The Battles of the Somme

The Battles of the Somme is by Philip Gibbs, author of “The Soul of the War”. The contents list chapters called The Historic First of July, The Field of Honour, The Woods of Death and The Peter Pans of War.

The Australians are described as still fighting in a way which wins the admiration of their generals and Staff and of all the Army. The text reports that there have been no sensational advances since the great day of July 14, when our men broke through the second German line, but hardly a day passed since then without some progress to get a stronger grip. The writer describes a city where wrinkled old women and wan-faced girls lived still in the deep cellars, coming up for a little sunlight when the air was quiet, and scuttling down again at the scream of a shell. The enemy barrages a village with progressive lines of heavy shells, yard by yard, but by the best of luck the lines stop short of where some ranks of Highlanders were lying down in fours.