There's a Devil in the Drum

John Lucy, an Irishman from Cork, enlisted with his younger brother in the Royal Irish Rifles, an Ulster regiment, in January 1912. After six months at the Depot, they joined the 2nd Battalion at Dover. They later moved to Tidworth where the battalion was on 4 August 1914, in the 7th Brigade, 3rd Division; ten days later they were in France. There follow brilliant accounts of Mons, Le Cateau, and the retreat to the Marne, the turn of the tide and the Battle of the Aisne where his brother was killed.

The battalion was involved in desperate fighting in front of Neuve Chapelle in October 1914, losing 181 killed in four days and virtually ceasing to exist, reduced to two officers and 46 men. Brought up to strength, it suffered the same fate at First Ypres.

This is a superb book, one of the best written by a “ranker,” all the better for being one of the very few to describe the early battles of 1914. As a critic wrote in 1938, “it is easily the best war book written by an Irishman” – arguably still true.

John Lucy, un irlandez din Cork, s-a inrolat impreuna cu fratele sau mai mic in Royal Irish Rifles, un regiment din Ulster, in ianuarie 1912. Dupa sase luni la Depozit, s-au alaturat batalionului 2 la Dover.