"I was alone in a world gone mad. Death was all around...Useless, filthy death." _x000D__x000D_At 2 o'clock on the morning of 21 March 1918, the Battle of St Quentin began. The German assault, consisting of trench mortars, mustard gas, chlorine gas, tear gas and a heavy artillery bombardment, was said to be one of the most fierce and devastating of the Great War. Over the course of 6 days, thousands of British troops lost their lives and yet this would prove to be the turning point of the war - the end was in sight._x000D__x000D_George Hill was just sixteen when he enlisted into the army, eager to fight for his country and full of pride for the role he would play. After only a few weeks in France, he was in the midst of St Quentin and the full horrors of trench warfare. Incredibly, he survived - one of the few members of his battalion to do so. After several months at the front, he was gassed and spent the last days of the war in a field hospital. Hill turned 19 on the day of the armistice. Retreat from Death is the harrowing story based on his experiences._x000D__x000D_"George Herbert Hill's Retreat from Death is a classic of its genre..no reader who seeks to understand the war in its myriad faces can afford to ignore it." Richard Holmes