The Regiment That Lost Its Soul

Returning from Dunkirk, Lieutenant Douglas Tulloch and the Lothian Rifles help defend Britain from the threat of German invasion. Tulloch feels that all is not right with the battalion. When the Lothians are sent to Egypt to prepare for an Italian attack, others share Tulloch’s view, as Brigadier Worthington criticises the battalion’s performance in battle.

Can they overcome the malaise that seems to have followed them from Dunkirk, or will the Italian defence of Keren be one battle too many? The principal historical frame is North African Campaign, East African Campaign of World War II. The military action is linked to the operational history of the Second World War, but the central concern is how repeated defeat, recovery and command responsibility alter a regiment and its officers.