Herbert W. McBride

Born in Waterloo, Indiana, Herbert W. McBride became known as an American who served with the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War. He fought as a sniper and machine-gun officer with the 21st Battalion and later wrote about those experiences with unusual clarity and directness.

He is best remembered for A Rifleman Went to War, published shortly before his death in 1933, and for The Emma Gees, a book about machine gunners in the war. Readers have long valued his writing for its plain style, hard-earned detail, and close attention to fieldcraft rather than heroics.

McBride's reputation has lasted because his books feel immediate and practical while still capturing the human side of combat. For many audiobook listeners, he offers a rare mix of memoir, military observation, and storytelling from someone who was truly there.