Last month, in April, I had the great fortune to visit the WW1 Museum and Memorial in Kansas. It has one of the largest collections of items from the First World War in the world, and 300,000 people a year visit to experience its fascinating displays and collections. For an extra fee visitors can also […]
George V- Grandpa England
George V (Captain General 1910-1936) is a much under-rated King. At this year of the Centenary of the WW 1 Armistice it is appropriate to examine his legacy. As Duke of York he was serving as a Commander aged 27 in the Royal Navy when his elder brother Albert died unexpectedly. He was thus required […]
The Times includes GHQ in its “Six of the best First World War reads”
Allan Mallinson from The Times reviewed new books on the wider aspects of the Great War. We were delighted that G.H.Q. was selected as one of the 6 books. Sir Frank Fox's G.H.Q., first published in 1920 and now reissued in a limited edition by his great-grandson, Charles Goodson- Wickes (Beaumont Fox, £25), is an absorbing study of Haig’s chateau-HQ at Montreuil-sur-Mer. Fox — a journalist and temporary soldier — paints a vivid picture of the comprehensive complexity of the British Expeditionary Force, with organisational diagrams, statistics and vignettes of day-to-day life. The BEF, or more correctly in the later stages of the war the British Armies in France, was the largest … [Read More...] about The Times includes GHQ in its “Six of the best First World War reads”
The King’s Pilgrimage By Sir Frank Fox An Account of King George V’s Visit to the War Graves in Belgium and France in 1922 In May 1922, King George V took a very small party to the graves of First World War soldiers buried in France and Belgium in the cemeteries and memorials being constructed […]
Including “THE GAME BOOK” of unpublished statistics This unique contemporary account of Haig’s GHQ gives a vivid insight into life in Montreuil-sur-Mer from 1916 onwards, and of the complexity of the planning the ultimate defeat of the German Army. The addition of the never generally published statistical summary of casualties, ammunition and supplies adds to […]
The Invasion of Belgium in WW1; August-December 1914 This is a rare chance to re-discover a contemporary account of a military conflict which took place a Century ago. “The Agony of Belgium”, written in 1914 by Frank Fox, a war correspondent veteran of the Balkan Wars, precedes the trench warfare of the Great War. It […]
This is the earliest record of Breaker Morant´s exploits and reprinted for the first time since 1902. Written under the pseudonym of Frank Renar by Sir Frank Fox, it provides a vivid account of the Boer War with drawings by Norman Lindsay and contemporary photographs. “Fox was a great man, and concerning Morant I think […]
About the Author
Sir Frank Fox was a journalist, author and campaigner who espoused the cause of warning of the dangers of a major War in Europe as early as 1909.
“I was blown up by a salvo of shells in front of Le Sars. I refused to die on the battlefield. The gallant stretcher-bearers got me in. I spent the next year in hospital”.
Sir Frank Fox was born in Australia in 1874. His views, and those of the Morning Post, were in accord and he joined the staff as a war correspondent. In 1914 he was attached to the Belgian army during the German invasion. In view of his experiences in that conflict he longed to become a combatant and was commissioned into the British Army in December 1914.
Posted to France, Fox was blown up during the Battle of the Somme and suffered severe injuries.
During his convalescence in England he worked for MI7 but contrived to be posted to Haig’s GHQ in Montreuil-sur-Mer in the run up to the final offensive against Germany.
He was appointed O.B.E. (Military) and was Mentioned in Despatches.
Fox was a prolific author writing 5 books relating to World War One including ”GHQ Montreuil-sur-Mer” during his service.
In 1922 he accompanied George V and Lord Haig to the military cemeteries in Belgium and France and wrote an account in ”The King’s Pilgrimage” republished in 2019.
Dr Charles Goodson-Wickes: A FAMILY REMINISCENCE