CHEPSTOW author Susan Burnett has co-written a book with her grandfather, to commemorate the centenary of Gallipoli.

On That Day I Left My Boyhood Behind follows real-life story of Norman Woodcock, (pictured left with Susan) a Signaler in the Royal Engineers. Woodcock joined the Territorial Army as a teenager in Leeds, South Yorkshire, and spent eight months fighting the Turks in a bloody battle that killed thousands of men and injured countless more. "It was," he recalls vividly, a "living hell" that saw the land and sea stained red by the blood of his comrades in arms.

But On That Day I Left My Boyhood

Behind is more than just a harrowing memoir; it provides valuable, never-before-told insights into a campaign where precious few first-hand accounts remain.

In it he describes the landings on Gallipoli, his time with Lawrence of Arabia, the battles leading to the capture of Jerusalem and being on the Western Front when the Armistice was declared – whilst all the while his best friend was his horse Timbuc.

Written from her grandfather's memoirs, Susan Burnett delivers the words of her grandfather combined with historical commentary to form a moving tribute to the man and to the Gallipoli invasion.