Heroes of the Somme

By Edward Hart

Heroes of the Somme uses original archives from the Western Front to uncover the stories of seven of the men whose remarkable bravery in 1916 won them the Victoria Cross, Britain’s most prized military medal. Interviews with modern day family members reveal the personal stories of each character, exploring the differing fortunes they experienced, and the variety of reasons for which they fought.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dreamscape Media
• Release date: Sep 25, 2018
• ISBN: 9781974929160

Edward Hart

Edward Hart is the producer and director of Heroes of the Somme, a documentary film about the famous World War I battle. He has produced and directed several other documentary films, including Digging for Britain, Rome: The World's First Superpower, and Dive WWII: Our Secret History.

Book preview

HEROES OF THE SOMME

By

Edward Hart

Adapted from the film "Heroes of the Somme"

This edition published by Dreamscape Media LLC, 2018

www.dreamscapeab.com * [e-mail]

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Table of Contents

About the Author:

Heroes of the Somme

Introduction

Preface

1. Billy McFadzean: Hero of Ulster

2. Robert Quigg

3. John Holland

4. Thomas Hughes

5. John Campbell

6. Fred McNess

7. Bernard Freyberg

About the Author:

Edward Hart is the producer and director of Heroes of the Somme a documentary film about the famous WWI battle. He has produced and directed several other documentary films, including Digging For Britain, Rome: The World's First Superpower, and Dive WWII: Our Secret History. 

Heroes of the Somme

The stories of seven Victoria Cross honorees from the Battle of the Somme in World War I.

Somme_01

Introduction

A fighting force is imagined as the sum of its parts. The Battle of the Somme, which lasted from July to November, 1916, has gone down as one of the bloodiest battles in history. But if you look more closely into that anonymous mass of soldiers and focus on the lives and stories of a few individuals, you see it from an entirely different perspective. 

That is our aim in creating our documentary, Heroes of the Somme: to help the reader humanize this pivotal moment in Western civilization and be inspired by the bravery and sacrifice of a few of its key players. 

This documentary tells the stories of seven brave men, each of whom was honored with the Victoria Cross, Britain’s highest military honor:

Billy McFadzean

Robert Quigg

John Holland

Thomas Hughes

John Campbell

Fred McNess

Bernard Freyberg

Helping to fill in the details surrounding their sacrifices are several scholars and historians who are specialists in the Western Front and World War I, as well as several descendants of the profiled soldiers. We will be quoting from them throughout this book. They are:

Prof. Gary Sheffield, University of Wolverhampton

Dr. Heather Jones, Associate Professor, London School of Economics

Nigel McFadzean, Grand-nephew of Billy McFadzean

Dr. Gavin Hughes, Trinity College, Dublin

Dr. Timothy Bowman, University of Kent

Capt. Gavin Glass, MBE, Royal Ulster Rifles Museum

Leonard Quigg, Grand-nephew of Robert Quigg

Dr. Harman Murtagh, Athlone Institute of Technology

Peter Hughes and Francis Hughes, Grand-nephews of Thomas Hughes

Edward Windsor-Clive, Godson of John Campbell

Mick Morris, Grandson of Fred McNess

Dr. Andrew Bamji, Reconstructive