Gun Fire (Number 46), edited by A.J. Peacock
Gun Fire (Number 46), edited by A.J. Peacock
A5 size booklet, 52 pages. (N6454X2)
Gun Fire was an occasional journal containing articles about aspects of the First World War, and this issue contains two main articles - the first is a study of Donald Hankey, and it draws upon Hankey' own diary to provide an account of his wartime experiences. The second article is about George MacMunn - who was a fascinating character responsible for mobilising the horse in the 1914 war and later for the evacuation from Gallipoli. He wrote a book entitled 'Behind the Scenes in Many Wars' and this article consists of extracts from it, dealing both with the obtaining of horses and his Dardenelles experiences! The full contents of this booklet are as follows:
A Student in Arms on the Somme
Sir George MacMunn - The Cherry Optimist
Notes And Queries
From the first inside page: Hankey, who was killed in action at Lesboeufs on 12 October 1916, was a subaltern with the 1st Battalion The Royal Warwickshire Regiment. In his writings from the front, as in his letters, he routinely omits the names of units, places and positions in order to get past the field censor. But the field censor was only the first and, as it happens, the lesser hurdle. 'A'Student in Arms' was the by-line with which Hankey signed his articles in The Spectator, whose editor St Loe Strachey was a member of the government's "propaganda apparatus and either on that score or because of other editorial considerations a Hankey article that scraped past the field censor could be (and often was) scrapped by Strachey. A good example of this is one Hankey wrote from the Fourth Army school at Flixecourt on or about 8 July 1916, which describes his experiences of the previous month, during and immediately after the first day on the Somme....
Interestingly, an earlier edition of the journal explained the origins of the slang phrase 'Gun Fire', detailing how it was a term for the early cup of tea served out to troops in the morning before going on first parade. In the War recruits in training always had Gun Fire supplied to them, as the work before breakfast was often particularly gruelling.
A Student in Arms on the Somme
Sir George MacMunn - The Cherry Optimist
Notes And Queries
From the first inside page: Hankey, who was killed in action at Lesboeufs on 12 October 1916, was a subaltern with the 1st Battalion The Royal Warwickshire Regiment. In his writings from the front, as in his letters, he routinely omits the names of units, places and positions in order to get past the field censor. But the field censor was only the first and, as it happens, the lesser hurdle. 'A'Student in Arms' was the by-line with which Hankey signed his articles in The Spectator, whose editor St Loe Strachey was a member of the government's "propaganda apparatus and either on that score or because of other editorial considerations a Hankey article that scraped past the field censor could be (and often was) scrapped by Strachey. A good example of this is one Hankey wrote from the Fourth Army school at Flixecourt on or about 8 July 1916, which describes his experiences of the previous month, during and immediately after the first day on the Somme....
Interestingly, an earlier edition of the journal explained the origins of the slang phrase 'Gun Fire', detailing how it was a term for the early cup of tea served out to troops in the morning before going on first parade. In the War recruits in training always had Gun Fire supplied to them, as the work before breakfast was often particularly gruelling.
Condition of the booklet is generally good. The cover has one or two minor scuffs, but the staple spine is intact, and all pages are clean, intact, unblemished and tightly bound. Their is a small price sticker on the rear side cover.
| Condition | New |