EIGHT MONTHS ON AN ARMOURED TRAIN (Presentation copy)

First Edition: 31 pages, original maroon light card wrappers, lightly worn, scarce.

Inscribed on the verso of the title page: 'Mrs Blyth, with best wishes from the author, J. Colin Campbell.'

Chapter 1 begins,  'There goes the Armoured Train! is a common saying with "Tommy" during this war as the huge steel structure passes his outpost doing its early morning patrol, and a shout of "That's the thing for De Wet" or She'll shift them" is heard, and then he turns over in his blankets and soon forgets such a thing as an armoured train ever existed. As armoured trains have played a most important part in this war, i.e. keeping the line clear for transport of supplies to the seat of the fighting, and also patrolling from one section to another, their morale effect on the enemy has kept them from doing a deal of damage which otherwise would have been done to the line. Having been eight months on "Ubique," the biggest armoured train yet used in action, I should like to give the reader a fair idea of the life.'

Mendelssohn (Sydney) South African Bibliography, volume I, pages 252/3. 'The author gives a short sketch of his experiences on an armoured train, a description of its artillery and general equipment, an account of its advantages for patrolling and other purposes, and a list of the names of the trains on active service, and of their officers, with particulars of the number of men and guns carried. Lieutenant Campbell appears to have had a fairly busy time, and was in a number of engagements, but, as his eyesight became impaired, he was sent into a hospital at Bloemfontein. He expresses great surprise that there should have been any complaint against the hospitals, and he states that his experience was, that he "might have been in a first-class hotel for food and attendance."'

Hackett (R.G.) South African War Books, An Illustrated Bibliography, (1994), lists the copy in Mendelssohn in the index but is not illustrated so was not seem by Hackett or other contributors.

A South African Bibliography, volume 1, page 371, two copies listed.