The Great War will always be synonymous with trench warfare and the mass slaughter inflicted by machine guns on the helpless but gallant infantry. There is a good reason for this view as the machine guns took a terrible toll, and the infantry’s experiences continue to fascinate and appall people today. But one aspect of the fighting that gets insufficient attention is the artillery. Histories of the major battles often reduce the role of the big guns to a few paragraphs, and this has created a seriously distorted impression of the reality of the fighting. A better balance needs to be struck, and that is the intention of John Hutton’s new book on the gunners of 1914. He tells the story of the war as the gunners themselves saw it, focusing on the first few months of warfare which were fundamental to the conduct of the campaign. AUTHOR: Between 1992 and 2010, John Hutton was the Member of Parliament for Barrow and Furness. He held various ministerial offices, first as a health minister, then as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Business and finally for Defence. On the dissolution of Parliament in 2010, he was made a life peer. He is a Trustee of the RAF Museum and of the HMS Victory Preservation Trust. He is the author of ‘Kitchener’s Men: The King’s Own Royal Lancasters on the Western Front 1915-1918’, ‘August 1914: Surrender at St Quentin’ and ‘A Doctor on the Western Front’.
SELLING POINTS: . Graphic record of the artilleryman’s experience of the Great War . Features previously unpublished first-hand accounts from the Royal Artillery Museum . Covers the organisation of the artillery war . Shows how the artillery and the infantry fought together 30 illustrations