“Soldiers And Sportsmen All”: The Great War Story Of The 24th Battalion, The Royal Fusiliers

Contained within is the Great War story of the 24th (2nd Sportsmen's) Battalion, The Royal Fusiliers (The City of London Regiment) . The Battalion served on the Western Front for over three years, fighting in the Battles of the Somme in 1916, in the Battles of Arras and Cambrai in 1917, and in the First and Second Battles of the Somme, 1918, the Battles of the Hindenburg Line, and the Final Advance in Picardy, in 1918. It suffered just over 1800 casualties over the course of the war, including just under 600 fatalities. Even those who survived the war are also now long-dead; the war itself, no longer living memory but history.The story is one of ordinary men, of diverse origins, living and dying in the midst of an extraordinary time in history. It is told from the viewpoint of an ordinary soldier in a trench somewhere in France. It features photographic images and/or at least brief biographical sketches of a sample of over 200 such men from the 24th Battalion. One of the men who served in the 24th Battalion in the Great War was Private Charles Reuben Clements, a former shop assistant - and the author's maternal grandfather.