A Sergeant-major's War

Book excerpt: "Sergeant-Major Ernest Shephard took part in the 2nd battle of Ypres and the Somme battle of July 1916, and was commissioned 2nd Lt. in November 1916. A first-class soldier with a strong regimental pride, to read Shephard's diaries is to gain an insight into how the British Army managed to sustain its morale throughout the horror of the Western Front. He provides a fascinating account of the daily routines of trench warfare, as well as chillingly evocative descriptions of set-piece battles from one who was very much at the sharp end of the Great War"--Page 4 of cover