This is a fascinating account of the life of a medical officer during the First World War, covering a wide range of their experiences, from the big base hospital to operating under shell fire or attempting to treat the wounded right on the edge of the front line.

History of War

This is a great DVD. Everything in it is very clearly explained, and the context is very detailed, so you can see how one event leads into another very clearly. Similarly, the whole presentation is very well paced, and you feel like everything is sufficiently covered before moving onto the next part of the campaign.

The location shots are great and really help immerse you in the history of both the campaign and the battle, and the footage of the historical re-enactment groups goes a long way towards acting as an “illustration” of the period. Similarly, the detailed battle plans and CG maps help explain everything very clearly, and you’re left with a good understanding of how everything fits together.

Surpressing Fire

Henry Owens served as a frontline RAMC medical officer during the Great War and kept a diary of his time there. He was a member of the original British Expeditionary Force ('The Old Contemptibles') and entered the war in France almost from the start. His graphic and vivid notes provide the reader with a unique viewpoint of what it was like to be there during the four years of conflict. He died age 31 in 1921 after a short illness but left the legacy of his diary. A five star read!

Western Front Militaria

The excellent diary of Henry Owens from 1914 to 1918, a doctor who served with the RAMC and which document was discovered in the archives of the Imperial War Museum and brought to a wider readership by the author. This is a fascinating first hand account, enhanced greatly by the diligent research and work of the author in adding additional material. Highly recommended 10/10.

Great War Magazine

A matchless chronicle of four years on the Western Front served by a Norfolk doctor. The diary he had begun to chronicle his experiences would become one of the most important eye-witness records of the "War to End All Wars"'. His vivid and unvarnished account of life and death on the Western Front has been rescued from obscurity and published following its chance discovery by former Labour Defence Minister John Hutton, now Lord Hutton of Furness'. A testament to the courage and steadfastness not just of one Norfolk doctor but of a vanished army of men who fought and won one of the bloodiest wars in this country's history.

Eastern Daily Press

Henry Barton Owens was not a soldier at all, rather a man who like many of his generation, found himself engulfed by extraordinary events. Born in 1889, by the time Britain went to war in August 1914, Henry was a doctor at a time when the Royal Army Medical Corps was several hundred doctors short of establishment. The call went out, Henry volunteered on the day Britain went to war and, remarkably, less than two weeks later he was in France. He would spend the next four years there, documenting what he saw. Overall a good solid account of an officer’s time in the trenches which would sit happily, but unremarkably, alongside other First World War officer memoirs.

1914-1918.com

An eyewitness to some of the disturbing events in world history.

The Westmorland Gazette