Sources and Bibliography

Possible Sources and further reading

The historical realism of Charley's war is pinpoint accurate. Since buying it as a child ive read nearly all of the contemporary memoirs of the first world war and have noticed that most of the adventures Charley becomes embroiled in are real events in history.

Many people have emailed me and asked for recommendations for good ww1 books-the following list of possible sources are all brilliant books and are a great place to start. The books are in no particular order of merit by the way.

A place called Armageddon-letters of the Great War' edited by Michael Moynihan This is the book from which Pat was influenced to include the badly spelled letters home in the early issues ( and the backwards 'S' in the early issues) The quote he always refers to deserves to be here in full. It's a letter home by Tommy Boorer to his sister, and is written out verbatim including original spelling and grammer. His sister's husband has just been killed. "there are times out here when we would rather be gone than have to put up with condiscons that we sometimes get out here at times when the germans be bombarding and the boys get knocked over one by one and they cant hit back. But it beyond me to explain the scene,see the boys come along they be crying like children and shaking like old men,still shells do burst in the air and scatter death and distrakion or a fellow may be in a gay mood and forget there is a war and walk out of cover or straighten himself up (specialy f he be a big man) after he be cramped in a dugout (for they not be built for comfort|) and show himself above a parapet-"BING" go a bullet, maybe catch that man. Well Nance hope for the best, a soldier (catholic) is forgiven his sins by dieying on the battlefeld so that is a comfort and it be better to be a DEAD HERO than a LIVING COWARD, when we are not fighting here it seem you are working and you always get the dirt. But never mind girlie you are far braver than us for you have to take what is given but us we can out and forget it and if we goe... well under we are gone" Apart from that great letter and a couple of other interesting thing its a little dull, i wouldnt say an essential book, but one worth having if you pick it up at a car boot sale as i did.

Without doubt the backbone of the minor detail such as names etc. comes from the book 'Her privates we' by Frederick Manning. This is a novel whose leading characters are called Bourne, Sgt Tozer, Weeper, and a few others, although there the similarity certainly ends. The Bourne in the Manning book is a million miles away from Charley Bourne but the book is worth a read all the same. I wouldn't say it's a must have though, maybe that's just me and novels they have never really interested me. And so many people recommended this book before i read it that i may have had impossible expectations for it.

The Storm of Steel by Ernst Junger- the war from the German's view. This is a great book by the young Leutnant Junger, a patriotic young officer who takes part in every big offensive of the war, tells of the killing of British prisoners and a terrible slaughter of the Scots on the first day of the Somme where an unknown regiment of scots took their objectives but got no support, Junger describes them like being caught between two lots of Germans and running aimlessly up and down a sunken road like trapped rats trying to find a way out- Machine guns are brought up and they are slaughtered by the hundred, which leaves a bad taste in the mouth, but the book is addictive reading from an interesting perspective. You cant help but like Junger's personality and humour when he talks of going over the top in 1918 in a black silk cape and stick and with every action narrates it to his men as if in a play- 'and Lt Junger throws down his cape' essential stuff. Pat Mills must have read this book to be able to write from the German soldier's mentality so well. While were on the subject of German books Remarque's classic All quiet on the Western front is actually well worth reading, because although technically its a novel Henri remarque was actually in the German Army and did serve in the areas in the book so its pretty obvious he was talking about his own experiences, well worth reading.

A Subaltern's War by Charles Carrington- Im lucky enough to own a signed first edition of this i brought at a car boot sale for 60p!!! By far the best book on the first world war ever written, so stark it's shocking and a warning left to history as to why it must never happen again. Carrington writes under his fake name of Edmunds in the early editions. Its the story of his experiences in two big actions on the Somme and Ypres. This book is so honest with its account its a credit to Carrington guts to admit some of it as in those days it was thought of as cowardice to be scared at all especially for an officer-ive simply had to copy a section to quote here from the battle of the somme, his company have taken their objective and are in a German trench-

'Bang goes another bomb two bays up i felt myself turn pale i found i was walking slowly away from the action and danger point "'i must go tell Bickersteth'' i muttered. I got myself together and somehow found my way near the front again thud went a bomb 3 bays up, i licked my lips and felt for my revolver, bang went a bomb two bays up 'er lets get back to the barricade's said not at all bravely, just then round the traverse of the trench came Sgt Adams, an old reservist of years service, he was smoking a pipe and had a thin smile on his face. 'Whats that sir? go back? nah!, lets go forward' he said pleasantly. He tucked his rifle under his arm and strolled on towards the Germans. A bomb burst in the next bay. He climbed the traverse and snapped a rifle shot at some person beyond. I went and took my place next to him on the traverse.

