A Lively Bit of the Front: A Tale of the New Zealand Rifles on the Western Front

In Short

First published during the Great War, Percy F. Westerman’s novel follows Malcolm Carr, a young New Zealander who enlists in the Rifle Brigade to serve in Europe. Travelling across global trade routes before entering the trenches, Malcolm faces an escalating series of wartime trials: sea-borne commerce raiders, enemy saboteurs, underground bomb explosions, and capture in Germany. Celebrated for its energetic pace and authentic details of ANZAC camp life, the book endures as a vivid artifact of wartime popular fiction, capturing the era’s patriotic resolve alongside the visceral dangers of front-line combat.

The Story

The narrative opens at Wairakato Camp in New Zealand, where young sheep-farmer Malcolm Carr and his companion Dick Selwyn undergo rigorous preliminary military training. Excelling on the rifle range and earning temporary non-commissioned rank, Malcolm embarks from Wellington aboard the transport ship Awarua. The long voyage toward the European theater is fraught with peril. Along the route to South Africa, their convoy is shielded by naval escorts from concealed German mine-layers and commerce raiders. During a stopover at Cape Town, tension flares between the visiting troops and local Afrikanders, leading to a high-stakes boxing match where the Maori soldier Te Paheka defeats a heavy-set adversary. Shortly after, Malcolm and his companions help unmask a German spy operating under an alias among the locals.

Upon crossing the English Channel to France, Malcolm joins the frontline operations near Messines. The novel shifts into a gritty depiction of trench warfare, characterized by heavy shellfire, ruined landscapes, and perilous night logistics. While moving supplies along a disrupted railway track, Malcolm is knocked unconscious by an artillery burst. Recovering his footing, he takes part in a fierce trench assault, encountering Prussian body-armor and surviving a deadly collapse inside a captured underground dug-out alongside his wounded comrades.

Despite their tactical successes, the fortunes of war turn when Malcolm is caught in an enemy barrage and taken prisoner by Saxon troops. Transferred deep into Germany to Düren Camp, he endures the privations of captivity while waiting for an opportunity to break free. That opportunity arrives during an Allied aerial bombing raid, which throws the prison guards into confusion and allows Malcolm and his brother Peter to slip past the perimeter. The pair make a grueling escape across Germany, hiding inside the coal-hold of a canal barge by day and navigating tow-paths by night. They successfully cross the Dutch border, where Malcolm once again crosses paths with Konrad von Feldoffer, the enemy spy he had encountered in South Africa, exposing him to British naval authorities.

Returning to active duty on the Western Front, Malcolm rejoined C Company during a desperate push through the deep mud near Van Meulen Farm. Faced with heavily fortified concrete redoubts and relentless machine-gun fire, the New Zealanders suffer severe casualties. Malcolm is wounded in the foot during the battle, but Te Paheka carries him to safety through the mud before collapsing from his own injuries. Recovering in an English hospital, Malcolm learns he has been recommended for an officer's commission. Reunited briefly with his surviving comrades, he vows to carry on his service, looking forward to an eventual return home to New Zealand.

How It Unfolds

The voyage begins Malcolm Carr enlist in the New Zealand Rifles, completing basic marksmanship and drill training in camp before boarding the transport ship Awarua in Wellington to cross the ocean under naval escort.

Sabotage on the high seas En route to South Africa, the convoy encounters floating mines and a disguised German raider, which is annihilated after a British cruiser detonates its internal magazine.

Confrontation at the Cape During a port call in Cape Town, Maori soldier Te Paheka wins a high-profile boxing match against a heavy-set Afrikander, while Malcolm and his friends assist in capturing a German covert agent.

Into the trenches Deploying to the Western Front, Malcolm's unit faces heavy artillery bombardments while repairing rail lines and launching infantry attacks against fortified German lines around Messines.

Trapped underground Following a successful assault, Malcolm and a small group of soldiers are buried alive inside a heavily reinforced enemy dug-out when a blast seals the exit, requiring a dramatic rescue effort.

