The Battle Of The Bellicourt Tunnel

Author : Dale Blair
Publisher : Pen and Sword
Page : 251 pages
File Size : 40,6 Mb
Release : 2021-05-30
Category : History
ISBN : 9781473812208

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The Battle of the Bellicourt Tunnel by Dale Blair Pdf

In the summer and autumn of 1918, the British Expeditionary Force, under Field Marshal Haig, fought a series of victorious battles on the Western Front that contributed mightily to the German Army’s final defeat. They did so as part of an Allied coalition, one in which the role of Australian diggers and US doughboys is often forgotten. The Bellicourt Tunnel attack in September 1918, fought in the fading autumn light, was very much an inter-Allied affair and marked a unique moment in the Allied armies’ endeavors. It was the first time that such a large cohort of Americans had fought in a British formation. Additionally, untried American II Corps and experienced Australian Corps were to spearhead the attack under the command of Lieutenant General Sir John Monash, with British divisions adopting supporting roles on the flanks. Blair forensically details the fighting and the largely forgotten desperate German defenxe. Although celebrated as a marvelous feat of breaking the Hindenburg Line, the American attack generally failed to achieve its set objectives and it took the Australians three days of bitter fighting to reach theirs. Blair rejects the conventional explanation of the US mop up failure and points the finger of blame at Rawlinson, Haig and Monash for expecting too much of the raw US troops, singling out the Australian Corps commander for particular criticism. Overall, Blair judges the fighting a draw. At the end, like two boxers, the Australian-American force was gasping for breath and the Germans, badly battered, were backpedalling to remain on balance. That said, the day was calamitous for the German Army, even if the clean breakthrough that Haig had hoped for did not occur. Forced out of the Hindenburg Line, the prognosis for the German army on the Western Front and hence Imperial Germany itself was bleak indeed.

Author : Dale Blair
Publisher : Frontline Books
Page : 208 pages
File Size : 51,6 Mb
Release : 2021-05-30
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 1526796961

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The Battle of Bellicourt Tunnel by Dale Blair Pdf

In November 1918 the BEF under Field Marshal Haig fought a series of victorious battles on the Western Front that contributed mightily to the German armys defeat. They did so as part of a coalition and the role of Australian diggers and US doughboys is often forgotten. The Bellicourt Tunnel attack, fought in the fading autumn light, was very much an inter-Allied affair and marked a unique moment in the Allied armies endeavors. It was the first time that such a large cohort of Americans had fought in a British army. Additionally, untried American II Corps and experienced Australian Corps were to spearhead the attack under the command of Lieutenant General Sir John Monash with British divisions adopting supporting roles on the flanks.

Author : Jerred Metz
Publisher : Singing Bone Press
Page : 226 pages
File Size : 50,7 Mb
Release : 2019-04-17
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 0933439199

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Bellicourt Tunnel by Jerred Metz Pdf

