The Ironclads of Cambrai
The Ironclads of Cambrai

Author: Bryan Cooper

Publisher: Pen and Sword

Published: 2010-06-15

Total Pages: 306

ISBN-13: 1844685543

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When tanks, the newly invented British weapon, were used for the first time in a mass attack on November 20 1917, they not only achieved one of the most remarkable successes of the First World War but set the pattern for the future of mechanized warfare. For the first time in three years of bloody trench warfare, epitomized by the slaughter at Passchendaele which was then reaching its climax, tanks brought about a breakthrough of the massive German defense system of the Hindenburg Line, followed up by British infantry and cavalry divisions. They were supported for the first time by low flying fighter aircraft of the Royal Flying Corps. The initial victory at Cambrai brought cheering crowds into the streets of London and the ringing of church bells in celebration. In seemed possible that the success might bring about the final defeat of Germany. But the British High Command failed to exploit the success. Generals who still dreamt of massive cavalry charges had not had much faith in this strange new weapon that had been brought to them funded initially by the Royal Navy at the behest of Winston Churchill who was then First Lord of the Admiralty and did see its value. The High Command did not really believe the breakthrough was possible and tragically miscalculated the necessary steps to follow it up. Within days the Germans counterattacked and regained much of the ground that the British had won. What could have been the final victory was delayed for another year.

The German Army at Cambrai
The German Army at Cambrai

Author: Jack Sheldon

Publisher: Casemate Publishers

Published: 2009-09-19

Total Pages: 609

ISBN-13: 1844685047

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This latest German Army book by Jack Sheldon covers a shorter (three week) timeframe than his earlier works. After an introductory chapter tracing the development of the Hindenburg Line, the author concentrates on German aspects of the bitterly fought battle of Cambrai from 20 November to 6 December 1917.The narrative splits easily into two parts. First the defensive battle 20 29 November followed by the counter-attack which saw the German Army regain not only most of the ground lost in the opening phase but more besides. Detailed descriptions are given of the struggle for Flesquires Ridge and the see-saw battles for key terrain, including Bourlon Wood, as the German Army rushed reinforcements to the sectors under attack before we witness the German offensive.As with his other books full use is made of primary source material from the Munich Kriegsarchiv, the Hauptstaatsarchiv in Stuttgart, regimental histories and personal accounts. Of particular interest are the controversial interventions in operational matters of Ludendorf which were sharply criticized by Crown Prince Rupprecht. But for many the most fascinating aspect will be the experiences of the front line soldiers.

Battle Story: Cambrai 1917
Battle Story: Cambrai 1917

Author: Chris McNab

Publisher: The History Press

Published: 2012-02-29

Total Pages: 162

ISBN-13: 0752483714

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Cambrai 1917 was the battle that sowed the seeds of future combined-arms tank and infantry warfare, while remaining a battle of singular drama in its own right. If you truly want to understand what happened and why – read Battle Story. Detailed profiles explore the background of the generals of the two opposing forces, as well as what made up the average German and British soldier. First-person, contemporary sources bring the reader into the world of the Battle of Cambrai and show what it was like to be in the thick of battle. Detailed maps highlight key points in the battle and the surrounding area. Photographs place you on the front line of the unfolding action. Orders of battle reveal the composition of the two opposing forces' army in detail. Packed with fact boxes, this short introduction is the perfect way to explore this important battle.

Cambrai 1917
Cambrai 1917

Author: Bryn Hammond

Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson

Published: 2008-12-22

Total Pages: 543

ISBN-13: 0297856359

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The story of the first great tank battle, and the genesis of one of the most formidable weapons of the twentieth century. Cambrai was the last - and most influential - battle fought by the British on the Western Front in 1917. With many of the Allies on the brink of collapse, only Britain was still capable of holding the Germans at bay. Over time, many myths have grown up around what happened at Cambrai. The events of this iconic attack are now buried beneath accumulated legends and misrepresentations built up over almost a century. It is remembered as the world's first great tank battle, but it was the brilliant British innovations in artillery techniques that most shocked the enemy. Equally important were the new 'stormtroop' tactics the Germans pioneered. Drawing on previously unpublished letters, diaries, first-hand accounts and official reports, Bryn Hammond's definitive account examines this military milestone, how the myths were created, and how they changed the face of warfare for ever.

