British Battalions On The Western Front

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British Battalions on the Western Front

Author : Ray Westlake
Publisher : Casemate Publishers
Page : 243 pages
File Size : 51,9 Mb
Release : 2000-11-12
Category : History
ISBN : 9781783379965

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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.

British Battalions on the Western Front, January-June 1915

Author : Ray Westlake
Publisher : Leo Cooper Books
Page : 270 pages
File Size : 54,8 Mb
Release : 2001
Category : History
ISBN : 0850527686

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British Battalions on the Western Front, January-June 1915 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.

From Boer War to World War

Author : Spencer Jones
Publisher : University of Oklahoma Press
Page : 383 pages
File Size : 52,8 Mb
Release : 2013-04-01
Category : History
ISBN : 9780806189611

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From Boer War to World War by Spencer Jones Pdf

The British Expeditionary Force at the start of World War I was tiny by the standards of the other belligerent powers. Yet, when deployed to France in 1914, it prevailed against the German army because of its professionalism and tactical skill, strengths developed through hard lessons learned a dozen years earlier. In October 1899, the British went to war against the South African Boer republics of Transvaal and Orange Free State, expecting little resistance. A string of early defeats in the Boer War shook the military’s confidence. Historian Spencer Jones focuses on this bitter combat experience in From Boer War to World War, showing how it crucially shaped the British Army’s tactical development in the years that followed. Before the British Army faced the Boer republics, an aura of complacency had settled over the military. The Victorian era had been marked by years of easy defeats of crudely armed foes. The Boer War, however, brought the British face to face with what would become modern warfare. The sweeping, open terrain and advent of smokeless powder meant soldiers were picked off before they knew where shots had been fired from. The infantry’s standard close-order formations spelled disaster against the well-armed, entrenched Boers. Although the British Army ultimately adapted its strategy and overcame the Boers in 1902, the duration and cost of the war led to public outcry and introspection within the military. Jones draws on previously underutilized sources as he explores the key tactical lessons derived from the war, such as maximizing firepower and using natural cover, and he shows how these new ideas were incorporated in training and used to effect a thorough overhaul of the British Army. The first book to address specific connections between the Boer War and the opening months of World War I, Jones’s fresh interpretation adds to the historiography of both wars by emphasizing the continuity between them.

The German Army on the Western Front, 1917–1918

Author : David Bilton
Publisher : Pen and Sword
Page : 427 pages
File Size : 41,9 Mb
Release : 2007-03-22
Category : History
ISBN : 9781473814592

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The German Army on the Western Front, 1917–1918 by David Bilton Pdf

This highly illustrated book covers the German retreat from the Somme, through the defensive battles of 1917, the Kaiserschlacht (Kaiser's Battle) of early 1918, to the final Allied offensive from August to the end of the War. The post-Armistice events are also covered as the implications of defeat sunk in on an exhausted nation and its shattered army. Each phase is analysed from the German point of view giving an original angle. The photographs vividly demonstrate life and events both at the front line in the trenches as well as in the rear echelons. This book will appeal to a wide spectrum of readers. Its highly illustrated nature is ideal for the general reader while its rare photographs and unusual angle will make it collectable by the more specialist reader.

From the Somme to Victory

Author : Peter Simkins
Publisher : Pen and Sword
Page : 487 pages
File Size : 46,8 Mb
Release : 2014-10-30
Category : History
ISBN : 9781473841048

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From the Somme to Victory by Peter Simkins Pdf

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 Regiments at Gallipoli

Author : Ray Westlake
Publisher : Pen and Sword
Page : 305 pages
File Size : 47,7 Mb
Release : 1996-06-01
Category : History
ISBN : 9780850525113

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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.

The Empire on the Western Front

Author : Geoffrey Jackson
Publisher : UBC Press
Page : 348 pages
File Size : 44,9 Mb
Release : 2019-04-01
Category : History
ISBN : 9780774860178

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The Empire on the Western Front by Geoffrey Jackson Pdf

When Great Britain and its dominions declared war on Germany in August 1914, they were faced with the formidable challenge of transforming masses of untrained citizen-soldiers at home and abroad into competent, coordinated fighting divisions. The Empire on the Western Front focuses on the development of two units, Britain’s 62nd (2nd West Riding) Division and the Canadian 4th Division, to show how the British Expeditionary Force rose to this challenge. By turning the spotlight on army formation and operations at the divisional level, Jackson calls into question existing accounts that emphasize the differences between the imperial and dominion armies.

