Death of a Division tells the heroic story of men of East Lancashire who took part in one of the epic battles of the First World War.

It's 100 years since the 66th (2/1st East Lancashire) Division, made up of Blackburn, Burnley and Todmorden Territorials, were cut down during the German spring offensive of March, 1918, staged in a last desperate effort to win the war.

Today military author David Martin, delves more into the men from our own communities caught up in the maelstrom.

Men from two battalions of the East Lancashire Regiment, the 4 and 2/5, mainly from Blackburn and Burnley respectively, were part of the division's 198 Brigade when the enemy offensive began with an artillery barrage at 4.30am on March 21.

The front line trenches, named Bait, Pond and Railway, were being held by the 4/East Lancashires while the 2/5 battalion was billeted in barns in a nearby village, which the shells hit with devastating accuracy that morning.

It meant heavy casualties - and the effect of the horrific bombardment was highlighted when those who were left moved up to battle stations around 6am.

Lancashire soldier William Sharpe recalled one of the few accounts of the front line that morning: “My section included four youths just turned 18, who had only been with our company three weeks and whose first experience of shell fire it was. They cried and one kept calling 'mother!'

"The barrage was now on top of us and our trench was blown in. I missed these four youths and I never saw them again, despite searching amongst the debris for some time.”

The German infantry attack followed at 9am, helped by thick fog, which hugged the battlefield, with the 4/ East Lancashire in the front line - and most of them, officers and men, became casualties or were taken prisoner.

The battle fought by the East Lancashire battalions was very short and the men who died that day were mostly lost before midday. They were from a variety of backgrounds, mostly mill workers and weavers.

William Pate, who lived in Gilbert Street, Harle Syke, worked at the King's Mill and attended the Wesleyan Chapel. He volunteered in September 1914 and served in Egypt with 42nd Division. He joined 66th Division when his battalion was amalgamated to become the 4/ ELR.

Then there was Tom Ormerod, a quiet and unassuming footballer who worked at Smallshaw siding, Wood Top. Rennie Bradshaw of the 4/ ELR was a Burnley Laner, who played cricket for St Andrew's Club and had been gassed in 1917, returning to the front on March 16, 1918.

Peter Connor, lived with his wife and four children on Park Street and had previously been on compassionate leave following the death of his son. He was a wrestler and a miner at Barden Pit.

James Algernon Ingham of Anne Street, aged 19, was a drawer at a coal mine and involved with St Catherine's Church and school.

John Schofield of Martin Street, Burnley Lane, aged 30, was a weaver at Walton's Mill, Elm Street.

This spring offensive was a brief and disastrous battle for the two battalions of the East Lancashire Regiment, the 4/ ELR had 663 casualties, of which 628 were missing (killed or taken prisoner), the 2/5 ELR had 694 casualties, of which 516 were missing and 134 wounded.

Most are commemorated on the Pozières Memorial, dedicated to the Missing of the Second Battle of the Somme, 1918, which was one of retreat for the British as they fell back on Peronne and the river, but they held on to Amiens and finally bought about the German surrender.