The 51st (Highland) Division in the Great War
The 51st (Highland) Division in the Great War

Author: Colin Campbell

Publisher: Casemate Publishers

Published: 2018-11-30

Total Pages: 441

ISBN-13: 1526747049

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Scotland provided two Territorial Force divisions at the outbreak of the First World War, in due course taking their place in the order of battle as the 51st (Highland) Division and the 52nd (Lowland) Division. 1066 and All That concluded that the war was won by the Americans, assisted by the Australians (AZTECS) and some Canadians, and 51 Highlanders. If nothing else, this ironic analysis showed that Major General George (Uncle, sometimes Daddy) Harper was a master of positive publicity and knew its value in building the Divisions image and morale. He commanded the Division from late September 1915 until shortly before the opening of the German Spring Offensive in March 1918, when he was promoted to the command of IV Corps; his name is firmly linked to the 51st.The Division arrived in France in May 1915 and took part in a limited (and unsuccessful) attack in French Flanders in June 1915, which revealed hardly surprising weaknesses in training. The next year was spent relatively quietly on the Somme and, from March 1916, the southern end of Vimy Ridge. Thereafter it fought on the Somme at High Wood and Beaumont-Hamel, at the Battle of Arras, at Third Ypres, Cambrai, faced two of the German spring offensives of 1918 and was then involved in the successful series of allied offensives that ended the war, in the Divisions case starting with an attack with the French and the Italians in the Champagne in July 1918.No history of the Division has been written since Brewshers in 1921. This book aims to cast a more objective light on its activities and to challenge its post war critics. It makes full use of official records and first hand accounts, including those provided by descendants with previously unpublished family records or illustrations. The books main purpose is to pay tribute to a generation that met hitherto unimagined horrors with fortitude, adaptability, resilience and humour and, despite the awful price in lives, broken bodies and minds, carried on until the job was done.

Cambrai
Cambrai

Author: A.J Smithers

Publisher: Pen and Sword

Published: 1992-07-01

Total Pages: 221

ISBN-13: 0850522684

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It is probably true to say that no land battle of this century passes Cambrai in importance. Up to the winter of 1917 warfare had changed only in degree since the coming of gunpowder. The scenario, with parts for horse, foot and guns, remained essentially the same. All this was part of a world about to disappear for good with the introduction of the tank. The British Army, hammered by years of war and facing almost alone the vastly increasing strength of its enemy, was expected by most observers to be near to going down in defeat. Instead of that, using British designed and built fighting machines of a novel kind, it attacked and drove the Germans from the strongest fortifications ever built. Nobody, save for a dedicated few, had believed such a feat possible. After profiting from its lessons the same Army, 12 months later, achieved its greatest victories of all time and saved Europe, for a time, from German dictatorship. The methods used made obsolete everything that had gone before and laid out the ground for each serious operation of war from Amiens to the Gulf.

The German Offensives of 1918
The German Offensives of 1918

Author: Ian Passingham

Publisher: Casemate Publishers

Published: 2008-09-22

Total Pages: 269

ISBN-13: 1781599122

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The author of All the Kaiser’s Men provides “a very helpful reference . . . to the battles which finally led to the German Army’s defeat in the field.” —The Western Front Association Few pivotal years in history are less understood than that of 1918. It was a momentous period, which began with Germany’s desperate gamble to win the Great War through a sequence of offensives on the Western Front. Ian Passingham’s graphic new study draws on a wide range of original German, British and French sources, and it features previously unpublished eyewitness accounts and photographs. He boldly reassesses German military doctrine, the strategic thinking behind the offensives and the effectiveness of the stormtroop tactics used. He also considers how the poor state of German military morale and the privations and unrest of the German people contributed to the army's defeat.

