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Wilfred Bion's war service started when he signed on with the Inns of Court Officers Training Corps in January 1916 aged 18, shortly after leaving Bishops Stortford College. He was accepted by the gentlemanly Inns of Court through the influence of a friend of his father's. Shortly before this, he had presented himself on his own initiative, wearing his college cap. Among the parading recruits he was singled out by the sergeant:
‘You there - you with that college cap - 'op it.’
‘Can I go?’
‘Yus - that's wot I said - napoo - finished - rejected!’
By the end of 1916, there was official discouragement of under-age volunteers. After his father's intervention, he started training with the O.T.C. on Hampstead Heath, while living at home. His full-time service began with the Officer Training Unit, Bisley. After being commissioned he volunteered for the Machine Gun Corps (Heavy) - a euphemism for the still officially secret tank units of the British Army. His ultimate posting was to the 5th Battalion Tank Corps. At the Battle of Cambrai, he was awarded the D.S.O. and Legion of Honour. He had reached the rank of Captain by demobilization in 1919. He says that it was always assumed by himself and all concerned that he would be an officer. His writings in this volume are characteristically from this leadership perspective, which probably stayed with him throughout his life. In The Long Week-End he confessed to going into tanks attracted by ‘penetrating the secrecy of these newly-invented things’ (p. 115).
This book is quite a complex compilation, best understood with the aid of its editorial notes. It has been compiled and edited by Bion's widow, Francesca, to mark the centenary of his birth. It is in four main parts, drawn from Bion's own writings: Diary, France, 26 June 1917 to 10 January 1919; Commentary, ; Amiens, Prelude and Fugue (written ). In addition Aftermath, a brief review at the end, was written by Bion's daughter, Parthenope Bion Talamo, who was, as