Hell's Foundations: A Social History of the Town of Bury in the Aftermath of the Gallipoli Campaign

The Lancashire Fusiliers, based in the mill town of Bury in the north of England, was only one of 84 British regiments that saw action at Gallipoli in the WW I Dardanelles campaign, but no others suffered more wounded and dead. The author of this unusual book, born and raised in Bury, grandson of a Gallipoli survivor and acquainted with several of the families whose men were either lost at Gallipoli or returned in damaged condition, eloquently presents the character of the town and its citizens' attitudes toward the battle. In a gently ironic style, he describes the sentimental, uncritical deference to ``King and Country'' through which the local aristocrats and clergy encouraged the town's young men to seek glory with the Fusiliers. Then we read of the bleak aftermath as many veterans of the ill-fated 1915 expedition struggled with poverty, shell shock and despair while the townspeople raised money for war memorials and continued to express pride in the ``boys.'' Moorhouse ( The Other England ) conveys the horror of war and society's strange impulse to view it in terms of glory. Illustrations. (Apr.)