Thirty yards away we see a grey sleeve throw a cylinder on a wooden handle it turns over and takes hours to approach it fell at the edge of our traverse and burst with shattering shock Sergeant Adams throws a bomb, i do the same then someone threw a bomb and forgot to pull the pin the Germans pull it and it comes back at us''......''Corporal Matthew's who was walking along side me preoccupied and with intent, fell dead in the twinkling of an eye. I was looking straight at him as the bullet struck him and am profoundly affected by the remembrance of his face, although at the time i hardly thought of it. He was alive then he was dead-the back of his head blown out, with nothing human left in him. Later Pratt was hit in the same place, his head was shattered-spatterings of his brain lay floating on the pool of blood under him but though he had not been conscious since the bullet struck him he refused to die. An old corporal looked after him, held his body and arms, which writhed and fought feebly as he lay. It was two hours before he died, two hours in July sunshine, in a crowded place with two dozen men in a ditch ten yards long and five wide, reeking with the smell of sweat and blood, while all the time the soothing voice of the corporal, shushing him like a baby, a gurgling and a moaning came from his lips, now high and liquid, then low and dry-a death rattle fit for all of you most bloodthirsty of novelists'' As you can see he has a way with words that is simply amazing, a rare book but one well worth finding. I seem to remember, though it was reprinted in the 90's.

Covenant with Death by John Harris- The tragedy of the first day of the Somme in a VERY well researched Novel, EXTREMELY sad book for obvious reasons. More than a novel Harris weaves veterans first hand accounts, a lot of which are lifted from the first day of the somme by Martin Middlebrook, and retells them from the standpoint of a central character, worth reading.

Deaths Men by Dennis Winter- a compilation of quotes and first hand accounts culled together (some of them unreleased letters at the IWM) to cover every subject under the sun, chapters on 'The Front' 'Into Battle' 'Under Fire' 'Death' etc. Original and highly informative way of telling the soldier's experience. May be a little detailed for some people, for instance there is a whole chapter dedicated to describing what a five pont nine shell sounds like mid-trajectory. If your sad, and interested like me you will love it. The Long Trail Soldiers songs and slang from 1914-1918 by Eric Brophy and John Partridge- This is good book and no doubt the one that Pat Mills used to get the soldiers marching song lyrics from. Covers most songs sung by the British in the trenches, complete with outrageous lyrics. This book also includes a ww1 soldiers slang glossary which is very good reading, it has the origins of most of the slang we use today. 'Jumping the gun' apparently comes from advancing too quickly into a creeping barrage!! goldmine of info. The mining of messines ridge (in which Charley became a clay kicker) must have been based around 'The War Underground' by Alexander Barrie (Detailed personal accounts by officers and men ) A VERY interesting book highlighting the dreadful conditions these tunnel diggers faced on the western front. Contains details of tunnel breakthroughs and hand to hand fighting in the dark. Very scary stuff. Vivid descriptions of the blowing up of tunnels while the other side were working-not for the claustrophobic.

The Etaples Mutiny-(the camp which contains 'the bull ring' where Charley and Co. join the revolt against the brutal re-training ground.) -was based on 'The monocled mutineer'- William Allison and John Fairley. (later made into a six part series for ITV). The true story of Percy Toplis, deserter, mutineer and rogue. (Mills based Blue's character on Toplis, I believe) See the characters page for more information. Good book but one which experts have since questioned regarding Toplis's involvement in the mutiny. It has been proved he was in England at the time, however that aside the rest was written from the only eyewitness account by Lady Angela Forbes, who wrote a detailed pamphlet on the mutiny when she returned to England, so well worth reading if only just for that. Also contains the first hand account of the young officer who led the 50 men with fixed bayonets to the bridge over the river canache and set them up as a picket, only to be faced with around 2000 scots demanding to be let through into the town. A tense standoff ensued after which the young Officer waved the mob through and violence was minimised. (Charley makes up part of this picket in the strip) 'For the sakes of example' Capital Courts Marshall 1914-1918 The Truth -Anthony Babbington- detailed book listing every single execution carried out by the British Army during the great war, includes excerts of the original case, background of the victims and the reasons. Very sad story, when you consider that 90 percent of these lads were suffering from shellshock and had given good service before their 'crime' excellent book named after a comment Haig made underneath his signature on a condemned soldiers death certificate.

