A joint operation between Britain and France in 1916, the battle of the Somme was an attempt to gain territory and dent Germany's military strength. By the end of the action, very little ground had been won: the Allied Forces had made just twelve kilometers. For this slight gain, a more than a million lives were lost. There were more than 400,000 British, 200,000 French, and 500,000 German casualties during the fighting. Twelve Days is a narrative of the last spell of front-line duty performed by the 2/West Yorkshires. Written by Sidney Rogerson, a young officer in µB' Company, it gives an extraordinarily honest account of twelve days during the battle of the Somme. From the terrible panic of crossing no-man's-land, to the squalid drudgery of trench life, Rogerson creates a full and evocative picture of this horrific conflict.
Sidney Rogerson was commissioned straight from Cambridge University Officers Training Corps into the West Yorkshire Regiment. After the First World War, he worked for the War Office, at the personal request of Winston Churchill. The author of six books, including Twelve Days on the Somme, he died in 1968.