The 54th Infantry Brigade: 1914-1918
The 54th Infantry Brigade: 1914-1918

Author: 54th Infantry

Publisher: Andrews UK Limited

Published: 2012-03-28

Total Pages: 231

ISBN-13: 1781513732

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This book has a subtitle: 'Some Records of Battle and Laughter in France' which sets the tone of this history, the history of one of the most remarkable brigades that fought on the Western Front, part of one of the most remarkable divisions. The 18th (Eastern) Division became an elite formation, one of Kitchener's Second New Army divisions, which had the advantage of being commanded by Ivor Maxse, foremost among commanders for his training and leadership qualities. He commanded it for two and a quarter years and his successor, R.P Lee, another good commander, lead it for the rest of the war. Only two GOCs in four years of war. The 54th Brigade was to win eight VCs, the highest number for a non-regular army brigade, eight out of the eleven awarded to the division. The history is made up of the stories and recollections of all ranks, and the style is very informal. The compiler or editor has chosen to remain anonymous, but the result is something like a regimental history, with a good sprinkling of personalities identified in the narrative. Much is made of the ‘Spirit of the Brigade, a morale booster undoubtedly helped by the fact the battalions stayed together from the time they arrived in France in July 1915 till the reorganization of the BEF in February 1918 when brigades were reduced to three battalions. The 54th Brigade certainly saw a great deal of action and there are plenty of lively descriptions. The Brigade commander tells of his visit to an emplacement known as Panama House during a lively ‘strafe'. The company sergeant-major emerged, grabbed the brigadier and threw him inside saying: 'We don’t want no dead Brigadiers round our pillbox.' The brigade commanders and staff and the unit commanders are listed in the appendix and the eight VC citations are given.

Borrowed Soldiers
Borrowed Soldiers

Author: Mitchell A. Yockelson

Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press

Published: 2016-01-18

Total Pages: 370

ISBN-13: 0806155604

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The combined British Expeditionary Force and American II Corps successfully pierced the Hindenburg Line during the Hundred Days Campaign of World War I, an offensive that hastened the war’s end. Yet despite the importance of this effort, the training and operation of II Corps has received scant attention from historians. Mitchell A. Yockelson delivers a comprehensive study of the first time American and British soldiers fought together as a coalition force—more than twenty years before D-Day. He follows the two divisions that constituted II Corps, the 27th and 30th, from the training camps of South Carolina to the bloody battlefields of Europe. Despite cultural differences, General Pershing’s misgivings, and the contrast between American eagerness and British exhaustion, the untested Yanks benefited from the experience of battle-toughened Tommies. Their combined forces contributed much to the Allied victory. Yockelson plumbs new archival sources, including letters and diaries of American, Australian, and British soldiers to examine how two forces of differing organization and attitude merged command relationships and operations. Emphasizing tactical cooperation and training, he details II Corps’ performance in Flanders during the Ypres-Lys offensive, the assault on the Hindenburg Line, and the decisive battle of the Selle. Featuring thirty-nine evocative photographs and nine maps, this account shows how the British and American military relationship evolved both strategically and politically. A case study of coalition warfare, Borrowed Soldiers adds significantly to our understanding of the Great War.

From the Somme to Victory
From the Somme to Victory

Author: Peter Simkins

Publisher: Pen and Sword

Published: 2014-10-30

Total Pages: 487

ISBN-13: 1473841046

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Peter Simkins has established a reputation over the last forty years as one of the most original and stimulating historians of the First World War. He has made a major contribution to the debate about the performance of the British Army on the Western Front. This collection of his most perceptive and challenging essays, which concentrates on British operations in France between 1916 and 1918, shows that this reputation is richly deserved. He focuses on key aspects of the army's performance in battle, from the first day of the Somme to the Hundred Days, and gives a fascinating insight into the developing theory and practice of the army as it struggled to find a way to break through the German line. His rigorous analysis undermines some of the common assumptions - and the myths - that still cling to the history of these British battles.

