This is a work about the ordinary infantrymen of World War II. In 1944, having distinguished itself in the North Africa campaign, Rifleman Bowlby's battalion of Greenjackets was sent to Italy. But instead of being used in the specialized role for which it had been trained, most of the battalion's vehicles were taken away on arrival, and the riflemen were told that they were to be used as ordinary infantry. Stripped of its hard-core of regulars, the battalion suffered one disastrous defeat after another until its hard-won reputation fell in tatters. In its struggle to regain that reputation the riflemen suffered their worst defeat of all - the magnificent failure of their fight for a hilltop town on the Gothic Line. Infused throughout with bitter-sweet humour, this is a tribute to the unknown soldier.