Best o' luck: How a fighting Kentuckian won the thanks of Britain's King

A first-person wartime memoir recounts an American's enlistment with Canadian forces and his progression from training to front-line trench duty. The narrator describes the nerves of initial deployment, the mechanics and terror of bombing raids and going over the top, and prolonged stints holding positions in Belgian trenches including action on the Somme. He relates being wounded, rescuing comrades at great personal risk, and receiving a distinguished conduct medal and a royal visit. The account mixes vivid episode-based reporting with practical reflections intended to inform and prepare future volunteers.