10th (Stockbrokers') Battalion, Royal Fusiliers can genuinely claim to be the first of the many Great War Pals Battalion and this overdue book records its distinguished contribution in text and contemporary images.

The Battalion initially recruited young men from the Stock Exchange and City firms. Many could have applied for commissions but were reluctant to spend the time necessary for training. Members of the Stock Exchange from well-known families, like Rothschild and Rubens, served in the ranks alongside clerks from insurance, shipping and banks. The City connection was strengthened when the Lord Mayor, Sir Vansittart Bowater, was made Honorary Colonel in 1914. City Livery companies gave money to provide weapons as well as instruments for the Band.

The Battalion served in France and Belgium from July 1915 until March 1919. They were in action on the Somme and at Ypres. After facing the 1918 German Spring Offensive, they participated in the pursuit of the German Army back through France before ending the war at Charleroi.

Particularly poignant are the words of Battalion members from when it was formed in London in August 1914 until the end of the War. Many come from personal diaries and letters written at the time but the author also uses the War Diary of the Battalion and accounts of events written by participants after the War.

The publication of this superbly researched and readable book appropriately coincides with the Centenary of the Battalion's formation and comes at a time when interest in The Great War has never been greater.

• Cover
• Dedication
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• The Writers of Diaries and Letters
• Chapter1: Formation and Settling in at Colchesters
• Chapter2: Training at Colchester: September to December 1914
• Chapter3: Colchester and Andover: January to March 1915
• Chapter4: Windmill Hill, Ludgershall: April to July 1915
• Chapter5: Introduction to France: July and August 1915
• Chapter6: In the Trenches: August to September 1915
• Chapter7: Winter 1915: October to December 1915
• Chapter8: Winter into Spring 1916
• Chapter9: Moving towards Battle: March to June 1916
• Chapter10: To The Somme: July 1916
• Chapter11: Reflect, Recover, Retired, Regroup, Reallocated: July to September 1916
• Chapter12: Battle of The Ancre: September to December 1916
• Chapter13: Into 1917: December 1916 to March 1917
• Chapter14: The Attack on Monchy-le-Preux: April 1917
• Chapter15: Battle of Gavrelle and Beyond: April to October 1917
• Chapter16: Winter 1917 – Spring 1918: November 1917 to March 1918
• Chapter17: The German Spring Offensive: March to August 1918
• Chapter18: The Hundred Days: August to November 1918
• Chapter19: After the Armistice: November 1918 to March 1919
• Chapter20: Postscript
• Appendix 1: One Man’s Equipment
• Appendix 2: Movement and Actions of the Battalion
• Appendix 3: Awards and Casualties
• Bibliography
• Notes