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Shrieks and Crashes: The Memoir of Wilfred B. Kerr, Canadian Field Artillery, 1917
157 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2005
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June 7, 2022
This book was originally published in 1929 republished in 2005 by Norm Christie of CEF Books (Canadian Expeditionary Force). The war referred to, then called “The Great War,” was long over except for the families of the MIA and KIA, and people were trying to get on with their lives. The market for “war” literature had been long saturated however Kerr writes in amazing detail and describes what the soldier sees, hears, smells and does in a number of situations. This is often intriguing detail that tells much about the materials that were available to the military arts of the day. In any case, he must have felt some satisfaction with the book since he followed up with 1918 a few years later. This was also reissued by CEF Books.
Kerr writes with a very friendly and chatty style. He nonetheless provides a lot of knowledge and education concerning the jobs that various people in the artillery do. The role of the artillery is also described, in the sense of what the 18 pounder guns do, what the mediums do and what the heavies do. At this time in the war, the 18 pounders are assigned to the infantry divisions and brigades, and respond to their immediate needs. As a signaller in an 18 pound battery, he participates in this communication and sees how the artillery responds to the infantry. By organization, he is part of the administration of the guns so he sees their supply and movement and has to help with certain logistics. He knows and describes which jobs in the artillery are “good” jobs and which jobs are “less good” jobs and why.
The Vimy battle is only days away when Kerr arrives and Passchendaele is well and truly over at the end of this book. He has seen these two major battles, one very successful in Canadians’ minds, one successful in the Field Marshal’s mind but simply a waste in the soldiers’ minds. Lens was not recognized as a major battle by Kerr but was successful in the Corps Commander’s mind. Despite the losses Kerr reports the Canadian solder came to do a job and was prepared to pay the price for the sake of the good of the world. This was somewhat different from the English soldier and quite different from the German soldier in Kerr’s mind.
Another interesting attitude that shows up in a couple of places in the book and is discussed at length in the chapter headed: “Life at the Front” is the attitude of the other ranks to their officers. They almost 100% would not fraternize with, or socialize with, their officers. Nor would they make any effort to look or do “parade” military. This was true regardless of how much they respected an individual officer or what rank the officer was. This seems to be somewhat different from Kerr’s understanding of the Australian situation where the officers minimized the “parade” military to the extend possible for their soldiers.
A very well written and worthwhile read for anybody with Great War “in the trenches” interest, and worthwhile addition to any Great War collection. Four Stars
Kerr writes with a very friendly and chatty style. He nonetheless provides a lot of knowledge and education concerning the jobs that various people in the artillery do. The role of the artillery is also described, in the sense of what the 18 pounder guns do, what the mediums do and what the heavies do. At this time in the war, the 18 pounders are assigned to the infantry divisions and brigades, and respond to their immediate needs. As a signaller in an 18 pound battery, he participates in this communication and sees how the artillery responds to the infantry. By organization, he is part of the administration of the guns so he sees their supply and movement and has to help with certain logistics. He knows and describes which jobs in the artillery are “good” jobs and which jobs are “less good” jobs and why.
The Vimy battle is only days away when Kerr arrives and Passchendaele is well and truly over at the end of this book. He has seen these two major battles, one very successful in Canadians’ minds, one successful in the Field Marshal’s mind but simply a waste in the soldiers’ minds. Lens was not recognized as a major battle by Kerr but was successful in the Corps Commander’s mind. Despite the losses Kerr reports the Canadian solder came to do a job and was prepared to pay the price for the sake of the good of the world. This was somewhat different from the English soldier and quite different from the German soldier in Kerr’s mind.
Another interesting attitude that shows up in a couple of places in the book and is discussed at length in the chapter headed: “Life at the Front” is the attitude of the other ranks to their officers. They almost 100% would not fraternize with, or socialize with, their officers. Nor would they make any effort to look or do “parade” military. This was true regardless of how much they respected an individual officer or what rank the officer was. This seems to be somewhat different from Kerr’s understanding of the Australian situation where the officers minimized the “parade” military to the extend possible for their soldiers.
A very well written and worthwhile read for anybody with Great War “in the trenches” interest, and worthwhile addition to any Great War collection. Four Stars
Displaying 1 of 1 review