Finally finished, my tribute to...

[HARRY THE MOLE]

I've not put this on here to try and drum up sales. But today I was informed that my book is now ready for publication. It is my tribute to those brave young men of the Pals battalions of WW1 - and in particular, Jack Smallshaw of the Accrington Pals. The front cover illustration is actually a painting of Jack himself. I have included a picture of Jack for comparison. This has been my hardest book to do so far. I went through every war diary of the 31st Division, 92nd Infantry Brigade, 94th Infantry Brigade, and 11th East Lancashire Regt. I also went through selected war diaries of certain units involved in the fighting at Oppy Wood in April/May 1917. Both the Lancashire Infantry Museum (Fulwood Barracks) and the Accrington Library went out of their way to help me, and I am indebted to them.

The last picture is of the dedication ceremony of the war memorial at Thelwall Parish Church (Warrington) in November 1954. Jack Smallshaw is to the right of the picture. Although it looks as though he was holding the standard, he wasn't. He died three years after this picture was taken - partially as a result of being gassed during the war, and poor health due to two serious bouts of trench fever and Spanish Flu during his service in France and Belgium.

Cheers,
Steve.

[Gunny Hartmann]

Great stuff Steve, another book on my list!....

[SteveR]

I admire your devotion to doing exhausting research.
I am sure your book will be well worth the read.