Letters From the Trenches: A Soldier of the Great War

by Bill Lamin

The youngest of four children, Harry Lamin was born in Derbyshire in 1877 and left school at the age of 13 to work in the lace industry. In December 1916 he was conscripted into the 9th Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment, an infantry unit with which he served in France and Italy until more than a year after the war had ended. On the Western Front he took part in the Battle of the Messines Ridge in June 1917, and then in the costly, long-drawn-out agony of the Battle of Passchendaele (Third Ypres), in which he was wounded.  Harry’s battalion was later ordered to Italy as part of an Anglo-French force sent to shore up the Italian Army. Seeing action on the Piave front, the 9th York and Lancasters served in Italy until Austria sued for an armistice after the crushing defeat of Vittorio Veneto. With the war over, Harry remained in Italy, transferring to the Royal Munster Fusiliers in April 1919, and was finally demobbed in January 1920. Throughout his time in service, Harry wrote beautifully observed letters home to members of his family and to friends. Whether describing some action during Third Ypres; the frequent and often tedious marches and train journeys that were the lot of the “poor bloody infantry;” the mountainous country of the Italian front or the shattered landscape of Flanders, his narrative is always stoical, uncomplaining, good-humoured, and profoundly moving. Annotated, edited, and arranged by Harry’s grandson—who discovered the letters in a drawer—this is an insightful tribute to a fine, brave, selfless and honourable man who endured everything that the war could throw at him and still came up smiling.

Genres: Nonfiction, World War I, History

192 pages, Hardcover

First published April 23, 2009

Reviews

[Jayne Hood · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a wonderful account of a very brave soldier serving in the first world war. This is an insight into his experience of war and the sacrifice he and many others made . Its very moving to read his words to his family .

[Shaen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I see from the reviews that people mostly have enjoyed this book - but I diddnt (maybe it was just me?).

I expected fulsome descriptions of life in the trenches, but sadly not. The letters are often quite brief and matter of fact - the description comes from the editor/'author' of the book who pads out with the detail around the times the letter(s) were sent. There are lots of entries of 'battalion diaries' which are designed to informative, not easy reading !

There is no doubt that Harry was an amazing man who lived in a amazing time (Thank you for your sacrifices Harry) - I just don't think the book is amazing :

[Jim C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written by the grandson of a WWI British conscript, it uses personal letters to his family as well as official divisional records to trace his experiences in France and Italy. Interesting read but it drags in places and gets repetitive at times.

[Robert Poortinga · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though it was a well written book by the grandchild of the soldier there are parts in this book that are hard to read.

The war diary notes that are often included were abbreviated to such extend that it became, for a non-soldier or someone who has read extensive on warfare, hard to grasp the meaning.

The letters themselves are extremely kind but simple. Few is being said during the letters on his experiences and he is more concerned with family matters than with the horrors he had to face during his Belgium and Italian times at the front.

If one is looking for a good book from the perspective of the first world war soldier I would definitely recommend this book: Poilu: The World War I Notebooks of Corporal Louis Barthas, Barrelmaker, 1914-1918

[Chloe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, it was such an insight into an individual's war time experience and the author added so much to the letters which really bought the story to life. I'm also local to the area Harry was from so it was fantastic being familiar with areas listed in the book. Definitely recommend reading, it brings about a new appreciation for the sacrifices those men made in the horrors of the first world War.

[Stefan Koepeknie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Its relatively interesting but the actual letters are brief and sparse.
The rest is filled with background by the curator of the letters - who was who in Lamin's family, settings of the battles, day to day in the trenches,etc.

[Ray LaManna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gives a great perspective on World War I from an ordinary soldier's letters home...part of my ongoing reading in this 100th anniversary commemoration of World War I.

[anemoska · Rating 3 out of 5]

Impressive. Probably my last book to read this year.

[Elisabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is written by Bill Lamin, the grandson of Harry Lamin. The book is the story of Harry Lamin’s war. Harry Lamin was born in 1887 so when he was called up in December 1916 he was 29 years old. He joined the 9th (Service) Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment which was an infantry regiment which served in both Flanders and Italy.
Through his letters to his brother Jack and sister Kate we see the horrors of the Flanders battlefield between summer and autumn 1917 – Harry having taken part in the Battle of the Messines Ridge and at Passchendale. October 1917 saw the 9th (Service) Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment on the move to Northern Italy. I found this part of the book very interesting as the majority of books / television documentaries concentrate of the fields of Flanders and not the mountainous terrain of Northern Italy.
The story of Harry Lamin’s war is told through letters, war diaries kept by the battalion during the conflict and the authors own research. I found this a truly amazing book of one ordinary man’s personal struggle through a conflict – the likes of which had never been seen before. A must read for EVERYONE!

[Rachel · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was really excited to read this book. I thought the book was going to be a story of a young man in WW1 interspersed with personal letters giving us insight into life on the front line. I almost feel bad giving this a 1 star review because, given the subject matter, it seems harsh. As an idea this book is great, as a book it's just dull.

Firstly all of the letters are extremely similar, relaying matter of fact information to the same people so we read the same letter sometimes 2 or 3 times just written to different people. I realise this isn't the authors fault, but I wonder why this was made into a book in the first place. We get far too much information from the author about the military operations in long boring copy and pasted entries from the war diary which means we lose the most important (for me) aspect of the war - the human aspect of conflict.

There was nothing about this book that grabbed me, and I love history books particularly about WW1 & WW2 but despite the intentions of the book, my interests were never captured and finishing the book felt like work.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing This was not what I was expecting at all.  While I enjoyed reading Harry's letters home, the author's padding out of the chapters with cold, clinical military facts and figures caused a great deal of boredom.  I realize that having just the letters would have made for a very short book, but to pad the chapters out with in-depth descriptions of the offensives from a technical standpoint stripped any humanity down to its bare bones.  A disappointment.

[Joncoop]

Excellent book. Wonderful clear style, and of course it's real life, shows the horrors of WW1, and what the brave lads went through.