Frederic Manning is generally acknowledged as the finest novelist of the Western Front. Born in Australia, novelist and poet Frederic Manning moved to England in his youth and was an off-and-on presence there for much of his life. He enlisted during 1915 into the Shropshire Light Infantry, and served in France during 1916 as ’Private 19022’. The Shropshires saw heavy fighting on the Somme, and Manning’s four months there provided the background to Her Privates We. An undisputed classic of war writing and a lasting tribute to all who participated in the war to end all wars.