Somerville, Michael Sherwood Boys

Biography of a Battalion Volume 2: September 1943–March 1946

This is the story of the 2/5th Sherwood Foresters Battaliona Territorial Army unit that evolved during the Second World War from a group of untrained young men from Derbyshire into a battle-hardened force of veterans from across Britain, capable of confronting and defeating the might of the Wehrmacht. Drawing on over 150 personal accountsboth oral and writtenas well as official documents, the work offers a unique insight into the British Army through the lens of this single battalion. The first volume chronicled the battalions journey from its formation in 1939, through its baptism of fire at Dunkirk and subsequent reorganization in Britain, to victory in North Africa. This second volume continues the narrative with the landings at Salerno and the ensuing battles in Italy. It concludes in a post-war Europe drifting toward the Cold War, as the veterans who had fought the Nazis found themselves facing communist forces in Eastern Europe. Together, the two volumes depict the rigors of training, the horrors of combat, the hardships of captivity, and the challenges of peace. "Sherwood Boys" is an epic account of the battalion, researched, compiled, and written for readers who wish to understand the Second World War from the perspective of the ordinary British soldier.