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A Very Unimportant Officer
Rediscovered after 80 years gathering dust on a family bookshelf and first brought to public attention on BBC Radio 4's Today Programme, A Very Unimportant Officer is a detailed and intimate account of the experience of an ordinary officer on the front line in France and Flanders throughout 1916 and 1917. Recruited to The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) in 1915 at the age of 33, Captain Stewart went 'over the top' many times, outliving 'so many better men', as he says with typical humility. Through his vivd testimony we learn of the mud ('more like thick slime'), the flies and the difficulties of suffering dysentery while on horseback. In one memorable passage he describes engaging the enemy while smoking a pipe - an episode for which he was awarded the Military Cross. Yet through the chaos and horror of the trenches, Captain Stewart reflects with compassion on the fears and immense courage of the men under his command. Newly edited by his grandson, Cameron Stewart, A Very Unimportant Officer gives us a fascinating insight into the horrors and absurdities of trench life.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 30, 2018
This is not one of the great literary classics of the First World War. It does not compare with the works of Sassoon, Blunden, Graves, or Vaughn, but it doesn’t have to. The author was not reaching for some higher purpose, not writing for posterity, nor trying to make a grand statement about war. He was just trying to survive in a hellish place where survival owed more to luck than skill.
The book’s original source material is from a diary, which was later supplemented by the diarist’s grandson. For the most part the additional material provides good amplifying information, especially for readers who are not already familiar with what Paul Fussell called the Troglodyte War. Although many other authors have commented on the terrible conditions in the trenches, it is always worth hearing the stories of mud, rats, lice, cold, exhaustion, and the ever-present fear of sudden, violent death. We read these stories anew so that we may never forget the courage and perseverance of ordinary men in extraordinary circumstances.
The best parts of the book deal with the everyday routines of the soldiers in and out of the lines. The normal rotation for infantry was three or four days each in the front lines, the reserve trenches, and the rest areas. Neither the reserve nor the rest areas were any kind of reprieve. While there the soldiers would be constantly working, repairing or digging new trenches, and carrying supplies up to the front line. They were also still well within artillery range, and thus took a constant drip of casualties. After two or three of these rotations the troops would be pulled some miles back of the line to take in replacements, draw new equipment, and train.
Soldiers may have originally joined up for king and country, but after some experience in combat it was enough just to be fighting for their lives and for those of their friends. Over the course of the war, the British averaged 7000 casualties a day from all sources, and in Sassoon’s memoir he recounts the quartermaster saying that the battalion turned over every four months. During that time some would be transferred to other units or sent home, but the majority of the losses were killed, wounded, or sick. Sassoon mentions the sadness of returning to the company mess after recuperating from being wounded and finding that all of the officers he had previously known were gone.
The author of A Very Unimportant Officer seems to have kept tight control of himself; his writing style is often detached and laconic. He is more likely to get upset over some teetotaling idiot of a general who decides to cancel the men’s rum ration than he is over the prospect of yet another hopeless attack and the knowledge that still more of his men, and perhaps he himself, will die or be gravely wounded. For modern readers this gives the book a strange, almost surreal feel at times. You want to shout, “This is madness, this is sheer, stark raving insanity, and you are acting like it is just another day at the office!” Well, for him it was just another day, and he was very very lucky to have survived both the Somme and Passchendaele, two of the great killing grounds of the twentieth century.
This isn’t a timeless classic, but an intimate account of what it was like to live in the valley of the shadow of death. It is well worth reading.
The book’s original source material is from a diary, which was later supplemented by the diarist’s grandson. For the most part the additional material provides good amplifying information, especially for readers who are not already familiar with what Paul Fussell called the Troglodyte War. Although many other authors have commented on the terrible conditions in the trenches, it is always worth hearing the stories of mud, rats, lice, cold, exhaustion, and the ever-present fear of sudden, violent death. We read these stories anew so that we may never forget the courage and perseverance of ordinary men in extraordinary circumstances.
