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The 13th (Service) Battalion (Wandsworth) The East Surrey Regiment; The 10th (Service) Battalion (Battersea) The Queen's (Royal West Surrey) Regiment
This First World War unit history is unusual in that it looks at two different battalions - the 13th (Service) Battalion (Wandsworth) The East Surrey Regiment and the 10th (Service) Battalion (Battersea) The Queen's (Royal West Surrey) Regiment.
The overall structure of the book is simple. After a brief introduction, each battalion is given its own section, Wandsworth first and Battersea second. This avoids the confusion that might have arisen if the two battalion histories had been intertwined.
McCue begins by giving brief histories of the two boroughs, both of which had been fairly rural until the mid nineteenth century. This is followed by the two battalion histories, and then finally by a selection of useful appendices, including rolls of honour.
The two battalions had rather different fates in 1918, a time when a lack of men meant that many service battalions were disbanded. Most of the Wandsworth battalion was captured during the German advance in 1918, while the Battersea battalion survived to take part in the occupation of western Germany.
This is an interesting approach that allows the reader to compare the experiences of two similar units, from neighbouring parts of London, and that both served on the Western Front.
1915-1918
Part 1
1 - Your Country Needs You!
Part 2 - The 13th (Service) Battalion (Wandsworth) The East Surrey Regiment
2 - 'We Serve'
3 - France
4 - Villers-Plouich
5 - Bourlon Wood
6 - The Kaiser's Battle
7 - Disaster
8 - Capture
Part 3 - The 10th (Service) Battalion (Battersea) The Queen's (Royal West Surrey) Regiment
9 - The Battersea Boys
10 - Devil's Wood
11 - Return to Flanders
12 - Italian Interlude
13 - Western Front Again
14 - Victory and Occupation
Part 4
15 - A Land Fit for Heroes?
16 - In Memoriam
Appendices
I - The 14th (Reserve) Battalion (Wandsworth) The East Surrey Regiment
II - Nominal strength of the 13th (Service) Battalion (Wandsworth) The East Surrey Regiment, departure for France, 3rd June 1916
III - Nominal strength of the 10th (Service) Battalion (Battersea) The Queen's (Royal West Surrey) Regiment, departure for France, 5th May 1916
IV - 'A Little Bit of Wandsworth'
V - One Man's War
VI - A Little War Tragedy
VII - Bibliography and Information Sources
VIII - Roll of Honour, Cemetery and Memorial Sites - 13th East Surreys
IX - Roll of Honour, Cemetery and Memorial Sites - 10th Queen's
Author: Paul McCue
Edition: Hardcover
Pages: 284
Publisher: Pen & Sword Military
Year: 2010