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Share the experiences of a Despatch Rider during World War 1 by reading his own words written as a diary during his years on the Western Front. Oswald Harcourt Davis joined the Royal Engineers in 1916 and arrived in Abbeville, Somme, France in July that year. He was attached to the ANZACs and dished out a Triumph motorcycle to carry pigeons and vital messages at a time when communications were limited and risky. Read in fascinating detail his journeys around the Somme and Ypres Salient areas and the difficulties he had to face. He was awarded the Military Medal at Messines.
Oswald H Davis is no newcomer to the literary world; as a poet and novelist he has written twelve books all of which have been published. Being a prolific writer he wrote various articles for the Daily Mail, The Times, Punch, Country Life and the Birmingham Post. In his diary he mentions the many articles that the Daily Mail printed and the fact that he was paid 30 shillings for each contribution.
His war diary, Triumph on the Western Front, is the last piece of his literature to be published. He takes the reader on a vivid trip from wartime Britain in July 1915 to his voluntary recruitment where he is sent to the Somme and Flanders for the duration of the war. He finishes with a post-war trip to occupied Germany before demobilisation in February 1919.
By reading his memoirs you get to know him fairly well. A decent fellow who openly admitted he wasn't really 'adept' at war and what it involved. You can laugh at his lighthearted humour and his love for the ladies, and yet he invokes a sympathy in the reader when he concedes to making numerous mistakes - after all he was only human.
Triumph on the Western Front is an educational mission with the primary aims of:
- Encouraging people to go on a "Pilgrimage" to the Western Front Battlefields at least once in their lifetime.
- Playing its part in keeping the Remembrance Flame lit for all those who served
- Raising awareness of the forgotten "Boys-Own" hero of old - the Despatch Rider (without them we would probably have lost the war!)
- Conducting educational presentations on the First World War Western Front.
Visit www.triumphonthewesternfront.com for pilgrimage details and bookings
About the author
Son of Corporal Oswald H Davis MM R.E.
