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Amiens to the Armistice: The BEF in the the Hundred Days' Campaign, 8 August - 11 November 1918
JP Harris
Manufacturer: Brassey's UK
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 1857531493 |
Book Description
The "Hundred Days" campaign during Word War I was one of the greatest victories in British military history. In three months the British Expiditionary Force helped bring the German Empire to its knees. The purpose of this book is to rescue the campaign from relative obscurity.
Book Description
Eighty-four full-color plates depict a wide range of the accoutrements and equipment of the ordinary soldier serving in the cavalry, infantry and artillery of the British Army between 1750 and 1900. Accoutrements include everything that is worn by a soldier that is neither his main uniform nor a weapon. This book features all the various types of accoutrements including: sword and bayonet belts, waist belts, pouches, water bottles, haversacks, mess tins, knapsacks, sabretaches, sword knots, musket and rifle slings, intrenching tools and the valise equipments of 1870, 1882 and 1888. Each page shows one accoutrement from all angles and there is a short historical description. All are drawn from actual surviving specimens and all are provided with a scale.
Customer Reviews:
Best book on 18th and 19th century British Army field equipment available........2007-07-28
A splendid book, finely and accurately illustrated with detailed color drawings of the accoutrements used by Great Britain from 1750 until 1900. What do they mean by 'accoutrements'? Accoutrements are the soldiers field equipments: canteens, waterbottles, mess-tins, haversacks, belts, pouches, musket and rifle slings, bayonet frogs, knapsacks, buckles and other odds'n'ends used by the British cavalry and infantry soldier over about a 150 year period. Believe me they are all there, illustrated in expert detail, right down to the stitching, with a scale rule in inches on each page to provide dimensions. In addition to the equipment illustrations the artist, Pierre Turner, provides a few illustrations of soldiers actually wearing the equipment to show how it was all arranged on the body. Anyone familiar with Osprey Publishings series on military uniforms and campaigns will recognize Pierre Turner's name. Now don't misunderstand, this book is not an illustrated uniform reference, packed full of splendid soldiers in red. There are just a handful of soldiers illustrated where necessary to explain the arrangement of particular pieces of equipment. This book IS a thorough, well layed out, illustrated work on every piece of field equipment that the British soldier and cavalryman of the mid-18th and 19th centuries wore. Each piece is shown in great detail from every angle. These include variations, changes and upgrades over the years. The belts, straps, packs, etc. are laid out on the page as if they were right there in front of you - any you would never get this view of them any other way except if you actually could handle or owned these items. The complicated Valise Equipment of 1870 through it's variations up to the 1888 Pattern are all there. Even the picks and shovels are included, something that no British soldier could do without even today. Mr. Turner should be congratulated for the painstaking care with which he went about creating this bible of British Army accoutrements. This book is a must have for any collector, historian, or hobbiest interested in the British soldier from 1750 to 1900.
Customer Reviews:
The Experience of the Western Front.......2007-04-26
"Tommy" is Richard Holmes's exploration of the experience of the British soldier and the British Army on the Western Front of the Great War, 1914-1918. Through a narrative rich in detail and anecdote, Holmes provides context and some necessary correction on the life of Tommy Atkins, prototypical British soldier, at war.
Holmes, an experienced historian, has provided a study very much in the vein of "Redcoat", his earlier work on the British Army from Waterloo to the Crimean War. In this book, Holmes details how the small standing British professional army of 1914 became the mass army of 1918 and how it generally acquitted itself fairly well in four years of horrendous combat with the elements, its own bureaucracy, and the German Army. It is a story of the men who became soldiers, their weapons, their leadership, their food, medical care, and their sense of the fighting. Holmes includes a fascinating collection of photographs of the Western Front.
