Epitaphs of the Great War: The Somme

by Sarah Wearne

On July 1, 1916, some eighteen British and French divisions on both sides of the River Somme moved against German General Fritz Von Below’s Second Army. By the time the fighting in the region finally ended on November 18, 141 days later, the British and French had pushed the German lines back six miles—at a cost for all sides of more than 1 million soldiers killed or wounded. The Battle of the Somme was thus one of the bloodiest in human history, and it has occupied a central place in the tragic story of World War I for a century.
       
This book brings together one hundred epitaphs from headstones marking the graves of British soldiers who died in the battle. The Imperial War Graves Commission limited epitaphs to sixty-six letters, including spaces, a constraint that left little room for flowery sentiment and rendered these commemorations stark and unforgettable. Lieutenant Dillwyn Parrish Starr’s epitaph reads merely “Of Philadelphia, U.S.A.,” while Lieutenant Richard Roy Lewer’s reads “For England.” The headstone of South African Private John Paul however, asks “Did He Die in Vain?”

Sarah Wearne has selected epitaphs that cover a range of approaches and emotions, from soldiers famous and forgotten, each one simultaneously a personal tribute to an individual and a marker of the era, the culture, and the sacrifices it expected. As the centennial commemorations of World War I continue, this book brilliantly reminds us that its staggering costs, while marked in the millions, ultimately reduce down to the individual.
 

Genres: World War I

128 pages, Hardcover

Published October 15, 2016

Reviews

[metellus cimber · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a teenager I was so moved by the poems of Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon and Edward Thomas studied in English class, that despite being in the church choir I had to boycott Remembrance Day services for the church’s extraordinary failure to acknowledge the pointlessness of the sacrifice made by so many of these young men who died like cattle in WW1. Later I visited the battlefields and cemetaries of northern France and was overwhelmed by the sense of lingering sadness and criminal waste. As we continue to slaughter our youth - and those of other countries - in futile, avoidable conflicts, Sarah Wearn’s collection of names, dates, and epitaphs makes us think about what horrors we conjure in our petty and completely avoidable geopolitical disputes. I read one every day for the past 100 days - said the young man’s name aloud - and reflected. I have 3 brothers and 2 sons and for those families who lost sometimes their only child, sometimes all their boys, the pain and grief is hard to imagine. My only quibble with this important book is that I would have liked Sarah Wearn to include the portraits of these young men - where possible. Photographs are available online and they, more than anything, when you look at their fresh young faces and into their eyes, bring home the tragic loss of a whole generation who should have lived.

[Judith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I defy anyone, except the most insensitive, not to be moved by this book.