Raymond Mitchell, already a veteran of Sicily and Salerno, served as a Despatch Rider (DR) with 41 Royal Marines Commando throughout the North-West Europe campaign. Fortunately he considered his position in the military hierarchy as too lowly for the ban on keeping diaries to apply to him. As a result, Commando Despatch Rider is both an accurate and atmospheric record of one man's war seen from an unusual perspective. Use of the Unit's War Diary and contemporary records gives this war story a broader dimension.

The book is skilfully abridged version of the diary of a First World War motorcycle despatch rider, Sergeant Albert Simpkin, who was attached to the HQ 37th Division. The diary entries, and some longer descriptions of the main actions of the Division, provide a fascinating record of the life of a despatch rider on the Western Front; one day dodging shell holes and ammunition limbers to take his despatches to the front, the next observing the quaint but often courageous lives of the local populace. Throughout the diary are colourful and amusing anecdotes about his fellow soldiers, and critical comments on the strategies and tactics employed by the officers.

Includes the First World War Illustrations Pack – 73 battle plans and diagrams and 198 photos “A young British soldier who went to war on two wheels “When the Great War broke out, the author of this book decided to leave his university studies and join the struggle. What attracted him immediately was the potential to combine his military service with his love of motorcycles and so it was that he found himself one of a select group of motorcycle despatch riders within the 5th Division of the ‘Contemptible Little Army’ that went to France and Belgium to halt the overwhelming numerical superiority of the advancing German Army. This book, an account of his experiences in the early months of the war, tells the story of a conflict of fluid manoeuvre and dogged retreat. Together with congested roads filled with military traffic and refugees, the ever present threat of artillery barrage and changing front lines the author had to constantly be aware of the presence of the deadly Uhlans-mounted German Lancers-who were always ready to pitch horseflesh against horsepower.”—Print Ed.

Includes the First World War Illustrations Pack – 73 battle plans and diagrams and 198 photos “A bikers war-compellingly recounted “The highly dangerous task of the aide-de-camp was often to carry urgent despatches with essential calls to action across the field of battle. The young men chosen for the job were invariably dashing, brave and prepared to take risks to achieve their objectives. They were, of course, always expert horsemen. The age of the military horseman had not quite come to a close at the time of the First World War, but-as with most forms of progress-he was sharing duties with that which would eventually replace him, the machines of the new age. Now there was a another breed of ‘daredevil,’ though necessarily ‘cut from the same cloth.’ The motorcycle despatch riders were a new service created in an age of innovation. All were so called ‘amateur’ soldiers though immediately at least ranked corporal so that they could, by British Army convention, address officers directly. These were invariably intelligent, accomplished young men drawn from the professions or universities. Their creed was the same as that of their horse mounted predecessors-the messages they carried had to get through and to deliver them motorcyclists often had to outpace charging Uhlans. Many of them ended their careers tangled among the wreckage of their ‘bikes.’ The author of this book has written a thrilling first hand account of his experiences riding military motorcycles along the front lines during the early stages of the First World War. Later as an officer he took command of a unit of ‘buzzers,’ whose job it was to maintain telephone links. A highly entertaining book and thoroughly recommended to all those interested in motorcycles, motorcycling and the Great War in Europe.”-Print ed.

“A year of a man and his motorcycle during WW2 . . . The guy was catapulted from teenager to soldier in a few short bounds.” —War History Online In 1944, Ray Mitchell landed in Normandy with his unit 41 Royal Marine Commando. His role in bringing the Third Reich to its knees was that of despatch rider. Often operating alone in totally unfamiliar and hostile terrain, he and his motorbike delivered vital messages to forward units. This is a fighting soldier’s account of war—warts and all—and describes in vivid terms his and his fellow commandos’ experiences and emotions. Over the next ten months the commandos were in the thick of the action in France, the Low Countries and Germany itself. Of particular note was the amphibious landing on the Walcheren Peninsula where the beleaguered German garrison fought fiercely to deny the Allies the vital port of Antwerp. Raymond Mitchell’s vivid memoirs of life and war on the road will be of interest to both military and motorcycling enthusiasts. “A delightful account of life in battle and between battles. It is by turns gripping, exciting, colourful, authentic and human.” —Firetrench “It is a richly detailed account and would be worthy of mention if it were just that of an ordinary infantryman’s experience, but it is all the more valuable as the lot of the despatch rider has never received much attention.” —The Pegasus Archive

The colorful eyewitness-to-history diary of a young man who loved motorcycles—and used these new machines to serve his country in the Great War. This is the skillfully abridged version of the diary of a First World War motorcycle despatch rider, Sergeant Albert Simpkin, who was attached to the HQ 37th Division. The diary entries, and some longer descriptions of the main actions of the Division, provide a fascinating record of the life of a despatch rider on the Western Front—one day dodging shell holes and ammunition limbers to take his despatches to the front, the next observing the quaint but often courageous lives of the local populace. Throughout the diary are colorful and amusing anecdotes about his fellow soldiers, and critical comments on the strategies and tactics employed by the officers. “It is worth seeking out and reading and if you are a fan of Great War motorbikes and vehicles this is a must.” —War History Online