With Valour and Distinction - 2nd Leicesters 1914-1918

With Valour and Distinction - The Actions of the 2nd Battalion Leicestershire Regiment 1914-1918

When people consider the First World War they might think about the losses on the first day of the battle of the Somme or the atrocious conditions at Passchendaele.  Few, I believe, would turn their attention to Mesopotamia, now modern day Iraq.  And yet thousands of men fought against the Ottomans in the blistering heat, plagued by flies and disease.  My new book entitled, With Distinction and Valour - the actions of the 2nd Battalion Leicestershire Regiment 1914-1918 details the military operations of the 2nd Battalion Leicestershire Regiment on the Western Front, Mesopotamia and Palestine.  There are many striking features in this volume.  Notwithstanding the high quality maps, (thank you George Anderson) superb photographs (special thanks to John Taylor) there’s the bravery of men, such as, Private William Buckingham who won his Victoria Cross at the Battle of Neuve Chapelle in March 1915 and Brigadier-General Charles Blackader who commanded the 2nd Leicesters in 1914.  He went on to lead the Garwhal Brigade and 38th (Welsh) Division. 

The conditions in Mesopotamia were truly horrendous, on a biblical scale.  Not only did the troops have to contend with a skilled, and determined enemy the forces of nature were also against them.  On the one hand torrential rain turned the battlefield into a torturous quagmire - and on the other hand in the blistering heat: flies, mosquitos and sandflies tormented undernourished men with inadequate access to clean water or medical treatment.  On the Basra Memorial (just one of many) are etched 40,604 names of fallen men who have no known grave.  These figures dwarf the numbers on the famous Tyne Cot Memorial to the Missing in Belgium.  

Things improved once the 2nd Leicesters arrived in Palestine during the summer of 1918.  The formidable Turkish soldier there had been undermined by poor strategic decisions, lack of discipline and decent food.  The gallant Leicesters played their part in the advance to victory in the Middle East.  This volume also documents the lives of a good number of officers and men, including two former Leicester Tiger’s players, and the single incidence of a shot at dawn, Should you wish to buy a discounted signed copy, please contact me at nigatt59@gmail.com