Customer Reviews

Twelve Days on the Somme: A Memoir of the Trenches November 1916

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This book will surpise anyone with preconceptions of the First World War along the lines of the old myth of 'lions led by donkeys' or from watching 'Blackadder Goes Forth'. It is the simple story of one tour of duty in the trenches on the Somme, in all just 12 days from the initial entry into the frontline trenches to the departure of the battalion for a long rest behind the lines. It is set not in the drama and tragedy of the initial assault on 1 July 1916, but later in the early winter of November 1916 when the battle has settled down to the patient, miserable drudgery of holding the line. The author was then the commander of B Company of the 2nd Battalion, the West Yorkshire Regiment. His story tells of all the misery of enduring biting cold, chilling, soaking rain and especially thick, clinging, inescapable mud; all combined with too much hard work and little or no rest. He shows the impact of the sudden death of close friends and comrades, not the mass casualties of an attack, but the steady drain of losing trusted comrades. He is fully aware that death is a constant companion who may strike at any time and that no one is immune. Yet, although Rogerson is ever aware of the misery he and his fellow soldiers are enduring, his greatest memory is of the comradeship of common, quietly heroic, endeavour. I think the best way to show this is to quote him: '... the fact remains that, terrifying as they sometimes, and uncomfortable as they often were, the war years will stand out in the memories of vast numbers of those who fought as the happiest period of their lives. And the clue to this perhaps astonishing fact is that though the war may have let loose the worst it also brought out the finest qualities in men. #pp. 59-60#' This is a short and simple, but beautifully written book. It is honest and deeply moving. I rate it as the finest First World War memoir I have read and I have read most of the well known ones at one time or another. The only comparison I can think of is with Eugene Sledge's memoir of service as a Marine in World War Two 'With the Old Breed on Peleliu and Okinawa'. When I say it rivals Sledge's book, I can't think of higher praise. If you want to put this book in a wider context, you can also read 'General Jack's Diary' edited by John Terraine; the then Lieutenant Colonel Jack was the much admired and respected Commanding Officer of the 2nd West Yorks under whom Sidney Rogerson served at the time.