Steve Smith tells the story of the five Battalions of the Norfolk Regiment who served on the Western Front using previously unseen photographs, diaries, accounts, and letters. He has also had full access to the Norfolk Regiment Museum archives. It is the men who served in the Norfolks who will tell this story. This book will interest readers nationally & locally as it not only studies the Regiment's participation in well-known battles such as Ypres and the Somme, but also takes a fresh look at the lesser-known battles fought, battles such as Elouges in 1914 and Kaiserschlacht in 1918. Steve has considered the German perspective too, looking at the men who faced them at places such as Falfemont Farm in 1916. Using new evidence from the Regiment's participation in the Christmas Truce, he separates the truth from myth surrounding the stories of football played at this time, a controversy that still rages. Steve has walked the ground over which they fought and fresh maps complement this research so the book serves as a history book for those at home and a guidebook for those who wish to get out and explore, down to trench level, the ground covered in its pages.
Steve's interest in military history stems from his family's experiences WW1 & WW2 where he has traced all of their histories. It is both a passion and a calling to him. He served in the RAF from 1985 to 2003 as an RAF Police NCO and settled in Norfolk. He is married with three daughters and is now a qualified battlefield guide and author of two books relating to subjects in both World Wars. His main interest in life is now guiding groups and walking the battlefields of France and Belgium to develop his knowledge of that subject.
Foreword; Acknowledgements; Glossary of Terms; An Overview of Cemeteries and Memorials; Memorials in Belgium and France; Introduction; 1 The Road to War: June to August 1914; 21st Battalion, Elouges to La Bassee: 4 August to 30 October 1914; 31st Battalion, Messines-Wulverghem Road: Christmas Truce 1914; 4 The Service Battalions of the Norfolk Regiment: The Kitchener Men; 51st Battalion, St Eloi and Hill 60: March to June 1915; 6 Trench Warfare and the Service Battalions Initial Moves: May to August 1915; 7 The 7th and 9th Battalions, The Battles of Loos, The Quarries: 26 September to 13 October 1915; 8 On the Eve of the Somme, The Norfolk Regiment Battalions: 30 June 1916; 9 The 8th Battalion, The Battle of the Somme, Montauban to Delville Wood: 1-19 July 1916; 10 The 1st Battalion, The Battle of the Somme, High Wood and Longueval, 21-27 July 1916; 11 The 6th (Cyclist) Battalion to the Somme and the 7th Battalion at Ovillers to 6th Avenue Trench: 3 July to 13 August 1916; 12 The 1st and 9th Battalions, The Battle of the Somme, Falfemont Farm to Morval: 4-25 September 1916;2 13 The 8th Battalion, The Battle of the Somme, Thiepval to the Schwaben Redoubt: 26 September to 5 October 1916; 14 The 7th and 9th Battalions, The Battle of the Somme, Bayonet and Mild Trenches: 12-18 October 1916; 12 The Norfolk Regiment on the Western Front 1914-1918 15 The 8th Battalion, The Battle of the Somme, Regina Trench: 21-23 October 1916; 16 The 8th Battalion, Operations on the Ancre, Boom Ravine to Irles: 17 February to 10 March 1917; 17 The 7th Battalion, First Battle of the Scarpe, Maison Rouge: 9 April 1917; 18 The 1st Battalion, La Coulotte: 23 April 1917; 19 The 7th Battalion, The Battle of Arleux, Rifle Trench: 28 April 1917; 20 The 1st Battalion, Oppy Wood: 28 June 1917; 21 The 9th Battalion, Hill 70, Loos: 1 July to 3 October 1917; 22 The 1st and 8th Battalions, The Third Battle of Ypres: 31 July to 22 October 1917; 23 Shot at Dawn, Private John Abigail (9694), 8th Battalion Norfolk Regiment; 24 The 7th and 9th Battalions, The Battle of Cambrai, Ribecourt to Nine Wood: 20 November to 7 December 1917; 25 The 7th and 9th Battalions, The Kaiser's Battle, Lagnicourt to Bouzincourt Ridge: 21 March to 5 April 1918; 26 The 9th Battalion, The Battle of the Lys, Neuve-Eglise to Chateau Segard: 1-29 April 1918; 27 The 12th (Norfolk Yeomanry) Battalion, Nieppe Forest: 25 June to 27 July 1918; 28 The 7th Battalion, The Battle of Amiens, Morlancourt: 8-9 August 1918; 29 The 12th (Norfolk Yeomanry) Battalion, The Advance into Flanders, Vieux Berquin, and Bailleul: 18-31 August 1918; 30 The 1st and 7th Battalions, The Battle of Albert and Bapaume: 21 August to 3 September 1918; 31 The 1st Battalion, Norfolk Pioneers: 2 December 1916 to 30 August 1918; 32 The 7th and 9th Battalions, The Battles of the Hindenburg Line, Nurlu to the St Quentin Canal: 27-30 September 1918; 33 The 1st Battalion, Battle of the Canal du Nord, Gouzeaucourt to Gonnelieu: 28-30 September 1918; 34 The 1st and 9th Battalions, Cambrai and the Pursuit to the Selle, Brancourt to Bazuel: 8-25 October 1918; 35 The 12th Battalion, The Final Advance into Flanders, St Yves to Audenarde: 11 September to 31 October 1918; 36 The 1st Battalion, The Battle of the Sambre, The Forest of Mormal: 5-8 November 1918; 37 Armistice; 38 Boy Soldiers; Postscript; Appendix: Commanding Officers for the Five Battalions; Bibliography; Index.
