Civis? Sapper? Scott Hurtt Paradise? H. O. A. Anne? Anonymous?
Question for Quote Investigator: Warfare is horrific, but feelings of terror occur intermittently. Battlefield veterans developed the following saying:
War consists of months of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror.
Would you please explore the provenance of this saying?
Reply from Quote Investigator: This description of war has been expressed in many ways. Here is an overview together with dates and attributions:
1909 Jun 28: Months of intolerable boredom interspersed with moments of agonising fear (Credited to Anonymous by Civis)
1909 Sep 28: Weeks of intolerable boredom, punctuated by moments of agonising fear (Credited to Anonymous by Civis)
1910 Aug 16: Months of monotonous fatigue, punctuated by moments of agonising fear (Credited to Anonymous by Civis)
1914 Nov 4: Months of boredom punctuated by moments of terror (Credited to Anonymous by a Cavalry Subaltern)
1914 Dec 9: A period of intense discomfort punctured by moments of abject terror (Credited to an unnamed British officer in South Africa by Lieut. H. O. A. Anne)
1914 Dec 18: Months of boredom, punctured by moments of terror (Credited to Anonymous by Scott Hurtt Paradise)
1914 Dec 19: Months of boredom punctuated by moments of extreme terror (Credited to Anonymous by Lieutenant Philip Smith)
1915 Apr 17: Hours of boredom, punctuated with moments of abject fear (Anonymous)
1916 Mar 18: Months of boredom punctuated by moments of intense fright (Credited to Anonymous by Sapper)
1940 Feb 15: Long periods of extreme boredom, punctuated by short and sharp periods of extreme danger (Lord Milne)
1962 Oct 14: Veteran pilots define flying as endless hours of boredom punctuated by moments of terror (Anonymous)
1970 Apr 16: Period of intense boredom punctuated by moments of acute fear (Attributed to a 17th Century soldier)
Below are details for selected citations in chronological order.
In June 1909 “The Westminster Gazette” of London published an article about warfare by a person using the penname Civis. The saying appeared within the article, but Civis disclaimed credit. The creator remains anonymous. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
War itself has been described as “months of intolerable boredom interspersed with moments of agonising fear.” It is for the moments only that the soldier has to live, and his constant apprehension is always lest the long periods of peace may not involve so vast an effort of the imagination that when the supreme moment comes he may find himself as unable to recognise it for what it is as the man born blind who suddenly recovers his sight.
In September 1909 “The Westminster Gazette” published an article by Civis containing another version of the saying.2
Army manoeuvres on a large scale are not primarily intended for the instruction of regimental officers and men, nor, in point of fact, do they teach them anything but the virtue of patience. Just as war itself has not inaptly been described by an old campaigner as consisting of weeks of intolerable boredom, punctuated by moments of agonising fear, so Grand Manoeuvres are, so far as the rank-and-file are concerned, made up of periods of laborious marches and intense discomfort, varied by impossible tactical situations.
In August 1910 “The Westminster Gazette” published an article by Civis containing yet another version of the saying:3
“Months of monotonous fatigue, punctuated by moments of agonising fear”—that is War, and the sooner the Territorial learns that fundamental truth the better.
In November 1914, an unnamed cavalry subaltern published a piece in “The Times” of London which contained an instance of the saying:4
We have been out of work in our trenches; only shrapnel and snipers. Some one described this war as “Months of boredom punctuated by moments of terror.” It is sad that it is such bad country for cavalry.
In December 1914, the International News Service released a story from London. A British Lieutenant attributed a version of the saying to a British officer who fought in South Africa:5
The following cheerful account of the war was written by Lieut. H. O. A. Anne, of the Royal Field Artillery, to a relative here:
One of our officers, after the South African War, described war as a period of intense discomfort punctured by moments of abject terror. This just about hits the thing off as far as I was concerned last night.
Also, in December 1914 the “Yale Alumni Weekly” printed a piece titled “Oxford in War Time” by Scott Hurtt which contained an instance of the saying. The name “Tommy Atkins” was slang for the prototypical British soldier:6
Tommy Atkins has established a reputation for light-heartedness, both at home and abroad, which it would be very hard to match, and that, too, in a war which has been described as “months of boredom, punctured by moments of terror.”
Also, in December 1914, “Guy’s Hospital Gazette” in London printed an article by Philip Smith which included a version of the saying:7
The best definition I have heard of modern warfare is, “Months of boredom punctuated by moments of extreme terror.”