The best parts of the book deal with the everyday routines of the soldiers in and out of the lines. The normal rotation for infantry was three or four days each in the front lines, the reserve trenches, and the rest areas. Neither the reserve nor the rest areas were any kind of reprieve. While there the soldiers would be constantly working, repairing or digging new trenches, and carrying supplies up to the front line. They were also still well within artillery range, and thus took a constant drip of casualties. After two or three of these rotations the troops would be pulled some miles back of the line to take in replacements, draw new equipment, and train.
Soldiers may have originally joined up for king and country, but after some experience in combat it was enough just to be fighting for their lives and for those of their friends. Over the course of the war, the British averaged 7000 casualties a day from all sources, and in Sassoon’s memoir he recounts the quartermaster saying that the battalion turned over every four months. During that time some would be transferred to other units or sent home, but the majority of the losses were killed, wounded, or sick. Sassoon mentions the sadness of returning to the company mess after recuperating from being wounded and finding that all of the officers he had previously known were gone.
The author of A Very Unimportant Officer seems to have kept tight control of himself; his writing style is often detached and laconic. He is more likely to get upset over some teetotaling idiot of a general who decides to cancel the men’s rum ration than he is over the prospect of yet another hopeless attack and the knowledge that still more of his men, and perhaps he himself, will die or be gravely wounded. For modern readers this gives the book a strange, almost surreal feel at times. You want to shout, “This is madness, this is sheer, stark raving insanity, and you are acting like it is just another day at the office!” Well, for him it was just another day, and he was very very lucky to have survived both the Somme and Passchendaele, two of the great killing grounds of the twentieth century.
This isn’t a timeless classic, but an intimate account of what it was like to live in the valley of the shadow of death. It is well worth reading.
October 1, 2012
This book presents interesting look into the world of British officer serving in the infantry during World War I. The editor, the officers grandson, begins each major section with a description of the events in the war from a broad perspective in order to give the reader the bigger picture of the events the author is describing from the small unit level. The author builds upon his story from short diary notations he made during the war. He expands upon these short notes to provide his thoughts on life in the trenches, friendships, and battles. His descriptions of battling flies, lice, rats, mud, artillery bombardment and the stench of the battle field makes one appreciate the resilience and resolve of those who serviced in this war. At times the narrative is striking, detailing on how he took a four day leave prior to an operation instead of a promised two week leave after the operation because he knew the operation was doomed to fail and he might not survive to take the promised two weeks. Of returning from leave convinced that he would not survive to take another such leave. He complains of officers ordering attacks without knowing the terrain, obstacles and enemy the soldiers would face. Of regular Army officers who would not report the truth to their superiors for fear of ruining their careers. There are also amusing complaints about senior commanders eliminating the rum ration for the troops and of head quarters staff officers burdening him with inane queries at all hours of the day and night (some things never change do they?). Overall an interesting read.
July 27, 2009
This book offers the reader a chance to view the world of a British Infantry officer during the Great War. We follow him through his rotation with his unit from the trenches on the Western Front into rest areas and onto leave back home and back into the Trenches. We can read about his experiences whilst serving on the Somme and Passchendaele and enjoy his candor and humour whilst being involved in some of the bloodiest fighting during World War One. I particularly liked his rantings against senior commanders in stopping the rum ration to the troops shivering in the water logged trenches. Although short and sharp with some diary entries only being a single line its well worth the read.
August 3, 2024
It is a good read taken from the author's diary with added material from his grandson he tells of his experiences through out the first world war & very informative too. He doesn't go into detail about how those under him were killed (thankfully) but that's nothing to be miffed about. Well worth a read.
January 16, 2025
Courage that can't be Defeated
Incredible account of courage and fortitude is the face unbelievable horror of death and destruction.
My grandfather was also a survivor of Arras, Somme and Paassendale I feel his presence in the events described Captain Stewart
Incredible account of courage and fortitude is the face unbelievable horror of death and destruction.
My grandfather was also a survivor of Arras, Somme and Paassendale I feel his presence in the events described Captain Stewart
July 17, 2021
Fascinating account of the authors Grandfather through his diaries kept during WW1.