Holmes has done his extensive research. The traditional regimental system comes in for some considerable praise for its contribution to unit cohesion and morale. The willingness of the Army to adapt to the demands of mass warfare, on a scale not practiced by Britain in over one hundred years, is commendable if often uneven. The leadership of the Army, especially after the first year of war, generally did as good a job as the circumstances of combat allowed. The fate of mounted cavalry and the introduction of modern warfighting technology such as tanks, airplanes, radios, and indirect artillery fire are discussed. Above all, the stubborn and patient devotion to duty of Tommy and his fellow soldiers shines through.
At roughly 700 pages, this is an exhaustive if not exhausting study that will appeal the most to those with a keen interest in the First World War, especially to those looking for the story behind the battle histories. It is highly recommended as a reading experience to students of the history of the British Army.
A book to be savored.......2006-02-12
This is a must-read for anyone interested in the Great War, the Western Front, or the history of the British soldier. In his wonderful narrative style, Holmes weaves numerous first-hand accounts into a smoothly flowing story that never becomes ponderous despite the enormous size of the book. Highly recommended.
Comprehensive description of life in WWI British army.......2005-08-11
Richard Holmes, the author, provides a fascinating, masterful portrait of British soldiers' everyday lives during WWI. This book is about the British army itself; it is NOT a campaign history, a strategy essay, or a biography.
Despite the plethora of books produced about Britain's WWI effort, Holmes manages to include a great volume of hitherto negelected information. Some of these topics include: commissioning, pay, ranking differences (permanent, temporary, brevet), compulsory requisitioning of horses, medical treatment, replacements, promotions, religion, liberty, leave, discipline/punishment, mustache regulations, combat training, demobilisation, and return to civilian life.
Thankfully, he also explains the highly complex war-time formation, structure, varying roles, and evolution of battalions, regiments, brigades, divisions, corps, and armies. Holmes also defines the differences between formation types (regular, Special Reserve, territorial, and New Army). In addition, he also relates the jobs of various staff and admin unit members (e.g. Chief of Staff, Adjutant, Regimental Sergeant Major, etc.).
Besides all the above, the book includes the more commonly discussed trench life routine, weapons, personal accounts, a typical attack, morale, and the army's various branches (infantry, artillery, sappers, cavalry, tanks, machine guns, supply, general staff, etc.). The author unusually presents a few striking, small-scale examples of successful cavalry charges and a costly episode of firing guns by direct sight.
This is an excellent, well-researched book that is a pleasure to read. Bravo!
Written with compassion and detachment- history brought to life.......2005-07-06
Richard Holmes does a TV series in the UK called War Walks.
In the series he basically walks through a battlefield pointing out where a particular action took place, where a dug out or ridge was and then turns to camera and deliver a short, precise monologue.
He dresses smartly, invariably wearing a tie or cravat; with a neat trimmed grey moustache and fixes the camera from behind silver framed glasses. When he speaks to the camera his voice carries a gravitas and intensity that conveys respect and concern with cold hard truths. He has the same persona on the page and this is what drives Tommy forward
Holmes is like a kindly uncle who knows every minute detail on his subject and will tell you everything you need to know, in a slow studied manner. Despite his slow, at times ponderous style, or perhaps precisely because of it, he ignites your interest and takes you through the story, even when it gets a little complicated and dull, regimental names and badges for instance.
And like a good story, told by a kindly uncle, it stays in your head, the characters vibrant and their lives and deaths meaningful and justice done to them.
Boring.......2004-09-13
Another revisionist tract that seeks to glorify the British Tommy though spinning defeats into victories, bumblers into geniuses, and incompetence into acumen. Overly long, redundant and without a single unifying theme, this book is more demanding on your patience than critical faculty.
Book Description
Why, despite the appalling conditions in the trenches of the Western Front, was the British army almost untouched by major mutiny during the First World War? Drawing upon an extensive range of sources, including much previously unpublished archival material, G.D. Sheffield seeks to answer this question by examining a crucial but previously neglected factor in the maintenance of the British army's morale in the First World War: the relationship between the regimental officer and the ordinary soldier.
