Editing H. C. McNeile (section)

===First World War service===
On 2 November 1914 McNeile travelled to France as part of the [[British Expeditionary Force (World War I)|British Expeditionary Force]].{{sfn|Treadwell|2001|p=111}}{{sfn|Haycraft|2005|p=129}} Few details are known about McNeile's wartime service, as his records were [[The National Archives (United Kingdom)#Access to documents|destroyed by incendiary bombs]] during the [[World War II|Second World War]]. He spent time with a number of Royal Engineer units on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]], including 1st Field Squadron RE, 15th Field Company RE and RE elements of the [[33rd Division (United Kingdom)|33rd Division]].{{sfn|Treadwell|2001|p=111}}
[[File:No Man's Land - 1ed ed cover.jpg|thumb|upright|left|US cover of ''No Man's Land'', published in 1917]]
McNeile's first known published story, ''Reminiscences of Sergeant Michael Cassidy'', was serialised on page four of the ''[[Daily Mail]]'' from 13 January 1915.{{sfn|Jaillant|2011|p=140}}{{efn|Although there are claims that suggest Sapper's first stories were published in ''[[Blackwood's Magazine]]'', none of these appear in the 1914–1918 issues under the name McNeile or Sapper.{{sfn|Jaillant|2011|pp=163–164}} His obituary in ''[[The Sunday Times]]'' states that he had written "practically nothing" prior to the war.<ref name="S Times: Obit" />}}  As serving officers in the British Army were not permitted to publish under their own names except during their [[Half-pay|half-pay sabbaticals]], many would write under a pseudonym;{{sfn|Bourn|1990|p=25}} [[Alfred Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe|Lord Northcliffe]], the owner of the ''Daily Mail'', gave McNeile the pen name "Sapper", as the Royal Engineers were commonly known as the [[Sapper]]s.<ref name="Observer: Obit" />{{sfn|Watson|1971|p=63}} McNeile later confided that he had started writing through "sheer boredom".<ref name="S Times: Obit" /> Some of his stories appeared on page four of the ''Daily Mail'' over the following months.{{sfn|Jaillant|2011|pp=140–141}} Northcliffe was impressed by his writing and attempted, but failed, to have him released from the army to work as a war correspondent.{{sfn|Bourn|1990|p=25}} By the end of 1915, he had written two collections of short stories, ''The Lieutenant and Others'' and ''Sergeant Michael Cassidy, R.E.'', both of which were published by [[Hodder & Stoughton]].{{sfn|Jaillant|2011|p=140}} Although many of the stories had already appeared in the ''Daily Mail'',{{sfn|Jaillant|2011|p=140}} between 1916 and 1918 ''Sergeant Michael Cassidy, R.E.'' sold 135,000 copies and ''The Lieutenant and Others'' published in 1915 sold 139,000 copies.{{sfn|Jaillant|2011|p=142}} By the end of the war he had published three more collections, ''Men, Women, and Guns'' (1916), ''No Man's Land'' (1917) and ''The Human Touch'' (1918).{{sfn|Jaillant|2011|p=140}} In 1916 he wrote a series of articles titled ''The Making of an Officer'', which appeared under the initials C. N., in five issues of ''[[The Times]]'' between 8 and 14 June 1916.{{sfn|Jaillant|2011|p=150}}<ref name="Times: Making Officer" /> The articles were aimed at young and new officers to explain their duties to them; these were collected together and published by Hodder & Stoughton later in 1916.{{sfn|Jaillant|2011|p=150}}

During his time with the Royal Engineers, McNeile saw action at the First and Second Battles of Ypres{{sfn|Bourn|1990|p=25}}—he was [[Chemical warfare|gassed]] at the [[Second Battle of Ypres|second battle]]{{sfn|Bertens|1990|p=51}}—and the [[Battle of the Somme]].{{sfn|Treadwell|2001|p=111}} In 1916 he was awarded the [[Military Cross]]<ref name="Gaz: MC" /> and was [[mentioned in dispatches]];<ref name="Medal Rolls 1916" /> in November that year he was [[gazetted]] to acting [[Major (United Kingdom)|major]].<ref name="Gaz: Maj" /> From 1 April to 5 October 1918, he commanded a battalion of the [[Middlesex Regiment]] and was promoted to acting lieutenant-colonel;<ref name="Gaz: Lt C, Middx" /> the scholar Lawrence Treadwell observes that "for an engineer to command an infantry regiment was&nbsp;... a rarity".{{sfn|Treadwell|2001|p=111}} 18th Battalion, [[Middlesex Regiment]] under McNeile saw action for the remainder of his command, and were involved in fighting during the [[Hundred Days Offensive]] in the St. Quentin-Cambrai sector in September 1918;{{sfn|Treadwell|2001|p=111}} during the year, he was again mentioned in dispatches.<ref name="Gaz: MID 2" /> On 2 October 1918 he broke his ankle and was briefly hospitalised, which forced him to relinquish his command of the battalion on 4 October. He was on convalescent leave when the war ended in November 1918. During the course of the war, he had spent a total of 32 months in France,{{sfn|Treadwell|2001|p=111}} and had probably been gassed more than once.{{sfn|Bourn|1990|p=25}} His literary output from 1915 to 1918 accounted for more than 80 collected and uncollected stories.{{sfn|Bertens|1990|p=51}} His brother—also in the Royal Engineers—had been killed earlier in the war.{{sfn|Treadwell|2001|p=111}}