Readings from Foot Soldier Sam Sutcliffe's Nobody Of Any Importance: A Foot Soldier's Memoir Of World War 1 given by his son, Phil
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| Sam Sutcliffe, May 1919, post Gallipoli, Somme, Arras 1918, POW months, aged 20. |
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| Sam's lad Phil, um, not long ago. Thanks and © Pete Jenkins |
WFA BRANCHES OR ANYONE ELSE INTERESTED IN WW1, PLEASE DO CONSIDER MAKING A SAM BOOKING IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY! HE KEEPS THE CUSTOMERS SATISFIED, HONEST!
(ALL PROCEEDS FROM HIS MEMOIR, PLUS ANY DONATIONS, GO TO
BRITISH RED CROSS AS EVER – MORE THAN £11,800 DONATED AS OF MAY '25)
(ALL PROCEEDS FROM HIS MEMOIR, PLUS ANY DONATIONS, GO TO
BRITISH RED CROSS AS EVER – MORE THAN £11,800 DONATED AS OF MAY '25)
All the best, Phil pp my dad, Sam
FOOT SOLDIER SAM WW1 MEMOIR READINGS — "NOBODY OF ANY IMPORTANCE" Excerpts from my father Sam Sutcliffe's WW1 frontline experiences read and narrated by his son Phil – Gallipoli, the Somme, Arras '18 (the battle against the Spring Offensive)… plus before that the impoverished London childhood that made the Tommy, volunteering at 16 in September, 1914, training in Malta… and after that March 28 Arras battle Sam's eight months as a POW "on the road" in France and Germany, Armistice and his long walk back to Allied lines, recovery in various hospitals, his return home and further sad or farcical tales of a Tommy in the aftermath concluding with the July, 1919, Peace parade. Every word of the Memoir from Sam's wonderfully vivid and detailed memory and his own pen…
Sam's son and editor, Phil, is happy to talk about the remarkable man he called "Dad", how the Memoir was written, and encourage audience members to discuss any aspect of WW1 – or any war – especially their own stories of family members caught up in such conflicts and how it has affected their own lives. Glad to tell Sam's story more or less anywhere in the UK.
The specifics of the intro paragraph are you can choose from any of these five topics:
i) Sam's WWI: a whole Memoir overview, childhood and signing up at 16 in 1914 to
the 1919 Peace parade
ii) Sam's Gallipoli: enlisting, training in Malta, Suvla Bay and V Beach, September, 1915-January 1916
iii) Sam's Somme: Gallipoli aftermath in Egypt and Rouen, Gommecourt (including July 1) and beyond
iv) Sam's year out: October 1916, when his age was "discovered" and he was sent home to grow older, to December, 1917, when, satisfactorily 19, he returned to the Western Front
v) Sam's 1917-19: his final battle (Spring Offensive), eight months a POW, Armistice, long walk back to France, recovery, homecoming, Peace
No fee, but donations welcome and expenses help of course, and I sell paperback copies of Nobody Of Any Importance and all proceeds from my father's writings plus any branch/other donations go to the British Red Cross "FootSoldierSam fund" – along with every penny received from sales of the e-Memoir and e-excerpts on Gallipoli, the Somme and Arras/POW/1918-19, available via this blog, me direct or Amazon. See below for list of talks and WFA branches visited so far.
Further info http://footsoldiersam.blogspot.co.uk/p/books-available.html
TO BOOK A FOOT SOLDIER SAM SUTCLIFFE READING …Email philsutcliffe47@gmail.com or phone me on 020 8674 9397 or mobile 0751 1871989
Sam's son and editor, Phil, is happy to talk about the remarkable man he called "Dad", how the Memoir was written, and encourage audience members to discuss any aspect of WW1 – or any war – especially their own stories of family members caught up in such conflicts and how it has affected their own lives. Glad to tell Sam's story more or less anywhere in the UK.
