Colonel Sir Alfred Rawlinson - Memoires of combat on the Western Front (1914-1915) - and development of trench mortars; Ypres salient - 1925

Rare and iteresting memoires of Sir Alfred Rawlinson, a pioneer motorist who became also famous from his experiences in 1914-1915 on the western front. At the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, Rawlinson was 47 and too old to be called up as a reservist. He therefore offered himself and his Hudson sports car to the Royal Automobile Club, who were assembling an "RAC Corps of Volunteer Motor Drivers". Rawlinson was one of twenty-five motorists selected to accompany the British Expeditionary Force to the continent to act as chauffeurs and dispatch carriers for the General Staff.[12] He and the other drivers worked with the British Army in the first battles of the war, his car being adapted by the addition of a machine gun and flying a Union Jack. By October, he had been transferred to a staff position with IV Corps (which was commanded by his brother) and had been given the rank of colonel by Sir John French, despite having left the cavalry as a subaltern.[13] His driving exploits were described in his Adventures on the Western Front, August, 1914 – June, 1915 (1925).

In the trench warfare that had developed, it became apparent that the British had nothing to match the German Minenwerfer. While an effective British weapon was in development, Rawlinson acquired 40 obsolete Coehorn mortars from the French army which became known as "Toby mortars" after him; they were first used in action at the Battle of Neuve Chapelle in March 1915.[14] On 9 May 1915, Rawlinson was injured by a German heavy shell at the Battle of Aubers Ridge and returned to England.[15] While recovering at home on 20 June, he was visited by a staff officer from the War Office with a message stating that commissions could not be issued in the field and that he could not consider himself a serving officer. Despite being "hurt to the very soul" by the manner of his dismissal, Rawlinson went straight to the Admiralty and volunteered his services.[16]

Colonel Sir Alfred "Toby" Rawlinson, 3rd Baronet, CMG CBE DSO (17 January 1867 – 1 June 1934) was an English soldier and intelligence officer, sportsman, pioneer motorist and aviator.[1][2][3]

Overall a great christmas gift or addition for any WW1 enthusiast!