Retreat from Death A Soldier on the Somme

by Hill, George Herbert; Holmes, Richard

• ISBN13: 9781850437543
• ISBN10: 1850437548
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-09-17
• Publisher: Tauris Parke Paperbacks

Summary

"I was alone in a world gone mad. Death was all around...Useless, filthy death." So wrote George Herbert Hill on the Battle of St. Quentin, which began on March 21, 1918 and consisted of trench mortars, mustard gas, chlorine gas, tear gas and a heavy artillery bombardment--said to be one of the most fierce and devastating of the Great War. Over the course of six days, thousands of British troops lost their lives and yet this would prove to be the turning point of the war--the end was in sight. Hill was just sixteen when he enlisted into the army. After only a few weeks in France, he was in the midst of St. Quentin and the full horrors of trench warfare. Incredibly, he survived--one of the few members of his battalion to do so. After several months at the front, he was gassed and spent the last days of the war in a field hospital. Hill turned nineteen on the day of the armistice.Retreat from Deathis the harrowing story based on his experiences.

Author Biography

George Herbert Hill was a correspondent at the Belfast Telegraph and later joined the Daily Mail until his retirement. He died in 1969. Richard Holmes is author of several acclaimed books on military subjects, most recently the bestselling Tommy: The British Soldier on the Western front 1914-1918.

Table of Contents

Foreword	1	(8)
BOOK I
The Start	9	(8)
The Camp	17	(12)
The Girl	29	(8)
The Draft	37	(9)
The Arrival	46	(12)
The Hero	58	(11)
The Rest	69	(17)
The Road	86	(12)
The Trench	98	(11)
The Reckoning	109	(16)
The Bridge	125	(13)
The Old Men	138	(12)
The Marching Song	150	(12)
The Estaminet	162	(5)
The Cavalry	167	(6)
The Nail in the Boot	173	(9)
The Shot between the Eyes	182	(7)
The Bugle Call	189	(9)
The Uhlan	198	(9)
The Relief	207	(10)
The Dump	217	(10)
The Adjutant	227	(14)
BOOK II
The Veteran	241	(13)
The Tin of Bully	254	(12)
The Letter Home	266	(12)
The Holy Bible	278	(9)
The Lucky Lad	287	(9)
The Telescope	296	(8)
The Harpy	304	(8)
The Unlucky Lad	312	(6)
The Return	318	(15)
The Company Officer	333	(8)
The Complaint	341	(8)
The Cure	349	(6)
The Signal Lamp	355	(10)
The Old Soldier	365	(10)
The Shell to Himself	375	(18)
The Old Motto	393	(14)
The Comrades-in-Arms	407	(13)
The Advance	420	(13)
The Casualties	433	(14)
The Gurgle	447	(12)
The Tent	459	(11)
The Finish	470