Professional football was officially suspended at the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939. With their contracts terminated, players were free to join the Armed Forces and, by April 1940, 514 were enlisted in the Army, 84 in the RAF and 31 in the Royal Navy. Many others were involved in war work; one factory in Oldbury boasted 18 West Bromwich Albion players.

Of those who joined up 80 were to die. These included English International Tom Cooper who had played for Liverpool, Derby County and Port Vale, Alan Fowler of Swindon Town who died after D Day serving with the Dorsets, and Herbie Robert of Arsenal. Many were household names as Gareth Bale and Wayne Rooney are today.

In this powerful and evocative memorial book the author traces the footballing and military careers of these talented men who sacrificed all for King and Country.

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Introduction
• Acknowledgements
• 1940
  • James ‘Jumbo’ Gillespie, 21-05-40
  • Stanley Holbrook Docking, 27-05-40
  • Joseph (Joe) Carr, 31-05-40
  • Samuel Grenville Roberts, 03-06-40
  • Thomas (Tom) Cooper, 25-06-40
  • Robert Henry Gordon, 18-09-40
  • Alexander Galt Highet, 14-10-40
  • Albert Elyston Edgar Powell, 18-10-40
  • Benjamin Thomson, 12-11-40
• 1941
  • George Jasper Groves, 18-02-41
  • Alexander Donaldson Torrance, 12/14-04-41
  • William James Isaac, 14-04-41
  • Joe Rooney, 05-05-41
  • Norman John Catlin, 22-05-41
  • Charles Joseph Ladd, 24-05-41
  • William Reid, 30-05-41
  • Matthew Armstrong, 12-07-41
  • David Lewis Willacy, 01-09-41
  • Stanley Douglas Duff, 09-09-41
  • Joseph Leo Coen, 15-10-41
  • George Brown Salvidge, 23-11-41
  • Ronald William Ebsworth, 30-11-41
• 1942
  • James (Jimmy) Angus Dodds, 26-01-42
  • Reginald Stephen Anderson, 24-02-42
  • Percival Kitchener Saunders, 2/3-03-42
  • William Wilfred Parr, 08-03-42
  • William Benjamin ‘Bill’ Dean, 11-03-42
  • Francis (Frank) Cornelius Chivers, 02-04-42
  • Thomas Robson, 10-04-22
  • Percival Thomas Taylor, 10-04-22
  • Harold Hampson, 24-06-42
  • Andy Ducat, 23-07-42
  • George Gardiner Scott, 26-07-42
  • Arthur Bacon, 27-07-42
  • Gordon Rosenthal, 10-08-42
  • Ernest Davies, 17-08-42
  • Eric Robinson, 20-08-42
  • Dennis Higgins, 25-09-42
  • Henry ‘Harry’ Race, 24-10-42
  • Claude Thesiger Ashton, 31-10-42
  • Walter Webster, 17-11-42
  • Hugh Glass, 26-11-42
  • Colin Perry, 28-11-42
  • Alfred Keeling, 01-12-42
  • Frederick Riley, 07-12-42
• 1943
  • Robert (Bob) Wrigglesworth, 23-01-23
  • George Harding Fairbairn, 21-02-43
  • Henry Bennett Cook, 26-02-43
  • Charles Clark, 01-03-43
  • Thomas Alexander Douglas, 06-03-43
  • Leslie Martin Lack, 18-03-43
  • Alfred Penlington, 18-04-43
  • George Frederick Bullock, 31-05-43
  • Donald Alfred Marriott, 02-06-43
  • Alastair (Alex) Kenyon Campbell, 16-06-43
  • John Leslie Cant, 19-06-43
  • George H. Handley, 09-07-43
  • Haydn Vernon Dackins, 02-08-43
  • Francis (Frank) Pollard, 15-08-43
  • William Ritchie Chalmers, 07-10-43
  • Colin Seymour, 09-10-43
  • Walter Sidebottom, 23-10-43
  • Hubert Redwood, 28-10-43
  • Henry (Harry) Goslin, 18-12-43
  • Robert (Bobby) Norman Victor Daniel, 24-12-43
  • Hiley Royal Bamsey, 31-12-43
• 1944
  • Cyril Ernest Tooze, 22-01-44
  • Glynn Jones, 31-03-44
  • Brian Patrick Atkins, 11-04-44
  • Sidney James Pugh, 15-04-44
  • David Johnston Robertson Clyne, 12-05-44
  • William Sumner, 22-05-44
  • Edwin Watson, 12-06-44
  • Albert W. Clarke, 16-06-44
  • Herbert Roberts, 17-06-44
  • Leonard (Lez) Milner, 25-06-44
  • Ernest Hall, 07-07-44
  • Ivan Joseph Flowers, 08-07-44
  • George Jordan, 08-07-44
  • Alan Fowler, 10-07-44
  • John James Tompkins, 10-07-44
  • Frank Ibbotson, 15-07-44
  • Frederick William Fisher, 26-07-44
  • Henry Salmon, 30-07-44
  • John Fyfe Thomson, 30-07-44
  • Alexander Johnson, 31-07-44
  • James (Jimmy) Morgan, 31-07-44
  • William J. Bryan, 02-08-44
  • Geoffrey Arthur Cecil Reynolds, 04-08-44
  • Samuel Jennings, 21-08-44
  • Arthur George Baxter, 05-09-44
  • Joseph Eric Stephenson, 08-09-44
  • James Ferd Olney, 14-09-44
  • Sidney Frederick Gueran, 18-09-44
  • David Anthony Murphy, 19-09-44
  • Francis Fowler McEwan, 21-09-44
  • Thomas Oysten Farrage, 23-09-44
  • Joseph James Donnachie, 12-10-44
  • Ralph Shields, 21-11-44
  • Frederick (Paddy) Mills, 05-12-44
  • William Noble Imrie, 26-12-44
• 1945
  • Peter Monaghan, 21-01-45
  • Walter Spratt, 22-01-45
  • Wilfred (Wilf) Shaw, 20-02-45
  • David Hendry Fenner, 25-02-45
  • Charles Thomas Sillett, 27-02-45
  • Allan (Jack) Melrose Sliman, 14-04-45
  • Ernest William Tuckett, 27-05-45
  • Edwin Watson, 12-06-45
  • Albert Edward Bonass, 09-10-45
• 1946
  • Alex Skinner Jackson, 15-11-46
• Appendix I: Players by Team, with Date of Death
• Appendix II: Other Nations