries and reminisces written by Collins, this book vividly brings to life the horror, pain and loss of war.
The deaths of some of Collins's fellow officers and soldiers are described in moving detail, including an incident where he and a burial party buried over thirty Canadian soldiers.
A highly moving book, revealing the horror of war, and why it is so important to remember the sacrifices made by the armed forces, both past and present.
April 23, 2023
Last Man Standing
Richard van Emden
Boys go to war. Only someone young enough to still feel invincible and invulnerable can look at war as an adventure. This boy still in his teens with a boyish look about him went as a Lieutenant.
The story is a testimony to the incompetence and inefficiency of military leadership. Norman at 18 becomes a lieutenant in part because he’s the only one in his unit capable of filling out the paperwork which his CO promptly manages to lose.
Given the way officers and instructors treated their own men is it any wonder enemy prisoners were abused. They only act from experience.
Military intelligence and logic: requiring a man who is not allowed to wear them to buy trousers. I’m thankful the uniform I was required to wear was provided tax free.
When I was measured for my first uniform the super came up with a chest size 10 inches smaller than my 28 inch waist. He’d twisted the tape measure.
And finally as we near the book’s end the Seaforths end up at the second battle of Beaumont-Hamel. I’m aware that July First is a day of mourning in Newfie for the Newfoundland Regiment whose lives were thrown away by British Generals. Norman survives going over the top, (of the trenches), and capturing a town where naught but mud remained and is then tasked with burying the war dead including the rotting rat-ridden corpses of those Newfoundland boys.
His war record was 17 weeks in the field and 15 months in hospital. I’d like to read about what his men thought about having that still wet behind the ears shaver ordering them around. He certainly found use for his writing ability.
Most notable for someone who lost so many comrades would be survivor’s guilt. We know that women wear skirts but it still seems strange that men would enter the battlefield and serve in the trenches in kilts. The battle pipes are a fearsome sound.
Personally I’d endure military discipline for about 5 seconds.
Richard van Emden
Boys go to war. Only someone young enough to still feel invincible and invulnerable can look at war as an adventure. This boy still in his teens with a boyish look about him went as a Lieutenant.
The story is a testimony to the incompetence and inefficiency of military leadership. Norman at 18 becomes a lieutenant in part because he’s the only one in his unit capable of filling out the paperwork which his CO promptly manages to lose.
Given the way officers and instructors treated their own men is it any wonder enemy prisoners were abused. They only act from experience.
Military intelligence and logic: requiring a man who is not allowed to wear them to buy trousers. I’m thankful the uniform I was required to wear was provided tax free.
When I was measured for my first uniform the super came up with a chest size 10 inches smaller than my 28 inch waist. He’d twisted the tape measure.
And finally as we near the book’s end the Seaforths end up at the second battle of Beaumont-Hamel. I’m aware that July First is a day of mourning in Newfie for the Newfoundland Regiment whose lives were thrown away by British Generals. Norman survives going over the top, (of the trenches), and capturing a town where naught but mud remained and is then tasked with burying the war dead including the rotting rat-ridden corpses of those Newfoundland boys.
His war record was 17 weeks in the field and 15 months in hospital. I’d like to read about what his men thought about having that still wet behind the ears shaver ordering them around. He certainly found use for his writing ability.
Most notable for someone who lost so many comrades would be survivor’s guilt. We know that women wear skirts but it still seems strange that men would enter the battlefield and serve in the trenches in kilts. The battle pipes are a fearsome sound.
Personally I’d endure military discipline for about 5 seconds.
November 20, 2017
Good book, history of 2 well known regiments the Seaforth's and Argyll's. Facts of a youth who starts as a cadet and progresses through the ranks and faces the changes that come with war. My main interest in this book is through WW II, I had two relatives, one in the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada and Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada. I was taken down to the Seaforth's by my Grandfather the age of 14 and joined but due to life changes I never got the chance to follow in his footsteps.
November 17, 2017
A good book to read to gain insight into life in the trenches during WW I. Considering when the book was put together at such a late point in Norman's life, he still had an amazing recall of his life in his late teens and early twenties.
August 30, 2021
An amazing account.
Anyone interested in WW1 should read this book written by a very young man who went through the dreadful event. Completely unnecessary and caused by one man’s manic obsession with his cousin’s position on the world stage.
Anyone interested in WW1 should read this book written by a very young man who went through the dreadful event. Completely unnecessary and caused by one man’s manic obsession with his cousin’s position on the world stage.
January 10, 2019
Interesting combination of letters, interviews, and editor notes to give an insight into WWI.
May 6, 2016
A good soldier
Good book of one man's experience. Unfortunately for the reader he tends to minimize his battle experience and writes much about training and his wound recovery. He rendered fine service but the book lacks excitement for significant periods. Other men may have had more adventures to recount. Unfortunately they died before 1919.
Good book of one man's experience. Unfortunately for the reader he tends to minimize his battle experience and writes much about training and his wound recovery. He rendered fine service but the book lacks excitement for significant periods. Other men may have had more adventures to recount. Unfortunately they died before 1919.
March 18, 2013
This is fascinating as it is the actual thoughts of Norman as he thought them from the letters he wrote to his parents and brother. It is interspersed with reflections from Norman as a 90+ year old and historical context from the editor. Very moving and a great historical source. Great read.
January 22, 2013
A thought-provoking book that gives one a real insight into the life of a young soldier in WW1.
March 22, 2013
Incredible and harrowing insight into life as a soldier in France during WWI. Couldn't put it down.
July 12, 2013
A most thought provoking book - I truly wish I would have had the chance to meet this man.
December 30, 2012
enjoyed this personal account of life in the trenches
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews