Frank West, A Record of the Great War
Frank West wrote numerous letters home to his wife Agatha who was in Rugby with their four little daughters. After his death Agatha hoped to write a history of the Brigade and some of the archive we inherited was intended for that purpose.
Instead, Agatha West compiled a more personal memoir of Frank intended for his daughters, the eldest of whom was my mother. This book was privately printed in 1921 and given to friends and colleagues. It found an uncertain reception and remains difficult reading.
Part of the difficulty is personal: the letters were private and include personal remarks about colleagues and friends that were never intended for publication and may have caused some distress.
Part of the difficulty lies in the patriotic tone and sentiment typical at the time, but out of tune with modern perspectives on the War.
Part of the difficulty is the dilution and minimisation of the horrors of the Western Front. Frank himself wrote as he did, partly to protect his wife from the harsh realities of war. Agatha herself then further concealed the miseries and protected her young daughters by giving them a book that was suitable for children to read.
It was many years before we ourselves discovered from official records the real horror of the battle of the Somme and the assault on Thiepval which Frank helped to plan and in which he died.
In spite of its relevance to the Brigade history and its many additional details of life in 1914-1915, I deliberately refrained from placing Agatha's book on this site. I have been driven to add it (and will do as soon as possible), only because it has already been put on line, digitised by Google from a copy held by the University of California and wrongly claimed to be in the public domain. Please note that like everything on this site the book and the letters it uses are copyright and I am the copyright holder.