The specifics of the intro paragraph are you can choose from any of these five topics:
i) Sam's WWI: a whole Memoir overview, childhood and signing up at 16 in 1914 to
the 1919 Peace parade
ii) Sam's Gallipoli: enlisting, training in Malta, Suvla Bay and V Beach, September, 1915-January 1916
iii) Sam's Somme: Gallipoli aftermath in Egypt and Rouen, Gommecourt (including July 1) and beyond
iv) Sam's year out: October 1916, when his age was "discovered" and he was sent home to grow older, to December, 1917, when, satisfactorily 19, he returned to the Western Front
v) Sam's 1917-19: his final battle (Spring Offensive), eight months a POW, Armistice, long walk back to France, recovery, homecoming, Peace
No fee, but donations welcome and expenses help of course, and I sell paperback copies of Nobody Of Any Importance and all proceeds from my father's writings plus any branch/other donations go to the British Red Cross "FootSoldierSam fund" – along with every penny received from sales of the e-Memoir and e-excerpts on Gallipoli, the Somme and Arras/POW/1918-19, available via this blog, me direct or Amazon. See below for list of talks and WFA branches visited so far.
Further info http://footsoldiersam.blogspot.co.uk/p/books-available.html
TO BOOK A FOOT SOLDIER SAM SUTCLIFFE READING …Email philsutcliffe47@gmail.com or phone me on 020 8674 9397 or mobile 0751 1871989
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| Sam meets the Chelsea Pensioners. Pic by Lance Bolton of Royal Chelsea Hospital ©️2016. |
TALKS COMING UP…
2025
Ah, well, a couple done this year as below but now… open to offers!
(One more for my half-century – see below for talks done 2015-25)
(Also see https://www.westernfrontassociation.com/branches/ for info on all WFA branch events)
Foot Soldier Sam's 49 road trips so far:
Readings 2015
* Walthamstow, London
* St Leonard's, Sussex
* Primrose Hill, London
* Gloucester and as duo with Kelsey Thornton, expert on WW1 poet Ivor Gurney
* Newcastle (with Phil and Ivor again)
Readings 2016
* "Chelsea Pensioners", London
* King's College, London seminar with four speakers, including Phil pp Sam relating excerpts from Nobody Of Any Importance to the work of World War 1's best-known front-line poet Wilfred Owen on the theme Patriotism And 'The Great Game'
Readings 2017
* London East Western Front Association WW1 open day at St Mary's Church, Walthamstow, September
* Ox & Bucks Western Front Association September meeting, Chalfont St Giles, October
* Abergavenny Library, October
* London East Western Front Association, Walthamstow, November
Readings 2018
* Essex Western Front Association, Hornchurch, April. This event sadly turned out to be in memory of Bill Fulton of Essex WFA and Malcolm Doolin of Walthamstow (London East) WFA who both died quite suddenly in the couple of weeks before the reading. Both much missed by everybody who knew them and the whole WW1 Remembrance movement.
* London Central Western Front Association, Waterloo, May.
* London East Western Front Association WW1 open day at St Mary's Church, Walthamstow, September.
* Wiltshire Western Front Association, Highworth near Swindon, October.
* Surrey Western Front Association, Cobham, November.
Readings 2019
* Norfolk Western Front Association, Norwich, January.
* Northamptonshire Western Front Association, April.
* Tyneside Western Front Association, June.
* Wales (Gwent) and Devon & Cornwall Western Front Associations, September.
* Worcester & Herefordshire Western Front Association, November.
Readings 2020
* Kent East Western Front Association, Canterbury, January.
* Cheltenham & Gloucester Western Front Association, February.
* Spalding & South Lincs Western Front Association, February…
Readings 2021
* Lancashire & Cheshire WFA, Stockport, January (on Zoom, but went well, if differently, and thanks to the branch for a kind donation to Brit Red Cross in Sam's name)
* Lancashire & Cheshire WFA, Stockport, January (on Zoom, but went well, if differently, and thanks to the branch for a kind donation to Brit Red Cross in Sam's name)
* Birmingham WFA, Sutton Coldfield, August (also Zoom, and likewise thanks for donation to Brit Red Cross in Sam's name)
* Milton Keynes WFA, Milton Keynes, October (real-not-Zoom!)