A sequel to "The Angel of Mons: A World War I Legend," "Bellicourt Tunnel: The Crowning Battle of the Great War" brings the characters Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes, Winston Churchill, the fictional Tommy Atkins, the Revenant (souls returned from death), and soldiers from the 30th Division, American Expeditionary Force, together in a story of angels and the spirits of British soldiers killed early in the war in the battle that broke the Hindenburg Line. On August 23, 1914 in the first battle against the Germans in the Great War the British Expeditionary Force, facing double the number of enemy, was in peril of annihilation. At the moment the Huns were to cross the Nimy Bridge at the Mons-Condé Canal, St. George at the lead and a horde of cavalry angels swarmed down from the sky, repelled the Germans. Among the British, soldier Lieutenant Maurice Dease, gallantly commanding two machine gun sections at the bridge, wounded three times, died-and his spirit rose to St. George's side in the sky. And St. George brought lowly Private Tommy Atkins-one of Dease's gunners, killed by shrapnel that pierced his throat-back to life to fight on through the war. The 27th and 30th Divisions of the American Expeditionary Force arrived in June, 1918 for training near the Front in France. Corporal Atkins was Lead Instructor for Lewis machine gun sections, Company "M", 118th Infantry Regiment, 30th Division, American Expeditionary Force, South Carolinians from Sumter, Columbia, Mountain Home, and St. Helena Island. They would fight attached to the British Fourth Army. Atkins and his instructors trained them for leading the attack at Bellicourt Tunnel and breaking the Hindenburg Line, a military and spiritual barrier. Because of the assignment's importance, Atkins initiated the two teams into the "Golden Arrows of God." A mystical order within the secret "Messieurs de St. Georges" in Mons, Belgium, the "Golden Arrows of God" carried out orders dictated by St. George to the Hierophant, the order's leader. Officially identity of its membership of a dozen was known only by the Hierophant. Though this could not be so. The people knew they were men of power and honor, learned and wise, and whose ordination came from St. George himself. No one ever spoke about who the members were, but the people were wise enough to know. In manuscripts from the 1400's the order was already described as an ancient and powerful organ for spiritual and brotherly good and in direct communion with the City's patron saint. Their first sight of Atkins drew forth trust, admiration, and hope from the Gamecocks and Swamp Foxes. Inwardly they bowed to Instructor Thomas Atkins, he, worthy of high regard. But how they knew, none could fathom. Slowly, through their own senses, faint impulses, they felt the otherworldly in Atkins. More than once, when they caught him in peripheral vision they saw his face shine. Once, for an instant, it flashed bright as the sun, and all saw. A slight thrill of the breath all the way to unprovoked joy rising in their hearts-signs they received of the workings of Atkins power. Atkins' spirit comrades will help these Americans in battle. In the last weeks of September, 1918-historians would later call it The One Hundred Days, or The Advance to Victory-these boys, these soldiers, were leading a new life, an ocean away from home, among ways of life they had never seen, a war that wore the body and stunned the senses, the mind, the imagination. The machine gunners saw destruction and misery, breathed the stench of life's raw elements, putrid decay and rot. They heard the guns and explosions, breathed burned gunpowder and explosives. The cooking was not their mothers'. They had to learn the British Army way of doing things. Now, at the Battle of Bellicourt Tunnel angel warriors will prepare and help the Americans in one last great battle.

Author : Michael E. Birdwell
Publisher : Univ. of Tennessee Press
Page : 474 pages
File Size : 50,6 Mb
Release : 2024-01-02
Category : History
ISBN : 9781621905318

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Tennessee's Experience During the First World War by Michael E. Birdwell Pdf

"This book includes fourteen essays on Tennessee's experience during World War I. The essays introduce a range of entry points to the conflict from typical soldier stories - including Birdwell's own essay on Alvin York - to politics, agribusiness, African Americans, and present-day recollections"--

Author : Peter Rostron
Publisher : Pen and Sword
Page : 305 pages
File Size : 48,5 Mb
Release : 2018-03-30
Category : History
ISBN : 9781526711649

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The Battle That Won the War: Bellenglise by Peter Rostron Pdf

It is no exaggeration to claim that 46th North Midland Divisions action on 29 September 1918 was the hammer blow that shattered the will of the German High Command.Painting the strategic picture from early 1918 and the dark weeks following the Germans March offensive, the Author lays the ground for the Allied counter-strike. Ahead of them was the mighty Hindenburg Line, the Kaisers formidable defensive obstacle given added strength by the St Quentin Canal.Undaunted the Allies attacked using American, Australian and British formations. Led by Major General Boyd, 46 Division stormed the Canal and, thanks to a combination of sound planning and determined courageous fighting, seized their Hindenburg Line objective by the end of the day.The psychological damage to the German will, already weakened by the failure of the Spring offensive, is demonstrate by Ludendorffs collapse and opening of negotiations that led five weeks later to the Armistice.

Author : Patrick R. Osborn,Marc Romanych
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
Page : 68 pages
File Size : 47,6 Mb
Release : 2016-10-20
Category : History
ISBN : 9781472814814

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The Hindenburg Line by Patrick R. Osborn,Marc Romanych Pdf

Jagging across north-western Europe like an ugly scar, the Hindenburg Line was Germany's most formidable line of defence in World War I. Its fearsome reputation was matched only by its cunning design, with deep zigzagging trenches, concrete fieldworks, barbed wire and devilish booby traps forming an intimidating barrier for any attacking army. Through meticulous research, this volume explores each of the major portions of the Hindenburg Line, paying particular attention to three examples of Allied operations against it towards the end of the war: the critical flanking of the Drocourt-Qeant Switch; the daring but costly rupture of the line of the St Quentin Canal; and the bloody battles of the Meuse-Argonne. Specially commissioned artwork and historical photographs perfectly complement the analysis provided by the authors as they trace the life of the Hindenburg Line from its seemingly invulnerable early years through to the audacious tactics used by the Allies to achieve a bitter victory in 1918.

