Tag Archives: Library

Diary entries which mention books and other publications read by Arthur Linfoot. See also Arthur Linfoot’s Library.

30 June 1916; Friday

June 1916, ,

Up at 7 o’clock. Had breakfast up at the field. Noticed how strange it was over to the left peaceful and to the right shells bursting. Received orders that B & C sections are ordered† <to> go up tonight. Paraded in the afternoon with skeleton equipment and received two days’ rations besides emergency rations. Fine night. Handed in pack. Read Bible1 the 23 Psalm and St. John2. Were detailed off in sections, Paddy, Leaky, Duggins and myself. Supper at 8.30. Saw a troop of cavalry go through the village, and then watched some aeroplanes being flushed† out. Decent gramophone playing some Welsh songs. Formed up at 10 o’clock. Marched off in the dark. Carried stretcher with party most of the way. Reminded me of “Invasion of 1910”3. Lay beside a broken down barn for a short time. Arrived reserve trench 12 o’clock.

ALL's pocket bible ALL's pocket bible

  1. We still have the morocco-leather pocket Bible, 12cm x 7cm x 2cm, which ALL carried throughout his service. It contains a pressed flower from a French field, and pencilled on the fly-leaf “A Linfoot 64061 RAMC 58th Fd Amb”, and “24 Herrington St, Sunderland, Durham”, with “47 Eldon St, Chester Rd” crossed out. (And in a deeply-regretted piece of vandalism, the title-page records in Biro the Army number, name and home address of the editor of these Diaries, who had this Bible with him during his National Service in Malaya, 1953-54.)

    See pictures above. ↩

  2. ALL’s Bible readings for the day: The 23rd Psalm – “The Lord is my sheperd…” – now popular at funerals and; St John’s Gospel – “In the beginning was the Word…”. ↩

  3. The Invasion of 1910 is a 1906 novel written by William Le Queux. Its subject is an imagined war starting with the invasion of England by Germany in 1910. Something in Le Queux’ description of a contemporary war seems to have resonated with ALL’s own experience on this particular evening. See also The Invasion of 1910 and Arthur Linfoot’s Library. ↩

The Invasion of 1910

TheInvasionOf1910_200The Invasion of 1910 is a novel by William Le Queux which originally appeared in serial form in the Daily Mail newspaper from 19 March 1906. It is one of the more famous examples of invasion literature.

The book takes the form of a military history and is centred on an invasion by the Germans, who have managed to land a force on the East Coast of England.

Arthur Linfoot does not record when (or indeed if) he had actually read the book, but he must have been at least familiar with its theme as he wrote, on 30 June 1916 (the eve of the first Somme offensive):

Listened gramophone playing some Welsh songs. Formed up at 10 o’clock. Marched off in the dark. Carried stretcher with party most of the way. Reminded me of “Invasion of 1910”.

Simon the Jester

Cover ImageSimon the Jester is a novel by by William J. Locke, first published in 1910 and twice made into films, in 1915 and 1925, both silent.

After learning he has but six months to live, the wealthy Simon de Gex decides to tell no one of his impending death and to spend his fortune madly.

Arthur Linfoot wrote that he had “read a lot of a story called Simon the Jester” on 22 June 1916 while stationed at Rainneville in northern France during the build up to the battle of the Somme. He finished the book the next day.

23 January 1916; Sunday

January 1916, , ,

Church parade. Had a cold. At church in the morning and sat in the same pew as the Misses Mack and merely nodded. Didn’t overtake them coming back to camp owing to the man I was with stopping to speak to Mr Douglas. They didn’t turn out at night. Cold worse. Read all the afternoon and finished I will Repay1.

  1. “I Will Repay”: novel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy, author of The Scarlet Pimpernel, who lived at Acol (near Thanet in Kent). I Will Repay is the second Scarlet Pimpernel book written by Orczy although it comes chronologically third in the series, after Sir Percy Leads the Band and before The Elusive Pimpernel. See also I Will Repay and Arthur Linfoot’s Library. ↩

I Will Repay

Cover ImageI Will Repay is a novel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy, author of The Scarlet Pimpernel, who lived at Acol (near Thanet in Kent).

I Will Repay is the second Scarlet Pimpernel book written by Orczy although it comes chronologically third in the series, after Sir Percy Leads the Band and before The Elusive Pimpernel.

Arthur Linfoot wrote that he had finished reading I Will Repay on 23 January 1916, while posted to the RAMC training camp at Alnwick.

7 July 1915; Wednesday

July 1915, , , ,

Got up about 6 o’clock and went down to bathe. I went in but Ernie didn’t. Turned out a wild wet day. Read “Sky Pilot”1, had short walk in the morning, afternoon and at night with Hilda and Moira. Read a bit of Gardiner’s Prophets, Priests & Kings2. Went to pictures at night with Ernie and saw Charlie Chaplin amongst other pictures.

  1. “Sky Pilot”: probably the frontier adventure novel, The Sky Pilot, publ. 1899, by Ralph Connor, nom de plume of Rev. Dr. Charles William Gordon, 1860 – 1937, leader in Presbyterian then United Churches in Canada. ’Sky pilot’ was also Forces slang for ‘padre.’ See also The Sky Pilot and Arthur Linfoot’s Library. ↩

  2. “Prophets, Priests & Kings”: collection of short biographies, publ. 1908, by Alfred George Gardiner, 1865 – 1946, who also wrote “Pillars of Society”; and “The War Lords”, publ. June 1915, comprising 20 short biographical essays on kings, emperors, politicians, generals & admirals of some 10 combatant nations. See also Prophets, Priests and Kings and Arthur Linfoot’s Library. ↩

Prophets, Priests and Kings

Cover ImageProphets, Priests and Kings is the title of a book by Alfred George Gardiner, editor of the Daily News (a newspaper owned by George Cadbury) from 1902 to 1919.

The book comprises 20 short biographical essays on kings, emperors, politicians, generals & admirals of some 10 combatant nations.

The title is seemingly inspired by the Christian doctrine of the threefold office (munus triplex), which states that that Christ has three offices, Prophet, Priest and King, although the book itself is not a Christian work.

Arthur Linfoot read Prophets, Priests and Kings on 7 July 1915, while on holiday in St. Andrews.

The Sky Pilot

Cover ImageThe Sky Pilot is an 1899 novel by the Rev. Dr. Charles William Gordon, writing under the pen name Ralph Connor.

It is the story of a young minister whose vocation takes him to a frontier town where he is initially dismissed by secular townsfolk as “The Sky Pilot”.

Although intended to be insulting and used in that sense in the title of this book, Sky Pilot was (and still is) widely used by armed forces personnel as an affectionate nickname for a chaplain or padre.

Arthur Linfoot read The Sky Pilot on 7 July 1915, while on holiday in St. Andrews.