* Lincoln & North Lincolnshire WFA, Lincoln, November (rearranged from March, real-not-Zoom! Thanks for donation to Brit Red Cross in Sam's name)
Readings 2022
* Sussex WFA, Lewes, March (Live! Thanks for donation to Brit Red Cross in Sam's name)
* Southend WFA, April (Live! Special thanks for "record" donation to Brit Red Cross in Sam's name)
* Devon & Cornwall WFA, Newton Abbott, May (Live!)
* Wolverhampton WFA, Wolverhampton, June (Live! Thanks for donation to Brit Red Cross in Sam's name)
* Sussex WFA, Lewes, March (Live! Thanks for donation to Brit Red Cross in Sam's name)
* Southend WFA, April (Live! Special thanks for "record" donation to Brit Red Cross in Sam's name)
* Devon & Cornwall WFA, Newton Abbott, May (Live!)
* Wolverhampton WFA, Wolverhampton, June (Live! Thanks for donation to Brit Red Cross in Sam's name)
* Lancashire (East) WFA, Burnley, August (Live! Thanks for donation to Brit Red Cross in Sam's name)
* Kent (North West) WFA, Pett's Wood, September (Live! Thanks for donation to Brit Red Cross in Sam's name)
* Northumberland WFA, Alnwick, October (Live! Thanks for donation to Brit Red Cross in Sam's name)
* Middlesex WFA, Whitton, December (Live! "Record" Sam book sales as proportion of audience – 66.6% ladies and gentlemen!)
Readings 2023
* Heart Of England WFA, Warwick, January (Live! Thanks for donation to Brit Red Cross in Sam's name – and probably Sam's liveliest Q&A session ever…)
* Heart Of England WFA, Warwick, January (Live! Thanks for donation to Brit Red Cross in Sam's name – and probably Sam's liveliest Q&A session ever…)
* Wolverhampton WFA, Wolverhamton, August (Live! Thanks for donation to Brit Red Cross in Sam's name)
* Lancashire (North), Caton Near Lancaster, September (Live! Thanks for donation to Brit Red Cross in Sam's name)
* Essex WFA, Hatfield Peverel, November (Live! Thanks for donation to Brit Red Cross in Sam's name)
Readings 2024 (all live from here on, unless otherwise etc)
* Thames Valley WFA, Reading, January (Thanks for donation to Brit Red Cross in Sam's name).
* Chesterfield WFA, Chesterfield, February (Thanks for donation to Brit Red Cross in Sam's name).
* Midlands (East) WFA, Ruddington, Notts, February (Thanks for donation to Brit Red Cross in Sam's name).
* Midlands (East) WFA, Ruddington, Notts, February (Thanks for donation to Brit Red Cross in Sam's name).
* British Modern Military History Society, Reading, February (Thanks for donation to Brit Red Cross in Sam's name).
* Staffs (North) & Cheshire (South) WFA, Newcastle under Lyme, April (Thanks for donation to Brit Red Cross in Sam's name).
* Lancashire (East) WFA, Burnley, May (Thanks for donation to Brit Red Cross in Sam's name).
* Kent (East) WFA, Canterbury, September (Thanks for donation to Brit Red Cross in Sam's name).
Readings 2025
* Suffolk WFA, Stowmarket, January (Thanks for donation to Brit Red Cross in Sam's name).
* April 28 Lancashire (East) WFA, Burnley. April (Thanks for donation to Brit Red Cross in Sam's name).
* Lancashire (East) WFA, Burnley, May (Thanks for donation to Brit Red Cross in Sam's name).
* Kent (East) WFA, Canterbury, September (Thanks for donation to Brit Red Cross in Sam's name).
Readings 2025
* Suffolk WFA, Stowmarket, January (Thanks for donation to Brit Red Cross in Sam's name).
* April 28 Lancashire (East) WFA, Burnley. April (Thanks for donation to Brit Red Cross in Sam's name).
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| The Norwich WFA reading, January, 2019, kind hospitality and a pic offered free to FootSoldierSam by a proper photographer, namely © Peter Smith. |
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| Phil seeing eye to eye with Sam outside Abergavenny Library before the October, 2017 reading. Pic by Phil's wife Gay Lee. … |
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| Poster for a run of reading gigs – designed by friend of Sam Hina Pandya. |
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