Author : United States Historical Division (Army).
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 952 pages
File Size : 51,6 Mb
Release : 1948
Category : Electronic
ISBN : STANFORD:36105019657605

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The United States Army in the World War, 1917-1919 by United States Historical Division (Army). Pdf

Author : Anonim
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 950 pages
File Size : 55,9 Mb
Release : 1988
Category : World War, 1914-1918
ISBN : UIUC:30112075628443

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United States Army in the World War, 1917-1919: Military operations of the American Expeditionary Forces by Anonim Pdf

A seventeen-volume compilation of selected AEF records gathered by Army historians during the interwar years. This collection in no way represents an exhaustive record of the Army's months in France, but it is certainly worthy of serious consideration and thoughtful review by students of military history and strategy and will serve as a useful jumping off point for any earnest scholarship on the war. --from Foreword by William A Stofft.

Author : United States. Department of the Army. Office of Military History
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 946 pages
File Size : 44,7 Mb
Release : 1948
Category : World War, 1914-1918
ISBN : MSU:31293006840437

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United States Army in the World War, 1917-1919 by United States. Department of the Army. Office of Military History Pdf

Author : Adam Rankin
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Page : 285 pages
File Size : 52,7 Mb
Release : 2019-07-25
Category : History
ISBN : 9781922265555

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The Hindenburg Line Campaign 1918 by Adam Rankin Pdf

In the last devastating months of the First World War, the British Fourth Army pursued the Germans to their final defensive position — the Hindenburg Line, a formidable series of defensive positions studded with concrete dugouts and thickly set barbed wire. The Hindenburg Line 1918 describes the two fiercely fought set-piece battles which saw Fourth Army break through the German line, paving the way for the final pursuit which ended with the Armistice. The Australian Corps was a pivotal part of the offensive to breach the Hindenburg Line, culminating in the assault to capture Montbrehain, the last Australian battle of the war. By the time it reached the Hindenburg Line, the Australian Corps had been in the line for months, its units exhausted and depleted. Despite this, these final offensives saw the battle-hardened Australians demonstrate their skill in the use of infantry, artillery, machine-guns, tanks, aeroplanes and all the other implements of war that had altered so fundamentally since 1914. Australian commanders had likewise benefited from years of war and were highly skilled in planning complex operations that incorporated the latest tactics, techniques and procedures. But the scale of operations on the Western Front required close cooperation with British and Allied troops, and it was as part of this coalition that the Australian Corps would play its vital role in finally securing battlefield victory and bringing the war to an end.

Author : Peter Simkins
Publisher : Pen and Sword
Page : 282 pages
File Size : 51,9 Mb
Release : 2014-10-30
Category : History
ISBN : 9781781593127

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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.

Author : Rose E Coombes
Publisher : After the Battle
Page : 240 pages
File Size : 50,8 Mb
Release : 1976-08-30
Category : History
ISBN : 9781399076173

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Before Endeavours Fade by Rose E Coombes Pdf

From the Belgian coast, across the fields of Flanders, over the valley of the Somme and down the line to the Argonne: all the major battlefields of the First World War — Ypres, Arras, Cambrai, Amiens, St?Quentin, Mons, Le Cateau, Reims, Verdun and St?Mihiel — are criss-crossed in this book over more than thirty different routes, each clearly shown on a Michelin map. Every significant feature is described in detail. Since her death in 1991,?After the Battle’s Editor, Karel Margry, has traveled every route, checking and revising the text where necessary, as?well as re-photographing every memorial. Many new ones are included, yet we have striven to keep true to the flavor of Rose’s original concept . . . before?endeavors fade. Indispensable for anyone contemplating a tour of the battlefields in Belgium and France, this book combines the years of knowledge, travel and research of its author, Rose?Coombs, who worked at the Imperial War Museum in London for nearly forty years.

