Book of the Month
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Remember the Last War
By Bob Hoffman
Copyright 1940
This one is not easy to find, but it's a great book. Bob Hoffman writes about his wartime experiences. He returned from WW1 and championed strength and health through weightlifting and gymnastics.
Excerpts
Humans will never learn. Five times in the last eighty years the German empire has started a war--against Denmark back in 1868, France in 1914, and now Poland and France in 1939. We went over there to help fight a war to end war. But it only started war. Wars builds up hatred, a sense of injustice, which only waits for "Der Tag" (the day) until it can boil over again. Since the war to end war, fighting has never ceased. The armistice was signed November 11, 1918, but the Russians and Poles were fighting until 1921. That bred much of the hatred which has just resulted in the shattering defeat Poland has experienced, and in the loss of hundreds of thousands of their people. Even in recent years there has been the Ethiopian War, where Italy took from these primitive people one of the oldest Christian countries in the world; there has been war in Spain, long-drawn-out, bloody--millions died; the undeclared war in China--millions died and more millions--many more are still to die over there; Italy's conquest of Albania; Germany's bloodless conquest of Austria and Czechoslovakia; and now real resistance owing to their invasion of Poland. There has always been fighting in Europe and there will always be fighting. Pages 16-17
The bayonet work was most important, but rapid fire was being taught and practiced a great deal. British soldiers told me of former attacks in which they had engaged. The would fire until their guns blistered their hands, but still the Germans would press forward. They couldn't stop. The men behind them would push them forward. We were equipped at this camp with British rifles which were somewhat different from the Springfields we had in the beginning of the war and the Enfields we used later. Our rifles held a shot in the chamber and five in a clip. the British rifles held five more shots, and two clips instead of one--eleven cartridges in all. It was necessary to carry the rifle sideways during close order drill, which is the reason for the difference position of the British soldier compared to ours. Page 54
We were going over, right into the rain of death which was coming from in front and to the left of us. We couldn't see much--just the ruined house and outbuildings, the haystack, and the wagons. but they were out there somewhere, for from this apparent void was coming a veritable hail of death. We were so close to the guns that we no longer heard the zst-zst-zst of their searching fingers--just the wicked crack they made as they went past our ears. There must have been a battalion of machine gunners in front of us. I was to face machine gunners many times in later actions, but never before or since had I heard gun fire like we faced. Page 220
A
more recent book about the life of Bob Hoffman is available through Amazon