VCs Spring Offensive 1918
VCs Spring Offensive 1918

Author: Gerald Gliddon

Publisher: The History Press

Published: 2013-02-01

Total Pages: 380

ISBN-13: 0752492349

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At the end of 1917, after three years of trench warfare on the Western Front, the Allied armies of Britain and France, and those of their main opponent, Germany, had reached a point of exhaustion and hibernation.On March 21 1918, the German Army launched a massive assault on the Western Front, hurling fifty-nine divisions into battle against the British Fifth Army, smashing through British lines and advancing 40 miles per week. More offensives were to follow throughout the spring, including at Aisne and Marne, with the aim of ending the war before American forces could reach the Continent and reinforce the Allied lines. Nevertheless, although the German Army left the British Army reeling, the Tommies retreated in good order and fought all the way. It was during these bloody battles, which lasted until July 1918, that fifty-seven men stood out for acts of extraordinary daring and bravery. To these men the highest military honour was awarded – the Victoria Cross. This book reveals the true extent of their bravery, their backgrounds and their lives after the war.

VCs Handbook
VCs Handbook

Author: Gerald Gliddon

Publisher: The History Press

Published: 2005-09-28

Total Pages: 305

ISBN-13: 0750952830

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On the Western Front during the First World War, 490 men won the British Empire's highest award for gallantry, the Victoria Cross. A companion for any visitor to the First World War battlefields in France and Flanders, this reference book lists every VC recipient from 1914 to 1918 in alphabetical order.

Yorkshire VCs
Yorkshire VCs

Author: Alan Whitworth

Publisher: Casemate Publishers

Published: 2012-10-24

Total Pages: 503

ISBN-13: 1781599025

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Today the Victoria Cross remains the supreme British award for bravery. It takes precedence over all other awards and decorations. During its 160-year history, since the first of these medals were given for gallantry during the Crimean War in the 1850's, 1,357 have been won, and no less than 69 of them have gone to Yorkshiremen. Alan Whitworth, in this carefully researched and revealing account, describes in graphic detail the exploits and the lives of this elite group of heroes.

VCs of the North
VCs of the North

Author: Alan Whitworth

Publisher: Pen and Sword

Published: 2015-10-30

Total Pages: 190

ISBN-13: 1473848237

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Today the Victoria Cross remains the supreme British award for bravery. It takes precedence over all other awards and decorations. During its 160-year history, since the first medals were given for gallantry during the Crimean War in the 1850s, 1,357 of these medals have been won, and almost fifty of them have gone to the soldiers of Cumbria, Durham and Northumberland . Alan Whitworth, in this carefully researched and revealing account, describes in graphic detail the exploits and the lives of this elite band of heroes. Within this group of Northern VC recipients are a number of outstanding names, including Richard Annand who gained the first VC of the Second World War and Roland Bradford who was one of only four sets of brothers to have secured the VC. He also had the distinction of becoming the youngest general in the British army. But among the roll of the brave whose gallantry and self-sacrifice are celebrated in these pages the reader will find the names and extraordinary deeds of many other men who were either born or bred or lived and died in the North. They will also find the story of the youngest Victoria Cross recipient who won his award aged just nineteen.The stories of these ordinary individuals who have 'performed some signal act of valour or devotion to their country' will be fascinating reading for anyone who is interested in military history in general and in the long military tradition of the North of England.

VCs The Final Days 1918
VCs The Final Days 1918

Author: Gerald Gliddon

Publisher: The History Press

Published: 2014-07-15

Total Pages: 357

ISBN-13: 0750957328

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The latest volume in the series covering the final days of the war on the Western Front from the Allied Armies being poised to capture the Hindenburg Line to the Armistice on 11 November 1918. The book opens with the stories of seven VC-winners who took part in the Battle of the Canal du Nord on 27 September 1918. Despite enemy resistance, the British First and Third Armies advanced six miles, leading eventually to the successful capture of Cambrai. The last period of the war became a series of battles to capture a series of river lines. From the Battle of the Canal du Nord until Armistice Day, a period of just under six weeks, a total of 56 VCs were won in the victorious Allied advance. The VC winners came from France and Canada as well.

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

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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.

The Complete Victoria Cross
The Complete Victoria Cross

Author: Kevin Brazier

Publisher: Casemate Publishers

Published: 2015-09-30

Total Pages: 450

ISBN-13: 1473872065

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This fully revised paperback edition of the complete chronological record of VC holders is an essential work of reference for every student of military history. All the British and Commonwealth servicemen who have been awarded the highest honour for exceptional acts of bravery and self-sacrifice are commemorated here. The first VCs awarded for the Crimean War and in the nineteenth-century colonial wars are described, as are the VCs awarded in the world wars of the twentieth century and the most recent VCs awarded during present-day conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. The extraordinary exploits recounted in this fascinating book make unforgettable reading.

VCs of the First World War: Passchendaele 1917
VCs of the First World War: Passchendaele 1917

Author: Stephen Snelling

Publisher: The History Press

Published: 2012-02-29

Total Pages: 405

ISBN-13: 0752483730

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Of all the costly campaigns fought across the Western Front during the First World War, none strikes a more chilling chord than Passchendaele. Even now, more than ninety years on, the very mention of the name is enough to conjure up apocalyptic images of desolation and misery on a quite bewildering scale – humanity drowning in a sea of mud. Passchendaele has come to serve as a symbol of the folly and futility of war, chiefly remembered for its carnage and profligate waste of human lives. It also stands as testament to the endurance and extraordinary courage displayed by men of all ranks and nationalities. During the 3 1⁄2 month long struggle, which claimed the lives of more than 60,000 British and Commonwealth servicemen, 61 men were adjudged to have performed deeds worthy of the Empire's highest award for valour – the Victoria Cross. Men from Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa were among their number, alongside men from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. They came from all walks of life, counting humble privates and, for the first time, a general among their ranks. This is a lasting memorial to a body of men who deserve to be numbered among the bravest of the brave.

Somme 1916
Somme 1916

Author: Gerald Gliddon

Publisher: The History Press

Published: 2009-11-20

Total Pages: 560

ISBN-13: 0752495356

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Gerald Gliddon's classic survery of the Somme battlefield in 1916, first published in 1987 to great acclaim, has been greatly expanded and updated to include the latest research and analysis. Supported by a wide selection of archive photographs and drawing on the testimony of those who took part, this new edition covers both the famous battle sites, such as High Wood and Mametz Wood and lesser known villages on the outlying flanks. It includes a day-by-day account of the British build-up on the Somme and the ensuing struggle, British and German orders of battle and a full history of the cemeteries and memorials, both 'lost' and current, that sprang up in the years following the First World War. The author also provides thumbnail biographies of all the senior officers to fall, as well as the winners of the Victoria Cross and those who were 'shot at dawn'. In addition, Somme 'personalities' such as George Butterworth are covered in far greater detail than before.