The Somme: The Epic Battle in the Soldiers’ own Words and Photographs PDF
Preview The Somme: The Epic Battle in the Soldiers’ own Words and Photographs
THE SOMME THE SOMME The Epic Battle in the Soldiers’ own Words and Photographs Richard van Emden First published in Great Britain in 2016 by Pen & Sword Military an imprint of Pen & Sword Books Ltd 47 Church Street Barnsley South Yorkshire S70 2AS Copyright © Richard van Emden 2016 ISBN 978 1 47385 521 2 The right of Richard van Emden to be identified as the Author of this Work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the Publisher in writing. Typeset in Ehrhardt by Mac Style Ltd, Bridlington, East Yorkshire Printed and bound in China by Imago Pen & Sword Books Ltd incorporates the imprints of Pen & Sword Archaeology, Atlas, Aviation, Battleground, Discovery, Family History, History, Maritime, Military, Naval, Politics, Railways, Select, Transport, True Crime, and Fiction, Frontline Books, Leo Cooper, Praetorian Press, Seaforth Publishing and Wharncliffe. For a complete list of Pen & Sword titles please contact PEN & SWORD BOOKS LIMITED 47 Church Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 2AS, England E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.pen-and-sword.co.uk Title Page: Captain Ormonde Whiteman looks through a periscope. He was killed in November, 1917. Frontispiece: An officer of the Royal Engineers stands on the ruins of in La Boisselle Church, July 1916. To the memory of Sapper Norman Ralph Skelton, 1898–1988 103915, Wireless Section, Royal Engineers and Alicia Wilson, aged 104, daughter of Captain Hugh Russell Wilson, C Coy, 1/5th Durham Light Infantry, killed in action 11 September 1916, buried Bécourt Cemetery, Somme My dear George and Alicia Thank you both so very much for sending me such nice photographs, you are kind and you do look well and pretty. I am having such a nice birthday. I got up at 6 o’clock and went for a ride on a mule, or as we call them, a Moke. It is half a horse and half a donkey and is called Billy. I am going to a party tonight and hope to enjoy myself. There are lots of guns round about us and they do make a row, I’m sure they would wake you up if you had them going off near you in the night. Daisy is quite well but she will gallop so and it makes her far too hot. I hope you enjoy Harrogate. Mind, be kind to Granny and Grandpa and be good children. Your affectionate Daddy [Captain Hugh Wilson, written on his 38th birthday, 2nd August 1916] CONTENTS Introduction 1 Chapter 1 Live and Let Live 10 Chapter 2 Bedding-In 50 Chapter 3 Awed and Shocked 110 Chapter 4 Batter and Hold 150 Chapter 5 Toil and Strife 200 Chapter 6 Nut Cracking 244 Chapter 7 Mud and Guts 278 Chapter 8 Fighting Cold 320 Acknowledgements 344 Sources and Permissions 346 Index 350 Opposite: Officers and men of the 8th East Lancashire Regiment in the waterlogged trenches near Foncquevillers, winter 1915.
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