FORGED BY FIRE

The battle tactics and soldiers of a First World War infantry battalion, the 7th Somerset Light Infantry. A unique and long overdue account of the changing battle tactics of the British Army during the Great War from the perspective of an "average" infantry battalion raised from volunteers in 1914. It is not a unit history but takes one battalion as an example of how such a unit was deployed throughout the war to end all wars. The 7th Somersets fought through the Somme offensive, Passchendaele, and were in the forefront of the Cambrai tank attack. Using much previously unpublished material, the reader is taken through the reasons and planning behind each battle and then, using the words of the men themselves, shown what actually happened when the plans were implemented.