The Greater Share of Honour

Kim James

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Why I wrote this book

I wrote the book because the more I found out about the men who all fell in the fight in the little village of Criquebeuf-sur-Seine the more I was amazed at the courage of ordinary men, at their nobility and how they overcame the difficulties of language, culture and race to forge a friendship and understanding in the moment of their death. I had met an eyewitness to their deaths in 1948 but never thought that I would ever know more of them than that description of their death. They had all fought a bitter defensive battle two days before when a mixed defence force of French, Senegalese and British had held off Rommel’s division long enough to enable the destruction of a bridge across the Seine, if the Germans had been able to take the bridge many more troops would have been captured than were able to escape in the final days before the defeat of France. The three British, the French conscript and the Senegalese soldier had been ordered to retreat but lost their way after crossing the Seine. I was lucky enough to be given access to the whole correspondence of one of the soldiers with his wife which enabled me with the collaboration of Lt-Col John Starling to situate the travels of the British soldiers after the retreat from Dunkirk and to reconstitute the thoughts of the men. A splendid collaboration with two or three French military experts and above all the help of a tireless lady who by coincidence was not only an expert military genealogist but had been born and brought up in the village of Criquebeuf and knew all the families concerned. A tireless help. The book is different in that it is a biography of all the men and an adventure story of the first order. It deals with an unknown part of British and European history which has been overlooked but is deserving of attention in its excitement
A good introduction to the genre of military history for those who would normally never go near a book on the subject. Recommended in particular to adolescents who don’t like history but who like adventure.

Synopsis

I wrote the book because the more I found out about the men who all fell in the fight in the little village of Criquebeuf-sur-Seine the more I was amazed at the courage of ordinary men, at their nobility and how they overcame the difficulties of language, culture and race to forge a friendship and understanding in the moment of their death. I had met an eyewitness to their deaths in 1948 but never thought that I would ever know more of them than that description of their death. They had all fought a bitter defensive battle two days before when a mixed defence force of French, Senegalese and British had held off Rommel’s division long enough to enable the destruction of a bridge across the Seine, if the Germans had been able to take the bridge many more troops would have been captured than were able to escape in the final days before the defeat of France. The three British, the French conscript and the Senegalese soldier had been ordered to retreat but lost their way after crossing the Seine. I was lucky enough to be given access to the whole correspondence of one of the soldiers with his wife which enabled me with the collaboration of Lt-Col John Starling to situate the travels of the British soldiers after the retreat from Dunkirk and to reconstitute the thoughts of the men. A splendid collaboration with two or three French military experts and above all the help of a tireless lady who by coincidence was not only an expert military genealogist but had been born and brought up in the village of Criquebeuf and knew all the families concerned. A tireless help. The book is different in that it is a biography of all the men and an adventure story of the first order. It deals with an unknown part of British and European history which has been overlooked but is deserving of attention in its excitement

A good introduction to the genre of military history for those who would normally never go near a book on the subject. Recommended in particular to adolescents who don’t like history but who like adventure.

Reviews

Britain at War magazine: “Kim James has produced a moving tribute. If it were just a work of fiction, it would be a remarkable story. That it is true seems almost incredible. This book, even as a novel, is what military history should be, rich in detail, evocative and telling a story that needs to be told in a way that makes it accessible to anyone. Definitely recommended”.

Armourer Magazine: "shows remarkable consistency and fidelity in not turning the characters into standard fictional fodder. They are much more interesting than that. No one could doubt that these, once, were real men with real lives, who were condemned to suffer real and avoidable deaths… they do appear to be true heroes of their era. In this, as in much else, it truly honours them and their sacrifice."

Terence Blacker. Independent Newspaper columnist: "The Greater Share of Honour - a most fascinating and gripping book. Not only is it superbly researched but it captures brilliantly the bravery and decency - and the innocence - of that great generation. What an extraordinary story it is I do congratulate Kim James on a terrific piece of work."

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