THE ARMY BOYS SERIES
By Homer Randall

Information

Titles
"Here we have true-to-life pictures of what our brave soldier boys did, in the training camps, aboard the transport, and in the battlefields of France. How he went over the top and had thrilling hand-to-hand encounters with the Huns is told in a manner to interest all. Many sidelights are given of how the soldiers enjoyed themselves during the off hours. A series which ought to be on every bookshelf in the land." -- Sully advertisement in The Air Service Boys Flying for Victory

Originally published by Sully; later reprinted (when?) by World Syndicate and Saalfield.

This series endeavors to stir up patriotic sentiment and eagerness to fight in the young men of the WWI era. The author struggles mightily to make the fearful violence, privation, danger, and tedium of life in the European trenches seem thrilling and noble. Hand-to-hand combat is vaguely described as "bayonet work", and is seldom described in detail. When the heroes, a group of youths from the same hometown, kill enemy soldiers by rifle fire, they always do so from a distance. If the heroes meet an enemy soldier face-to-face, they always manage to bind and gag him and take him prisoner, rather than to kill him. The knightly Allied soldiers note with admiration the skill and courage of individual enemy soldiers, but generally the moral difference between "us" and "them" is  stressed -- the evil Germans developed and used the terrible mustard gas; the Allies used it too, but reluctantly, and only because the Germans forced them to. 

I personally find this series fairly boring, and the accuracy of some of the information seems questionable, e.g. that the Germans were capable of firing shells with any accuracy from a 20-mile range. If anyone has any knowledge of this, I'd be interested to hear about it...
  1. THE ARMY BOYS IN FRANCE; or, From Training Camp to Trenches  -- "When America enters World War I, four friends join the Army together, go through basic training and are sent overseas to combat." -- "Here we have real pictures of what thousands of American young men of today are doing for our country." -- illustrated by Robert Gaston Herbert. 1918. George Sully & Co.; World Syndicate.

  2. ARMY BOYS IN THE FRENCH TRENCHES; or, Hand to Hand Fighting with the Enemy -- "The gallant soldier boys go 'over the top' and have some thrilling hand-to-hand encounters with the enemy. There are hours of extreme peril -- capture and escape -- and moments when matters look truly disastrous. Many particulars are given of how the soldier boys enjoy themselves during their off hours, and particulars of heroic work which is bound to thrill every reader." -- 1919. Sully; Saalfield; World Syndicate.

  3. ARMY BOYS ON THE FIRING LINE; or, Holding Back the German Drive -- "A faithful picture of the heroic work being done by our gallant soldier boys in France today, where the watchword is 'They shall not pass!' The German drive was assuredly a big one and the Allies had all they could do to stem that human tide of Boches turned against them. A well told tale of startling happenings." -- illustrated by R. Emmett Owen. 1919. Saalfield; World Syndicate.

  4. ARMY BOYS IN THE BIG DRIVE; or, Smashing Forward to Victory -- 1919. Sully;  World Syndicate; Saalfield.

  5. ARMY BOYS MARCHING INTO GERMANY; or, Over the Rhine with the Stars and Stripes -- 1919. Saalfield; World Syndicate.

  6. ARMY BOYS ON GERMAN SOIL; OR, Our Doughboys Quelling the Mobs -- 1920. World Syndicate; Saalfield.

 

Source:

Sully advertisements  in Army Boys on the Firing Line and Air Service Boys Flying for Victory
WorldCat Holdings

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