THE BOOKMAN

Evening Post, Volume XCIII, Issue 48, 24 February 1917, Page 16

THE BOOKMAN

SOME MORE WAR BOOKS.

" Pincher Martin, O.D. A Story of -the Inner Life of the Royal Navy " By "Taffrail," author of " Carry .On," etc. W. and R. Chambers,-' Ltd., London and Edinburgh.

Captain Marryat and Michael Scott, whose sea stories delighted novel-readers in the first half- of the last century, have a worthy successor in the writer who conceals his. identity under the penname of "Taffrail." Doings of'men-o'-war and men-o'-warsmen which formed a large part of the entertainment pro-' vided by the older novelists, supply the whole bill of fare in "Taffrail's"; record of the adventures of W. Martin, O.D. These initials, we learn, are the slang terra for ordinary seaman. O.S. is one official naval contraction, : and Ord. another; it..is from the latter that O.D. is derived. On our first introduction to Martin, who comes' to Portsmouth. to join H.M.S. Belligerent, he is a, very crude specimen of the raw material that furnishes the'personnel of the Navy; when we part from him he has become the finished article, but there 'is a- strenuous period of instruction and service between. In no other book could. there be a more convincing account of the daily routine on board a man-of-war —manual drill, instruction in big guns' and small arms, coaling loading stores and munitions—a daily round of very hard work; but all on board, have their spells of pleasure and shore leave, which provide abundance "of entertaining reading. . .•'■'■;

-Martin, 0.D., is a fair sample of'the stuff of which the bone and sinew of our Navy are made—adaptable and obedient, responsive to command, equally ready with- his officers to- face danger and to uphold the best traditions of the Service. The battleship Belligerent, as described by our author, was fortunate in-her officers.- Her ca-tain was a" fine seaman, who had seen much active service ; the commander, senior lieutenant, and specialists were all men of capacity and experience. The "Dook" was a dandy officer, whoso cabin was, like » lady's boudoir, who had an overflowing wardrobe, and who never wore the same gloves twice.. Then there■• is Boyle, a young-, enthusiast; who spends much of his time scrambling about in the depths of the hydraulic machinery. He is of an inventive turn of mind, we are told, Mid even at the early age of twenty-four had already designed: a self-stabilising seaplane, a non-capsizable' boat, a patent razbr-stropper, and an adjustable chair. Altogether, officers and.company form what is called a "happy ship," so that .with short trips to and fro'between the Channel, porte, plenty: of exercise, a healthy; appetite.,and, the wherewithal to satisfy it, and a fair amount of shore leave, the lot of Martin. 0.D., 'is,', taken on the whole, ■ not unhappy. . .. „, '( UntO the gre^t European storm-cloud bursts. .We, are well on-in the book before we realise, that all this . interesting ' description, - of the intimate inner life of the Royal Navy is only an introduction to current naval history, Martin himself being merely, a,, figure introduced to give . sequence' and connection to the events described. The- end of July, 1914, finds that gallant seaman on holiday'in his native village, whence he is recalled by urgent telegram to his ship. .. Follow the ' declaration of the state of war, the landing of all superfluous' lumber and Stores, including the decorations of. the dandy officer's cabin and his bloated'wardrobe, and the putting out to sea, of the Grand Fleet. Of the terrible disaster that overtakes the Belligerent, of the doings of some of the leading characters in . other vessels, and of the perils encountered by those vessels in their constant vigil ■ in the North, Sea;, ii need only be said that they, are described by the. hand of a master possessing evident first-hand knowledge. The narrative is brought down to the Battle of Jutland on tho 31st of last .May, when., the;. German Fleet was 'badly- defeated ' and , ; driven home, but not without, serious loss to the British in ships and men.

"Imperishable Anzacs." A story of Aus- . tralia's Famous First Brigade. By Private H. W. Cavill. William "Brooks and Co.. Ltd.,"Sydney (New ■•■ Zealand News Co., Wellington). Pte. Cavill kept a diary of his doings from the time he left Australia until ho was hit on' Gallipoli. The writing of this record maTcesno pretence to literary finish, Its simplicity of expression is its chief'charm. Pte. Cavill adds , nothing very new to what has already been told of the heroism of Australians and New Zealanders on the Peninsula, but his .little work is a. valuable contribution of the bibliography.of the Gallipoli campaign," being the * plain story of a soldier. The photographs are of exceptional interest, especially the portraits of:.soldiers good-and -true-.of-all ranks who fell at, An∾ The picture of the famous "Lone Pine" tree, which was associated . with so much glory nnd heroism on. the part, of the Australians, is included. "Can anyone feel surprised (asks the writer) when we get in a rage at the sight of ham -. and beef shops branded 'Anzac'.?". after - telling of the noble deaths that have hallowed ..that spot .for ;all time. But'the'brave lads took it all as in the day's work, and were always cheerful; '.'grousing" only at trivialities because many of them were, remediable', but bearing without a murmur or a sigh' the most terrible agonies that thirst and. wounds . are capable of 'producing. The drawings are excellent, especially one in colour of "A ■ Dinku'rn Anzac"; ■ " : .

"Light- aiid. Shade in; War." By Capfc. Malcolm Ross and ;: Lance-Corporal . Noel.Ross.'/Ed\yard Arnold, London.

To .the perfect', torrent of war. books now issuing from the press, Captain Ro4s and, his son'have added their quota in this, interesting, chatty collection of varia relating to thewar. Captain Ross's Setters as official war correspondent of the New Zealand' Government are familiar to readers of The Post, as they are published ', from. > time . to, time ; in. its columns. His style,'then, is pretty well known and, there is no need to comment upon it The captain has had a very.extensive experience of war correspondency by now, having- been in Samoa (ac "guide"), Gallipoli, Egypt, and now in France. Together with the other, but unofficial correspondents, he has had to subject himself to v all sorts, of expense and hindrances in obtaining' first-hand information. The ' military authorities very naturally have eyes only for their own work and but little, if any, time to spare for war correspondents. Such would be regarded as "idlers" in a nautical'sense. The collection gathered together under "Light and Shade in ■War" is interesting, because it is not difficult to discern the styles of both father and son. They are not alike'in their writing. The son has a lighter touch, at' any .rate there are articles (previously, published in periodicals) that are not like the writing of Captain Ross. The'lance-corporal, who was at one time on the staff of the Evening Post, was knocked- out in Gallipoli, and is now, according to the title page, on the staff, of The Times. Tho style of the collaborators in "Light and Shade in War" is not.conspicuous for its brilliancy, but it is agreeable, and more than suggestiye of good journalism. The text is illustrated with a number of .clear half tones taken mostly in Eevot and GalliDoli. .