The Somme

The Battle of the Somme lasted from 1 July to 18 November and is remembered as one of the most horrific and tragic battles of the First World War. One 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 in the armies of Britain, France and Germany had risen to more than one million. This book tells the story of the fifty-one soldiers from the Commonwealth and Empire armies whose bravery on the battlefield was rewarded by the Victoria Cross. Not only do we learn of the heroic endeavours of these men at the height of battle, but we also read of their lives before 1914, ranging from the back streets of Glasgow to a country house in Cheshire, and of what life was like after the war for the thirty-three who survived. "VCs of the Somme" is fully illustrated and the accounts are arranged chronologically, so offering a new perspective on the course of the battle.