Miners And The Great War: Brian Elliott book reveals story of untold heroism
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Yet from the pit villages of Yorkshire and the rest of England, Scotland and Wales, to the blood-soaked fields of the Somme, these working men showed extraordinary courage, resilience, and sacrifice, writes Graham Walker.
In Miners And The Great War, historian Brian Elliott pays long-overdue tribute to the unbreakable spirit of the men who served both below ground and on the battlefield, shining a light on the staggering role miners played in the First World War.
BOOK LAUNCH: The book will be officially launched at a Q&A talk and signing, with the author in conversation with Wombwell poet Paul Brookes, at the National Coal Mining Museum, on Saturday, May 10, at 10.30am. Tickets are free but booking is advised - full details here.
With heartfelt storytelling and deep historical insight, Elliott brings their forgotten story vividly to life. Through rare archives, first-hand accounts and moving detail, he honours the quarter of a million miners who served—and the countless more who kept the home fires burning.
A deeply moving tribute to the coalfield communities of England, Scotland and Wales, this book is a love letter to the spirit of working-class Britain - and a stark reminder of the price paid by those who fought both underground and in the trenches.
In towns like Barnsley, Durham and Merthyr, where the skyline was once etched with winding gear and the earth trembled with the rhythm of coal trains, the Great War tore through families like a sudden collapse in the shaft.
Pitmen who had grown up hewing coal with their fathers and grandfathers were suddenly thrust into a new kind of darkness - mud, fear, and gunfire replacing rock and timber. Yet through it all, their resilience never broke. Brian paints a powerful picture of miners not just as workers or soldiers, but as fathers, brothers, and sons who bore the weight of an empire on their backs—and never once flinched.
It’s a powerful tribute to a community that gave everything.
Those who left the pits to enlist ended up in so-called Pals battalions, fighting and falling alongside mining colleagues, family and friends, and in some of the war’s darkest hours, from the Somme to Passchendaele.
This is their story: a working-class army bound by coal, community and quiet bravery. At a time when working-class history is too often sidelined or simplified, Brian has given voice to the coal-streaked ghosts of collective memory and reminded us that bravery wears many faces. Some of them blackened by coal, all of them burnished by history.
“The maturity and the bravery of miners on and under the land, at sea and in the air was truly extraordinary, many of them still in or barely out of their teens," Brian writes.
"Thousands of honours were awarded including many DCMs (Distinguished Conduct Medals) and more than fifty VCs (Victoria Crosses).
“Regions varied, but as many as one in three of a colliery’s employees volunteered for military service during 1914-15, especially for the new Pals battalions.
"At the same time, the Army and Royal Navy wanted more and more coal for the war effort, placing dual demands on the ‘stay at home miners’ and on the managers and owners, who tried to maintain and increase production with cohorts of old, very young and the inexperienced.
“During the Great War almost 7,000 miners were killed at work, mostly in everyday accidents such as roof-falls."
One of the book’s most moving touches is its foreword by the late great Barnsley born TV chat show icon, broadcaster and writer, Sir Michael Parkinson, himself the son of a Yorkshire miner.
In his introduction, Sir Michael writes with disarming candour about his own father’s quiet pride and the stoicism of a generation that asked for no praise - only to be remembered. He writes: “By taking these men out of the distress and showing their faces to the world. Brian has demonstrated what an extremely courageous people they were.”
It’s a line that lingers.
* Miners And The Great War, published by Pen and Sword, will be avilable at the book signing and can also be bought at www.pen-and-sword.co.uk, www.amazon.co.uk and www.waterstones.com. It is also available at Experience Barnsley Museum and Barnsley Book Vault.
The National Coal Mining Museum is open Wednesday to Sunday, 10am-5pm (Summer Hours from April - October) and 10am-4pm (Winter Hours from November - March) .
Entry and parking are free. The National Coal Mining Museum is a charity and all donations will support its work.
For more information visit www.ncm.org.uk.
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