- 'It's
- the
- end
- of
- the
- 1916
- winter
- and
- the
- conditions
- are
- almost
- unbelievable.
- We
- live
- in
- a
- world
- of
- Somme
- mud.
- We
- sleep
- in
- it,
- work
- in
- it,
- fight
- in
- it,
- wade
- in
- it
- and
- many
- of
- us
- die
- in
- it.
- We
- see
- it,
- feel
- it,
- eat
- it
- and
- curse
- it,
- but
- we
- can't
- escape
- it,
- not
- even
- by
- dying...'Edward
- Lynch
- enlisted
- when
- he
- was
- just
- 18
- -
- one
- of
- thousands
- of
- fresh-faced
- men
- who
- were
- proudly
- waved
- off
- by
- the
- crowds
- as
- they
- embarked
- for
- France.
- It
- was
- 1916
- and
- the
- majority
- had
- no
- idea
- of
- the
- reality
- of
- the
- Somme
- trenches,
- of
- the
- traumatised
- soldiers
- they
- would
- encounter
- there,
- of
- the
- innumerable,
- awful
- contradictions
- of
- war.
- Private
- Lynch
- was
- one
- of
- those
- who
- survived,
- and
- on
- his
- return
- home
- in
- 1919,
- wrote
- Somme
- Mud
- in
- pencil
- in
- over
- 20
- school
- exercise
- books,
- perhaps
- in
- the
- hope
- of
- coming
- to
- terms
- with
- all
- that
- he
- had
- witnessed
- there?Written
- from
- the
- perspective
- of
- an
- ordinary
- 'Tommy'
- and
- told
- with
- dignity,
- candour
- and
- surprising
- wit,
- Somme
- Mud
- is
- a
- testament
- to
- the
- human
- spirit,
- for
- out
- of
- the
- mud
- that
- threatened
- to
- suck
- out
- a
- man's
- soul
- rises
- a
- compelling
- story
- of
- humanity
- and
- friendship.
- It
- is
- a
- rare
- and
- precious find.
pro-mbooks3 : libris
