The enemy fought splendidly: Being the 1914-1915 diary of the Battle of the Falklands & its aftermath

by T.B. Dixon

With the start of World War I in 1914 Thomas Benjamin Dixon found himself, at the age of twenty-eight, as a recently commissioned junior surgeon on H.M.S. Kent, bound for the waters of South America. Behind him he left his friends, his medical practice and his young wife who was expecting their second child. Dogged by seasickness and the strangeness of his new surroundings, Dixon nevertheless threw himself wholeheartedly into life aboard ship and in his spare time chronicled both the tedium of chasing tramp steamers and coaling at sea and the excitement of coming face to face with the enemy. The diary that he produced tells simply and movingly the story of his own struggles, and of the struggles of the world outside where dying empires were locked in conflict.

96 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1983

Reviews

[Erik Empson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fairly interesting diary account of officer class life on board the Monmouth class cruiser, Kent, which saw action in the Battle of the Falklands during the First World War. Interesting more for annecdotes than the action as it is written by a surgeon who was below decks during much of the exciting episodes. Gives a sense of the mix of expectation and boredom of life on board, as well as the stark differences in welfare of between officers and crew, although there was mixing in sports and fishing. Quite a few observations about the islands of South America. Pretty short and succinct.