Author: Edwin AstillPublisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :
Book Description
Great War Diaries of Brigadier Alexander Johnston
Author: Edwin AstillThe Great War Diaries of Brigadier General Alexander Johnston, 1914–1917
Author: Edwin AstillPublisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1781594503
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 385
Book Description
"Alexander Johnston went over to France in August 1914 as the signals officer for 7 Infantry Brigade. He went on to serve in that capacity with 3rd Division before becoming, in turn, Brigade Major, Commanding Officer 10th Battalion Cheshire Regiment and finally Officer Commanding 126 Infantry Brigade. Throughout he proved himself to be a brave, resourceful and determined soldier. He was always close to the front line, yet his signals and staff duties gave him insights into the conduct of the war at higher levels. Therein lies the value of this diary. Many of the major engagements of the war are covered. He took part in Mons, Le Cateau and the subsequent retreat and advance to the Aisne. The diary provides valuable insights into the battle of La Bassee and the trench warfare of 1915. As a Brigade Major he was kept busy in 1916 with both holding the line (in the face of intensive enemy mining operations) and the Somme battle. By 1917 his work in command of 10th Cheshire Regiment showed positive results in the battalions performance at Messines and gained him promotion to Brigadier General. Within days of taking command he was up at the front line where he was badly wounded. But for the wound Johnston may well have gained even higher command and wider acclaim for his services. The diary is an important addition to the literature of the Great War. "
Fire and Movement
Author: Peter HartPublisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199355533
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 544
Book Description
The dramatic opening weeks of the Great War passed into legend long before the conflict ended. The British Expeditionary Force fought a mesmerizing campaign, outnumbered and outflanked but courageous and skillful, holding the line against impossible odds, sacrificing themselves to stop the last great German offensive of 1914. A remarkable story of high hopes and crushing disappointment, the campaign contains moments of sheer horror and nerve-shattering excitement; pathos and comic relief; occasional cowardice and much selfless courage--all culminating in the climax of the First Battle of Ypres. And yet, as Peter Hart shows in this gripping and revisionary look at the war's first year, for too long the British part in the 1914 campaigns has been veiled in layers of self-congratulatory myth: a tale of poor unprepared Britain, reliant on the peerless class of her regular soldiers to bolster the rabble of the unreliable French Army and defeat the teeming hordes of German troops. But the reality of those early months is in fact far more complex--and ultimately, Hart argues, far more powerful than the standard triumphalist narrative. Fire and Movement places the British role in 1914 into a proper historical context, incorporating the personal experiences of the men who were present on the front lines. The British regulars were indeed skillful soldiers, but as Hart reveals, they also lacked practice in many of the required disciplines of modern warfare, and the inexperience of officers led to severe mistakes. Hart also provides a more accurate portrait of the German Army they faced--not the caricature of hordes of automatons, but the reality of a well-trained and superlatively equipped force that outfought the BEF in the early battles--and allows readers to come to a full appreciation of the role of the French Army, without whom the Marne never would have been won. Ultimately Fire and Movement shows the story of the 1914 campaigns to be an epic tale, and one which needs no embellishment. Through the voices and recollections of the soldiers who were there, Hart strips away the myth to offer a clear-eyed account of the remarkable early days of the Great War.
British Battle Planning in 1916 and the Battle of Fromelles
Author: Roger LeePublisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317172124
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 244
Book Description
Despite the substantial output of revisionist scholarship over the last decade reappraising the performance of the British Army on the Western Front during the First World War, there still remains a stubborn perception that its commanders were incompetent, inflexible and unimaginative. Whilst much ink has been spilled vilifying or defending individual commanders, or looking for overarching trends and ’learning curves’, this is the first work to examine systematically the vertical nature of command - that is the transmission of plans from the high-command down through the rank structure to the front line. Through such an investigation, a much more rounded measure of the effectiveness of British commanders can be gained; one moves the argument beyond the overly simplistic ’casualties to ground gained’ equation that is usually offered. The Battle of Fromelles (19-20 July 1916) was selected as the case study as it was relatively small in scale, in the right period, and retains sufficient primary sources available to sustain the analysis. It also witnessed the first time Australian forces were used in offensive operations on the Western Front, and thus looms large in wider Commonwealth perceptions of ’Bumbling British Generals’. The book follows the progress of the battle plan from its inception in the strategic designs of the supreme commander down through the various intermediate level commands at operational and tactical headquarters until it became the orders that sent the infantry forward into the attack. In so doing it provides a unique insight into the strengths and weaknesses of British command structure, allowing a much more scholarly judgement of its overall effectiveness.
British Infantry Battalion Commanders in the First World War
Author: Peter E. HodgkinsonPublisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317171918
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 264
Book Description
Recent studies of the British Army during the First World War have fundamentally overturned historical understandings of its strategy and tactics, yet the chain of command that linked the upper echelons of GHQ to the soldiers in the trenches remains poorly understood. In order to reconnect the lines of communication between the General Staff and the front line, this book examines the British army’s commanders at battalion level, via four key questions: (i) How and where resources were found from the small officer corps of 1914 to cope with the requirement for commanding officers (COs) in the expanding army; (ii) What was the quality of the men who rose to command; (iii) Beyond simple overall quality, exactly what qualities were perceived as making an effective CO; and (iv) To what extent a meritocracy developed in the British army by the Armistice. Based upon a prosopographical analysis of a database over 4,000 officers who commanded infantry battalions during the war, the book tackles one of the central historiographical issues pertaining to the war: the qualities of the senior British officer. In so doing it challenges lingering popular conceptions of callous incompetence, as well more scholarly criticism that has derided the senior British officer, but has done so without a data-driven perspective. Through his thorough statistical analysis Dr Peter Hodgkinson adds a valuable new perspective to the historical debate underway regarding the nature of British officers during the extraordinary expansion of the Army between 1914 and 1918, and the remarkable, yet often forgotten, British victories of The Hundred Days.
