TALES FROM THE WESTERN FRONT
AN ACCOUNT OF MY RAMBLINGS IN FLANDERS AND FRANCE
INTRODUCTION
What you are about to read is an account of my ramblings along the old Western Front in Flanders and Northern France. It is not in the traditional sense intended to be a guidebook. These have been produced far better than anything I might come up with by Rose Coombs and, especially, Toni and Valmai Holt whose volumes on the Western Front and elsewhere are as near definitive as any traveller, armchair or otherwise, might wish. Instead, in the time-honoured way, I’m going to tell you a story, during the course of which we’ll meet up with a cast of characters both living and dead who have contributed to my understanding not only of the Great War but also of present day Belgium and France. They’ve also given me quite a few laughs. Hopefully you’ll find them as interesting, and amusing, as I do.