British Battalions in France & Belgium

Author : Ray Westlake
Publisher : Pen and Sword
Page : 385 pages
File Size : 54,9 Mb
Release : 1997-09-05
Category : History
ISBN : 9780850525779

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British Battalions in France & Belgium by Ray Westlake Pdf

The author 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.

Tracing British Battalions on the Somme

Author : Ray Westlake
Publisher : Pen and Sword
Page : 328 pages
File Size : 55,5 Mb
Release : 2009-01-15
Category : History
ISBN : 9781844158850

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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.

The British Army and the First World War

Author : Ian Beckett,Timothy Bowman,Mark Connelly
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 485 pages
File Size : 43,9 Mb
Release : 2017-05-25
Category : History
ISBN : 9781107005778

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The British Army and the First World War by Ian Beckett,Timothy Bowman,Mark Connelly Pdf

A comprehensive new history of the shaping and performance of the British army during the First World War.

Winning and Losing on the Western Front

Author : Jonathan Boff
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 309 pages
File Size : 44,6 Mb
Release : 2012-07-05
Category : History
ISBN : 9781139536868

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Winning and Losing on the Western Front by Jonathan Boff Pdf

The 'Hundred Days' campaign of 1918 remains a neglected aspect of the First World War. Why was the German army defeated on the Western Front? Did its morale collapse or was it beaten by the improved military effectiveness of a British army which had climbed a painful 'learning curve' towards modern combined arms warfare? This revealing insight into the crucial final months of the First World War uses state-of-the-art methodology to present a rounded case study of the ability of both armies to adapt to the changing realities they faced. Jonathan Boff draws on both British and German archival sources, some of them previously unseen, to examine how representative armies fought during the 'Hundred Days' campaign. Assessing how far the application of modern warfare underpinned the British army's part in the Allied victory, the book highlights the complexity of modern warfare and the role of organisational behaviour within it.

Battle Tactics of the Western Front

Author : Paddy Griffith
Publisher : Yale University Press
Page : 310 pages
File Size : 50,8 Mb
Release : 1996-01-01
Category : History
ISBN : 0300066635

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Battle Tactics of the Western Front by Paddy Griffith Pdf

Historians have portrayed British participation in World War I as a series of tragic debacles, with lines of men mown down by machine guns, with untried new military technology, and incompetent generals who threw their troops into improvised and unsuccessful attacks. In this book a renowned military historian studies the evolution of British infantry tactics during the war and challenges this interpretation, showing that while the British army's plans and technologies failed persistently during the improvised first half of the war, the army gradually improved its technique, technology, and, eventually, its' self-assurance. By the time of its successful sustained offensive in the fall of 1918, says Paddy Griffith, the British army was demonstrating a battlefield skill and mobility that would rarely be surpassed even during World War II. Evaluating the great gap that exists between theory and practice, between textbook and bullet-swept mudfield, Griffith argues that many battles were carefully planned to exploit advanced tactics and to avoid casualties, but that breakthrough was simply impossible under the conditions of the time. According to Griffith, the British were already masters of "storm troop tactics" by the end of 1916, and in several important respects were further ahead than the Germans would be even in 1918. In fields such as the timing and orchestration of all-arms assaults, predicted artillery fire, "Commando-style" trench raiding, the use of light machine guns, or the barrage fire of heavy machine guns, the British led the world. Although British generals were not military geniuses, says Griffith, they should at least be credited for effectively inventing much of the twentieth-century's art of war.

