Overview

R.C. Sherriff, author of Journey's End, the most famous play of the Great War, saw all his frontline service with the 9th Battalion East Surrey Regiment. This intense experience profoundly affected his writing and, through his play, it continues to have a powerful influence on our understanding of the conflict. Yet the story of his battalion known as 'The Gallants' after the bravery it displayed during the Battle of Loos has never been told in full until now. In The Journey's End Battalion, Michael Lucas gives a vivid account of its history. Using official and unofficial sources, diaries, letters, and British and German wartime records, he describes the individuals who served in it and the operations they took part in. He identifies the inspiration for Journey's End and considers how Sherriff delved into his experiences and those of his fellow soldiers in order to create his drama. The narrative covers the battalion's bloody initiation at Loos, its role in the fighting on the Somme at Guillemont and Delville Wood and during the Third Battle of Ypres, then the part it played in the desperate defence against the German 1918 offensives and its contribution to the Allied advance to victory. Despite the presence of Sherriff and other notable individuals, the 9th East Surrey was in many ways typical of the southern Kitchener battalions, and Michael Lucas's account of its service provides a fascinating contrast with the northern Pals battalions whose story has been more often told. So not only does the book shed new light on the wartime experience of R.C. Sherriff, but it is a valuable record of the operation of a British battalion on the Western Front during the Great War. SELLING POINTS: Full story of the battalion on which RC Sherriff based his famous play Fascinating inside view of ta battalion through the course of the war uses a wide range of sources, including German records ILLUSTRATIONS: 30

Full Product Details

9781848845039

Table of Contents

Reviews

Many books have been written about the Pals regiments, in which whole villages or businesses sent large groups of young men - all friends - into the First World War. Far less has been written about the Kitchener regiments, county based organizations which attracted a much wider audience. This is the story of the East Surrey Regiment initially made up of a mixed bunch of lawyers, coalmen, police, navies, burglars as well as prominent county families. One of the soldiers was a certain R C Sherriff. Surprizingly he managed to survive the entire conflict despite being in the army from 1914 to 1918, and taking part in many of the bloodiest battles. His experiences led him to write Journey's End, the most famous play of the Great War. Lucas has set out to look at Sherriff's role in the War and combined it with the story of the East Surrey Regiment. It covers everything from the dreadful battle of Loos, Somme and Ypres to the desperate defence against the Germans final offensive in 1918. It makes interesting reading. Lucas has undertaken careful research and paints a picture of a battalion at war, and how it survived. Military historians and anyone interested in military history will find this book useful and fascinating. - Monsters and Critics

Author Information

Michael Lucas's initial interest in the 9th East Surrey was sparked off by family connections, and he has made an in-depth study of the history of the battalion - and of the part that R.C. Sherriff played in it. As well as consulting a wide range of published and archive sources, he has contacted descendants of soldiers who served in the battalion. He has published a number of articles, chiefly on the Great War, including two in Stand To!, the journal of the Western Front Association.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available