Three Books that Went to War

A wee story - but a true one, about three books, unconnected other than by our own family but all with connections at sea.

The story of the first book ‘The Riddle of the Sands’ by Erskine Childers starts in France in 1915. With my father in France with the Royal Army Medical Corps and attached to the Scottish Horse. Invalided out of the trenches, Dad did duty on the barges on the canals of France, tending to the wounded that were being shipped down the canal and back to ‘Blighty’.
Dad borrowed ‘Riddle of the Sands’ from an itinerant naval war library unit that visited St Omer. He read the book on the barge and brought it home on leave, unfinished and regretfully, left it at home where it resided in our small bookcase for years.
In 1943, my brother Andrew left the Clyde River Patrol for full R.N.V.R. service as a Sub Lieutenant in the Coastal Forces. His flotilla accompanied the D.Day landings and thereafter engaged in coastal duties heading North for the German coast.
Navigating past the Frisian Islands Andrew remembered ‘The Riddle of the Sands’ which placed its spy story on Norderney, one of the main islands of the group. Given leave from Cuxhaven, he came home, made a beeline for the bookcase, pulled out ‘Riddle of the Sands’ and took it back with him to Keil.
After re-reading it, he passed it on to a fellow officer of the flotilla and later requesting it back, found it was doing the rounds. Eventually traced, he found the last reader “Oh I’ve returned it to the Naval War Library unit at base”. What price the overdue ticket? — 1915 to 1944!

The second book of this wee story starts when as a Second Lieutenant with the R.A.S.C. Waterborne Service, I found myself stationed on Norderney Island in the Frisian Islands, looking after the army inter-island coastal craft.
Yes, her we go again - ‘The Riddle of the Sands’ — I wanted to read it again and the YMCA got a copy sent out from London HQ.
I re-read it avidly and held onto it tightly.
But to continue, the brigade HG of the Royal Horse Artillery was based in Oldenburg which I visited over winter when my own marine craft were being overhauled in Wilhelmshaven — Life was not too hectic and I took to leisure painting and when I ran out of watercolour paper and paints I ordered some through the education staff sergeant at HQ.
A phone call from him told me he had my requirements and would I please call soon as the brigade was moving to Bad Oynhausen (or was it Osnabruck?). By the time I collected my materials — most of the Education unit had moved and its library had been dispersed freely to save transporting it. Only three books were left on the shelves — ‘A guide to music’ — A.N. Other dud — and lo and behold “a lucky” a rather worse for wear copy of the Collins Scots Dialect Dictionary, printed in 1911. I accepted it and took it back to the island (the local dialect of ‘Platte Deutch’ is very similar to the Doric of the North East Coast with many similar words. On opening the book I found it stamped on the inside page — “This book was collected by the Glasgow Corporation Libraries during a book drive in 1944 and is sent with best wishes of the citizens of Glasgow”! this time 1944 to 1948!
This third book — ‘Salute to Adventures’ by John Buchan, came to light when going through an old chest of books and papers at home in 1960 when moving house. Inside the book several old postcards of France and a stamp on the inside cover — “YMCA for British Officers 15, Place Victor Hugo, St Omer” and the date was May 1917. Here we go again 1917-1960! The officers YMCA? And the old man wasn’t even a corporal.
So there you have it ‘Three books that went to War’
P.S. I would recommend all three books to you (particularly ‘The Riddle of the Sands’ now available in Wordsworth paperbacks for £1). If you get really deep into it, you’ll end up wanting to know how a Clerk in the House of Lords came to write a spy story before the 14/18 war, endeavouring to portray possible invasion threats from Germany — and later died at the hands of the IRA — for whom he had actually done some gun-running. It’s a great read!

PPS I followed the track across the Sandbanks (read the book) I left a 4 engine vehicle ferry stranded on the sandbank by missing the tide — but covered up my confusion by re-painting her anti-foul while we waited for the tide to rise. (Back on the Norderney, questions? — but quote — “Of course we planned it, Sir”)
Enjoy your reading!

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