'Somme', 'They called it Paschendale' and '1914-Days of hope'- all by the fantastic author Lyn Macdonald. Arguably the best modern writer on the subject, i went to a book signing at the imperial war museum and got my copies signed by her and shes lovely. Unbelievably well researched books all done with the quotes of over 350 veterans she interviewed during the 70's and early 80's it is these who tell the story, with Macdonald cleverly placing them in the context of the overall battles-shes fantastic and all of her books are essential reads not least of all her latest-1918 (to the last man) which is concerned with the German's final offensive-Operation Michael in May 1918. 'Goodbye to all that' by Robert Graves Good book generally although Graves is a little 'up himself' in the telling of his war, not a likeable bloke really, but i still love the title. Most memorable for his utter damnation of Sassoon over his decision to refuse to go back to france. 'The war the infantry knew' by Jc Dunn Now, this is very rare and utterly brilliant, its compiled by JC Dunn the medical CO of the Royal Welch Fusiliersand battalion that Frank Richards, Edmund Blunden, Sassoon and Graves were in. Its a day to day diary by all the officers who served in the Battalion, to keep the action going the narrative is handed to the next officer who picks up his month-or-so-entry and so on throughout the entire war. Dunn contacted all the men under his command after the war asking for a contribution and the book took years to compile. Sassoon writes his own excellent chapter describing when he single handedly captured half a mile of the infamous German 'Frankfurt Trench' in early 1917 Outstanding book. Very rare not been reprinted as far as i know.

'Old Soldiers Never Die' by Frank Richards. This is another essential book that has been reprinted lately (one of the very few memoirs written by an enlisted man rather than an officer) Richards went through every single major battle of the war and survived unscathed.(apart from a bad case of piles) All of his mates were either killed or wounded and he has many near misses. Not shy about admitting 'going with a whore' in the back areas, its a pull-no-punches book and a-must-get-first book. Charley's Captain Snell may come from this book as Richards CO is very much like him, they called him Buffalo Bill due to his waving his gun at his own men, and certainly not to just threaten them either he is a terror of a man, Richards tells of him and his mates praying to god to 'take up his soul' at the hands of a high explosive shell so they can have some peace. A truly great book with some fantastic Edwardian soldier's slang like 'Bun Puncher'-(teetotaller) and 'bible-puncher' or 'man carrying a brick' (a Religious soldier.) He refers to his mates with nicknames for example, there's 'The Actor' 'The Teacher' 'The Old Soldier' and 'The young Soldier' All old pre-war professional soldiers with their own special tricks of getting out of parades and hard work, as soon as they reach a new position they are off 'on the scrounge' nicking the neighbouring battalions kit, etc. Most memorable is his mate Billy who upon arrival in france after spending years stationed in India starts trying to converse with the french in pidgin Hindustani 'They wont understand that they're french' says Frank, 'oh they understand alright they all speak the same language these bloody foreigners' Brilliantly captured vignettes of a lost culture. They constantly play tricks on each other and their humour becomes a way of surviving the grim Battles of the war. Great entertaining read. Stuart Cloette- A Victorian Son- Another of my favourites Cloette a great writer, very descriptive and he is a somewhat eccentric individual in the book which makes it even more gripping. Heres a taste of it. ''The Germans cheek lay alongside the butt, i could see the black hole of the muzzle. I could see the point of the bayonet that was the focus of everything, the man the rifle ending at the steel point, the full weight of it ending in nothing bigger or sharper than my mother embroidery scissors, a point is a point afterall.

I moved toward him with my pistol, his rifle followed me-why did he not shoot? The muzzle followed me, why hold his fire? I suddenly ran in towards him quicker, he fired, i spun around and sat down on the ground-i felt no pain at all. It had felt as if someone had hit me with a wooden mallet, now he came for me-the bayonet was lowered i got the full perspective the big man, the rifle, the bayonet he became an enormous giant, the rifle a battering ram, the bayonet a lance bearing down on me'' this is a great book as you can see, even if he does talk a hell of a lot about wanting to have sex with a whore, a little too much not to worry a little about his sanity at times. Then again after the above who could blame him?

Then there's Sassoon's books- Memoirs of a Foxhunting man, Sherston's Progress and Memoirs of an Infantry Officer well worth the read but dont expect great writing, i think (and i may be shot for saying this) Sassoon thought he was a better writer than he actually was, as a poet, Wilfred Owen dwarfed him, as a writer he's just ok. His narrative in Dunns book (see above) is the best thing ive read of his. Sherston's progress by the way is the story that the script for the movie 'Regeneration' was culled from, where he and Owen meet at the mental hospital in Scotland for shell shocked officers. Great movie, if a little tiresome as a book. My main reason for liking the guy is his letter he wrote to the Times refusing to go back to france because of the waste of lifes for no gains at all, sending his Military Medal back in protest-this was incredibly brave and anarchic behaviour, the only gripe i have with him is that he did go back after backing down, he fitted the mould everyone had put him into as the the 'strained and unwell' war hero, 'hes not thinking straight' etc. Why? who knows, least of all him i think.

These are just some of the books i've read where something jogs my memory back in time to Charley's War and I realise I had been educated already. Sometimes the tragedy of the first world war makes me wish Pat had made it all up. Sadly truth is much stranger than fiction and a whole lot more shocking.