WITH so few veterans of the First World War left alive, some people are concerned our country may forget the bravery of those who fought. Rachel Crofts speaks to the author of a new book which aims to engrave in our memory the sacrifice made by thousands.

THE sight of poppies on people's lapels and coats reminds us each November of those who lost their lives on Flanders Fields. But as the years pass away, so too do survivors of the First World War.

There are now just 40 veterans alive in the UK, and 88 years since the conflict began, there are those who feel we are in danger of forgetting the huge sacrifice that was made in the name of freedom all those decades ago.

It's obviously not possible to stop the passage of time, but a remarkable new book goes a long way to ensuring that the words and experiences of those who lived through the Great War are preserved for generations to come.

Forgotten Voices, by Max Arthur, is a compelling and moving account of the First World War recounted by 150 different soldiers and civilians.

Using hitherto unpublished tapes recorded by the Imperial War Museum, Arthur brings unique accounts of life, death and survival to the printed page for the very first time.

The book was conceived when curators at the museum gave him and his team of researchers unlimited access to its complete First World War tapes. These tapes, compiled in the 1970s, are the forgotten voices of an entire generation of survivors of the Great War. Their stories have rested unheard for 30 years, and all but one of those interviewed has since passed away.

As he listened to the voices, Arthur, an established military historian, found himself overcome with emotion.

"It was incredibly haunting. I was moved to tears many times as I listened to the accounts," he says. "In some cases it was the first time that these people, who were then in their 60s and 70s, had told their story."

The accounts are filled with intensity, drama and detail. Pregnant Kitty Eckersley remembers running out into the street barefoot on learning that her husband Percy had been killed, while Private Frank Sumpter of the London Rifle Brigade gives a first hand account of Christmas 1914.

"The devastated landscape looked terrible in its true colours - clay and mud and broken brick, - but when it was covered in snow, it was beautiful," he recalls.

"Then we heard the Germans singing Silent Night, Holy Night, and they put up a notice saying Merry Christmas, so we put one up too.

"While they were singing our boys said, Let's join in', so we joined in and when we started singing, they stopped. And when we stopped, they started again."

Within minutes Germans and British soldiers were talking and shaking hands through the barbed wire of no man's land, he recalls.

Moments of high drama are presented alongside everyday details of life. Arthur purposely selected accounts to give balance and roundness to the picture of wartime life. "I put the most intense emotion up against the more day to day aspects of war, details of the food, or going to cafes and brothels," he explains. "The mundane details are needed otherwise it just becomes one big rollercoaster of emotion."

Of the many haunting accounts, one which sticks with him is that of Private S T Sherwood, who fell into a shell hole up to his waist in mud and was unable to get out. Then he discovered he was sharing the hole with a dead German. He sings, shouts and has a smoke on his pipe to keep his spirits up, only to be shelled by the Germans before he was eventually rescued.

"The vibrations made the shell-hole shake from one side to the other. I was rather pleased because it gave me something to interest myself in - it kept me awake and alive," the soldier recalls.

"I was still sinking further into the mire. I filled my pipe again then put my hand into my tunic pocket for my matches and found they were wet through. It was then I began to despair."

For Arthur, the tiny detail of the matches has the most poignancy. "It's like nowadays," he says. "When we have a dreadful day it's always the little things that push us over the edge."

As an historical resource Forgotten Voices is unprecedented, and would make an ideal addition to any school history syllabus. Arthur would love to see it used in this way, bringing the stories to life for future generations.

He also feels it has much to say about the evils of war. "It's a warning of the horror of war," he says. "But it's also an account of man's incredible power of endurance in the face of massive adversity. I'm not sure we could survive such experiences today."

The eminent historian and Churchill biographer, Sir Martin Gilbert, sums it up when he says: "One reads this book with bleeding eyes.

"The voices in this anthology are real men and women, recalling without restraint that period of their lives when death was a constant companion, fear ever-present, noise and danger the hourly accompaniment: and when business of the day - the hours between dawn and midday - was the whole compass of life, overshadowed by the vision, and imminent reality, of death."

As we remember on Armistice Day those who lost their lives, the words of Sergeant Major Richard Tobin of the Royal Navy's Hood Division, recalling the day the conflict ended, reveal much about the brutality of war.

"The Armistice came, the day we had dreamed of. The guns stopped, the fighting stopped. Four years of noise and bangs ended in silence. The killing had stopped.

"We were stunned. I had been out since 1914. I should have been happy. I was sad. I thought of the slaughter, the hardships, the waste and the friends I had lost."

Forgotten Voices of the Great War by Max Arthur in association with The Imperial War Museum is published by Ebury Press priced at £19.99. Available now