A Gunner's Great War
A Gunner's Great War

Author: Ian Ronayne

Publisher: Pen and Sword

Published: 2012-09-19

Total Pages: 216

ISBN-13: 1783461322

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“A graphic and moving account of an artilleryman’s experience on the Western Front. An interesting book for those who like artillery and WWI” (English Heritage). If the First World War had not happened when it did, Channel Islander Clarence Ahier would almost certainly have led a mostly unremarkable life. But it did, and in October 1915, at just twenty-three-years-old, Clarence left his home and volunteered to join the British Army. He would spend the next two and half years serving as an artilleryman on the Western Front. Now this in itself is not remarkable—millions of other young men did the same thing. But Clarence did do something that set him apart from almost all his contemporaries: from the very beginning of his time at the front, he kept a meticulously written journal. Having lain unnoticed for years, the journal was recently discovered in a collection of dusty ephemera handed to a local history society. It consists of around twenty-five thousand words with a focus on Clarence’s experience during the Battle of the Somme, in the fighting around Ypres, and, after he was wounded for the second time, the journey to India and his time there as a member of the garrison. Additional explanatory text by Ian Ronayne puts Clarence’s experiences in the context of the wider war that would transform him—and the world. “A very useful introduction to the Great War . . . An excellent read.” —War History Online

A History of War in 100 Battles
A History of War in 100 Battles

Author: Richard Overy

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2014-10-01

Total Pages: 609

ISBN-13: 0199390738

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Their very names--Gettysburg, Waterloo, Stalingrad--evoke images of great triumph and equally great suffering, moments when history seemed to hang in the balance. Considered in relation to each other, such battles--and others of less immediate renown--offer insight into the changing nature of armed combat, advances in technology, shifts in strategy and thought, as well as altered geopolitical landscapes. The most significant military engagements in history define the very nature of war. In his newest book, Richard Overy plumbs over 3,000 years of history, from the Fall of Troy in 1200 BC to the Fall of Baghdad in 2003, to locate the 100 battles that he believes the most momentous. Arranged by themes such as leadership, innovation, deception, and courage under fire, Overy presents engaging essays on each battle that together provide a rich picture of how combat has changed through the ages, as well as highlighting what has remained consistent despite advances in technology. The battles covered here offer a wide geographic sweep, from ancient Greece to China, Constantinople to Moscow, North to South America, providing a picture of the dominant empires across time and context for comparison between various military cultures. From familiar engagements like Thermopylae (480 BC), Verdun (1916), and the Tet Offensive (1968) to lesser-studied battles such as Zama (202 BC), Arsuf (1191), and Navarino Bay (1827), Overy presents the key actors, choices, and contingencies, focusing on those details--sometimes overlooked--that decided the battle. The American victory at the Battle of Midway, for example, was determined by only ten bombs. It was, as Wellington said of Waterloo, a "near run thing." Rather than focusing on the question of victory or defeat, Overy examines what an engagement can tell us on a larger level about the history of warfare itself. New weapons and tactics can have a sudden impact on the outcome of a battle--but so too can leadership, or the effects of a clever deception, or raw courage. Overy offers a deft and visually captivating look at the engagements that have shaped the course of human history, and changed the face of warfare.

The War of the Gun Boats
The War of the Gun Boats

Author: Bryan Cooper

Publisher: Casemate Publishers

Published: 2009-07-19

Total Pages: 409

ISBN-13: 1844689352

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This WWII naval history chronicles the development of small fighting boats as well as the evolution of their tactics and coastal warfare operations. Small, fast and highly maneuverable, gunboats and motor torpedo boats were a vital part of naval combat through the Second World War. Every major naval power built their own versions: The Germans had Schnellboote, the Royal Navy had MTBs and MGBs, and the Americans had PT boats. With their daring night raids and close-range battles, they displayed the buccaneering spirit of an earlier age. These small boats fought in coastal waters across the globe, from the narrow waters of the English Channel to the stormy North Sea; in the Mediterranean off the coasts of North Africa and Italy and among the islands of the Aegean; across the Pacific from Pearl Harbor to Leyte Gulf; in Hong Kong and Singapore; and off Burma's Arakan coast. In The War of the Gun Boats, historian Bryan Cooper traces the development of these craft, beginning with their limited use in the First World War and the fast motorboats designed to break water speed records in the 1930s. Cooper then details their widespread implementation during the Second World War and the development of their own form of naval warfare.