On 18 June 1855, the 40th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo, British
assault troops moved out of their trenches before Sebastopol in the
Crimea, and attacked the formidable Russian bastion known as the Great
Redan. They came under such a murderous fire from the Russian defenders
that the attack faltered, and the British were eventually forced to fall
back. As they did so, they left over 1,000 comrades dead and dying out
in the open and at the mercy of enemy snipers.
The Siege of Sebastopol saw the development of trench warfare for the
first time. Using eyewitness accounts and unpublished letters, the
author tells the story of how the men coped with the terrible conditions
as they prepared for the assault - as well as the events during and
after the fighting. Among the anecdotes is an officer who had the
ingenious idea of warming up cannon balls in the camp fires and taking
them into the tents at night to keep warm; and he went on to live for
over a hundred years!
Well-known for his depth of research, the author questions a number of
points regarding the Great Redan that are commonly believed to be
historical fact. Quoting the father of Alexander the Great, it was the
Russians who, soon after the assault on the Great Redan, first referred
to the British as, 'An army of lions led on by donkeys'. For over 100
years it was stated in many publications that the most Victoria Crosses
awarded for a single action was the eleven presented for actions during
the defense of Rorke's Drift during the Zulu War in 1879. However, as
the author reveals, twenty of the lions who fought at the Great Redan
received Britain's highest gallantry award, in whole, or in part, for
their actions on 18 June 1855.
The book includes biographical tributes to many of the men who were
killed in action, gives details of the places where they are
commemorated, and provides biographies with all the up-to-date
information concerning the twenty Victoria Cross recipients.
