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E. P. F. Lynch
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Somme Mud Kindle Edition

by E.P.F. Lynch (Author), Will Davies (Editor) Format: Kindle Edition
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 431 ratings
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Written with dignity, candour and surprising wit, this soldier’s story of the horror of the Western Front trenches is a testament to the power of the human spirit.

It's the end of the 1916 winter and the conditions are almost unbelievable. We live in a world of Somme mud. We sleep in it, work in it, fight in it, wade in it and many of us die in it. We see it, feel it, eat it and curse it, but we can't escape it, not even by dying.

Somme Mud tells of the devastating experiences of Edward Lynch, a young Australian private (18 when he enlisted) during the First World War when he served with the 45th battalion of the Australian Infantry Forces on the Western Front at the Somme, which saw the most bloody and costly fighting of the war. In just eight weeks, there were 23,000 Australian casualties.

The original edition of twenty chapters, was written in pencil in twenty school exercise books in 1921, probably to help exorcise the horrendous experiences Private Lynch had witnessed during his three years at war from mid-1916 until his repatriation home in mid-1919. Lynch had been wounded three times, once seriously and spent over six months in hospital in England.

Somme Mud is a precious find, a discovered treasure that vividly captures the magnitude of war through the day-to-day experiences of an ordinary infantryman. From his first day setting sail for France as the band played 'Boys of the Dardanelles' and the crowd proudly waved their fresh-faced boys off, to the harsh reality of the trenches of France and its pale-faced weary men, Lynch captures the essence and contradictions of war.

Somme Mud is Australia's version of All Quiet on the Western Front. Told with dignity, candour and surprising wit, it is a testament to the power of the human spirit, a moving true story of humanity and friendship.
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  1. Print length
    347 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Random House Australia
  5. Publication date
    May 1, 2010
  6. File size
    1234 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"It is not written by a polished or professional writer but is a participants true story told in an authentic Australian voice - dispassionate, laconic and free of histronics, false heroics and phony literary flourishes."  —The Mercury Magazine

"Lynch shows remarkable maturity in his abitlty to capture the banality of terror."  —The Age



"If you have any interest in the history of war or if you simply like books filled with emotion then you must read this."  —Swan Hill Guardian

From the Inside Flap

It s the end of the 1916 winter and the conditions are almost unbelievable. We live in a world of Somme mud. We sleep in it, work in it, fight in it, wade in it and many of us die in it. We see it, we feel it, eat and curse it, but we can t escape it, not even by dying . . .

Private Edward Lynch enlisted in the army aged just eighteen. As his ship set sail for France, the band played Boys of the Dardanelles and the crowd proudly waved off their young men men who had no notion of the reality of the trenches of the Somme; of the pale-faced, traumatized soldiers they would encounter there; of the mud and blood and the innumerable contradictions of war.

Upon his return from France in 1919, Private Lynch recorded his experiences on the Western Front in twenty school exercise books, perhaps in the hope of making sense of and coming to terms with all that he had witnessed. Edited and published here for the first time, Lynch s story is a rare and precious find: a personal account that vividly captures the horror and magnitude of the First World War, written from the perspective of an ordinary infantryman.

Told with dignity, candour and surprising wit, Somme Mud stands as a testament to the power of the human spirit for out of the mud that threatens to suck out a man s very soul rises a compelling true story of humanity and friendship.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B004T6E2V4
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Random House Australia; Reprint edition (May 1, 2010)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 1, 2010
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1234 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 347 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 431 ratings

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E. P. F. Lynch

E. P. F. Lynch

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Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
431 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