Victory on the Western Front

Author : Michael Senior
Publisher : Pen and Sword
Page : 317 pages
File Size : 51,9 Mb
Release : 2016-10-30
Category : History
ISBN : 9781526709578

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Victory on the Western Front by Michael Senior Pdf

Marshal Foch, the Generalissimo of the Allied Armies during the last stages of the First World War, commenting on the victories won during the Hundred Days when the Germans were driven back on the Western Front, said Never at any time in history has the British army achieved greater results in attack than in this unbroken offensive. The scale, speed and success of this offensive have provided historians with fertile ground for interpretation and debate. How did the British Expeditionary Force, having endured the bitter disappointments and heavy losses at Aubers Ridge, Loos, the Somme, Passchendaele, Cambrai and during the German spring offensives of 1918 turn the tide of the war and comprehensively defeat the enemy in the field? This is the fascinating question that Michael Senior tackles in this lucid and thought-provoking study. He considers the reasons for the stunning British victories and examines the factors that underpinned the eventual success of the BEF. In particular he shows how tactical and technical developments evolved during the course of the war and merged in a way that gave the British a decisive advantage during the final months of the fighting. Innovations in guns and gunnery, in shells, aircraft and tanks, and a massive increase in industrial output, played key parts, as did the continuous process of adaptation, experimentation and invention that went on throughout the war years. The result was an army that could take advantage of the unprecedented opportunity presented by the failure of the German spring offensive of 1918. Michael Senior provides a challenging and controversial analysis of the underlying reasons for the success of the BEF. It is essential reading for anyone who is keen to learn about the extraordinary development of the British army throughout the war and to understand why, and how, the Germans were beaten.

The Hawke Battalion of the Royal Naval Division-During the First World War at Gallipoli and on the Western Front

Author : Douglas Jerrold
Publisher : Leonaur Limited
Page : 240 pages
File Size : 55,7 Mb
Release : 2014-11-01
Category : History
ISBN : 1782824146

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The Hawke Battalion of the Royal Naval Division-During the First World War at Gallipoli and on the Western Front by Douglas Jerrold Pdf

The Great War campaigns of one of the Royal Naval division battalions The campaigns of the Royal Naval Brigades have always fascinated students of military history. During several notable campaigns of the Victorian era including the Crimean War, the Indian Mutiny, the Zulu War and the Boer War these 'sailors without ships' left their natural element (invariably dragging and pulling their guns with them) to do battle alongside their comrades of the British Army. The story of the naval brigades of the First World War was somewhat different for here were units, named for the great admirals of the age of sail, which had been specifically created to act and fight as infantry whilst maintaining the traditions of the 'senior service'. The requirements of this great conflict meant that the initial role of the naval brigades to defend port areas very quickly gave way to the pragmatic need for fighting battalions in the field. After the debacle at Antwerp, the Hawke Battalion was re-formed and took part in the ultimately disastrous Gallipoli Campaign before being transferred to the Western Front where it played its part in the Battle of the Somme. This is a riveting account that benefits from the authenticity of first-hand experience written by an officer who served with the Hawke Battalion. Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket; our hardbacks are cloth bound and feature gold foil lettering on their spines and fabric head and tail bands.

The Killing Ground

Author : Tim Travers
Publisher : Pen and Sword
Page : 332 pages
File Size : 41,7 Mb
Release : 2009-02-19
Category : History
ISBN : 9781473819436

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The Killing Ground by Tim Travers Pdf

This books explains why the British Army fought the way it did in the First World War. It integrates social and military history and the impact of ideas to tell the story of how the army, especially the senior officers, adapted to the new technological warfare and asks: Was the style of warfare on the Western Front inevitable?Using an extensive range of unpublished diaries, letters, memoirs and Cabinet and War Office files, Professor Travers explains how and why the ideas, tactics and strategies emerged. He emphasises the influence of pre-war social and military attitudes, and examines the early life and career of Sir Douglas Haig. The author's analysis of the preparations for the Battles of the Somme and Passchendaele provide new interpretations of the role of Haig and his GHQ, and he explains the reasons for the unexpected British withdrawal in March 1918. An appendix supplies short biographies of senior British officers. In general, historians of the First World War are in two hostile camps: those who see the futility of lions led by donkeys on the one hand and on the other the apologists for Haig and the conduct of the war. Professor Travers' immensely readable book provides a bridge between the two.