One of the bloodiest campaigns in history, the Battle of the Somme in World War I, lasted five months from July 1 to Nov. 18, 1916. By the end of the battle, the British had only advanced 7 miles into German-held territory along the Somme River. And there was still no breakthrough in sight.

There were over a million dead and wounded. One hundred and twenty-five thousand soldiers from the British Empire alone died. The bodies of about half of those who died were never found. There have been thousands of books and articles examining the events of the First World War and those who served in it. Amazon lists 60,000 books pertaining to the Great War and 8,000 about the Somme offensive. Now comes a historical biography from Sir Michael Palin, of Monty Python fame, rooted in “the war to end all wars.” A curious but effective and touching project, out now in paperback, Great-Uncle Harry: A Tale of War and Empire honors Lance Cpl. Henry William Bourne Palin, who was one of those lost soldiers at the Somme.

According to Palin, in one day, there were 57,470 casualties recorded and 19,240 dead. “Instead of the expected walkover,” Palin writes, “the advancing British soldiers were scythed down in their thousands by raking swirls of machine-gun fire.”

For the uninitiated: A founder of the Monty Python troupe, Michael Palin is a British actor and author. He has written numerous well-received books, including children’s books, novels, and travel documentaries, as well as television programs and films. He was knighted in 2019 for his service to travel, culture, and geography. Known for his conversational tone, his vivid writing style, and his self-deprecating humor, Palin decided to write about Harry because no one else in the family seemed to know or care about him. 

When Palin received family documents from a cousin, he found Harry’s wartime diary written in a terse, unemotional style and asked about his great-uncle. Everyone blew him off. This lack of information was enough to arouse Palin’s curiosity as did his interest in family genealogy. 

Palin begins with the story of Harry’s parents, Edward Palin (1825-1903) and Brita Gallagher (1843-1919), and covers their education, courtship, marriage, and the birth of their seven children. Edward was a prolific and entertaining writer, unlike his youngest son. (Michael Palin seems to have inherited Edward’s writing genes.) Edward’s rich and entertaining diary adds luster to the first half of Palin’s text. It contains Edward’s thoughts on his days at Oxford University and his travels. He had planned to be celibate, but he had a fondness for the ladies and was smitten with several of them, especially the lovely Irish lass, Brita, who was 17 when they met — half Edward’s age. 

After he and Brita decided to marry, he left Oxford and became the rector of St. Mary’s Church in Linton. With Brita, he built a new vicarage, a refurbished church, and a school for poor children and began raising three boys and four girls. Harry, their youngest, was born in 1884, six years after his next youngest sibling. Palin sees Great-Uncle Harry as one who didn’t fit into his upper middle-class family. The clan was educated and talented. His oldest brother was a physician. His sister was an acclaimed musician. His other siblings stood out for their mental acuity and physical ability.  

Harry grew up a parson’s son listening to his father’s sermons and attending church services twice on Sundays. He was a believer yet not especially devout. He studied at home with tutors and then at Shropshire School, where he was a lackluster student with middling grades. He had no interest in academics or sports. After his father died, Harry went to India in 1905 and worked for the Great India Railway Company, a job he landed because of his sister’s influence. But he received bad reviews and resigned. He soon took a job with a tea company, again using family influence, but that didn’t work out, either. Then, in 1912, he emigrated to New Zealand, where he worked as a farmhand and met George Batters, who became a lifelong friend. 

Harry and Batters enlisted in the Great War on Aug. 14, 1914, and their battalion was sent to fight the Ottoman troops in the Dardanelles and later on the Gallipoli peninsula. Batters, like Harry, kept a diary. But his entries were descriptive and graphic. Palin quotes them to fill out Harry’s experiences. Batters was seriously wounded and sent home early, which more than likely saved his life. 

Harry was unscathed until his luck ran out during the Battle of the Somme at Morval. He died at just 32 years old. The best Palin could put together from reports was “either Harry died from a single bullet wound and was buried where he fell, or he was obliterated.” Harry has no final resting place. 

Harry’s diary says little about his experiences and emotions. His first war diary entry, for example, reads: “Passed medical exam and got uniform and became a private in 12th Nelson Regiment.” Palin attempts to make up for Harry’s lackluster diary entries by adding numerous quotes from the diaries of those who fought along with Harry, like Alexander Aitken, who described running toward the enemy: “In an attack such as this, under deadly fire, one is as powerless as a man gripping strongly-charged electrodes.”

Palin also quotes Rudyard Kipling, who wrote that these lost soldiers of the Great War were “known only to God,” in an inscription on the Wall of Remembrance listing Harry’s name, among many others. Kipling, who lost his own son, John, during the war, knew the territory and wrote the evocative poem Epitaphs of the War. An excerpt isn’t included in this book, but it should be. 

Palin’s engrossing and well-researched book is a far cry from the crazy antics of the Monty Python crew. Fusing memoir, travelogue, biography, family documents, letters, diaries, accounts of historical events, and literary references, it pays homage to an unlikely hero whom few people knew or remembered — until now.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Diane Scharper is a regular contributor to the Washington Examiner. She teaches the Memoir Seminar for the Johns Hopkins University Osher Program.