DJ
5.0 out of 5 stars excellent first hand work
Reviewed in the United States on April 16, 2023
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An infantryman’s view of the war in the West from 1916-the end. Enough details are mentioned to follow the big picture of the war as it progressed, but this is a superb tale of one man’s (and his mates) war. Well told with an eye for the humorous and tragic equally. A must read for anyone seeking a story of the men in the trenches.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic first person insight.
Reviewed in the United States on April 19, 2016
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A lot of people say that this book doesn't have the correct articulation or depth of character, I'll address that in this review.
There is speculation as to whether or not this is his personal memoirs, whether it was written in hindsight or from a journal.
I honestly believe this book is from both a personal journal and from hindsight. The references, the chronological memory of battalions, units and dates of relief generally spells that this is part of his own journal, the depth of the before and after writing of action also reeks of journal entries or letters, the action themselves would probably be hindsight. The parts that show deep reflection in moments of action and confusion, are quite clearly hindsight added in.

The lack of character depth and description in some parts of the book, make sense to me that this is his own experience, because throughout the book he mentions, several times, that in war it's a bad idea "to be one of the thinking type". So, the parts where it goes on about his friends and other unit members as though they are simply 2D characters, is primarily correct for someone who is witnessing the death of quite literally thousands, for them the less you knew about someone, the better. The same with some actions lack description, due to the nature of it, some things like that would not be easy to describe from your own memory.

Honestly recommend this book (Also one called "A Fortunate Life" by Facer) as a genuine no bars held insight into early Australians at war.
4 people found this helpful
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HoosierCat
5.0 out of 5 stars fact/fiction/fact-based
Reviewed in the United States on November 25, 2020
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When reading personal narratives from bygone days, one often wonders how much of the account has been invented by the author. Undoubtedly some authors and publishers "embellish," even to the point of fraud. And, of course, honest memories are notoriously unreliable. But even the best writers take things they have personally experienced and weave them into a story using dialogue and minor events that may not be 100% true, but which do not detract from the primary authenticity of the account. The key question is whether a "fact-based" narrative includes material that is significantly misleading. Fine details from years (or decades) ago need not be entirely factual, so long as they don't actually distort the truth. Based on my reading of many narratives from WWI, Somme Mud passes the test.
2 people found this helpful
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Reading Roo
4.0 out of 5 stars Clear-eyed look through the mud
Reviewed in the United States on October 3, 2014
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EPF Lynch, though not a "literary gent" has an extraordinary facility for evocative description of this most horrendous of atrocities, World War 1. That this work lay like an undisclosed gem for so long is amazing. At a time when there are too many politicians making at times self serving speeches about the horror of that War it is powerful stuff to hear a voice from the grave who was there in the mud. In the writing it reminded me of the wide-eyed but wholly engaged style of Bert Facey in "A Fortunate Life" though the writing is even better.
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SHIMAKO FERRARO
5.0 out of 5 stars WW1 addict
Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2014
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The vast majority of my reads are narrative histories by people like Hart, Gilbert and Keenan, among many others. But, I have also read more memoirs than I can remember. this is one of the best. it is up there with Junger and much, much better than Sasson. my only regret is that many more people have not read this book.

lynch claims the book is about a friend of his who he names "Nulla", but it is clearly about him. It is positively amazing that this man could have fought in so many places an d survived. he was at the Somme, Messiness Ridge (Passchendale), the1918 counteroffensive and many other places. he is clearly a thinking man who gives graphic depiction of the horrors of war but without gory sensationalism. The deep and lasting comradery that develops between Nulla and his mates (he is Australian)is touching. Also, the imagery of the environment within which he functions is very well done. Buy this book if a soldiers tale is of any interest to you.
2 people found this helpful
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Lunagazer
5.0 out of 5 stars Mud & Blood.
Reviewed in the United States on April 13, 2014
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To read a blow by blow account of that, which we who came after think of as mere history, was, to say the least, a rude awakening.
Oh God! Those poor souls that they should suffer such horror & hardship only to die in that frozen mud. I was transfixed by the descriptive passages, the turn of colloquial phrase, the vivid imagery & the emotion brought forth within the text. It transported me into the trenches of the Somme,1916/17, to stand next to those braved & bloodied Australians as they struggled & suffered the depredations of WAR.
Very well written & a monument to the men who suffered & fought through that horror called "The Great War" & later, WWI. TRULY an historical archive that should be read by all those who "Play" at war for fun.
2 people found this helpful
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champinzee
5.0 out of 5 stars As if you were in the battle!!!
Reviewed in the United States on February 10, 2020
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Enjoyed this very much. I took a chance at this rather hard to find book and I'm very happy to have read it. Felt like I was right there in the battles with the author!!!
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PWC Mom
5.0 out of 5 stars Riveting
Reviewed in the United States on May 29, 2020
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I really didn’t know what to expect of this book, but it’s one I’ll surely read again. It’s hard to imagine anyone surviving that war.
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Top reviews from other countries

