BILLIE: THE NEVILL LETTERS 1914-1916

Based on over 200 letters to his family from the man who led his men over the top on 1st July 1916, kicking footballs. Captain Wilfred Nevill was serving with 8th East Surreys and was killed that day; he is buried at Carny. This correspondence forms one of the best collections of the First World War letters held by the Imperial War Museum. Of all the stories arising from that disastrous day, July 1 1916, on the Somme, none is more poignant than that of Lt Wilfred ‘Billie’ Nevill, an officer of the 8th East Surrey Regiment, who issued his men with footballs to kick into No Man’s Land when the whistle went for the advance - as though the Somme was to be a Wembley Cup Final writ large. Nevill and most of his men were dead within the first few minutes of the battle, but their story remains as an icon of the British sporting spirit set against the mechanised realities of modern war. Based on over 200 letters to his family from the front, this volume tells Nevill’s story. The text is accompanied by 30 black and white photographs and three sketch maps.This correspondence forms one of the best collections of the First World War letters held by the IWM. Reprint of the original edition.