Men of 18 in 1918, Frederick james Hodges

[Guest]

Ive just finished reading this book. I wanted to read it as my great grandad William Smales was killed on the 2/09/1918 at Le Transloy he was a private with the 10th Battalion of the Lancashire Fusiliers. This book is written with honesty , compassion and gives a true account of what those men went through.

Their are maps showing routes and Le Transloy is shown on the route from Amiens to Berlaimont.  Le Transloy isnt mentioned on its own in the book, as thats where my great grandad died and i presume his body is, that was what i was most interested in. 

Im pleased that Frederick made it home in one piece to write his book. I wanted to know what my great grandad went through and this doesnt hold any punches but it does give you an idea to how those men felt and how determind they were to win no matter what cost. 

Sharon Stalley 

[Fattyowls]

Sharon, welcome to the forum; that's a nice first post. I don't know if you have heard of an author called Martin Middlebrook, he wrote amongst many others the classic account of the 1st Day on the Somme. Hodges book was one that Martin used to recommend if I remember correctly and it has been on my to read list for decades. Your post may just boost it up closer to the top.  I know the area around Le Transloy as one of my footballers was lost there at the end of the battle of the Somme in 1916; I'm attaching a picture of the Le Transloy area as it is now  (I think the village is just out of frame to the right. I am afraid I make a habit of not quite pointing the camera in the right direction; I'm not sure if the horizon slopes quite that much either, but hopefully you'll get a feel for the landscape.

 

Pete.