Book Description
In this book a renowned military historian studies the evolution of British infantry tactics during World War I and challenges traditional interpretations that portray British participation as a series of tragic tactical debacles. While Griffith concedes that the British army`s plans and technologies failed persistently during the improvised first half of the war, he reveals that the army gradually improved its techniques and technology and eventually demonstrated a battlefield skill and mobility that would rarely be surpassed even during World War II.
Customer Reviews:
Innovative and thought provoking.......2007-03-22
This book signalled something of a watershed in the way we think about World War I, and does indeed challenge the 'stupid' theory of British tactics. Some hate such a notion - others love it, so explaining some of the very divergent opinions seen in reviews. The book's points of excellence include copious use of contemporary manuals and documents, readability, and a strong notion of the changes over time.
This would have been a five star rating - bar some modest quibbles regarding the arbitary notional start date in 1916, and a personal wish to see more comparative material on other nations (this would give more of a yardstick against which to judge the British efforts). Nevertheless I would strongly urge anyone with an interest in the subject to read this book: it will give you lots to think about, will challenge received opinions, and provide more than satisfaction in terms of production values, notes and references.
Neither Polemical nor a Strawman.......2007-01-05
I would highly recommend this book for both students of military history and serving military officers. This book provides a good overview of the evolution of tactics, strategies and weapons to meet emerging challenges. It also provides a good account of how the British military evolves and changes to meet those challenges. Both will help military officers who are working with transformation and RMA issues.
Indeed, it is not an exaggeration to say that the British military has achieved one of the most impressive transformation, evolving from a small professional army to a large army consisting mostly of 'hostilities only' volunteers and conscripts. It is also not an exaggeration to say that the British military achieved a Revolution in Military Affairs within a few short years, not only in the use of new weapons such as the tank and aircraft, but also new tactics and strategies.
It is even more impressive that these transformations were accomplished while the British military was actively engaged in an on-going war with a powerful and capable enemy - the German military. Few military officers nowadays would have to meet such a daunting challenge. Those critical of this book, perhaps being civilians, might not have a good grasp of just how impressive this achievement was.
This knowlegeable account has helped overturn some of the enduring - and now we know - inaccurate myths of the British military in the First World War. It is neither polemical nor a strawman hypothesis, unless one is wedded to certain mythical views of WW1. Indeed, if there is any fault - and this is why I gave it 4 instead of 5 stars - it is presented in a rather dull and academic tone which might put off some casual readers.
But it remains highly recommended for professional readers.
A Straw man Hypothesis.......2003-03-31
Paddy Griffith, a former lecturer at Sandhurst, challenges the commonly held view that the British army's performance in the First World was a string of tactical disasters. It is Griffith's contention that, "the British army gradually improved its techniques and technology," and it was this improvement that enabled them to win the war. Griffith sees the war as divided into two distinct phases: a prepatory phase in 1914-1916, where the BEF was gradually re-shaped into a large-scale army and the final phase from July 2, 1916 to the armistice. Griffith asserts that the first day of the Battle of the Somme was the dividing line between these two phases. While parts of this book are interesting, there is nothing really new here and the work is far more interested in historiography than tactical detail.
Battle Tactics of the Western Front consists of ten chapters beginning with an introduction and the tactical dilemma of trench warfare. The main sections of the book consist of sections on infantry tactics and heavier weapons (automatic weapons, artillery and tanks). Griffith finishes with a chapter on the BEF's tactical achievement and three appendices. The extensive notes and bibliography provided indicate breadth of research, if not depth of insight.
The fundamental flaw in this book is that Griffith's main hypothesis is a straw man theory. Don't most armies improve after 3-4 years of warfare? Even the losers, the Germans, Russians and Austrians, achieved tactical improvements over time. Since it is hard to see how the BEF could not have improved tactically over the course of the war, it is really difficult to see the unique value of the author's thesis or conclusions. Indeed, how could Griffith be wrong? Actually, the question should not be whether the British army improved over time, but did it improve as quickly as other armies? Griffith lambasts the Germans, slights the Americans and ignores the French, so this study makes little effort at comparison. While there are some useful sections on how the British improved their artillery tactics, there is very little effort to actually quantify the British improvement.
