VCs of the First World War: 1914
VCs of the First World War: 1914

Author: Gerald Gliddon

Publisher: The History Press

Published: 2012-05-30

Total Pages: 315

ISBN-13: 0752487507

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

During the opening four months of the First World War no fewer than forty-six soldiers from the British and Commonwealth armies were awarded the Victoria Cross, Britain's highest award for gallantry. In a series of biographies, Gerald Gliddon examines the men and the dramatic events that led to the award of this most coveted of medals and explores the post-war experiences of those who survived. These men, ordinary soldiers from widely differing social backgrounds, acted with valour above and beyond the call of duty. Their stories and experiences offer a fresh perspective on the opening stages of the 'war to end wars'.

VCs of the First World War: The Sideshows
VCs of the First World War: The Sideshows

Author: Gerald Gliddon

Publisher: The History Press

Published: 2014-08-01

Total Pages: 446

ISBN-13: 0750957654

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The thirteenth and final volume of the VCs of the First World War series features the lives and careers of forty-six servicemen who won the coveted Victoria Cross in theatres of war – or ' Sideshows', as they became known – beyond the Western Front and Gallipoli. Opening with the stories of four VC winners who took part in the prolonged struggle to drive the German Army out of East Africa, VCs of the First World War: The Sideshows goes on to tell the stories of the two Indian Army winners of the VC defending the North-West Frontier. Finally, it covers the campaigns against the Austro–German forces in Italy; securing the oil wells in Mesopotamia (later Iraq); defending the Suez Canal and attacking the Ottoman Army in Palestine and lastly serving in Salonika in the Balkans. Each VC winner's act of bravery is recorded here in intricate detail, together with the background of the men and their lives after the war – if they survived.

The Beauty and the Sorrow
The Beauty and the Sorrow

Author: Peter Englund

Publisher: Vintage

Published: 2012-09-04

Total Pages: 594

ISBN-13: 0307739287

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

An intimate narrative history of World War I told through the stories of twenty men and women from around the globe--a powerful, illuminating, heart-rending picture of what the war was really like. In this masterful book, renowned historian Peter Englund describes this epoch-defining event by weaving together accounts of the average man or woman who experienced it. Drawing on the diaries, journals, and letters of twenty individuals from Belgium, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, Russia, Venezuela, and the United States, Englund’s collection of these varied perspectives describes not a course of events but "a world of feeling." Composed in short chapters that move between the home front and the front lines, The Beauty and Sorrow brings to life these twenty particular people and lets them speak for all who were shaped in some way by the War, but whose voices have remained unheard.

VCs of the First World War: Road to Victory 1918
VCs of the First World War: Road to Victory 1918

Author: Gerald Gliddon

Publisher: The History Press

Published: 2014-02-03

Total Pages: 424

ISBN-13: 0750954825

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

By August 1918 fortune was on the side of the Allies: America was increasing its contribution of troops and equipment substantially; the morale of the German Army was sinking as it failed to deliver the desired 'knock out blow'; and Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig found a new confidence, firmly believing that the Allies could at last push the Germans out of France and Belgium. This volume of the best-selling VCs of the First World War series covers the fifty days of the Allied advance from 8 August to 26 September 1918. Arranged chronologically, it tells the story of the sixty-four VC winners during this period. The recipients came from many countries, including Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand; some never lived to know that they had been awarded for their extraordinary bravery, while others returned home to face an uncertain future. This is their story.

VCs of the First World War: Somme 1916
VCs of the First World War: Somme 1916

Author: Gerald Gliddon

Publisher: The History Press

Published: 2012-05-30

Total Pages: 313

ISBN-13: 0752487469

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The Battle of the Somme, which lasted from 1 July to 18 November 1916, is remembered as one of the most horrific and tragic battles of the First World War. On the first day alone nearly 19,000 British troops were killed – the greatest one-day loss in the history of the British Army. By November the death toll from the armies of Britain, France and Germany had risen to over a million. This book tells the stories of fifty-one soldiers from the Commonwealth and Empire armies whose bravery on the battlefield was rewarded by the Victoria Cross, the highest military honour – men like Private Billy McFadzean, who was blown up by two grenades which he smothered in order to save the lives of his comrades, and Private 'Todger' Jones, who single-handedly rounded up 102 German soldiers. Not only do we learn of heroic endeavours of these men at the height of battle, but we also read of their lives before 1914, ranging from the backstreets of Glasgow to a country house in Cheshire, and of what life was like after the war for the thirty-three survivors.

