WORLD WAR I - EDWARDS, George Maitland.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

A copy typescript diary recounting his tour of the Russian front line before and during the June Offensive. A firsthand account of this pivotal moment in the war, written by Lieutenant-Colonel George Maitland Edwards while he was staff officer and Russian translator to General Charles St Leger Barter. Edwards recounts his displeasure with the Russian army and its poor discipline. The only other copy we have traced is held by the IWM, although theirs is only 65 pages long, and we have been unable to trace a published edition.Edwards (1882-1946) first went to Russia in the pre-war period, where he worked in mining in Siberia and the Urals. In 1914 he joined the Royal Artillery and served in France and Gallipoli in charge of 254 Tunnelling Company. In 1917 he was sent to Russia with General Barter, British Military Representative to the Headquarters of the Russian Armies in the Field, to inspect the state of the front line.Edwards recounts multiple instances of poor discipline among Russian troops, such as on 1 July, when Russian soldiers dove into the German trenches "like rabbits" (p. 17) instead of continuing on. He recalls his shock at the lack of communication between artillery and infantry, as well as his bemusement at an attempt to fight off German planes in Bacău he described as, "the very poorest shooting at aeroplanes I have ever witnessed" (p. 49). He attributes this to poor leadership and Kerensky's abolition of the death penalty. Nevertheless, he compliments the act

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