Book description
The Battle of the Somme, which lasted from 1 July to 18 November
1916, is remembered as one of the most horrific and tragic battles of
the First World War. On the first day alone nearly 19,000 British
troops were killed - the greatest one-day loss in the history of the
British Army. By November the death toll from the armies of Britain,
France and Germany had risen to over a million. This book tells the
stories of fifty-one soldiers from the Commonwealth and Empire armies
whose bravery on the battlefield was rewarded by the Victoria Cross,
the highest military honour - men like Private Billy McFadzean, who
was blown up by two grenades which he smothered in order to save the
lives of his comrades, and Private 'Todger' Jones, who single-handedly
rounded up 102 German soldiers. Not only do we learn of heroic
endeavours of these men at the height of battle, but we also read of
their lives before 1914, ranging from the backstreets of Glasgow to a
country house in Cheshire, and of what life was like after the war for
the thirty-three survivors.