VCs of the First World War: The Air VCs
VCs of the First World War: The Air VCs

Author: Peter G. Cooksley

Publisher: The History Press

Published: 2014-04-07

Total Pages: 326

ISBN-13: 0752493922

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Of more than 600 Victoria Crosses awarded to British and Empire servicemen during the First World War, nineteen were awarded to airmen of the newly formed Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service. Of these, four were posthumous awards and all but one of the total were to officers. Some of these valorous airmen were from humble backgrounds and with limited education; others were collegiate men from wealthy families. But in the words of one senior officer they all had in common 'the guts of a lion'. Each VS winner's act of bravery is recorded here in intricate detail, along with their backgrounds and their lives after the war.

We Also Served
We Also Served

Author: Vivien Newman

Publisher: Pen and Sword

Published: 2014-11-30

Total Pages: 201

ISBN-13: 1783462256

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

We Also Served is a social history of women's involvement in the First World War. Dr Vivien Newman disturbs myths and preconceptions surrounding women's war work and seeks to inform contemporary readers of countless acts of derring-do, determination, and quiet heroism by British women, that went on behind the scenes from 1914-1918.??In August 1914 a mere 640 women had a clearly defined wartime role. Ignoring early War Office advice to 'go home and sit still', by 1918 hundreds of thousands of women from all corners of the world had lent their individual wills and collective strength to the Allied cause. ??As well as becoming nurses, munitions workers, and members of the Land Army, women were also ambulance drivers and surgeons; they served with the Armed Forces; funded and managed their own hospitals within sight and sound of the guns. At least one British woman bore arms, and over a thousand women lost their lives as a direct result of their involvement with the war. ??This book lets these all but forgotten women speak directly to us of their war, their lives, and their stories.

VCs of the First World War: The Final Days 1918
VCs of the First World War: The Final Days 1918

Author: Gerald Gliddon

Publisher: The History Press

Published: 2014-07-15

Total Pages: 366

ISBN-13: 0750957328

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Towards the end of September 1918 the Allied armies were poised to seize the Hindenburg Line – the end of the war on the Western Front was at last in sight. These final days became a series of battles to capture a number of river lines: as each one was captured by the Allies, the German Army fell back to the next. Despite stiff resistance from the enemy, the Allies slowly advanced. The Germans became increasingly demoralised, and about a quarter of their army surrendered. By the beginning of November the Allies had closed in until they were flanking the Forest of Mormal, surrounding the enemy. On 11 November the Canadian Corps retook Mons and, following the signing of the armistice, the guns finally fell silent at 11 a.m. Covering the six-week period from the Battle of Canal du Nord to Armistice Day, this volume tells the story of the fifty-six VC winners from France, Canada and Britain who fought in the victorious Allied advance.

Givenchy in the Great War
Givenchy in the Great War

Author: Phil Tomaselli

Publisher: Casemate Publishers

Published: 2017-01-30

Total Pages: 296

ISBN-13: 1526714116

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The village of Givenchy-ls-la-Basse sits on a small rise in the Pas de Calais Department in northern France. One hundred years ago it was overtaken by the First World War. The fighting there was intense eleven Victoria Crosses were won in this tiny locality between 1914 and 1918. Phil Tomasellis in-depth account shows what happened at Givenchy when it became a battlefield, and the story here was repeated in the other villages and towns on the Western Front. Givenchys key position made it the target for crushing bombardments, infantry assaults and subterranean warfare. The landscape was pulverized by shellfire, the ground beneath was honeycombed with tunnels. Mining operations, shelling, sniping and trench raids took place around the remains of the village even when this stretch of the front line was relatively quiet. The grueling struggle of attrition that characterized the fighting on the Western Front continued here throughout the war. Phil Tomasellis gripping narrative makes extensive use of war diary extracts, personal stories, official and unofficial histories.