Another fundamental problem with Battle Tactics of the Western Front is that the author uses a very poor methodology to make his case. Ideally, the author would have detailed the 100-150 corps-size battles that the British fought in 1916-1918 and then attempted to use statistics to analyze the question of improved tactical efficiency. While there are selected efforts in regard to artillery tactics, these examples are too narrow to validate a theory. Indeed, since there is no real effort at analysis or comparison, the work becomes rather polemical and makes no real effort to objectively validate the thesis. Instead of focusing on operational-level details, the author continually veers toward condemning alternate historiographical approaches that differs from his (petty axe-grinding).
In addition to a rather tautological hypothesis and poor methodology, the author constantly confuses the scope of this work by inter-mixing discussions of operational-level and strategic-level issues (there is really very little discussion of the tactical level). There are also a number of other troubling issues concerning the author's objectivity, or lack of same. According to Griffith, some 10-14 of the 66 British Divisions in France were "elite," despite the lack of special selection, training or equipment. How could 15-20% of any mass-based army be considered elite? The reader may also become incredulous when Griffith describes disasters like 3rd Ypres in 1917 as a "partial success." How British (just like Dunkirk was a "victory"). Griffith is also extremely bigoted against the Tank Corps and one of his objectives appears to be to refute the idea that tanks contributed in any significant way to the final victory. Griffith denigrates tanks by claiming that they were essentially "disposable" weapons, good for only eight hours of combat, but this is sheer nonsense. At Cambrai, Griffith ignores the fact that British tanks fought for ten days straight. Griffith also lays into other pundits, such as Liddell Hart. Indeed, Griffith wastes a great deal of space on silly subjects, such as the distribution of typewriters in the BEF. What Griffith does not provide - but should have - is an analysis of the basic tactical "battlefield operating systems" (maneuver, intelligence, fire support, mobility/counter mobility, C2, logistics, medical, and air defense). While Griffith could claim that he addresses maneuver and fire support, with some mention of engineers, the other factors are all ignored. The exclusion of tactical intelligence and logistics are particularly egregious.
In sum, this is an immaculately researched but poorly crafted effort that does little to enhance our knowledge of tactical doctrine or operations in the First World War. The author set a low bar for himself but then failed to achieve even that, preferring to grind axes instead. While there is no doubt that the British enjoyed some significant tactical successes in the First World War (Arras 1917, Cambrai 1917), the evidence of 1914-1918 indicates that the British were generally solid on the defense but unspectacular on the offense. While the BEF certainly learned some lessons after four years, they were learned at high cost and it is doubtful that the BEF's learning curve was ahead of anybody else's. Griffith's work is unlikely to alter anybody's impression that that the BEF tasted of failure and frustration far more than it did of success.
Poorly titled polemic.......2001-02-14
Griffith has a clear goal with this book, and that is to demonstrate that the British Infantry was at least as skilled at attacking as the German infantry in WWI. He does a good job of this, but a much less satisfactory job of exploring actual small unit tactics in any depth.
Most of the discussion of infantry tactics is in very general terms that would be familiar to anyone who's read a decent general history of the war. I was hoping for more details and case studies, going down into the nitty gritty of what went on during an attack. How did units advance? How did they coordinate with flank units and supporting arms? How were trench assaults carried out and successes reinforced?
Instead, Griffith looks at the broad scale development of British tactics and shows that the British weren't stuck with hidebound ideas, but were actually rather innovative in important ways. While this does answer some of the criticisms levelled against British generalship, it only sharpens others. If British tactics were so good, then why were the results so miserable? Either some of the tactics weren't as good as Griffith makes out, or the larger strategy was unbelievably incompetant.
