The Recollections of Rifleman Bowlby

This is Rifleman Bowlby's account of life in an infantry platoon in Italy in 1944. The battalion in which he served had been renowned throughout the 8th Army, but by the time it arrived in Italy it had been stripped of its core of regulars and its specialist role. Now used as heavy infantry, it lost its first battle, then its second, and the reputation that had taken three years to build fell apart in a few weeks. Only in its last battle, when it was smashed to pieces on the Gothic line, did the battalion regain its esteem. Bowlby recalls courage as well as cowardice, fierce loyalty leavened by Cockney commonsense as well as self-interest, and offers insights into men's behaviour under pressure. He also wrote "Recollections", "Order of the Day" and "Roman Candle".