Before Action - William Noel Hodgson and the 9th Devons

William Noel Hodgson never intended to be a soldier; he wanted to write. The Great War made his reputation as a poet but it also killed him. This biography traces his path through the pre-war world and explores why he set his own hopes and plans aside to join the army. His story is personal but it evokes the experience of a generation. A hundred years on, Hodgson is not only remembered for his poetry. He has become one of the best-known casualties of the first day of the Battle of the Somme. His unit, the 9th Battalion, The Devonshire Regiment, lost well over half the men who went over the top that morning and every officer but one, most in the first half-hour. Before Action draws on Hodgson's own writing and on the unpublished letters and diaries of his fellow officers to recreate the experiences of a 1914 volunteer battalion. It offers an explanation of what happened to the 9th Devons and uncovers the hidden meanings behind some of his most familiar poems.