With the Jocks: A Soldier's Struggle for Europe 1944-45

by Peter White, John Keegan (Foreword)

Born in battle, Peter White's journal is one of the most extraordinary stories to come out of the Second World War. As a 24-year-old lieutenant in the King's Own Scottish Borderers, Peter kept an unauthorised journal of his regiment's advance through the Low Countries and into Germany in the closing months of the war in Europe. Forbidden by his commanding officer from doing so for security reasons, Peter's boyhood habit of diary-keeping had become an obsession too strong to shake off. Each day he found time to record in copious detail the war going on around him, the lives and deaths of the men with whom he served, and the inexorable Allied advance into the Third Reich. In one of the most graphic and finely crafted evocations of a soldier at war, the images he records are not for the faint-hearted. There are heroes aplenty within its pages, but there are also disturbing insights into the darker side of humanity, frequently brushed aside in many other war accounts - the men who broke under the strain and who ran away (sometimes with tragic results); the binge drinking that occasionally rendered the whole platoon unable to fight; the looting and the callous disregard for human life that happens when death is a daily companion. Hidden away for more than fifty years, White's diary is a remarkable account of the horrors of war experienced by a British soldier in the greatest conflict of the twentieth century.

Genres: History, World War II, Military History, War

496 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Librarian Note: There are more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Carl · Rating 5 out of 5]

The memoirs of platoon commander lieutenant Peter White, and the experience of him and his men from October 1944 through to the end of the war. An easy read that is easily accessible, and in some parts beautifully written. The exceptionally vivid description details the state of the terrain and damaged buildings, to the smells of war, and the activities the men undertake; one can almost picture being there and smelling the cordite first hand, and the mundane day to day life interspersed with bouts of abject terror and horror.

Some (elsewhere) have noted that this is an officers account of the war, and lacking a connection with the regular men. White does regularly note that he eats and lives with other officers whenever he can, and very rarely mentions his men by their names. However, the highlights the efforts he took to get to know his men, his unflinching support he attributes to his men, and accounts of when he risked his life for them, not to mention a list of (mostly) surnames of all those who died under his command. The connection is shown, when he comments about when he was about to be transferred to another platoon, his men complained enough to have him retained.

As a first person account, one has to be careful with taking everything at face-value. However, the humility shown throughout I feel testifies to the general authenticity of the work.

[nick mercer · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent memoire

Very well observed and written, its a fascinating account if how WW2 was fought at the slit trench level in Europe from jan 1945. I was struck by how differently the war was prosecuted than modern day high intensity operations, which take place in continuous time blocks with gaps stood down in between.

Here the Jocks are either in action, or taking rest in local buildings and trying to feed themselves and sleep in between attacks. Even if in reserve they are stagging on. They don't seem to get any time out of the line and casualties are continuous. Replacements just slot in without any fuss.

Equally fascinating is what they all went on to do after demob

[Danas Kazlauskas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grim WWII reality related by the infantry platoon commander, which shared all ordeals with his soldiers. Narrative from time to time was sprinkled with good British humour.
Downsides: phrases in Scottish accent were not translated (yes, they definitely require a translation, I suppose even for some native English speakers ;-)), also not a single explanation was provided for vast amount of military terms and acronyms used in the book, so in order to fully understand the text you should read this book alongside with the "Google".

[S I · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic read. My Grampa was briefly in 4 KOSB during WW2 - he was medically discharged before this story took place. It was interesting to read about those individuals that my Grampa may have met and to follow their story through to the end of the war. I read with bated breast as Peter talked about going into battle on dates that I knew, but he would not have known, were within days of the end of the fighting in Europe, yet he and his men had to crack in and do a job.

This is a book that I’d thoroughly recommend.

[Adrian Foster · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding Insight

From the very first pages you are transported into a cold, damp slit trench in North Western Europe. The precise detail never becomes boring even though he is describing great tedium interspersed with moments of extreme trauma and danger. An outstanding account of the nitty gritty detail of war by an enquiring and principled man.

[Jack Kefferty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

By far the best account of the journey through France,Belgium ,Holland and Germany by our fighting Jocks that I’ve had the pleasure of reading . A couldn’t put down book , had me engrossed start to finish .

[Spencer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stunning book

By far the most intimate insight into an infantryman’s struggle through until D Day, highlights quite succinctly the trials and tribulations the “poor bloody infantry” faced.

[Mr Steve J Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Will take you to the front line and immerse you. Action, terror and mundane day to day life. Compelling.

[Archie Fetherstonhaugh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best WW2 memoir I’ve ever or could hope to read. Fascinating portrayal of a subultans life at the front line. The cold, the wet, the sleep deprivation, the life and death decisions

[Nick Boldrini · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best, if not the best, first hand account I have read of WWII. Peter White is a former anti-aircraft gun officer who is transferred to the Jocks in October 1944 and serves with them to the war ends. Based on notes he wrote at the time, it is a very detailed day by day account, which is very well written. He details the mental and physical turmoil he and his soldiers suffer. Detailed accounts which put you right with him as he turns a corner in an attack and comes face to face with the enemy yards away; lying being shelled in the open with minimal cover, in shells scrapes half full of freezing water; on the receiving end of a friendly fire shelling which devastated his platoon; taking part in the attack on Bremen; seeing the effects of Crocodile flamethrowers on civilian farms. Its all very graphic and heart rending, but vital reading. I cannot recommend this book enough.

[John Hart · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best book on war I have ever read. It is an interesting tale of an ordinary infantry platoon fighting through to the end of the war. Peter White's strength as a writer is the detail he provides and the immediacy of his writing. With the former, I found the minutiae of his service as a soldier fascinating: the vivid description of what it is like being mortared whilst huddling in a water-soaked shallow shell scrape in the early dawn is second to none. With the latter, he does not seem as introspective as authors writing decades after the war. As a bonus, he is so descriptive that I was able to visit several of the places located in the book, absolutely fascinating. Highly recommended.

[Albert · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not written by a (well informed) historian, who has never been there. This is the gravic story of a platoon leader who has done it, seen it all and has the (bloody) t-shirt. This is an easy to read story of the men of the 4th battalion King's Own Scottish Borderers who fought their way through Belgian, the Netherlands and Germany to reach Bremen on the 27th of April 1945. I bought this book because a relative of my father-in-law served in the 4th bat. KOSB as a quartermaster sergeant. Now the family knows what he went through until he was killed in action in Einste (Germany) on the 9th of April 1945, 18 days from their final destination. This is one of the best life accounts I've read from WW2.

[William]

One of the better books on the advance through the low countries into Germany

[Andrew Hulme · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent read