Description
Interwoven through the chronological war narrative are the obituaries and details of how, where and when the island men died. It concludes with the aftermath of the war and the movement to build memorials to the fallen. Placed at appropriate moments are a series of information boxes which give graphic accounts of how men coped under the worst excesses of trench warfare. Among topics covered are trench living conditions, flooding, rats and lice; what it was like to come under Machine Gun and Shell Fire or Gas Attacks; the Importance of Mail; and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. The book covers sociological and health issues and has a few relatively lighter moments. There is a Memorabilia section which includes contributions from the local island population. The book ends with a chronological table of casualties and an alphabetic index of all the men who died with page references and service numbers where known. The aim is to help the person interested in research, and most especially readers with island connections (young and old alike) to understand what their grandfathers or great great grandfathers and families went through in leaving a tiny peaceful island and finding themselves in the horrors of the Western Front.
