'A Lancashire Fusilier's First World War' by Norman Hall. Edited by his Grand-Daughter

[Mark Hone]

'A Lancashire Fusilier's First World War' by Norman Hall. Edited by his grand-daughter'. Paperback, published by  P3 Publications in 2020 ISBN 978 0 9934889 2 4 

Price £15 

 

This is an excellent new book based on the extensive diaries kept by a Lancashire Fusilier officer, which are now housed in the archives of the Imperial War Museum. They have been lovingly and expertly edited by his grand-daughter Tricia Rothwell. At the outbreak of the Great War Norman Hall, originally from Bury in Lancashire and an old boy of Bury Grammar School, was working as a chemical engineer for Lever Brothers in Port Sunlight on the Wirral. The original diary comprises five handwritten volumes which cover Norman Hall's service in the 5th Lancashire Fusiliers, a Territorial Force unit based at the Castle Armoury in Bury.

After originally enlisting as a Private in the King’s (Liverpool) Regiment, Norman was commissioned in the 2/5th LF, which went to France in May 1915 and was attached to the 51st (Highland) Division before becoming part of the 55th (West Lancashire) Division. Norman was wounded at the Somme in September 1916 and following recuperation in England, he joined the sister 1/5th Battalion on the Western Front. The published version of the diaries concentrates on the contents of the first three volumes, covering Norman’s service with the 2/5^th, climaxing in the fighting on the Somme. The remaining two volumes, covering his later service with 1/5^th  and post war events, are extensively summarised in an afterword. As Tricia Rothwell records in her foreword, Norman Hall augmented his contemporary written diaries with letters, military records and information from books published in the years immediately after the war.

Norman Hall was a perceptive observer and is extremely good at describing the nuts and bolts of the military experience, such as everyday life in and out of the trenches, signalling, gas warfare and raids. This sort of detail might have been glossed over by many at the time but is fascinating to a modern reader. The diary is illustrated with many diagrams, maps and photographs which are well-reproduced and captioned. By prodigious research, the editor has been able to provide hundreds of footnotes, amplifying matters mentioned in the diaries, particularly regarding many of the individuals referred to in the text. Some of the information regarding these was provided by members of this Forum and I was pleased to supply details of the numerous old boys of Bury Grammar School who crop up in the pages of the diary. Sadly, the majority of these were killed.

This book forms a very valuable addition to the literature of the Lancashire Fusiliers in the Great War but its readership should go much further. One of its particular fascinations for me was its detailed description of the raising, training and eventual front-line service of a so-called ‘Second Line’ Territorial Battalion which differed in many respects (acknowledged by Norman Hall in the diary) from the perhaps more familiar story of the New Army units. The centrepiece of the book is a vivid account of the author’s involvement on the fighting on the Somme from late July to early September 1916. This emphasises the mental as well as physical strain of combat, particularly under prolonged shelling. The attrition amongst officers and men is clear, with Norman Hall being one of the very few ‘original’ officers left by the time he is wounded on 9^th September. He recognises the wastefulness of the piecemeal attacks into which the British Army became drawn in the middle period of the Somme fighting and criticizes the sometimes poor management of troops and integration of replacements between engagements. Nevertheless the resilience of the author and his comrades in the terrible conditions of the fighting around Delville Wood during that savage summer is clearly revealed.

I would heartily recommend this book, which clearly demonstrates that first-class primary material from the Great War is still being brought to light. The editor is to be congratulated on how she has brought this project to fruition, with a well-produced and superbly annotated version of her grandfather’s wartime experiences. Perhaps my favourite feature of all was the appendix listing Norman Hall’s ‘narrow escapes’ during the war: 42 between his arrival in France in 1915 and his wounding in September 1916, with a further 14 in his later wartime service. As well as numerous near misses from shells and bullets, they include nearly being struck by lightning, just avoiding being put on a ship that was subsequently torpedoed and even emerging unscathed from a rail accident on his return to England in 1919. Such is the wafer-thin barrier between life and death.

Edited 10 December , 2021 by Mark Hone

[BillyH]

I am sure someone can do much better, but this is his photo from Lever Brother's 'Progress' magazine :

 

BillyH.

[Chris_Baker]

I agree that this is an excellent book. Here is my recent review of it. https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/review-of-a-lancashire-fusiliers-first-world-war/

Edited 24 December , 2020 by Chris_Baker

[Mark Hone]

It is interesting to read Norman Hall's account in conjunction with a memoir of a later period in 2/5th Lancashire Fusiliers' war service: 'At Ypres with Best-Dunkley' by Thomas Hope Floyd, which has been frequently mentioned on this Forum. Floyd was a fellow old boy of Bury Grammar School but only joined the battalion in 1917. His book, based on his own voluminous letters and diaries, was published just after the war and is an account of the build-up to the attack on the first day of Third Ypres. Several characters from Norman Hall's account reappear, including Padre Newman and Lt. Colonel Best-Dunkley VC himself, whom Hall knew as the battalion's adjutant on the Somme. 

[A Lancashire Fusilier by Proxy]

On 29/12/2020 at 08:46, Mark Hone said:

It is interesting to read Norman Hall's account in conjunction with a memoir of a later period in 2/5th Lancashire Fusiliers' war service: 'At Ypres with Best-Dunkley' by Thomas Hope Floyd,

 

First, thank you, Mark, for taking the time to review my grandfather's book, and for your very positive comments. I am, naturally, pleased - and also relieved - that between us my grandad and I have produced a book which both you and Chris Baker consider to be a worthwhile read. 

With regard to Thomas Hope Floyd's later account, I certainly was interested to discover in that account reference to some of the men whom my grandfather had introduced me to. Other examples that come to mind are Norman Kemp, John Cecil Latter. Company Sergeant Major N. Howarth, and Captain H.H. Andrews, 

 

On 24/12/2020 at 09:19, BillyH said:

I am sure someone can do much better, but this is his photo from Lever Brother's 'Progress' magazine :

 

BillyH.

Billy H, are you able to say when, and in what connection, the above photograph appeared in the company magazine Progress? I do not think that I have seen this photograph before. The one that I have used in the Frontispiece of the book (and also on the front cover) is reproduced below.

 

[BillyH]

51 minutes ago, A Lancashire Fusilier by Proxy said:

Billy H, are you able to say when, and in what connection, the above photograph appeared in the company magazine Progress? I do not think that I have seen this photograph before. The one that I have used in the Frontispiece of the book (and also on the front cover) is reproduced below.

 

It is nothing very significant I'm afraid, but if you PM me with an e-mail address then I will send you a copy of what I do have about Norman.

 

BillyH.

[Simon Birch]

My copy of this book arrived yesterday and l am 50 pages in. I absolutely concur with Mark’s comment’s. Norman comes over so we’ll - it’s informative but in no way dry or heavy going. I absolutely recommend this book - my money was well spent - and yours could be to. Simon

[Paul bardell]

 

 

I was lucky enough to  pick up a copy of this book last weekend at the Market Harborough book fair.

 

So my reading over Christmas time is all set!

 

 

Paul

 

 

[brianmorris547]

I have just finished the book and agree with everything said above. Norman comes across as a good Officer who always put his men first. I have often read about Bolton's TF Bn 5 Loyal North Lancs and their first major action at Guillemont on 09/08/1916. Norman's account of the shelling and the conditions in those trenches in August 1916 was more intense than anything I read in the War Diaries. Much impressed by Tricia's hard work in editing this excellent book.

Brian