An Onlooker in France 1917-1919

Onlooker in France 1917-1919, by William Orpen 1 CHAPTER I CHAPTER II CHAPTER III CHAPTER IV CHAPTER V CHAPTER VI CHAPTER VII CHAPTER VIII CHAPTER IX CHAPTER X CHAPTER XI CHAPTER XII CHAPTER XIII CHAPTER XIV CHAPTER XV CHAPTER XVI Onlooker in France 1917-1919, by William Orpen Project Gutenberg`s An Onlooker in France 1917-1919, by William Orpen This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org Title: An Onlooker in France 1917-1919 Author: William Orpen Release Date: December 29, 2006 [EBook #20215] Onlooker in France 1917-1919, by William Orpen 2 Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AN ONLOOKER IN FRANCE 1917-1919 *** Produced by Geetu Melwani, Christine P. Travers, Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) [Transcriber`s note:--The original page references for the list of illustrations was `facing page` therefore they have been changed in this text to match the page numbers in this file.] AN ONLOOKER IN FRANCE [Illustration: I. Field-Marshal Earl Haig of Bemersyde, O.M., K.T., etc.] AN ONLOOKER IN FRANCE 1917-1919 BY SIR WILLIAM ORPEN, K.B.E., R.A. LONDON WILLIAMS AND NORGATE 1921 Pictures and Text, Copyright 1921 by Sir William Orpen, K.B.E., R.A. Printed in Great Britain by Richard Clay & Sons, Limited, Paris Garden, Stamford St., S.E. 1, and Bungay, Suffolk. PREFACE (p. v) This book must not be considered as a serious work on life in France behind the lines, it is merely an attempt to record some certain little incidents that occurred in my own life there. The only thought I wish to convey is my sincere thanks for the wonderful opportunity that was given me to look on and see the fighting man, and to learn to revere and worship him--that is the only serious thing. I wish to express my worship and reverence to that gallant company, and to convey to those who are left my most sincere thanks for all their marvellous kindness to me, a mere looker on. CONTENTS Chap. Page PREFACE v I. TO FRANCE (APRIL 1917) 11 II. THE SOMME (APRIL 1917) 16 III. AT BRIGADE HEADQUARTERS AND ST. POL (MAY-JUNE 1917) 25 Onlooker in France 1917-1919, by William Orpen 3 IV. THE YPRES SALIENT (JUNE-JULY 1917) 31 V. THE SOMME IN SUMMER-TIME (AUGUST 1917) 36 VI. THE SOMME (SEPTEMBER 1917) 42 VII. WITH THE FLYING CORPS (OCTOBER 1917) 50 VIII. CASSEL AND IN HOSPITAL (NOVEMBER 1917) 55 IX. WINTER (1917-1918) 62 X. LONDON (MARCH-JUNE 1918) 67 XI. BACK IN FRANCE (JULY-SEPTEMBER 1918) 75 XII. AMIENS (OCTOBER 1918) 84 XIII. NEARING THE END (OCTOBER 1918) 90 XIV. THE PEACE CONFERENCE 98 XV. PARIS DURING THE PEACE CONFERENCE 111 XVI. THE SIGNING OF THE PEACE 116 INDEX 121 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Plate I. Field-Marshal Earl Haig of Bemersyde, O.M., K.T., etc. Frontispiece II. The Bapaume Road. 12 III. Men Resting, La Boisselle. 15 IV. A Tank, Pozières. 17 V. Warwickshires entering Péronne. 19 VI. No Man`s Land. 21 VII. Three Weeks in France: Shell-shock. 24 VIII. Man in the Glare, Two Miles from the Hindenburg Line. 27 IX. Air-Marshal Sir H. M. Trenchard, Bart., K.C.B., etc. 29 X. A Howitzer in Action. 30 Onlooker in France 1917-1919, by William Orpen 4 XI. German `Planes visiting Cassel. 33 XII. Soldiers and Peasants, Cassel. 35 XIII. German Prisoners 37 XIV. View from the old English Trenches, looking towards La Boisselle. 39 XV. Adam and Eve at Péronne. 41 XVI. A Grave in a Trench. 43 XVII. The Deserter. 45 XVIII. The Great Mine, La Boisselle. 47 XIX. The Butte de Warlencourt 48 XX. Lieut. A. P. F. Rhys Davids, D.S.O., M.C., etc. 51 XXI. Lieut. R. T. C. Hoidge, M.C. 53 XXII. The Return of a Patrol. 54 XXIII. Changing Billets. 57 XXIV. The Receiving-room, 42nd Stationary Hospital. 58 XXV. A Death among the Wounded in the Snow. 61 XXVI. Some Members of the Allied Press Camp. 63 XXVII. Poilu and Tommy. 65 XXVIII. Major-General The Right Hon. J. E. B. Seely, C.B., etc. 66 XXIX. Bombing: Night. 66 XXX. Major J. B. McCudden, V.C., D.S.O., etc. 71 XXXI. The Refugee. 73 XXXII. Lieut.-Col. A. N. Lee, D.S.O., etc. 74 XXXIII. Marshal Foch, O.M. 77 XXXIV. A German `Plane passing St. Denis. 79 XXXV. British and French A.P.M.`s, Amiens. 81 XXXVI. General Lord Rawlinson, Bart., G.C.B., etc. 83 Onlooker in France 1917-1919, by William Orpen 5 XXXVII. Albert. 87 XXXVIII. The Mad Woman of Douai. 91 XXXIX. Field-Marshal Lord Plumer of Messines, G.C.B., etc. 93 XL. Armistice Night, Amiens. 95 XLI. The Official Entry of the Kaiser. 97 XLII. General Sir J. S. Cowans, G.C.B., etc. 99 XLIII. Field-Marshal Sir Henry H. Wilson, Bart., K.C.B., etc. 101 XLIV. The Right Hon. Louis Botha, P.C., LL.D. 103 XLV. The Right Hon. A. J. Balfour, O.M. 105 XLVI. President Woodrow Wilson. 107 XLVII. The Marquis Siongi. 109 XLVIII. A Polish Messenger. 110 XLIX. Lord Riddell. 113 L. The Right Hon. The Earl of Derby, E.G., etc. 117 LI. Signing the Peace Treaty. 119 LII. The End of a Hero and a Tank, Courcelette. At the end LIII. General Birdwood returning to his Headquarters, Grévillers. " LIV. A Skeleton in a Trench. " LV. Flight-Sergeant, R.F.C. " LVI. N.C.O., Grenadier Guards. " LVII. Stretcher-bearers. " LVIII. Man Resting, near Arras. " LIX. Going Home to be Married. " LX. Household Brigade passing to the Ypres Salient. Cassel. " LXI. Ready to Start. " LXII. A German Prisoner with the Iron Cross. " ... - tailieumienphi.vn