Eberle, V. F. With a Royal Engineers Field Company in France & Italy. April 1915 to the Armistice

V. F. Eberle joined No. 2 Field Company Royal Engineers, 48th (South Midland) Division at the outbreak of war, the same company as his brother, who was a captain there. He was commissioned before he left for France at the end of March 1915 and remained with the company for the rest of the war. During this time he saw action on the Somme and in the advance to the Hindenburg Line, before his division took part in most of the Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele). As well as his eloquent description of the work of a field company RE, he takes time to outline his role in the development of the Bangalore torpedo and, drawing on his wartime letters, diaries and notes - now on display at the Imperial War Museum - gives a detailed picture of the use of a field company in war, both in times of relative quiet and during major offensives. There are relatively few memoirs of Royal Engineers officers, particularly those in his position who were so close to the front. The memoirs benefit from his keen powers of observation and skilful use of the material available to him, making them a good addition to the literature on WW1.