Lives of the First World War

Brief description of the life events up to August 1918 of Crosbie Garstin in his own words.

Crosbie Garstin (1887 – 19 April 1930) was a poet, best-selling novelist and the eldest son of the Newlyn School painter Norman Garstin.[1] He is said to have been untameable as a child, and to have died in mysterious circumstances after a boating accident in the Salcombe estuary. He is known for the Penhale trilogy, a novel based in 18th-century Cornwall. With the outbreak of World War I he came back to Britain and in October 1914 joined B Squadron of the King Edward's Light Horse as a private. The cavalry regiment, which was open to colonials, was initially based in Watford and in the following spring, Bishop's Stortford. The regiment left for France on 21 April 1915 and Garstin was promoted to lance corporal shortly before leaving.[6] He was commissioned on the battlefield as a 2nd lieutenant on 14 September 1915, and joined C Squadron, which was attached to the 47th (London) Division at Nœux-les-Mines and was involved in the Battle of Loos.