A TAUNTON author has written a book centred around the memoirs of her late grandfather, a soldier during the First World War.

Susan Burnett’s new book – “On That Day I Left My Boyhood Behind”, tells the true story, never before disclosed, about the Gallipoli Campaign told from beyond the grave.

The book marks the centenary of the landings on the beaches at Gallipoli on April 25 and follows the real-life story of Norman Woodcock, a signaller in the Royal Engineers.

Norman, who was born near Barnsley in 1897, was called up at age 17, and ended up serving across all fronts during the Great War.

It was, he recalls vividly, a “living hell” that saw the land and sea stained red by the blood of his comrades in arms.

But the book is more than a harrowing memoir, it provides never told before insights into a campaign where precious little first-hand account remains including the men as they endured the searing heat and the shortages of ammunition food and water.

Norman retired to Taunton and died in 1987 aged 90 but his memoirs have been told thanks to Susan Burnett who has lovingly complied her grandfather’s recollections into her book.