Gloucestershire Hero

Book excerpt: Small in physical stature Colonel, later Brigadier, Patsy Pagan was seen as a giant by the men of the Gloucestershire Regiment, whom he commanded for over three gruelling years of The Great War.He and his Battalion endured some of the hardest fighting and grimmest conditions on the Western Front; The battles of Loos 1915, Somme 1916 and Passchendaele 1917. Wounded three times, Pagan discharged himself from hospital to rejoin his men rather than be evacuated to Blighty.He reluctantly left his beloved Glosters when promoted to command a brigade for the closing months of the war. His brigade found itself as the last line of defence before the Channel against the Germans' 1918 offensive.The author uncovers the contribution and character of this great fighting soldier through personal records, trench diaries and other official papers. This is a stirring and inspiring read.