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One young man : $b The simple and true story of a clerk who enlisted in 1914, who fought on the western front for nearly two years, was severely wounded at the battle of the Somme, and is now on his way back to his desk.

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One young man : $b The simple and true story of a clerk who enlisted in 1914, who fought on the western front for nearly two years, was severely wounded at the battle of the Somme, and is now on his way back to his desk.

World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives, British

E-text prepared by Suzanne Lybarger, Richard J. Shiffer, and the Project
Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net/) from
images generously made available by the Internet Archive/Canadian
Libraries (http://www.archive.org/details/toronto)

Note: Images of the original pages are available through
      Internet Archive: Canadian Libraries. See
      http://www.archive.org/details/oneyoungman00willuoft

ONE YOUNG MAN

Published in 1917 by Hodder & Stoughton Ltd.

_The simple and true story of a clerk who
enlisted in 1914, who fought on the Western
Front for nearly two years, was severely
wounded at the Battle of the Somme, and
is now on his way back to his desk_

Edited by

SIR ERNEST HODDER-WILLIAMS, C.V.O.,

Author of
"The Life of Sir George Williams."

Printed for private circulation
Printed in Great Britain by
C. F. Roworth Ltd., 88 Fetter Lane, London, E.C.4

  TO THE GREATLY BELOVED MEMORY

               OF

         ONE YOUNG MAN

     WHO FOUNDED THE Y.M.C.A.

            MY UNCLE

      SIR GEORGE WILLIAMS

FOREWORD

I am glad that this very personal little book is to be re-published,
if only for private circulation, for it rings as true to-day as it did
yesterday.

It tells the story of one young man in the Great War, but, in fact, it
reveals no less the personality of the writer who knit the young man's
story together.

The young man continues--the writer has passed on.

My brother is revealed here, not as the famous publisher, but as a man
whose sympathy was so quick and passionate that he literally lived the
suffering and trials of others.

It is this living sympathy, given so freely, that lies like a wreath
of everlasting flowers on his memory now.

It is no longer a secret that the real name of the "Sydney Baxter" of
this story is Reginald Davis; and those of us who know him and have
watched every step of his progress, from his first small job of the
"pen and ledger" to the Secretaryship of a great Company, are
astonished at the understanding and accuracy of this portrayal of a
young man's inner self and outer deeds.

It is true that Sir Ernest Hodder-Williams did little more than
comment on the diary written by Davis himself. But how well he
explains it; how well he reads into its touching cheerfulness and its
splendid sorrow the eternal truth that only by suffering and obedience
can the purposes of God and man be fulfilled.

Davis has won his spurs. He bears the marks of his service in the
Great War with honour and with never a complaint. His old chief and
chronicler was proud of him then. He would be proud of him to-day.

                                        R. PERCY HODDER-WILLIAMS.

                  CONTENTS

                                          PAGE
                 CHAPTER I
  INTRODUCES ONE YOUNG MAN                   3

                 CHAPTER II
  ONE YOUNG MAN JOINS THE ARMY              15

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

One young man : $b The simple and true story of a clerk who enlisted in 1914, who fought on the western front for nearly two years, was severely wounded at the battle of the Somme, and is now on his way back to his desk.

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