Hard as Nails

This is the history of the Sportsmen's Battalion, Royal Fusiliers 23rd service battalion, which was almost entirely made up of men from the world of sports or entertainment. Privately raised, the battalion took men up to the unusually high age of 45 (although in practice men over 40 seldom spent long on the front lines), and their ranks included a champion boxer, cricketers, soccer players, MPs, and writers, one of whom was the author John Chessire. A man from the upper classes, a writer, poet, and artist, Chessire chose to serve as a private so he could serve his country, even when it conflicted with his religious beliefs and love for his family. Characteristically men who did not need to serve in World War I, many of them from the traditional "officer's class," the soldiers of the Sportsmen's Battalion had an unquestioning sense of duty and their general fitness and fine physique caused them to be known around the nation as "Hard as Nails." Enhanced by the letters and drawings of John Chessire, this compelling account of the battalion offers a first-hand insight into the experience of these men throughout this tumultuous period, covering the battalion's beginnings in London and progression to Hornchurch, France, and then Germany, including time at Vimy Ridge, the Somme, and the Battle for Deville Wood.