W H Holloway

Northamptonshire and the Great War W H Holloway

Northamptonshire is a small Midlands county with a proud record of service in the Great War at least equal to its larger neighbours. This book is a fine and well-illustrated account of the efforts of the sons of Northants. The Northamptonshire Regiment was among the first in France with the BEF in 1914, taking part in the retreat from Mons and the first battle of Ypres. 1915 was a year of disasters with the N Northamptons taking heavy casualties in the catastrophic attacks at Aubers Ridge and Loos and enduring what the book calls 'a dreadful winter i n the trenches'. Meanwhile the regiment's reserve battalions were serving in the Middle East, where they helped to drive the Turks from the Holy Land thus 'helping to complete the work of the Crusaders who built the regiment's Parish Church in Northampton' as the book's frontispiece proudly recalls. The Northamptons served on the Somme at Trones Wood and Thiepval, where they lost their Colonel; but took part in the final breaking olf the HIndenburg Line in 1918. The book has additional chapters on the county's Victoria Cross winners.