As featured on ARRSE.

ARRSE

The minute I started reading I immediately got drawn into the book, as the author includes parts of his father’s dairy which are written in his own words. His (Capt. G.H. Davies) writing is filled with ‘typical’ military humour, his feelings and random excerpts of what a cadet/ soldier goes through in his military career. The way he tells his story and what he – at that moment – went through, gives you plenty of room to imagine how it was back then. This is incredibly hard, if not impossible, for a person – who didn’t live through that time of period – to tell this to its readers and let the readers know what went on back then or how they lived through that. Since the author uses many parts of his father’s dairy, you now can finally place yourself (at a certain height) in that time.

This books gives you a great insight in what horrible fighting's the 53rd Welsh Division went through but more specifically it tells you the story of an officer from the artillery, one of the most forgotten branches of the army. The author, Gwilym Davies, even put great effort into making a film of his personal journey to follow his father’s footsteps. I didn’t see it but I feel like I should after reading the book. Gwilym Davies did a great job into tracing his father’s footsteps and what he had been through, making this book an absolute recommendation.

Argunners Magazine

One of the great successes of the British campaign was with artillery and at a divisional level, the bonds between gunners and infantrymen was often very strong. Admiration for the gunners was generally high, especially for the batteries of 25 Pounders pouring fire in support of the advancing infantry. This book by Gwilym Davies goes a long way to explain how it all worked in this very readable account of the war experienced by his father serving with 497 Battery of the 133rd Field Regiment Royal Artillery from Normandy to the Elbe.

The book is made up of sections transcribed from Captain GH Davies’ diary entwined with a history of the campaign of the 53rd Welsh Division. There is a good amount of detail and interesting anecdotes and the image this builds is very strong. The reader will certainly not come away with a false impression of gunners living comfortably miles behind the advancing troops. For 25 Pounder batteries the war was always up close and personal.

I really enjoyed this book and took a great deal from it. There were times when I would like to have heard more from Captain Davies and there were moments when the book felt a bit like one of those solid divisional histories from the war published in the 1950s. But do not let this detract from a satisfying read that will add much to your knowledge of how 21st Army operated on the continent.

War History Online