This is a well-written book. In the beginning, it is stated quite clearly that it is not a military history of the Battle of the Somme. It is about the 72,000 young men involved who never returned, and whose bodies were never found. It explores the reasons for the memorial’s erection, and the building of the edifice itself, and explains the layout. It tells why, despite so many fatalities and wounds, the battle paved the way for eventual victory for the Allies.
The main content, however, is the 200 biographies of men from all the regiments that fought on the Somme in 1916, including photographs. There are four stories from each face of the memorial, and each has been chosen to bring out a different facet. These young men had promising careers ahead of them. The impact on the families is unimaginable. In the preamble to the biographies of best crossbow, the question is asked: “What might have been having they lived?”
The book is also designed so that visitors to the memorial can find the names on each face and read the story.
Pam and Ken Linge have spent ten years working on the records of all the men named on the Thiepval memorial, prompted in the first instance by the discovery that Pam’s family had lost members during that battle. This book is a credit to their work and helps to bring home the individual cost of war for each man and family involved.
Missing But Not Forgotten by Pam Linge and Ken Linge, is published by Pen and Sword and is priced at £25. ISBN 1473823587
