All Quiet in the Western Suburbs - World War One in Chiswick and Nearby Districts, by John H. Grigg
Book published by YouCaxton in 2018, 457 pages. Paperback (N7301X2)
Brand New Book
From the rear side cover: Millions of letters were written home by soldiers and sailors in the First World War and the men from Chiswick, West London, were every bit as prolific as their companions from elsewhere. Most of the letters in this book were sent to the Rev. Oldfield in Chiswick and he sent them on to the Chiswick Times, but there are others are to relatives, friends and employers and the Chiswick Working Men’s Club, and there are interviews and reports from journalists in the Chiswick Times and the Acton Gazette.
This is a unique record of the experiences of servicemen from the district who served all over the world. They describe the horrors of the war, writing of ‘Jack Johnsons’ ‘Rum Jars’ and ‘Coal Boxes’ (all nicknames for enemy shells and bombs) although often with feigned indifference, but many do not touch on the horrors at all - perhaps to protect relatives and friends from anxiety. The war was not confined to the European Western Front and this book includes letters and reports from other parts of the world: India, Africa, Egypt, Palestine, Greece, Mesopotamia (present day Iraq), and the Dardanelles. There are even letters from Russia where British forces were engaged against the Bolsheviks after 1918. Chapters include:
1. When the War Began
2. Stranded in Europe in 1914
3. The Western Front 1914
4. India
5. The War at Sea
6. Gibraltar and Malta
7. Western Front 1915
8. Gallipoli
9. Egypt and Palestine
10. Singapore Mutiny
11. Africa
12. Western Front 1916
13. Mesopotamia
14. Salonica
15. Ireland
16. Western Front 1917
17. Italy
18. Western Front 1918
19. Russia, 1918
20. Prisoners of War
21. End of the War