A Rifleman: Four Years on the Western Front

Serving first in the trenches and then in the transport section, Smith’s wartime experiences offers readers a vivid insight into an oft overlooked yet crucial branch of the British Army and the daily perils they faced. Originally published under the pseudonym of “a Rifleman” in 1922, “Four Years on the Western Front” is a classic private’s memoir from the First World War; conspicuously absent from Smith’s account however is his own awarding of the Military Medal in 1917, and subsequent Bar in 1918.