I Was There... The First Day on the Somme: 1 July 1916

• ‘One of the finest personal accounts of that terrible day’ THE GREAT WAR MAGAZINE • Newly illustrated with 29 contemporary colour illustrations and black and white photographs, this classic First World War memoir, published by Spitfire Publishers in December 2018, also includes a newly written glossary. • An ultra-rare account by a British Tommy of going over the top on first day of the Somme, 1 July 1916. • ‘The vivid recounting of one man caught up in one of history's most famous battles, and unlike many others, living to tell the tale’ ALL ABOUT HISTORY “The scene that met my eyes as I stood on the parapet of our trench for that one second is almost indescribable. Just in front the ground was pitted by innumerable shell-holes. More holes opened suddenly every now and then. Here and there a few bodies lay about. Farther away, before our front line and in No Man's Land, lay more. In the smoke one could distinguish the second line advancing. One man after another fell down in a seemingly natural manner, and the wave melted away…” Junior infantry officer Edward Liveing led his platoon over the top at 7.30 am plus 45 seconds on 1st July 1916 – and lived to tell the tale. His memoir first published in 1917 is today largely forgotten, but is an incredibly personal and gritty eyewitness account of the worst day in the history of the British Army when over 50,000 Tommies were mowed down in No Man’s Land. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Edward George Downing Liveing was born in Romsey, Hampshire in 1895. He joined the London Regiment in 1914 and was first deployed to Palestine before being transferred to the Western Front. He was a lieutenant in command of around fifty men of No.5 Platoon of a battalion of the County of London Regiment. He was just 20 years old. He survived the war and died in 1963. PRAISE FOR EDWARD LIVEING'S MEMOIR ‘A gritty first-hand account of one of the bloodiest ever days in warfare. A touching and engaging personal account. The vivid recounting of one man caught up in one of history's most famous battles, and unlike many others, living to tell the tale’ ALL ABOUT HISTORY ‘A vivid and detailed account of the dreadful first day of the Battle of the Somme… an incredible true story’ THE SUNDAY POST ‘Lieutenant Liveing's story is very well told... a simple and most vivid account. No better account has been written in England since the war began. I hope that so rare a talent for narrative may be recognised.’ JOHN MASEFIELD, POET LAUREATE & FIRST WORLD WAR VETERAN. ‘A pleasure to read... a vivid and detailed account... one of the finest personal accounts of that terrible day by one who served and survived’ THE GREAT WAR MAGAZINE