TACTICS FOR BEGINNERS
IN THE NEW ARMY
Major Gordon Casserly
HODDER AND STOUGHTON, London, 1915
'The bayonet wins the battle. All the efforts of the other arms lead up to the final decisive moment when the infantry charge with the bayonet. The aeroplanes fly on ahead to spy out the enemy's movements; the cavalry scout and drive back the opposing screen of hostile horsemen; the artillery overwhelm the foeman's guns; the rifles cover the trenches with bullets - all to enable the infantry to get home with the cold steel.'
A rare WW1 British army training manual, written by Major Gordon Casserly, and published in 1915. The book is signed on the front endpapers by 'T. W. Purdy, 1/5 Norfolk'. Major Thomas Woods Purdy was one of the few officers who survived the 1/5th Norfolk's attack on the Turkish positions at Suvla Bay in Gallipoli on 12th August 1915. He had landed at Suvla only two days earlier, and was seriously wounded during the assault on the enemy lines.
Tactics For Beginners was intended to be used by 'officers of the New Armies and Volunteers', as an introductory guide to military tactics. It includes chapters on Training the Company in Attack, The Battalion in the Attack, Defence, The Occupation of a Defensive position, Outposts, Night Operations, Advanced Guards, Fighting in Close Country, Villages and Houses in Attack and Defence, Wood Fighting, Marching through Woods, Trench Warfare, Entrenching, and Aircraft in Battle.
The section on Trench Warfare reflected some of the hard lessons that had already been learned in the first year of the war: "The present war shows that not merely days, but months, may be required to force a position. Fortresses strengthened by every appliance of modern science, rendered apparently impregnable with iron and cement, have fallen in a few days; while roughly-dug trenches and earthworks have defied every assault."
Major T. W. Purdy (1873-1960): Thomas Woods Purdy was educated at Jesus College, Cambridge. In August 1914, as a Captain with the Aylsham Territorials, he joined the 1/5 Battalion of the Norfolk Regiment in training at Colchester. In 1915, having been promoted to Major, Purdy took part in the disastrous Gallipoli Campaign, landing with the 1/5th Battalion at Suvla Bay on 10th August. He was seriously wounded on 12th August in the fierce fighting during the advance on Kuchuk Anafarta Ova, an action that led to the myth of the 'Vanished Battalion'. It was claimed that the entire 1/5th Battalion marched into a wood behind the Turkish lines and was never seen again. Various unsubstantiated rumours persisted for many years - including claims that Turkish troops executed British prisoners. Although the battalion certainly sustained very heavy casualties that day - 15 officers and 141 men killed, including the loss of their Colonel - most of the battalion survived. 2/Lt Roland Pelly, A Company, 1/5th Norfolks, described the action (and mentioned Major Purdy) in a letter to his father: "We were opposed by a wall of bullets and were knocked over right and left. I got too far ahead, lost my way and trying to find it again, was bagged by a Turkish sniper. The bullet broke my left lower jaw, tore my tongue in shreds and then out through my right cheek. Then after an awful wandering the RAMC got me; by 11pm they had carried me right back to expert care . . . One or two wounded followed – Purdy, Oliphant, Seymour, and told me we had been most frightfully cut up and almost wiped out." Purdy survived and was evacuated to Egypt, spending the rest of 1915 recovering from his wounds. In 1916 he was posted to the Suez Canal and later took part in the Palestine Campaign, crossing the Sinai Desert with his Brigade to join the February 1917 advance.
Condition:
In good condition. The khaki cloth-covered boards are in good condition, with some wear to the edges and spine. The binding and hinges are good and secure. The text is in good condition, with some spots of foxing to the title page, preface and endpapers, and some creased corners. Signed on the front endpapers by 'T. W. Purdy, 1/5 Norfolk'.
Published: 1915
Khaki boards with balck titling
Dimensions: 115mm x 170mm
Pages: 180