Captivity and escape Captured by Saxon infantry during a counter-attack, Malcolm is sent to Düren prison camp in Germany, but he breaks out with his brother Peter during a midnight British air raid.

Stowaways on the canal The escaped brothers hide beneath a pile of coal aboard a German freight barge, traveling silently along inland waterways until they safely reach the neutral Dutch frontier.

The final advance Rejoining his battalion in France, Malcolm takes part in a costly assault through deep mud against concrete machine-gun redoubts, where he is wounded and rescued from the field by Te Paheka.

The People

• Malcolm Carr: A capable, steady New Zealand sheep-farmer who enlists as a rifleman. He rises to temporary sergeant rank, demonstrates high marksmanship, survives captivity, and earns a commission through endurance and leadership.
• Dick Selwyn: Malcolm’s close friend and fellow recruit. He shares the journey from camp training to the Western Front, where he suffers severe bruising and shock during an underground dug-out explosion.
• Te Paheka: A middle-aged Maori soldier of exceptional athletic skill. He defeats a much larger rival in a Cape Town boxing match and later demonstrates supreme loyalty by carrying a wounded Malcolm off the muddy battlefield despite his own severe injuries.
• Jan van Eindhovengen: A heavy-set South African artilleryman who challenges the New Zealanders to a boxing match in Cape Town, but later assists in restraining an exposed enemy spy.
• Konrad von Feldoffer: A relentless German covert operative encountered first in South Africa and later on a neutral vessel, whose espionage activities repeatedly cross paths with Malcolm's unit.
• Captain Nicholson: Malcolm's battalion officer who leads troops through the Messines operations and remains steadfast even when trapped underground by enemy explosions.

In Its Own Voice

"Pluckily the subaltern did the next best thing. At imminent danger he placed his foot upon the latent missile of destruction and waited."

A nervous recruit misplaces a throw during early grenade practice at Featherston training camp, dropping a live dummy near the senior officers.

"In one corner of the room a crowd of Afrikanders swayed in a compact mass, as if eager to wreak their vengeance on someone, while held like a rat in the jaws of a terrier was the man from Muizenberg..."

An undercover interrogation inside the orderly-room erupts into chaos when a suspect is revealed to be an enemy agent.

"Deftly the brothers set to work to remove the barrier, although once a large mass of coal slid noisily against the wooden bulkhead."

Having escaped from Düren prison camp, Malcolm and Peter quietly alter their hiding place inside a river barge to avoid detection by nearby guards.

What It's Really About

The novel explores the global reach of the First World War through the specific vantage point of ANZAC troops serving thousands of miles from home. Westerman focuses heavily on the bonds of unit solidarity, depicting how shared danger creates tight-knit communities among soldiers of varied backgrounds—from rural sheep-farmers to Maori veterans. Underneath its swift action beats, the narrative examines the physical realities of modern mechanical warfare: the claustrophobia of dug-outs, the devastation of heavy artillery, and the constant threat of sabotage on open sea routes. It frames the war effort not merely as an imperial obligation, but as a practical necessity for self-defense, arguing that distant territories must engage the conflict abroad to protect their home shores from future aggression.

Why Read It Today

A Lively Bit of the Front offers readers a direct look into early 20th-century popular adventure fiction written during the ongoing events of World War I. Readers who appreciate historical military fiction will value its detailed descriptions of period transport logistics, naval convoying, and trench operations near Messines and Passchendaele. Westerman’s narrative style is swift and accessible, balancing high-stakes escapes with moments of camp humor and camaraderie.

Modern readers should note that the text reflects the era in which it was produced. It employs period terminology, clear-cut national stereotypes, and wartime depictions of enemy forces typical of British juvenile literature from 1918. Additionally, certain sections rely on regional slang, vintage nautical phrasing, and military abbreviations of the period. Despite these contextual elements, the story remains an engaging narrative of survival and brotherhood, highlighting the significant historical contribution of New Zealand forces on the Western Front.