Overview

""It is a soldier's tale cut in stone to melt all hearts"" Thus Winston Churchill in his introduction to A P Herbert's novel The Secret Battle, a book inspired by and quite clearly based on the execution of Sub-Lieutenant Edwin Dyett of the Nelson Battalion, 63rd (Royal Naval) Division on 5 January, 1917, for desertion in the face of the enemy. Nearly with over eighty-five years having passed, but Churchill's words are just as applicable today to Len Sellers' strictly factual account of the tragic death of Edwin Dyett. The author makes very clear, a totally unnecessary cloud of secrecy has for years enveloped all the documents relating to First World War courts martial. Many, indeed have simply disappeared. However, on the evidence of such surviving papers as are now available for public inspection, Len Sellers has subjected the case to a detailed re-examination and his conclusions do not make comfortable reading. Happily, the passing of the years has at least brought about a change of attitude regarding the behaviour of soldiers who find the strain of battle too much to bear, but it is salutary to remember that within living memory many such men were taken out and shot at dawn in cold blood. Nevertheless it remains a mystery, as the author shows, why to this day the Government refuses to grant these men a full review of the court martial files which no doubt would result in an honourable pardon to many and wipe out the stain on their families' honour which their descendants still feel.

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Leonard Sellers was born in 1945 in Woking. Upon moving to Leigh-on-Sea he was educated at Belfairs High School. Leaving School, he joined a firm of Lloyds brokers in the City of London. Looking for a more exciting life at the age of 21, he joined the local South end-on-Sea Constabulary until its amalgamation with the Essex Force in 1969. He has worked as a divisional crime prevention officer and lectured on the subject. His first book was 'The Hood Battalion' (Leo Cooper, 1995). He lives near near Southend in Essex.

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