Author : Justin Chadwick
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Page : 591 pages
File Size : 54,5 Mb
Release : 2017-02-05
Category : History
ISBN : 9781925520316

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Sword and Baton Volume 1: 1900 to 1939 by Justin Chadwick Pdf

Sword and Baton is a collection of 86 biographies representing every Australian Army officer to reach the rank of major general from Federation to the outbreak of World War II. This is the first of two volumes, and its scope is broad, including chaplains-general, surgeons-general and British Army officers who served with the AIF or the permanent forces. Author Justin Chadwick portrayal of these officers careers provides a lens through which he examines trends such as the development of military skills which ensured that, by the commencement of hostilities in 1914, Australia boasted a pool of well-trained, albeit inexperienced officers. The effects of command under pressure of war and the enormous physical impact of combat are likewise portrayed in these comprehensive biographies. By the end of hostilities Australian officers had garnered immense experience and were among the best in the Allied forces. Ironically, this hard-won skill base was to be all but lost in the interwar period. Sword and Baton offers its readers more than a series of biographies. Rather, it describes a crucial period in Australian military history through the lives of the extraordinary men at its head.

Author : Nick Lloyd
Publisher : Penguin UK
Page : 352 pages
File Size : 48,6 Mb
Release : 2013-11-07
Category : History
ISBN : 9780141968872

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Hundred Days by Nick Lloyd Pdf

Nick Lloyd's Hundred Days: The End of the Great War explores the brutal, heroic and extraordinary final days of the First World War. On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day in November 1918, the guns of the Western Front fell silent. The Armistice, which brought the Great War to an end, marked a seminal moment in modern European and World history. Yet the story of how the war ended remains little-known. In this compelling and ground-breaking new study, Nick Lloyd examines the last days of the war and asks the question: how did it end? Beginning at the heralded turning-point on the Marne in July 1918, Hundred Days traces the epic story of the next four months, which included some of the bloodiest battles of the war. Using unpublished archive material from five countries, this new account reveals how the Allies - British, French, American and Commonwealth - managed to beat the German Army, by now crippled by indiscipline and ravaged by influenza, and force her leaders to seek peace. 'This is a powerful and moving book by a rising military historian. Lloyd's depiction of the great battles of July-November provides compelling evidence of the scale of the Allies' victories and the bitter reality of German defeat' Gary Sheffield (Professor of War Studies) 'Lloyd enters the upper tier of Great War historians with this admirable account of the war's final campaign' Publishers Weekly Nick Lloyd is Senior Lecturer in Defence Studies at King's College London, based at the Joint Services Command & Staff College in Shrivenham, Oxfordshire. He specialises in British military and imperial history in the era of the Great War and is the author of two books, Loos 1915 (2006), and The Amritsar Massacre: The Untold Story of One Fateful Day (2011).

Author : General of the Armies John Joseph Pershing
Publisher : Pickle Partners Publishing
Page : 354 pages
File Size : 47,5 Mb
Release : 2014-06-13
Category : History
ISBN : 9781782891284

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My Experiences In The World War – Vol. II [Illustrated Edition] by General of the Armies John Joseph Pershing Pdf

The Pulitzer prize has been the sought after goal of many thousands of writers ever since it was first awarded in 1917. In 1932, the Pulitzer in the history category was awarded to General John “Black Jack” Pershing for his two volume memoirs spanning his time in command of the American Forces in World War One. Given that Pershing should receive such an illustrious prize in the literary arena outside of his army career was a just testament to his multi-faceted and outstanding talents. As the First World War raged into its fourth year, the lifeblood of the Allied forces on the Western Front laid spilt on the fields of Northern France and Flanders. Their only hope in facing the German onslaught lay in the newly mobilized American forces, who had joined the struggle against the central powers in Germany and Austro-Hungary. It would take a commander of towering strength, firm loyalty, and iron determination to change the small American peacetime army into the millions strong wartime colossus it was to become. Such a man was John “Black Jack” Pershing. AS he took command, Pershing was faced with four almightily difficult challenges to overcome in order to achieve success; the first to turn the raw American Doughboys into an army, trained in the new tactics of the industrial carnage of the Western Front. Secondly, to ship enough men, and supplies across the U-boat infested Atlantic to create such an army. Thirdly, to keep his allies hands off American manpower that became trained and ready for battle, they should fight under American flags and American leaders. It was only once the first three huge challenges were overcome could he think about his fourth, how his new troops could fight and beat the battle-hardened German army: but fight and beat them they did! A Pulitzer Prize winning classic!