# Please identify the author of this passage about WWI **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [February 20, 2022, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-the-author-of-this-passage-about-wwi/959811 "2022-02-20T02:21:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2022, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-the-author-of-this-passage-about-wwi/959811/1 "2022-02-20T02:21:29Z")
One of the photo-illustrated history books I made a beeline for in my elementary school library described the German army marching through the streets of Brussels in 1914 as (to the best of my recollection) “an endless sea of ghostly grey uniforms” with “the hobnails of their boots making sparks at night.as they struck the cobblestones.” This was taken from an eyewitness account, presumably written by a foreign correspondent from a neutral country (maybe the USA?). It’s too early for William L Shirer; any idea who it might be? ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2022, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-the-author-of-this-passage-about-wwi/959811/2 "2022-02-20T02:23:44Z")
Richard Harding Davis maybe? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2022, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-the-author-of-this-passage-about-wwi/959811/3 "2022-02-20T02:24:57Z")
Is this it? [http://p12cdn4static.sharpschool.com/UserFiles/Servers/Server\_520401/File/Departments/Curriculum%20&%20Instruction/ELA/Non-Fiction%20Texts/The%20German%20Army%20Marches%20through%20Brussels.pdf](http://p12cdn4static.sharpschool.com/UserFiles/Servers/Server_520401/File/Departments/Curriculum%20&%20Instruction/ELA/Non-Fiction%20Texts/The%20German%20Army%20Marches%20through%20Brussels.pdf) ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2022, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-the-author-of-this-passage-about-wwi/959811/4 "2022-02-20T02:29:09Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > the hobnails of their boots making sparks at night.as they struck the cobblestones.” My Google [search](https://books.google.com/books?id=iI1JDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT130&lpg=PT130&dq=the+hobnails+of+their+boots+making+sparks+at+night.as+they+struck+the+cobblestones.%E2%80%9D&source=bl&ots=gsvRvc2qhu&sig=ACfU3U1czvpBznYlQ_vcNKQEfSU8Zk7oxg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjLprzinI32AhXgk2oFHaY2BWEQ6AF6BAgUEAM#v=onepage&q=the%20hobnails%20of%20their%20boots%20making%20sparks%20at%20night.as%20they%20struck%20the%20cobblestones.%E2%80%9D&f=false) says it’s from _Monash’s Masterpiece: The battle of Le Hamel and the 93 minutes that changed the world_ by Peter Fitzsimmons. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2022, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-the-author-of-this-passage-about-wwi/959811/5 "2022-02-20T02:34:39Z")
Holy crap, that was fast! That is indeed the text, though the book I read had only a small part of it. I took a look at the Fitzsimmons link; I suspect he was quoting from Davis’s report. Thanks to all of you! Now if I can only remember the name of the book I read and the series it was from… ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2022, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-the-author-of-this-passage-about-wwi/959811/6 "2022-02-20T03:14:20Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Holy crap, that was fast! Do Not Taunt The Dope! ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2022, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-the-author-of-this-passage-about-wwi/959811/7 "2022-02-20T03:29:14Z")
Here is a longer (and, I presume, complete) text: [http://www.columbia.edu/~jef1/brussels.html](http://www.columbia.edu/~jef1/brussels.html) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2022, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-the-author-of-this-passage-about-wwi/959811/8 "2022-02-20T03:41:37Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > > [@terentii](#): > > > > Holy crap, that was fast! > > Do Not Taunt The Dope! Hey, I had an [‘impossible’ song ID](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/impossible-song-id/521574), and The Dope came through. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2022, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-identify-the-author-of-this-passage-about-wwi/959811/9 "2022-02-20T03:47:55Z")
That is my point. Throw it down, it’s DONE BABY!