November 12, 2014
I probably would not have read this book had it not been handed to me by a relative to mine to whom the author (effectively, commentator) was a cousin of some sort. That said I am not in any way a blood relation of the Stewart family and my opinion is objective.
The commentary provided by the grandson, Cameron, as a preface to the transcribed WWI diary of his grandfather (the unimportant officer referred to), is enough to give an overview and decent lead-in to the entries that make up the bulk of the book. It is the entries by the officer himself that make the book.
So what came through for me? Firstly, that life and death in the trenches in WWI was mostly a matter of luck. Shelling was remorseless and unpredictable. Furthermore, many of the entries suggested that high command was not always aware of the reality of the situation on the ground and some of the offensives did not sit well with Corporal (?) Stewart.
Secondly, the importance of the rum ration! Despite, or more probably because of, the horrors Cpl Stewart describes (rats, mud, corpses, bombs), the rum ration was more than a routine allowance, it was a mainstay of the troops. The provision of it soothed nerves and provided one of the few comforts the soldiers could enjoy in alternately dull and hellish conditions. So when there was talk of it being rescinded by some general or other sitting comfortably far from the front, Cpl Stewart's anger bubbles over in his accounts of what is otherwise a surprisingly prosaic account of daily life in her majesty's army. At the risk of sounding callous I even found it slightly amusing how wrought-up the man would become in this regard. On deeper reflection it speaks much of what life boiled down to when confronted with the realities of life in such dire circumstances.
It's not the sort of book you 'love' hence my middle-of-the-road rating. All the same it makes for fascinating reading. Cameron Stewart's commentary at the end of the book is insightful and well-researched and goes some way to explaining the context in which his grandfather would have written his diary accounts i.e. society, expectations and generational worldview.
I couldn't write this review without giving my appraisal of Cpl Stewart, being that he was a very brave man without doubt. He came very close to death on more than one occasion but did not dwell on the incidents at any length. The things he saw in those dark times must have remained with him to the end of his days.
The commentary provided by the grandson, Cameron, as a preface to the transcribed WWI diary of his grandfather (the unimportant officer referred to), is enough to give an overview and decent lead-in to the entries that make up the bulk of the book. It is the entries by the officer himself that make the book.
So what came through for me? Firstly, that life and death in the trenches in WWI was mostly a matter of luck. Shelling was remorseless and unpredictable. Furthermore, many of the entries suggested that high command was not always aware of the reality of the situation on the ground and some of the offensives did not sit well with Corporal (?) Stewart.
Secondly, the importance of the rum ration! Despite, or more probably because of, the horrors Cpl Stewart describes (rats, mud, corpses, bombs), the rum ration was more than a routine allowance, it was a mainstay of the troops. The provision of it soothed nerves and provided one of the few comforts the soldiers could enjoy in alternately dull and hellish conditions. So when there was talk of it being rescinded by some general or other sitting comfortably far from the front, Cpl Stewart's anger bubbles over in his accounts of what is otherwise a surprisingly prosaic account of daily life in her majesty's army. At the risk of sounding callous I even found it slightly amusing how wrought-up the man would become in this regard. On deeper reflection it speaks much of what life boiled down to when confronted with the realities of life in such dire circumstances.
It's not the sort of book you 'love' hence my middle-of-the-road rating. All the same it makes for fascinating reading. Cameron Stewart's commentary at the end of the book is insightful and well-researched and goes some way to explaining the context in which his grandfather would have written his diary accounts i.e. society, expectations and generational worldview.
I couldn't write this review without giving my appraisal of Cpl Stewart, being that he was a very brave man without doubt. He came very close to death on more than one occasion but did not dwell on the incidents at any length. The things he saw in those dark times must have remained with him to the end of his days.
October 3, 2014
I very much enjoyed reading this WW1 diary of an officer, which was very well enhanced by the factual passages regarding the history and progress of the war added by the editor. Gave a very good insight into how an officer would feel when faced with war; both the frenzy of the front line and the lassitude that often occurred behind it, changing positions etc.
August 18, 2012
Here's a fantastic WWI memoir by a British Lieutenant. War is hell.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews