A Lancashire Fusilier's First World War is an edited version of the original WW1 diaries of Captain Norman Hall. The description on the back of this very personal war diary reads:
Norman Hall enlisted as a private in Liverpool in September 1914, becoming an officer with the Lancashire Fusiliers in Bury about a month later. He went to France with the 2/5th Lancashire Fusiliers in May 1915. This version of his diaries focuses on the 2/5th’s training, deployment in the trenches, and the Battle of the Somme. An Afterword summarises Norman’s later service with the 1/5th Lancashire Fusiliers.
Norman was naturally observant, and took a keen interest in his surroundings, his companions, and, in fact, everything that he experienced or saw. His military career was unusually varied, including service as a Signalling Officer, Company Commander, Quartermaster and Adjutant.
The result is a fascinating insight into life as a soldier on the Western Front, covering a broad range of subjects, such as anecdotes about fellow soldiers, what it was like to be in the trenches, time spent out of the Line, demonstrations of new weapons, the evolution of the gas mask, skirmishes in No Man’s Land, a gas attack by the British, the capture of a German prisoner, and much more; sadly it also includes some heart-achingly poignant accounts of the deaths of a number of Norman’s comrades in arms.
