Notes: The Crofton Diaries 1914-1915 Massacre of the Innocents TUESDAY, 08 JULY 2008 14:44 EDITED: GAVIN ROYNOON ISBN: 0-7509-3739-4 Hardback 286 pages £19.9 9 Published by Sutton Publishing. Edited by Roynon. Gavin . Captain Sir Morgan Crofton was 34 at the outbreak of the war, and had rec ently retired from the Army and was on the Reserve of Officers. He wa s a veteran of the South African War, 6th baronet of Mohill and an exper t on Napoleon and the Waterloo campaign. The diaries cover the period October 1914 to June 1915, when Crofton beca me an instructor at Windsor. He later saw service in East Africa and agai n on the Western Front, and was awarded the DSO. Crofton went out with the 2nd Life Guards in October 1914. His diary i s a vivid record of the effects of war on men, horses and the surroundin g area. It is very witty-at times it had me laughing aloud at some passag es- and then poignant, describing the hardships of the horses officers an d men in the bitter cold and rain. Crofton deplores the destruction of bu ildings and describes graphically the destruction of the town of Ypres. As at times Commanding Officer of the Machine Gun Section, and in charg e of the Signallers, Crofton did not see a great deal of front line servi ce. His bitter observations of the state of the trenches, and the disgus t he feels are eloquently displayed on the occasions that he does spend t ime at the front. Crofton took great delight in the surrounding countryside and often descr ibes with great fondness the villages and the inhabitants of the village s where the 2nd Life Guards were billeted. He also reserves some pithy co mments for the state of sanitation in some places! Perhaps surprisingly for a fairly senior officer, and member of the Arist ocracy, Crofton is sometimes critical of the conduct of the war and the h igher command. He attacks the principle of retaining Ypres at all costs , and is acerbic of the attitudes of the civilians at home. Gavin Roynon has done an excellent job in preparing these diaries for pub lication. The notes are, pleasingly at the foot of pages rather than as i s so often the case placed at the end in an appendix. The book is lavishl y illustrated with excellent photographs, many taken by Crofton, and bein g published for the first time; in addition, the reproduction quality i s excellent. The foreword by Sir Martin Gilbert and the Biographical note s are informative, and a very useful short chapter entitled Ypres Then an d Now provides useful information. Recommended . Reviewer: Michelle Young