Author Description

As the author says, this history, published a year before the outbreak of the Great War, has been written for the soldiers of the battery, past, present and future. It is written in the form of a yearly diary with the year in the left margin, opposite the text describing events of that year. Some entries are very thin, a couple of lines, but other years have a more detailed story to tell – 1808/09 Corunna, 1855 the Crimea, and 1899–1901 the S. African War where the years are divided into months. But with only 40-odd pages of narrative covering over 150 years there is not too much space for detail, but a great deal of attention is paid to dress details and to any changes; nor are equipment replacements and changes to organization and establishments overlooked. There are four useful appendices: Battery movements and stations from 1795 to 1913; Battery establishments – officers, NCOs, men and animals from 1759 to 1913; Daily rate of pay of various ranks, majors down to drivers, from 1759 to 1913; succession of battery commanders from 1764 to 1912. These appendices make this little history a very valuable source.