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Tracing British Battalions on the Somme by Ray Westlake Pdf
Although seventy-eight years have passed since the Battle of the Somme was fought, interest in this, the bloodiest battle of the First World War, has never waned. Ray Westlake has collated all the information so painstakingly gathered, to produce a comprehensive compendium of the exact movements of every battalion involved in the battle. This book is invaluable not only to researchers but to all those visiting the battlefield and anxious to trace the movements of their forbears.
British Battalions on the Somme 1916 by Ray Westlake Pdf
The Somme in 1916 was the supreme test of the British Army; this book covers all 616 battalions involved, including units of the London Division, 16th Irish and 36th Ulster Divisions, and Tyneside Irish and Scottish Brigades.
Pals on the Somme covers the history of all the Pals Battalions who fought on the Somme during the First World War. The book looks at the events which led to the war and how the 'Pals' phenomenon was born. It considers the attitude and social conditions in Britain at the time. It covers the training and equipping of the Battalions, the preparations for the 'Big Push', 1st July 1916, and going over the top, and how each battalion fared, failed or succeeded. It looks at how they Battalions had to undergo a change after the 1st July, due to the heavy casualties, and the final victory in 1918, and how the battalions were eventually amalgamated. The final chapter examines how each area coped in the aftermath of losing their men in the three year slaughter. It covers the organizations and visits to the Battlefields as they are today.
"Despite superior air and artillery power, British soldiers died in catastrophic numbers at the Battle of Somme in 1916. What went wrong, and who was responsible? This book meticulously reconstructs the battle, assigns responsibility to military and political leaders, and changes forever the way we understand this encounter and the history of the Western Front"--Publisher description.
British Battalions in France & Belgium, 1914 by Ray Westlake Pdf
A unique account of the 143 infantry battalions of the British Army that served in France and Belgium from August to the end of December, 1914, during WWI. Ray Westlake has painstakingly compiled a comprehensive compendium of the exact movements of every regiment involved on the various battlefields in France and Flanders during World War One. Detailed records of movements, both in and out of battle areas and on a day-by-day basis, are covered in the same meticulous style as the author’s previous books, British Battalions on the Somme and British Regiments at Gallipoli.
British Regiments at Gallipoli by Ray Westlake Pdf
Following the success of British Battalions on the Somme, the author has produced a source book of the same quality on the Gallipoli Campaign. It has come about as a result of many years of enquiries from researchers and family historians.
Author : Taylor Downing Publisher : Little, Brown Book Group Page : 416 pages File Size : 48,6 Mb Release : 2016-04-07 Category : History ISBN : 9781408706626
Paralysis. Stuttering. The 'shakes'. Inability to stand or walk. Temporary blindness or deafness. When strange symptoms like these began appearing in men at Casualty Clearing Stations in 1915, a debate began in army and medical circles as to what it was, what had caused it and what could be done to cure it. But the numbers were never large. Then in July 1916 with the start of the Somme battle the incidence of shell shock rocketed. The high command of the British army began to panic. An increasingly large number of men seemed to have simply lost the will to fight. As entire battalions had to be withdrawn from the front, commanders and military doctors desperately tried to come up with explanations as to what was going wrong. 'Shell shock' - what we would now refer to as battle trauma - was sweeping the Western Front. By the beginning of August 1916, nearly 200,000 British soldiers had been killed or wounded during the first month of fighting along the Somme. Another 300,000 would be lost before the battle was over. But the army always said it could not calculate the exact number of those suffering from shell shock. Re-assessing the official casualty figures, Taylor Downing for the first time comes up with an accurate estimate of the total numbers who were taken out of action by psychological wounds. It is a shocking figure. Taylor Downing's revelatory new book follows units and individuals from signing up to the Pals Battalions of 1914, through to the horrors of their experiences on the Somme which led to the shell shock that, unrelated to weakness or cowardice, left the men unable to continue fighting. He shines a light on the official - and brutal - response to the epidemic, even against those officers and doctors who looked on it sympathetically. It was, they believed, a form of hysteria. It was contagious. And it had to be stopped. Breakdown brings an entirely new perspective to bear on one of the iconic battles of the First World War.
Author : Steven Fuller Publisher : Soldier Lads - First World War Page : 256 pages File Size : 50,6 Mb Release : 2012-07 Category : History ISBN : 0956269656
In August 1914 the 1st Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment were amongst the small professional British Army who gathered and prepared for a war that would 'be over by Christmas'. With a long and proud history, dating back to 1688, the regiment's fighting men had already served through numerous wars and rebellions over and above long periods on garrison duties in the 'Fever Isles', the New World, and throughout the expanding British Empire. So when war was declared the 'Old Contemptibles' of the 1st Battalion would find themselves heavily engaged in more intense fighting during the first three months of the Great War, as it came to be known, than many of the newly raised 'Service' battalions would experience during their entire existence. Despite heavy casualties, atrocious conditions, and a steep learning curve, they remained professional and stoic through the early fire and movement battles and then the stagnant, arbitrary nature of trench warfare. They endured pitched battles, heavy shelling, snipers, gas attacks, fended off overwhelming numbers of enemy troops, and carried their bayonets across no man's land into the seething infernos of machine gun and artillery barrages. This is the first part of their story, from their first defiant defense amongst the slag heaps at Mons, through to the ferocious fighting during the Battle of the Somme in 1916. By integrating a wide variety of official and personal sources, supported by maps, and personalised with individual stories and photographs, Steven Fuller brings the fascinating and extraordinary history of this distinguished battalion and it's 'Soldier Lads' to life.