Victoria Crosses on the Western Front
Victoria Crosses on the Western Front

Author: Paul Oldfield

Publisher: Pen and Sword Military

Published: 2022-12-29

Total Pages: 510

ISBN-13: 152678808X

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In the past, while visiting the First World War battlefields, the author often wondered where the various Victoria Cross actions took place. He resolved to find out. In 1988, in the midst of his army career, research for this book commenced and over the years numerous sources have been consulted. Victoria Crosses on the Western Front: Battles of the Hindenburg Line - Havrincourt and Epehy is designed for the battlefield visitor as much as the armchair reader. A thorough account of each VC action is set within the wider strategic and tactical context. Detailed sketch maps show the area today, together with the battle-lines and movements of the combatants. It will allow visitors to stand upon the spot, or very close to, where each VC was won. Photographs of the battle sites richly illustrate the accounts. There is also a comprehensive biography for each recipient, covering every aspect of their lives warts and all: parents and siblings, education, civilian employment, military career, wife and children, death and burial/commemoration. A host of other information, much of it published for the first time, reveals some fascinating characters, with numerous links to many famous people and events.

Imperial German Army 1914-18
Imperial German Army 1914-18

Author: Hermann Cron

Publisher: Helion & Company Limited

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 418

ISBN-13: 9781874622291

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A detailed account of the composition, structure and organization of the First World War German Army has long been needed by English-language readers - this work will fill the gap admirably. In more than 300 pages, the authors examine all aspects of the army. A detailed analytical text is followed by an extensive compendium of order-of-battle data.

Bloody Red Tabs
Bloody Red Tabs

Author: Frank Davies

Publisher: Pen and Sword

Published: 2014-04-30

Total Pages: 247

ISBN-13: 1473812518

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Long before that ghastly and quite unnecessary slogging match in the mud which we now call the First World War had dragged to its blood-soaked conclusion the belief that most of the senior officers had spent their time in comfort and safety in chateaux far behind the lines with no idea of the conditions in which the men they commanded were fighting was firmly embedded in the public mind. As the years pass by that belief has, if anything, become more deeply held, gaining strength from plays like Oh! What a Lovely War, itself based on Alan Clark's book The Donkeys.It is the purpose of this book to show not only how the myth was born and grew but how totally at odds it is with the facts. Biographies of over 200 officers who held the rank of Brigadier-General or above who were killed or wounded during the war show how closely involved the men at the top were with the men at the front. Ironically, as the authors point out, this was more than just a waste of blood, for these were the very men whose experience was vital to the successful prosecution of the war. Had they actually stayed in their chateaux, as Lloyd George alleged, they might have done much more to hasten the end of the conflict.This is not only an invaluable work of reference but a tribute to those gallant senior officers who have been so unfairly traduced by many who should have known better.As featured in Essence Magazine.

The Kensington Battalion
The Kensington Battalion

Author: G. I. S. Inglis

Publisher: Casemate Publishers

Published: 2010-01-01

Total Pages: 289

ISBN-13: 1848842473

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"Raised by the Mayor of Kensington, the 22nd Royal Fusiliers (the Kensington Battalion) were a strange mixture of social classes (bankers and stevedores, writers and laborers) with a strong sprinkling of irreverent colonials thrown in. Such a disparate group needed a strong leader and, luckily, in Randle Barnett Barker, they found one, first as their trainer and then as the commanding officer ... [The Kensington Battalion] suffered severely in the battles of 1917 and, starved of reinforcements, were disbanded in 1918 ... The author has ... drawn on a wealth of first hand material (diaries, letters and official documents) as well as interviews from the 1980s to produce a ... record of service and sacrifice of the Kensington Battalion"--Jacket.

The Somme
The Somme

Author: Gary Sheffield

Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson

Published: 2015-10-08

Total Pages: 222

ISBN-13: 1474603092

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On 1 July 1916, after a stupendous seven-day artillery preparation, the British Army finally launched its attack on the German line around the River Somme. Over the next four and half months they continued to attack, with little or no gain, and with horrendous losses to both sides. This book, written by the world's foremost expert in the subject, describes in chilling detail everything from the grand strategy to the experience of the men on the ground. Illustrated throughout, it is a stunning and absorbing depiction of the horror that was the Somme in 1916.