When the Whistle Blows : The Story of the Footbaler's Battalion in the Great War

Tells the full story of the 17th Battalion The Middlesex Regiment - the 'Footballers' Battalion' 1914-18. This work charts the history of the Battalion on the football pitch and in the trenches of the First World War. It also includes letters and personal accounts that show how this battalion helped shape football, as well as military history.

This is the first book to tell the full story of the 17th Battalion The Middlesex Regiment - the 'Footballers' Battalion' 1914-18. It charts the history of the Battalion on the football pitch and in the trenches of the First World War. Among the Battalion's ranks were several leading professional and amateur players, with connections to over eighty present-day League Clubs. The Footballers' Battalion fought at the Battles of the Somme, Arras and Cambrai. In telling the story of this 'Pals Battalion', Andrew Riddoch and John Kemp draw on previously unpublished letters and personal accounts to show how this remarkable battalion helped shape football, as well as military history. The book is illustrated with many previously unpublished photographs, and contains a roll of officers and men believed to have served with the 17th Middlesex.