Good study of the evolution of infantry tactics.......2000-12-18
In 1916 the British Army launched a huge attack which was latter to be called the battle of the Somme. After a three day artillery barrage over 50,000 soldiers emerged from their trenches and in parade ground formation walked slowly towards the German lines. Unfortunately the artillery barrage had used low calibre shells and as a result the German defenders were unharmed. As the British approached the Germans leaped from their dugouts and started to fire using all the modern weapons of war they had available on the slowly advancing British. The slow movement and concentration meant that within a short time 50,000 men were either killed or wounded.
Since that battle most historians writing about the first world war have been little less than contemptuous of the British Military leadership in the first World War. Following the war, memoirs of individual soldiers have described accurately the horror of life in the trenches. Books such as In Flanders Fields and the Donkey's have ridiculed the military ability of Sir Douglas Haig the British Commander in Chief.
This book is an attempt to balance the impression which has been created of the British Officer Class as a number of ill informed Dodo's who had a callous disregard for the lives of their men. It examines in detail the battle tactics of the British at Squad and Battalion level. It shows that instead of the army developing a head in the sand attitude to the disasters which were befalling it that most officers were keen to innovate.
During the war a number of innovations were developed by the British prior to the use of the tank the innovation most people are familiar with. These included the Lewis Gun (a movable light machine gun) trench mortars and Mills bombs (hand grenades). One of the strengths of this book is that it shows that these developments were noted by British Officers and quickly used.
Mortars and Grenades became vital in attacks. The Lewis Gun became important not only in suppressing enemy fire but in holding newly won ground against counter attacks.
In fact if one looks at the first World War it is clear that both sides were innovating all the time. After the initial Somme Battles the Germans rejected the use of defensive trench systems in favour of machine gun posts and pill boxes. They then save there infantry for counter attacks. The British and French in turn had to alter there tactics to using artillery as a means of allowing there troops to approach enemy positions instead of expecting it destroy them. In addition the British succesfully used mines burried under the German positions to considerable effect.
All in all the book is interesting and adds to our understanding of the First World War a conflict which in the past has been over schematised.
Book Description
Between 1916 and 1923, Ireland experienced rebellion and mass mobilization, guerrilla and civil war, partition and ethnic conflict, and the transfer of power from British to Irish governments. The essays in The I.R.A. at War propose a new history of this Irish revolution: one that encompasses the whole of the island as well as Britain, all of the violence and its consequences, and the entire period from the Easter Rising to the end of the Civil War. When did the revolution start and when did it end? Why was it so violent and why were some areas so much worse than others? Why did the I.R.A. mount a terror campaign in England and Scotland but refuse to assassinate British politicians? Where did it get its guns? Was it democratic? What kind of people became guerrillas? What kind of people did they kill? Were Protestants ethnically cleansed from southern Ireland? Did a pogrom take place against Belfast Catholics? These and other questions are addressed using extensive new data on those involved and their actions, including the first complete figures for victims of the revolution. These events have never been numbered among the world's great revolutions, but in fact Irish republicans were global pioneers. Long before Mao or Tito, Sinn Fein and the Irish Republican Army were the first to use a popular political front to build a parallel underground state coupled with sophisticated guerrilla and international propaganda and fund-raising campaigns. Ireland's is also perhaps the best documented revolution in modern history, so that almost any question can be answered, from who joined the I.R.A. to who ordered the assassination of Sir Henry Wilson. The intimacy and precision with which we are able to reconstruct and analyse what happened make this a key site for understanding not just Irish, but world history.
Book Description
This book is an operational history of the Canadian Corps in the battles of the final 100 days of World War I, beginning with the battle of Amiens, August 8, 1918, and culminating in the retaking of Mons on November 11, 1918, only hours before the war ended. During the late summer and autumn of 1918, the Canadian Corps, under Lt. Gen. Sir Arthur Currie, played a crucial role in the defeat of the German Army on the Western Front. This work examines the operational, organizational, and tactical innovations developed by the Corps during this campaign and their subsequent effect on military thought. Six battles are examined for their planning, conduct, and lessons: the Battle of Amiens, the breaking of the Drocourt-Queant line, the Canal du Nord and Cambrai, the pursuit to Valenciennes, the storming of Mount Huoy, and the return to Mons.
