The Footballer of Loos: A Story of the 1st Battalion London Irish Rifles in the First World WarThe Germans fighting on two fronts were concentrating in the east where the Russians were weakening. In the west, the Allied effort was met with well prepared German defences, and efforts to open a new front on the Gallipoli Peninsula had foundered. Decisive action to break the deadlock on the Western Front saw a mighty attack of six British divisions planned for the autumn of 1915 in the vicinity of the small mining community of Loos en Gohelle where 'The Big Push' would begin. The bitter recriminations that followed the perceived failure reduced the Battle of Loos to a footnote in the history of the Great War for many decades. Entirely lost in translation has been the Boys' Own tale of the Tommy who kicked a football ahead of the charge. That soldier was identified as Rifleman Frank Edwards, and through his original research, Ed Harris clearly establishes for the first time that the first great attack by the British army was begun when Edwards kicked a football towards the German lines. Harris sheds light on what it was like to be a part of this crucial battle and questions the largely held view that Loos was a failure, using material sourced from a wide variety of sources form the Imperial War Museum to the National Football Museum. |
Contents
Chapter Three Frank Edwards Volunteer | |
Chapter Four France | |
Chapter Five The Big Push | |
Chapter Six On the Ball | |
Chapter Seven A Blighty | |
Chapter Eight Man of Loos | |
Chapter Nine The Irish Question | |
Chapter Ten Press and Propaganda | |
Chapter Eleven Conclusions | |
Postscript | |
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Common terms and phrases
1st Battalion London 25 September 47th Division 47th London Allied ammunition artillery assault attack ball Battalion London Irish Battle of Loos bombardment Brigade Britain’s British Army Captain C. J. C. Street Captain Street captured casualties charge Chelsea Christmas Truce command communication trenches comrades Corps Crassier defences Duke of York’s East Surreys enemy enemy’s fighting football Footballer of Loos France Frank Edwards front line German German lines German trenches ground guns Haig Henry Williamson hospital Illustrated infantry Ireland Irish regiments Irish Rifles Regimental kicked Kitchener’s later Lieutenant London Irish Rifles London Regiment London Territorials machinegun fire Man’s Land March military Museum newspaper Northcliffe parapet Patrick MacGill Philip Gibbs platoon play poison gas reported reserves rifleman Royal S. F. Major September 1915 shells shrapnel Sir John French smoke soldiers Somme sport Thwaites Tommy town troops village volunteers Weekly Despatch Western Front wire World wounded yards