Good Old Somersets

On 22nd August 1914 1000 men of the Somerset Light Infantry sailed for France as part of the British Expeditionary Force. Within four days a quarter of them would be lost at the Battle of Le Cateau, and by the end of the year barely 200 of the first contingent were serving in France.

This book ia a day-by-day chronicle of the Battalion from August to December 1914. It uses the Official War Diaries, together with extracts from personal diaries and correspondence, newspaper reports and other contemporary material. The book covers the fighting, movements, trench life and relaxation of a typical group of regular soldiers who came to be known as ‘The Old Contemptibles’.