Description
Book SynopsisUsing a wealth of contemporary sources, this book narrates the story of the Liverpool Rifles in the Great War from their mobilisation in August 1914 to their return to Liverpool in 1919, each day of their active service in France and Belgium detailed. The role played by 3,000 individuals, including every single casualty---wounded or killed---is covered in the narrative and in many cases, the exact position where this happened. The battalion served a tough apprenticeship in the Second Battle of Ypres, losing over 40 per cent casualties in their first five months overseas. By the time the battalion left the Somme in September 1916, their casualties figures exceeded the number who sailed to France in 1915. The ferocious struggle in the Third Battle of Ypres and their epic defensive actions at Little Priel Farm and Givenchy are described down to individual platoon level; twenty-one detailed sketch maps allowing the reader to follow the action. Uniquely, the battalion roll in the appendices includes every officer and man who served with the battalion overseas, many of whom do not feature in the Medal Rolls.
Table of ContentsForeword; Acknowledgements; Glossary; 1 August 1914-24 February 1915: Early Days; 2 25 February 1915-30 July 1915: A Hard Apprenticeship; 3 31 July 1915-18 November 1915: Vaux; 4 19 November 1915-13 February 1916: Back to the Fold; 5 14 February 1916-30 July 1916: Wailly; 6 31 July 1916-29 September 1916: Steel Rain; 7 30 September 1916-3 July 1917: Return to the Salient; 8 4 July 1917-3 August 1917: The Battle of Pilckem Ridge; 9 4 August 1917-27 September 1917: The Battle of the Menin Road Ridge; 10 28 September 1917-6 December 1917: The Thin Khaki Line; 11 7 December 1917-8 April 1918: Givenchy-les-la Bassee; 12 9 April 1918-28 July 1918: Kaiserschlacht; 13 29 July 1918-11 November 1918: The Hard Road to Victory; Epilogue; Appendix I: Statistics; Appendix II: Battalion Roll 1914-1918; Endnotes; Bibliography; Index.