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Jules Xavier
5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT READ
Reviewed in Canada on January 14, 2021
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Awesome book as I'm into 200 pages after just a few weeks once it finally arrived. Will pass it on to another avid Great War reader. Nice to read the words composed by this Aussie private from the muddy Somme battlefields. Not a field general writing technical stuff from the confines of a mansion 50 miles from the front, where soldiers are dying from bullets and artillery fragments, or a bayonet shoved through their throat or guts.
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Client d'Amazon
5.0 out of 5 stars livre passionnant et émouvant
Reviewed in France on September 11, 2016
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Je recommande vivement cet ouvrage dont l'auteur est Australien, passionné par les récits des diggers de la première guerre mondiale. Ce livre est aussi sérieux qu'émouvant, aussi documenté que grisant, lire ce livre et ressentir les champs de bataille, la peur du soldat, son engagement, la présence australienne sur le front, un sublime ouvrage retraçant les pensées et écrits du soldat Lynch. Fantastique.
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Neasa MacErlean
5.0 out of 5 stars Surviving the WWI trenches
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 11, 2014
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EPF Lynch's account of two years in the trenches as an Australian is quite different to the German and British accounts I have read (by Erich Maria Remarque and Richard Aldington) in two particular ways. The first way is that there is an unyielding optimism in the Australian view - whereas the old continent seems more prone to depression. The Australian approach seems to come from a conscious effort not to think too deeply about the ugliness of what is happening - with EPF Lynch making this point several times. The first time the theme comes up is when another Australian says to Nulla, the hero of this fictional recount of life in the trenches: "Look here lad. You give up thinking too much or this war will get you down...The man who thinks is done. He'll never know a moment's peace....Bring yourself to treat danger as a humorous episode and not as a narrowly averted tragedy, and...you'll certainly live happier." The second difference is that this account shows a far more efficient approach to war work collaboration between soldiers (in the 45th battalion, an infantry battalion of the Australian Imperial Force, in this instance) and strategy than the German and British ones. Perhaps that is partly because hierarchy and class do not distort Australian working relationships as they do in the other armies. For the most part, the three books overlap - with horrific descriptions of pain, killing and other suffering and a fascinating portrayal of daily life. But Nulla survives and, astoundingly, gives a positive summary of what happened at one stage: "The trial was long and severe. The prize was worth it, though, when measured in the mateship of men. My mates! Memories of men! Memories of mates!" While the other books praise camaraderie, they also run down relations with women (which 'Somme Mud' does not do) and they do not come close to saying that demonstrating mateship is worth such suffering.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars THIS WAS WRITTEN IN LAYMANS TERMS. WHAT YOU SEE ...
Reviewed in Australia on July 29, 2016
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THIS WAS WRITTEN IN LAYMANS TERMS . WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET . COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN . CONGRATULATIONS .
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Mrs Maria Ions
5.0 out of 5 stars Somme Mud
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 16, 2024
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One of the best books I've read on WW1 and I've read many. The author does not shy away from the gruesome sights he met on a daily basis and yet his sense of humour and forthright nature wins through. His style of writing takes you with him through every trench and you're right there with him as he sees comrades fall and gets wounded himself. A must read account of trench warfare for anyone interested in WW1.
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