author
Leslie Vickers
Drawn straight from the mud and routine of World War I, these pages turn frontline experience into practical advice for new soldiers. The result is a brisk, firsthand guide that feels both historically vivid and surprisingly direct.
1 Audiobook
About the author
Little is firmly documented about Leslie Vickers beyond what appears in surviving editions of Training for the Trenches. The 1917 book presents him as Captain Leslie Vickers, formerly a lieutenant in the Seaforth Highlanders, and says it was based on his personal experience during the first two years of the war in France.
That background gives his writing its clear, matter-of-fact tone. Rather than offering a grand history of the war, he focuses on the everyday realities of soldiering: discipline, health, trench construction, equipment, and the habits needed to endure frontline life.
The book also identifies him as a lecturer in trench warfare in the Department of Military Service at Columbia University, suggesting he helped translate battlefield experience into practical instruction for others. Even now, his work stands out as a compact firsthand account of how soldiers were prepared for trench warfare during World War I.