With the Hood Battalion during the campaign in the Dardanelles

Although there remains much interest in the activities of the Royal Naval Division during the First World War, there is little original material on the subject readily available. The letters which form a substantial part of this book, may have been overlooked by many readers since they were originally published under a title that gave no indication that the book was about service with ‘the sailors in khaki’. Charles Lister was a frequent correspondent with his family and friends while travelling abroad before the outbreak of war, and he continued this correspondence throughout his military service until he died of wounds sustained while serving with the Hood Battalion of the Royal Naval Division during the Gallipoli campaign. After his death, Lister’s father, Lord Ribblesdale, published his son’s letters as a memorial. Leonaur’s editors are aware that their readers’ principal interest lies in military matters and so in this edition Lister’s letters commence in 1914, the first year of the war. Lister’s descriptions of his progress through the war in the Dardenelles, give essential first-hand information. The author served with the poet Rupert Brooke who, of course, appears within these pages. To give context to Charles Lister’s letters a brief outline of the Gallipoli Campaign from the perspective of the Royal Naval Division is also included in this edition. Illustrated with photographs and maps.

Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket; our hardbacks are cloth bound and feature gold foil lettering on their spines and fabric head and tail bands.