Book description
When Will Davies discovered the manuscript for Somme Mud he
knew he had found a lost treasure. Private Lynch's powerful, personal
story of his time in the trenches of the Somme has become a classic.
In this new book, Will Davies meticulously follows in the footsteps
of Lynch and his battalion, the 45th - from their long route marches
to lice ridden billets, into the frontline and seeing action at such
infamous battles as Messines, Dernancourt, Stormy Trench and Villers
Bretonneux, and on the last great push to final victory after August
1918.
The author assesses the impact Lynch and those like him had both on
the battlefield and in the greater context of the war on the Western
Front. Written in a lively and accessible style, it sheds light on the
campaigns and offensives, the weapons and the equipment, the food, the
living conditions and the neglected minutiae of war and in so doing
brings to life the young men who sacrificed their youth over 90 years ago.
Will Davies
is a film-maker, writer and military historian. He lives in Sydney.
Private
Edward Lynch
was born in 1898 and served in France with the First Australian
Imperial Force from 1916-19. He died in 1980.
