Good-Bye to All That by Robert Graves is a memoir about his formative years in England and his years at war. He had a somewhat privileged upbringing at various boarding schools, and the war interfered with his attending Oxford. Nevertheless, he served in WWI and provided many gruesome details of life in the trenches as he performed his duties. I was surprised at how little training soldiers received. However, I was not surprised at the loss of innocence due to the war and the need for people like Graves to leave his childhood behind and acknowledge the atrocities such as murder, rape, mutilation, and torture. By the way, Graves claims that the atrocities were equal on both sides.
Some of the book’s messages that will remain with me are:
1. Respirators. Graves says, “the first respirator issued in France was a gauze-pad filled with chemically treated cotton waste, for tying across the mouth and nose. Reputedly it could not keep out the German gas…a week or two later came the ‘smoke helmet,’ a greasy gry-felt bag with a talc window to look through, but no mouthpiece, certainly ineffective against gas.” (p. 95)
2. Two young miners disliked their sergeant and reported to their Adjutant: “‘We’ve come to report, Sir, that we’re very sorry, but we’ve shot our company sergeant-major.’
The Adjutant said, ‘Good heavens, how did that happen?’
‘It was an accident, Sir.’
‘What do you mean, you damn fools? Did you mistake him for a spy?’
“No, Sir, we mistook him for our platoon sergeant.'”
They were both court-martialled and shot by a firing squad of their own company. (p.109)
3. Graves was treated with reserve since he had a German name and was suspected of being a spy. Incredible!
4. Local French peasants didn’t care whether the soldiers were on the German or British side of the line. They had no use for foreign soldiers. Wow!
5. Self-medication with alcohol and drugs was common—probably a survival mechanism.
6. Prose and poetry were critical during wartime and afterward.
