Pushed and the Return Push

Quex, the pseudonym used by G.H.F Nichols, was also the author of the History of the 18th (Eastern) Division, one of Kitchener's Second New Army divisions and one of the best in the BEF. This book is the story of one of the field artillery brigades of that division, the 82nd Brigade, from the German March 1918 offensive through to the end of the war. It is dedicated to the commanding officer, Lt Col A.Thorp, who was killed in the village of Beausies just before the end, on 30th October, and is buried in Le Cateau Military Cemetery. The account of the death of this well-loved officer brings the book to a close.
Nichols was a journalist before the war and he gives an entertaining account of life with the guns in what was above all a war of the guns. He had been wounded in August 1917 near Zillibeke serving with the 82nd Brigade and rejoined shortly before the Germans attacked. His division was in III Corps on the right of Fifth Army, near St Quentin, right in the face of the German onslaught and this well written story tells of experiences of a field artillery brigade in the retreat, right back to the gates of Amiens, and then the return push, launched on 8th August 1918. It takes us right through to that fateful day when his CO was killed.