The First Day on the Somme by Martin Middlebrook Pdf
A history of the British Army’s experience at the Battle of the Somme in France during World War I. After an immense but useless bombardment, at 7:30 AM on July 1, 1916, the British Army went over the top and attacked the German trenches. It was the first day of the battle of the Somme, and on that day, the British suffered nearly 60,000 casualties, two for every yard of their front. With more than fifty times the daily losses at El Alamein and fifteen times the British casualties on D-day, July 1, 1916, was the blackest day in the history of the British Army. But, more than that, as Lloyd George recognized, it was a watershed in the history of the First World War. The Army that attacked on that day was the volunteer Army that had answered Kitchener’s call. It had gone into action confident of a decisive victory. But by sunset on the first day on the Somme, no one could any longer think of a war that might be won. Martin Middlebrook’s research has covered not just official and regimental histories and tours of the battlefields, but interviews with hundreds of survivors, both British and German. As to the action itself, he conveys the overall strategic view and the terrifying reality that it was for front-line soldiers. Praise for The First Day on the Somme “The soldiers receive the best service a historian can provide: their story is told in their own words.” —The Guardian (UK)
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.
British Battalions on the Western Front by Ray Westlake Pdf
The author's previous three books in this series—British Battalions on the Somme, 1916, British Regiments at Gallipoli andBritish Battalions in France and Belgium, 1914 have achieved all that they set out to do. On the historical side it is now agreed by a large number of grateful historians, researchers, museum curators, librarians etc. that for the first time they are able to establish quickly and conveniently what part each unit played in these important campaigns. It was also intended to provide family historians with a means of tracing the war service of their relatives. This again has been accomplished. British Battalions in France and Belgium, January- June, 1915 sets out with the same objectives in mind, on this occasion providing a unique account of the 291 infantry battalions of the British Army that served in France and Belgium from 1st January to the end of June, 1915. Over 500 volumes of war diaries and unit histories have been consulted, along with personal memoirs and diaries. Detailed records of movements, both in and out of battle areas and on a day-by-day basis, being covered in the same meticulous style as before.
The Church Lads' Brigade in the great War by Jean Morris Pdf
It is estimated that around 50,000 Brigade Lads served in the First World War, during which many honours and distinctions were awarded. The Brigade contributed two Service Battalions of the King's Royal Rifle Corps whose members were comprised entirely of past and present members of the Church Lads' Brigade. These were known as 'Pals' Battalions. The story of the battalion centres around the experiences of eight men who served and some who died in the Battles of The Somme, Arras and The Lys. In the latter half of the nineteenth century influential Christians were worried about the poor spiritual and physical development of young people. It was at that time that 'Brigade' groups began to spring up all over the UK. Walter Mallock Gee, who was Secretary of the Junior Branch of the Church of England Temperance Society and a 'Volunteer' Army Officer, founded the Church Lads' Brigade in 1891. By 1908 the membership of the brigade stood at about 70,000 in 1,300 companies. When the 'Call to Arms' came from Field Marshal Horatio Herbert Kitchener in 1914, thousands of Britain's youth flocked to join the armed forces. Members of the Church Lads' Brigade joined up in their droves at recruiting stations all over Great Britain. Two Battalions were formed entirely from serving and ex-members of the Church Lad's Brigade. The 16th (Service) Battalion and later the 19th (Service) Battalion, both sponsored by the Church Lads' Brigade, became known as 'The Churchmen's Battalion'. In 1914 no one could have imagined the horrendous stories that would unfold from the bloody massacre at so many notorious battles across Belgium and the fields of Flanders. Ypres, Passchendale, Somme, Arras, Lys, and the brutal decimation of the battalion during the hell of the fighting at High Wood. No one could have imagined the discomfort and disease brought on by living in a trench full of water for days on end, or 'over the top' through acres of knee-high mud. More than 24 of the Church Lads' Brigade were awarded a Victoria Cross for their bravery, but by 1918 many of those gallant young Lads would not return home. This is their story.
Tracing British Battalions on the Somme by Ray Westlake Pdf
Although seventy-eight years have passed since the Battle of the Somme was fought, interest in this, the bloodiest battle of the First World War, has never waned. Ray Westlake has collated all the information so painstakingly gathered, to produce a comprehensive compendium of the exact movements of every battalion involved in the battle. This book is invaluable not only to researchers but to all those visiting the battlefield and anxious to trace the movements of their forbears.
