Twelve Days on the Somme: A Memoir of the Trenches November 1916

A joint operation between Britain and France in 1916, the battle of the Somme was an attempt to gain territory and dent Germany’s military strength. By the end of the action, very little ground had been won: the Allied Forces had made just twelve kilometers. For this slight gain, a more than a million lives were lost. There were more than 400,000 British, 200,000 French, and 500,000 German casualties during the fighting. Twelve Days is a narrative of the last spell of front-line duty performed by the 2/West Yorkshires. Written by Sidney Rogerson, a young officer in µB’ Company, it gives an extraordinarily honest account of twelve days during the battle of the Somme. From the terrible panic of crossing no-man’s-land, to the squalid drudgery of trench life, Rogerson creates a full and evocative picture of this horrific conflict.