Tales from The Great War I
A Journey from Boy to Soldier.
1914 - 1916.
August 1914. The world would never be the same for millions of people.
The Great War was fought by ordinary men. They became small cogs in an industrial killing machine.  

Arthur (Wally) Walton, a boy of 16 enlists the day war is declared to help a friend.
The men he meets span class, education, politics and religion.
Thrown together by fate, their war was not all mud, blood and barbed wire.

They trained, marched and peeled potatoes. Gambled, drank, had Christmas leave and sweetheart letters. Were movie stars, had stupid ideas - that worked, manned a firing squad, saw death and destruction, but still retained their humanity toward the enemy
and witnessed remarkable bravery from unexpected people.

These are tales of ordinary men in the ranks.
Their inspiring NCO's and young officers.
A Journey from Boy to Soldier. 1914-1916. 

Inspired by the stories he told. Arthur Walton, my grandad, 1898 - 1972.



Tales from The Great War II
Is this Forever?
1916 - 1919
Its the autumn of 1916. Arthur is now 18 and the gunners of 63 Brigade, Royal Field Artillery have survived two years on the Western Front. In this second half of the war, there is total military stalemate.
The men start to believe the war will last forever.  

Not all survive, but they make the most of their time with 'satirical rhymes for the Wiper's times',
dugout gin, long-planned betting scams and joy and grief on a ‘toy’ railway.
Arthur saves a Sussex boy's life to the singing of the Highland Light Infantry.
He fires a German gun at the enemy and gets blown up, to be fixed by remarkable twins.

Bravery and medals at Cambrai in November 1917. One man recognises the pointlessness of prejudice. Anguish at dying horses and new conscripts bring political dissent.

The Americans are welcomed, their naivety exploited. Released prisoners and a giant Legionnaire.
A Chateau wine cellar and mutiny close the war for Arthur and the men who make it.

The fighting is over, but for some a new world is a bigger challenge.


Churchill's Intervention
A tale of Escape from the Russian Civil War
1919 - 1920
Lithuania, 1871. A family flees a pogrom with a precious trinket.
3rd August 1914. Arthur Walton sees the peculiar item the day before he enlists.
April 1919. Britain still has men fighting in North Russia. For some, the war is not over.
Sent by Churchill to protect supplies, now danger of being captured by Bolsheviks,
a relief force is needed.

Arthur and two friends respond to Churchill's call, and are sent to Archangel.
Mission creep, a mutiny and Bolshevik captors takes them deeper into Russia.
The Trans-Siberian Railway controlled by the Czech Legion is the only route out. 

After months presumed dead the men arrive back in Britain.
To be goaled as revolutionaries.

That odd metal trinket is recalled and
not for the first time Churchill has questions to answer.





Arthur Walton 1898 - 1972

Like many of his generation, Arthur Walton rarely mentioned the war he'd
fought in as a young man. But occasionally he'd share memories with his
son-in-law, my dad, and me.
I think it helped that my dad was also a career soldier.

When Arthur died in 1972, I was eleven.

These tales have remained with me since then, as small clips with little context.
I knew they needed to be recorded in some way, at some point. 

When I started to write I didn't plan these books. They evolved to develop
Arthur's memories, and to explore some true events from the ordinary soldier's perspective.
The process inspired new stories too.

They are not the war stories of politicians and generals. They are tales of 'other ranks', their inspiring NCO's and young officers, driven and battered by events in a socially diverse, people's army of volunteers and conscripts, fighting in the first, great industrial war.

Tales of humour, prejudice, politics, humanity and relationships.
The stories of the men who did the fighting.

Inspired by Arthur, this work is dedicated to the ordinary people who served in The Great War,
the numerous conflicts since then, and who still serve us now.

In memory of my dad, Roderick Royal Stuart 1938 - 2024.
"Always encouraging, always enthusiastic."