Alan MacDonald

On Saturday, 1st July 1916, the men of the 56th (1st London) Division, went 'over the top' to storm Gommecourt - a village recognised as the strongest position in the German lines. It was the opening day of the 141-day Battle of the Somme when 57,470 British soldiers were killed, wounded or taken prisoner. The revised and greatly expanded edition of 'Pro Patria Mori' recounts the experiences of the London men who fought and died at Gommecourt. Using the personal recollections of those involved, many previously unpublished, the book is a day by day account of the planning and preparation of the attack. The battle itself is covered minute by minute, with many situation maps to explain the action. Unlike many WWI histories, the fighting is seen from both sides of No Man's Land with accounts drawn from many German unit histories. Amongst the new sections is one describing the horrifying experiences of British Prisoners of War in German PoW Camps The Book contains a full Roll of Honour of all men from the 56th (1st London) Division who died before and during the attack on Gommecourt in which over 1,300 men died in just twelve hours. A new appendix contains the Roll of Honour of Gommecourt's German defenders. The revised edition of 'Pro Patria Mori' is 716 pages long, fully indexed and comes with over 200 photographs and some 20 maps and plans.

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