In the Ranks of the C.I.V.

"In the Ranks of the C.I.V." by Erskine Childers is a soldier's own story of the Second Boer War, told through a mix of storytelling and personal journal entries. It follows Driver Erskine Childers from his sendoff from England to his experiences in South Africa with the C.I.V. Battery of the Honorable Artillery Company. The story explores the close bonds between soldiers, the difficulties they face, and how they changed from ordinary citizens to soldiers. We begin one cold morning as Childers gets ready to head to South Africa. The story shows the rough and snowy ride, the challenging work of getting on board the ship, and the friendships building among the troops. The men struggle with the tough parts of being a soldier, like riding and taking care of horses on a crowded ship, while adjusting from their comfortable lives back home to their duties. Also, Childers thinks about how boring and hard daily military life is, giving us a clearer picture of what the soldiers are thinking as they get ready to fight in a faraway place.