In 1915 “The Gloucestershire Echo” of England published an instance:8
I came out of the trenches last evening, after being in for 24 hours. I quite enjoyed it, but the following exactly describes one’s feeling: ‘Hours of boredom, punctuated with moments of abject fear.’ While we were in there, there were three casualties.
In 1916 a newspaper in Richmond, Victoria, Australia published an instance within an article by the pseudonymous “Sapper”:9
“Months of boredom punctuated by moments of intense fright” is a definition of war which undoubtedly Noah would have regarded as a chestnut. Nevertheless, I should think it doubtful if there has ever been a war in which this definition were more correct.
In 1940 the “Cornish Guardian” of Cornwall, England printed an instance while crediting Field-Marshal Lord Milne:10
Field-Marshal Lord Milne, in his weekly review in the “Sunday Chronicle,” is certainly of the same mind as Mr. Garvin. War consists, he says, of long periods of extreme boredom, punctuated by short and sharp periods of extreme danger.
In 1962 a newspaper in Abilene, Texas printed a variant statement about flying airplanes:11
Veteran pilots define flying as endless hours of boredom punctuated by moments of terror. Seldom, fortunately, do passengers share such moments.
In 1970 a newspaper in Imperial Beach, California printed an instance credited to a soldier from a few centuries in the past:12
“War — period of intense boredom punctuated by moments of acute fear.”
—17th Century soldier
In conclusion, soldiers employed this saying, and it appeared in newspapers by 1909, i.e., before the First World War. An interesting citation dated December 9, 1914, credited an unnamed British officer in South Africa. The Second Boer War was fought between 1899 and 1902. Hence, the saying may have originated during that war.
Image Notes: Painting of “The Phantom Horseman” by Sir John Gilbert from Birmingham Museums Trust. The image has been cropped and resized.
Acknowledgement: Great thanks to researcher Jonathan Lighter who posted about this saying on a mailing list. This led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration. Lighter found citations beginning in 1914. Lighter suggested that the saying might have been circulating during the Second Boer War.
- 1909 June 28, The Westminster Gazette, Article: The Officer Question, Author: Civis, Quote Page 3, Column 2, London, England. (British Newspaper Archive) ↩︎
- 1909 September 28, The Westminster Gazette, Article: The Army Manoeuvres, Author: Civis, Quote Page 1, Column 3, London, England. (British Newspaper Archive) ↩︎
- 1910 August 16, The Westminster Gazette, Article: The Territorial Trainings, 1910, Author: Civis, Page 1, Quote Page 2, Column 1, London, England. (British Newspaper Archive) ↩︎
- 1914 November 4, The Times, The Baptism of Fire: Cavalry Subaltern’s Vivid Experiences, Part 2, Quote Page 5, Column 4, London, England. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1914 December 9, The Daily Advocate, Ate Piece of Plum Pudding Then Went to Firing Field Gun, Special Dispatch by the International News Service, Quote Page 2, Column 1, Belleville, Illinois. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1914 December 18, Yale Alumni Weekly, Volume 24, Number 13, Oxford in War Time by Scott Hurtt Paradise, Class of 1914 (Oxford Rhodes Scholar at Balliol College) Start Page 358, Quote Page 359, New Haven, Connecticut. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1914 December 19, Guy’s Hospital Gazette, Letters from Guy’s Men on Active Service, Letter from: Lieut. Philip Smith, M.O. 4th Royal Fusiliers, 3rd Division British Expeditionary Force, Letter date: December 1, 1914, Quote Page 487, Column 1, Published by Guy’s Hospital of London, England. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1915 April 17, The Gloucestershire Echo, The War: With the 5th Gloucesters, Quote Page 6, Column 2, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1916 March 18, Richmond Guardian, More from “Sapper”: The Best War Writer, Quote Page 6, Column 7, Richmond, Victoria, Australia. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1940 February 15, Cornish Guardian, We Are Still Guessing: What Is Germany Up To?, Quote Page 7, Column 6, Bodmin, Cornwall, England. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1962 October 14, The Abilene Reporter-News, Plane Goes Down at Sea (Acknowledgement to Newark Evening News), Quote Page 10B, Column 1, Abilene, Texas. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1970 April 16, Imperial Beach Star-News, When Johnny comes marching home by Alice Blankfort, Quote Page B1, Column 1, Imperial Beach, California. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