Andrew Lucas first developed his passionate interest in the Kingdom of Saxony and its army while researching his great grandfather Arno Bierast's wartime service with 4. Kgl. Sächs. Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr.48. He has published several articles on the Saxons in Stand To! and contributed extensive research from the German side for his father Michael's book 'The Journey's End Battalion'. He is also an active member of the 1914-21 Society, the only 'living history' group in the UK devoted to the Great War on the Eastern Front.

Jürgen Schmieschek is a lifelong resident of Dresden. Since his first visit to Flanders in 1994 he has been fascinated by the First World War, and in particular how his fellow Saxons experienced the conflict. He has since traveled widely on the old Western and Eastern Fronts, formed friendships with fellow researchers and collectors in many countries, and amassed the extraordinary collection which forms the basis of this book. He has contributed to publications including several battlefield guidebooks to the Hartmannsweilerkopf, the Western Front Association’s Belgium publication Ten oorlog met schop and houweel and The Journeys End Battalion.