Warriors Paraded by Anthony Armstrong

[AlienFTM]

Some time in the early 1970s I read a book by Anthony Armstrong about a fictitious Rifle Battalion probably about the 1920s. Earlier this week, a comment read on a thread reminded me of this book and a Google search ensued.

 

I finally tracked down the correct Anthony Armstrong (there are lots) and a list of his works. The book I had read was called Warriors At Ease. Subsequently it was bundled, along with a handful of sequels, as Warriors Paraded. It's a collection of apochryphal short stories, many of which apparently appeared in publications like Punch.

 

The collection is sadly long at of print, but Google found me a place in Manchester where I could choose from a handful of decent quality second-hand copies. I ordered the book on Tuesday from Abebooks. On Wednesday I received notification that it had shipped and on Thursday it was in my hands. I only stopped reading it when SWMBO sent me to bed. She was fed up of my laughter and the tears running down my face.

 

FWIW, the author also wrote under the name RAFF and somewhere among my book collection I have a very tatty olf first edition of a book of cartoons depicting the fine boys of Fighter Command and the evil Hun. It starts "In September 1939 a madman turned the lights out over Europe."

 

Classic. If we all go checking for these books, maybe they'll reprint them. Works of art for every aficionado's bookshelf.

[Snapper]

This sounds really interesting. Can you tell us a bit more as and when you've got through it. Looks like one to find. I agree about reprints. I use Tom Morgan books for WW1 stuff and he often has "welcomed reprints" where publishers have seen scope to make a few bob from dusty manuscripts. There are a good many classic accounts of military life published in the 1920s and 30s that can be found if anyone ever has the time and this obviously applies to WW2 etc. Funny enough I once picked up and put back a book called The Empire Made Me written by a bloke who went out to Shanghai after WW1 to be a copper in those mad days of triad gangs and stuff when Fairbairn and Sykes were plying their trade in police uniform in China. Wish I'd picked it up. But there are so many books to read.

 

[AlienFTM]

This sounds really interesting. Can you tell us a bit more as and when you've got through it. Looks like one to find.

 

I really don't know what else to say over what I originally posted. On the Army Rumour Service I have described his writing style as making George MacDonald Fraser's writing look about as humorous as reading Part 1 Orders, which is saying something because GMF is also a master of the craft.

 

I just completed the second of the four books comprising the omnibus and my wife is worried about how much laughing out loud and long I am doing. I started this this morning and got sidetracked. I am now close to the end of the third book (and I think there may be five).

 

It is entirely aimed at life as an officer in an infantry battalion (first book first published in 1926; the omnibus published in 1938). Unusually for me, that it's been written by an officer doesn't spoil it. Clearly he knew his subject and had a sense of humour. I now seem to recall the work he did about the Battle of Britain was called "A Piece of Cake" written under the name "Raff." Googling (uk) for

 

"anthony armstrong" raff

 

gave enough hits to answer anything I haven't covered. Top of my hits are Abebooks, whence I got my good condition first edition of the omnibus, in my house within 48 hours of placing the order and exactly as described. In the near future I expect to work through as many of his other works as I can.