A History of the 17th (Northern) Division
A History of the 17th (Northern) Division

Author: A. Hilliard Atteridge

Publisher:

Published: 2016-08-17

Total Pages: 382

ISBN-13: 9781537031781

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Not everyone thought the First World War would be over by Christmas. Expecting a long war, Lord Kitchener called for volunteers for a New Army The 17th (Northern) Division was one of these Divisions. The 17th Division's first service was in Ypres Salient, under the command of Lieut.-General Sir E. H. H. Allenby, K. C. B. The Division moved to the Somme in June 2016, by which time, hopes of an early victory had long passed. On the Somme, the Division took part in some great attacks and suffered severely. The fighting took the Division through a harsh winter, where many died from the fighting and illness. Despite the loss of so many of its men, the 17th Division served gallantly in the many arenas of The Great War. The Division, that started with young, potentially untrained men, left a trail of great achievements in its wake: The Somme battle in 2016, the capture of Neuvilly in October, 1918, the capture of Futoy and its advance through Mormal forest, also in 1918, amongst other highly successful achievements. A. Hilliard Atteridge (1844-1941) was the author of a number of books on conflict. His work includes: The Wars of the Nineties, Famous Modern Battles and The Army.

Ardennes 1944
Ardennes 1944

Author: Antony Beevor

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2015-11-03

Total Pages: 480

ISBN-13: 0698411498

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The prizewinning historian and bestselling author of D-Day, Stalingrad, and The Battle of Arnhem reconstructs the Battle of the Bulge in this riveting new account On December 16, 1944, Hitler launched his ‘last gamble’ in the snow-covered forests and gorges of the Ardennes in Belgium, believing he could split the Allies by driving all the way to Antwerp and forcing the Canadians and the British out of the war. Although his generals were doubtful of success, younger officers and NCOs were desperate to believe that their homes and families could be saved from the vengeful Red Army approaching from the east. Many were exultant at the prospect of striking back. The allies, taken by surprise, found themselves fighting two panzer armies. Belgian civilians abandoned their homes, justifiably afraid of German revenge. Panic spread even to Paris. While some American soldiers, overwhelmed by the German onslaught, fled or surrendered, others held on heroically, creating breakwaters which slowed the German advance. The harsh winter conditions and the savagery of the battle became comparable to the Eastern Front. In fact the Ardennes became the Western Front’s counterpart to Stalingrad. There was terrible ferocity on both sides, driven by desperation and revenge, in which the normal rules of combat were breached. The Ardennes—involving more than a million men—would prove to be the battle which finally broke the back of the Wehrmacht. In this deeply researched work, with striking insights into the major players on both sides, Antony Beevor gives us the definitive account of the Ardennes offensive which was to become the greatest battle of World War II.

History of the 17th (Northern) Division
History of the 17th (Northern) Division

Author: A.Hilliard Atteridge

Publisher:

Published: 2003-04-01

Total Pages: 504

ISBN-13: 9781843425816

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The 17th Division came into existence on 11 September 1914, the third in seniority of Kitchener s Second New Army, with brigades numbered 50th, 51st and 52nd. It assembled around Wareham in Dorset, completed its final training in the Winchester area, and left for France in July 1915. It fought on the Western Front for the rest of the war, winning four VCs and suffering 40,258 casualties. Its first commander was Maj-Gen W.R.Kenyon-Slaney, late Rifle Brigade, who had retired a year earlier at the age of 62; he was replaced after four months and went back into retirement. The new man was T.D.Pilcher of the Bedfords, who had come from command of the Burma Division. The division s first major action was at Hooge in July-August 1915 and it remained in the Salient for the next eight months, moving south to the Somme in June 1916 after a short spell in the Armentieres sector. On the opening day of the Somme offensive 50th Brigade attacked Fricourt and one of its battalions, 10th W Yorks, sustained 733 casualties of whom 307 were killed, eleven of them officers including the CO, 2IC, adjutant and two company commanders; this was the highest casualty rate for a single battalion on that day. Fricourt New Cemetery is in the Noman s Land across which the battalion attacked, and in it lie 159 officers and men of the battalion, the CO (Dickson) and his adjutant (Shand) side by side. Pilcher was sent home and P.R.Robertson, a Cameronian, then commanding 19th Brigade, took over command for the rest of the war. The division went on to fight in the 1917 Arras offensive and in Third Ypres. It was back on the Somme battleground during the German March 1918 onslaught and in the August counter-offensive which marked the beginning of the end for Germany. This is a good, straightforward account of the division s activities supported by numerous maps in the text, which provide a fair amount of detail. The map on page 402, which shows the advance from the Canal du Nord, has the 48th Division on the left of the 17th; this is a misprint, it shoud read 42nd Division as stated in the text.. In the fighting in Delville Wood (p 151 and 153)reference is made to making contact with 13th Division. an impossible feat since that division was in Mesopotamia. The actual division involved was the 2nd. There is an index but no staff and command lists nor list of Honours and Awards

Somme 1916
Somme 1916

Author: Gerald Gliddon

Publisher: The History Press

Published: 2009-11-20

Total Pages: 644

ISBN-13: 0752495356

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Set out topographically, it covers everything from the famous battle sites of High Wood and Mametz Wood to obscure villages on the outlying flanks. The British first began to take the Somme sector over from the French Army in June 1915. From this time onwards they built up a very close bond with the local population, many of whom continued to live in local villages close to the front line. The author draws on the latest research and analysis, as well as the testimony of those who took part, to present all aspects of a battle that was to become a symbol of the horrors of the Great War.

Winning and Losing on the Western Front
Winning and Losing on the Western Front

Author: Jonathan Boff

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2012-07-05

Total Pages: 309

ISBN-13: 1139536869

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The 'Hundred Days' campaign of 1918 remains a neglected aspect of the First World War. Why was the German army defeated on the Western Front? Did its morale collapse or was it beaten by the improved military effectiveness of a British army which had climbed a painful 'learning curve' towards modern combined arms warfare? This revealing insight into the crucial final months of the First World War uses state-of-the-art methodology to present a rounded case study of the ability of both armies to adapt to the changing realities they faced. Jonathan Boff draws on both British and German archival sources, some of them previously unseen, to examine how representative armies fought during the 'Hundred Days' campaign. Assessing how far the application of modern warfare underpinned the British army's part in the Allied victory, the book highlights the complexity of modern warfare and the role of organisational behaviour within it.