The Journey's End Battalion (6 reviews)
Imprint: Pen & Sword Military
Found in: World War One Books
Hardback
242 pages
ISBN: 9781848845039
Published: 9 May 2012
The 9th East Surrey in the Great War
by Michael LucasImprint: Pen & Sword Military
Found in: World War One Books
Hardback
242 pages
ISBN: 9781848845039
Published: 9 May 2012
£19.99
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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.
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.
Product Reviews
Michael Lucas' history of 9/East Surrey Regiment grew out of his research into the service of a relative. Only whilst researching did he become aware of the service, and the rich archive of the playwright... [read full review]
Stand To!
The usefulness of this book is enhanced by the presentation of considerable research in the Appendices to identify casualties and casualty rates. The book presented here is a model of good research and should be... [read full review]Society of Friends of the National Army
Over the years, many books have been written about the Pals regiments. Far less has been written about the Kitchener regiments, country-based units which attracted a much wider recruitment base. In this book, Michael Lucas... [read full review]Britain at War Magazine
There are many battalion histories on the Great War in print today, most of them focusing on the Western Front. So what makes this one different? For one thing, it's extremely well researched. The... [read full review]Military Modelcraft International
The Journeys End Battalion tells the remarkable story of the 9th Battalion East Surrey Regiment and its service in the First World War. More than 850 men lost their lives while serving with the... [read full review]Military Machines International
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... [read full review]MonstersandCritics
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The 11th Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment (Accrington Pals) and the 158th (Accrington and Burnley) Brigade, Royal Field Artillery (Howitzers)
by by Andrew Jackson
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About Michael Lucas
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.
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