Publisher's Synopsis
_Lice were a standing joke. Young Bumford handed me one, 'We was just having an argument as to whether it's best to kill the old ones or the young ones, sir. Morgan here says that if you kill the old ones, the young ones die of grief; but Parry here, sir, he says that the young ones are easier to kill and you can catch the old ones when they go to the funeral!_' - 2nd Lieutenant Robert Graves, 2nd Welsh Regiment Humour helped the British soldier survive the terrible experiences they faced in the trenches of the Western Front during the Great War. Human beings are complicated, and there is no set pattern as to how they react to the outrageous stresses of war. But humour, often dark and representative of the horrors around them could and often did help. They may have been up to their knees in mud and blood, soaking wet and shot at from all sides, but many were still determined to see the 'funny side', rather than surrender to utter misery. Peter Hart and Gary Bain have delved deep into the archives to find examples of the soldier's wit. The results are at times hilarious but rooted in tragedy. You have to laugh or cry.
