The Reverend Edward John Hardy, ordained in the Church Of Ireland, was a chaplain in the British army for thirty one years. His 1915 collection of anecdotes is by and about the British soldier, the “Tommy” or “Mr. Thomas Atkins” as Hardy calls him. “I did not need a war of nations to learn about the courage and humour of the British soldier…. . I have done little more than select and classify the letters of that best of war correspondents—the British soldier. The letters are a credit to his head and his heart, and throw a searchlight on the war. The soldier wrote of the things he knew about, and the result is that we can see his pen pictures….” - Summary by Book Preface and david wales