Book Description
In 1914, the British Army fielded an Expeditionary Force of seven divisions totalling 150,000 men in support of France and Belgium. From these modest beginnings over seven million men eventually volunteered or were conscripted, nearly a million of whom came from the Empire and Dominions. Andrew Rawson covers the men who fought for Britain from the 'Old Contemptibles' (the professionals who checked the Germans in 1914) to the Territorials, Kitchener's 'New Army' and 'Derby's Men', the conscripts who eventually defeated the Kaiser's armies five years later. The impressive contributions made by the Dominions and the Empire are also examined. Aspects of doctrine, training, communications, strategy and tactics are explored together with divisional organisations and histories and the roles of the different Arms and Services. All aspects of the soldier's everyday life are investigated, including uniforms, personal equipment, weapons, vehicles, trench life, supply, rations, leave and military discipline. Personalities, both commanders and prominent veterans, and the legacy in fiction, poetry and film are discussed. Information on remembrance, cemeteries and sites of interest is also provided, making this an indispensable guide to Britain's Army of the First World War.
Book Description
A radical new interpretation of British command and generalship in the First World War which debunks the 'donkey' myth - leading historians examine the practicalities of command on the Western Front and British command emerges as much more effective than many believe which helps to explain why the British Army reached a peak of military excellence in 1918. It contains new looks at familiar subjects, for example Haig and GHQ and Gough as Army Commander and has chapters on topics almost entirely neglected in the past including the role of Corps and Artillery Commanders. It is the first book to examine the 'nuts and bolts' of British command on the Western Front.
Customer Reviews:
Surprising Analysis of British Leadership in WWI.......2005-03-23
The British Army and especially its officer corp during World War I has been characterized in book and film as being obstinate and even stupid, unwilling to learn and incapable of understanding the new dynamics of the battlefield.
To cope with the static trench warfare, the British had developed tanks, while the Germans had developed their 'stormtrooper' tactics.
While it is certainly true that the dynamics of the battlefield had changed, in truth so had the British generals. By early 1917 the BEF had developed a new tactical system based on fire and movement much like that of the stormtroopers, and which was to continue to be the basis for infantry assaults until today.
This book brings together a series of articles by a range of writers to analyze what the British did during the war. It shines a whole new light on British leadership.
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TRENCH,THE: The True Story of the Hull Pals
David Bilton
Manufacturer: Pen and Sword
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0850528623 |
Book Description
The book details the history of the 10th Battalion of the East Yorkshire, known as the Hull Pals, from September 1914 to May 1918. In around 150 pages it will provide viewers with answers to the questions the program will generate: Who were these men? What did they do? Which of them survived? Where did they really come from? Did they really live like this?
Over 150 photographs, illustrations and maps record in detail the lives of these men; many of the illustrations have never been seen before.
Known locally as "The Commercials" because they were a battalion of office workers, the 1400 men trained in England, were sent to fight the Turks in Egypt and then returned to spend nearly three years in the trenches of the Western Front. Their losses were heavy, with around one in four being killed.
Customer Reviews:
Pick this one up!.......2003-02-21
I purchased this book after touring the trench exhibit at the Imperial War Museum in London. I was a good buy, it tell the story of the Hulls Pals, a unit raised in Kitchner's Army that was spared the destruction of the Battle of the Somme. The story is focused on a BBC television show that reenacted the formation and life of the unit. The book goes between today and the past describing everything from trench life, to the present day re-enactors finding the uniforms uncomfortable. Very well done, I have never seen the BBC show, however I enjoyed the book very much.
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