Nothing of Importance

John Bernard Pye Adams (1890 - 1917)

Fighting in France during the Great War, Bernard Adams, an officer with a Welsh battalion, was moved to chronicle what he saw and experienced: the living conditions and duties of officers and “Tommies” (enlisted men) in their dank, rat-infested trenches and behind the lines; the maiming and deaths; and the quiet periods described in official reports as “nothing of importance”. Adams relates his wounding in June, 1916 and its aftermath. The concluding chapter, which he wrote during his convalescence in “Blighty” (soldiers’ slang for England), is an impassioned reflection on war. Following several months of recuperation Adams returned to the front where, on February 26, 1917 he was wounded again. The following day he died. (Lee Smalley)

Genre(s): War & Military

Language: English

Section Chapter Reader Time
Play 00 In Memoriam and Preface Lee Smalley
00:12:56
Play 01 First Impressions Lee Smalley
00:28:32
Play 02 Cuinchy and Givenchy Lee Smalley
00:35:38
Play 03 Working-Parties Lee Smalley
00:34:53
Play 04 Rest Lee Smalley
00:37:13
Play 05 On the March Lee Smalley
00:14:12
Play 06 The Bois Français Trenches Lee Smalley
00:26:08
Play 07 More First Impressions Lee Smalley
00:24:51
Play 08 Sniping Lee Smalley
00:31:19
Play 09 On Patrol Lee Smalley
00:13:19
Play 10 'Whom the Gods Love' Lee Smalley
00:24:30
Play 11 'Whom the Gods Love'—(continued). Lee Smalley
00:20:33
Play 12 Officers’ Servants Lee Smalley
00:25:51
Play 13 Mines Lee Smalley
00:24:11
Play 14 Billets Lee Smalley
00:43:13
Play 15 'A certain Man Drew a Bow at a Venture' Lee Smalley
00:18:33
Play 16 Wounded Lee Smalley
00:38:45
Play 17 Conclusion Lee Smalley
00:24:14