A SURPRISING aspect of the conflict billed, so wrongly, as 'the war to end all wars' —the First World War —is that despite the millions of words which have been written about it, there remains something fresh to say.

Certainly Alan Reed and Andrew Hamilton prove there is, approaching one of the worst conflicts in world history from a different angle by telling the story of the life of Andrew's grandfather, Captain Robert Hamilton, who although a career soldier in the 1st Royal Warwickshire Regiment, was a West Devon man living at Sourton.

'Meet at Dawn, Unarmed' is a well presented, minutely researched book written in a lucid yet slightly understated, unemotional style which gives it even greater power and poignancy.

It tells of the captain's eventful and varied life over a long period of time. The hub of the story, though, lies with his diaries written throughout 'the Great War'. The main focus is on the first 12 months of this conflict — and the first Christmas — hence the title 'Meet at Dawn, Unarmed.'

For this is what a large number of British and German troops did, along the Western Front, on that bleak Christmas morning in 1914 —an act of mutual respect and even goodwill, not viewed on favourably by the high command, who saw it as 'fraternising with the enemy.'

Captain Hamilton, however, saw it very differently, being the first in his section of the front to make a 'temporary peace' with the enemy - and, in the case of the Warwicks, for 48 hours, rather than 24, which was the situation along most of the front.

Sadly, with a further four years of bloody trench warfare still to come, it is doubtful that many of the troops who laid hostilities aside on that cold morning, lived to see the Armistice in November 1918. Captain Hamilton, however, did, living to the age of 82. The rest of his life, though, like the lives of most who survived this holocaust, was forever shaped by this dreadful conflict.

'Meet at Dawn, Unarmed' is moving, thought provoking, perceptive — and, in a sense, inspiring; for it shows that human decency can survive in the midst of carnage and 'man's inhumanity to man.'

'Meet at Dawn, Unarmed,' by Andrew Hamilton and Alan Reed, with maps by George Sayell is published by Dene House Publishing of Warwick. Priced ISBN 9780 956 182 005

'October 24th: The noise was deafening.

Bullets and shells striking everywhere,

and star shells lit the whole road. To leave

the farm as this was going on was certain

death.

After 40 minutes I went down to the

trenches to find poor Taylor hit between

the eyes. Two other men were killed and

two wounded. We buried our two and two

of the 1st Royal Fusiliers at dawn, then

sat down to a huge bully stew. Several

Germans were seen carrying their dead

in.'

Extract from the diary of Robert Hamilton.