To the Fore with the Tanks!

The novel opens in the mud‑slicked outskirts of the Somme in early March 1917, where a convoy of rattling cattle‑trucks disgorges a tired but eager platoon onto a battlefield still raw from months of artillery fire. Rain turns the ground into treacle, the ruined houses loom like silhouettes, and the distant boom of guns reminds the new arrivals that the front is no longer a distant rumor. Amid the churn of mud and the clatter of equipment, the men—bank clerks turned soldiers, former gamekeepers, and fresh‑faced lads from Kent—share cigarettes, jokes, and a restless excitement for the combat that lies ahead.

As they file forward, the narrative captures their rough camaraderie, the banter of Private Alderhame, the reluctant poacher‑turned‑rifleman Ginger, and the quiet determination of Private Setley. Their voices rise above the rain, painting a vivid portrait of ordinary men thrust into extraordinary circumstances, just as the first hints of mechanised warfare begin to stir. The stage is set for a gritty, human‑focused chronicle of trench life and the looming thunder of tanks that will reshape their world.