A Hero For All Times: Marshall VC in The Great War

Peter Lees

dhj 2023 · Pen and Sword Military

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In September 1914 Neville Marshall gave up a successful horse treatment practice to join first the Belgian and then the British Army. His diary, dormant in family archives for 105 years, and letters describe his tumultuous war service. An Irish Guardsman, who was seconded to three Lancashire battalions, he rose in rank from Lieutenant to Acting Lieutenant-Colonel. Wounded at least nine times and awarded five gallantry medals, he revelled as well as suffered in his encounters with the German enemy. Outspoken on the conduct of the war, he was without doubt a gifted and courageous leader who led from the front. Fiercely loyal to his men, he earned their respect and affection. Yet with soldiers who were uncaring of their own states of body and mind or lacking physical fitness and self-respect, he worked tirelessly to restore their morale and battle readiness through strict disciplinary regimes.

While undoubtedly a patriot and a hero, Marshall VC was not without character flaws, impetuously rushing to judgements. In this superbly researched book, his diaries and letters are supplemented from a wide range of archival and other sources. The result is no ordinary biography of an extraordinary officer who gave his life for his country.

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Peter Lees was born in 1940 in Farnworth, Lancashire, 8 miles as the crow flies from Neville Marshall’s birthplace, Stretford, Manchester. He took a first degree in Pharmacy, a doctorate in pharmacology and, much later in partial retirement, an MA degree in World War One Studies at the University of Wolverhampton. From 1962 to 2023, he has worked at the Royal Veterinary College, University of London, first as Assistant Lecturer and finally as Deputy Principal. He has published more the 350 articles in the peer reviewed scientific literature, as well as short reviews on Marshall in the journals Veterinary History and Stand To! Public service duties have included Editorship of Journal of Veterinary Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Vice-Chairman of the Veterinary Products Committee, Council member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, Universities Research Assessment Exercise panel member for Veterinary Medicine and Member of the Council of the Inns of Court Tribunals Appointments Body.