War! Hellish War! Star Shell Reflections 1916–1918: The Illustrated Diaries of Jim Maultsaid

By Jim Maultsaid and Barbara McClune

Jim Maultsaid’s illustrated diaries of his Great War service offer a unique and completely original perspective of a fighting man’s experiences.

Although an American citizen Jim was living in Donegal in 1914 and first joined the Young Citizens Volunteers and then the British Army.

On 1 July 1916 the first day of the Somme, Sergeant Maultsaid was seriously wounded. To quote from his diary as he lay in no-mans-land ‘The most awful cries rent the night air…it was a shambles…it was ‘Hell’ with the lid off… it was’.

Unlike so many, Jim survived and was hospitalised in ‘Blighty’. After a spell in Northern Ireland, he was selected for officer training at Cambridge. He was commissioned into The Chinese Labour Corps and his words and art work throw fascinating light on this little known but invaluable organization. Jim’s admiration for the CLC’s contribution and culture is obvious.

War! Hellish War! is more than a Great War diary – it is a masterpiece and a collector’s item of great historical and educational value. Despite the countless records of this conflict there is nothing to compare it with.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pen and Sword
• Release date: Aug 31, 2016
• ISBN: 9781473879454

Jim Maultsaid

Jim Maultsaid was born in Pennsylvania in 1893 to Irish parents who returned to Donegal. Although he left school at 13 he was naturally gifted at both writing and drawing. Despite being an American citizen he joined the British Army in 1914. He was badly wounded on the First Day of the Somme (1 July 1916). Unfit for further active duty, he was commissioned in 1917 and worked with the Chinese Labour Corps until early 1920. In the post-years he expanded the notes and sketches made in France into these unique Diaries.