A former East Midlands journalist has penned a book recounting the tales of some of the country's most famous men who fought in the First World War.

History graduate Victor Piuk, who spent 15 years with the Mansfield Chad, Nottingham Evening Post and Newark Advertiser, has joined forces with Nottingham author and documentary maker Richard Van Emden to write 'Famous 1914-1918'.

In August 1914, Secretary of State for War Lord Kitchener appealed for volunteers to fight alongside Britain's small army.

A million men, from all sections of society, enlisted in the first few months and among them were some who would eventually become famous in their own right.

The book features stories through the eyes of 21 different men including JRR Tolkien who led soldiers over the top at the Somme and CS Lewis' battles which saw him injured and sent home.

Other anecdotes feature AA Milne, Alexander Fleming and Winston Churchill.

One rough managed to slip in with the diamonds though as mass murderer John Christie also garners a mention.

Christie strangled seven women at his home and used his experience in the Great War in his defence when brought to trial.

Victor said: "It took about 18 months to research and write the book.

"Both Richard and I have had a long-standing interest in the war and we met on the Somme 15 years ago when we were both then journalists.

"We just thought of ten people each who most people would know, who were of the right generation to have fought in the Great War and had a look if they did.

"Some like Churchill had plenty already written about them but others such as Arnold Ridley, or Private Godfrey from Dad's Army, took much more searching.

"In all cases we used primary, original sources such as surviving army records housed at the National Archives in Kew.

"Other sources were published volumes: biographies, letters, diaries and family interviews. It was all out there but had to be found and assembled."

Victor moved to France in 1999 to work as a guide on the Great War battlefields and run a B&B with his wife.

His previous book is entitled A Dream within the Dark and is about war poet Will Streets who hails from Nottinghamshire and died on the Somme in 1916.

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