The BEF Campaign on the Aisne 1914
Author: Jerry MurlandPublisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1783378395
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 391
Book Description
The river Aisne featured prominently in August 1914 during the Retreat from Mons and in September was the scene of bitter fighting when the BEF re-crossed it in their unsuccessful attempt to dislodge the German Army entrenched along the Northern Crest.The fighting was hugely costly to the BEF, which had already fought three major engagements and marched over 200 miles in a month. The three British Corps lost over 700 officers and some 15,000 men. Little wonder one officer wrote that he felt he was in the company of ghosts.Historian Jerry Murland places the Aisne battles in their context, both from the BEF and German viewpoints. He highlights the early deficiencies and unpreparedness of the British Army staff and logistics organization as well as friction among the command structure, all of which hampered effective operations.
Aisne 1914
Author: Jerry MurlandPublisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1473822580
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 224
Book Description
The 1914 Battle of the Aisne, officially from 12 15 September, came about as a result of the German retirement from the Battle of the Marne, which took place further south as the huge conscript armies of France and Germany jostled for position almost within sight of Paris. By the time the British arrived on the Aisne the battle line stretched some 150 miles from Noyon in the west to Verdun in the east and it was only along a tiny fifteen mile sector in the middle that the The British Expeditionary Force was engaged. However, it fought bitter engagements, which took place in difficult conditions and casualties were heavy. The Aisne fighting was the final attempt by the allies to follow through from the success of the Marne. It also marked the successful establishment by the Germans of a sound defensive line on this part of the front.As seen in 'Scale Military Modelling Monthly'.
The Battle of Bellewaarde, June 1915
Author: Carole McEntee-TaylorPublisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1473838681
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 525
Book Description
It was 2am on the 16th June 1915 and dawn was slowly breaking over Bellewaarde. It was exceptionally quiet, the troops of 3rd Division were situated on the western edge of Railway Wood and shrouded in a thick mist which reduced visibility and gave the illusion of safety. Across the few yards of no man's land, the German troops of Reserve Infantry Regiments (RIR) 248 and 246, and Unter-Elsssisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 132 were also blanketed in the thick damp mist. It swirled round their trenches, deadening sound and reinforcing the illusion that all was secure. Fifty minutes later the planned British artillery bombardment began. By the end of the day more than 4,000 men would be casualties on a field approximately half a mile square. At the close of the 2nd Battles of Ypres, the German trenches between the Menin Road and the Ypres-Roulers railway formed a salient. From Bellewaarde ridge, situated on the eastern side of the lake, they were able to overlook the greater part of the ground east of Ypres. In early June it was decided to attack the salient, and take possession of Bellewaarde ridge. The attack was to be carried out by the 9th Brigade of the 3rd Division, with 7th Brigade in support.The book is a tribute to those who fought and died at Bellewaarde on the 16th June 1915 and author royalties will be donated to a fund to help raise money for a memorial.
Challenge of Battle
Author: Adrian GilbertPublisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472808134
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 311
Book Description
Winston Churchill described the opening campaign of World War I as 'a drama never surpassed'. The titanic clash of Europe's armies in 1914 is one the great stories of 20th-century history, and one in which the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) played a notable part. Previous assessments of the BEF have held to an unshakeable belief in its exceptional performance during the battles of 1914. But closer examination of the historical record reveals a force possessing some key strengths yet undermined by other, significant failings. Within an authoritative and well-paced campaign narrative, Challenge of Battle re-evaluates the Army's leadership, organization and tactics. It describes the problems faced by commanders, grappling with the brutal realities of 20th-century warfare, and explains how the British infantry's famed marksmanship has to be set against the inexperience and tactical shortcomings of the BEF as a whole. However, it also demonstrates the progress made by the British during 1914, concluding with the successful defence of Ypres against superior enemy forces. The author examines the fateful decisions made by senior officers and how they affected the men under their command. Making full use of diaries, letters and other contemporary accounts, he builds a compelling picture of what it was like to fight in the battles of Mons, Le Cateau, the Aisne and Ypres. In this timely new book, Adrian Gilbert clears away the layers of sentiment that have obscured a true historical understanding of the 1914 campaign to provide a full, unvarnished picture of the BEF at war.
In Good Company
Author: William FraserPublisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1473884357
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 383
Book Description
In Good Company is a graphic account by the Hon. William Fraser, Gordon Highlanders, of his service in the First World War. Several times wounded, he went to Flanders in 1914 with the 2nd Battalion and commanded successively a platoon, a company, a Territorial battalion and a Regular battalion, ending the war as a lieutenant-colonel of twenty-eight, having survived the battles of First, Second and Third Ypres, Arras, Cambrai and the final triumphs of 1918. Frasers letters and diaries from the front, which compose this absorbing book, were edited by his son, General Sir David Fraser, soldier, biographer, historian, novelist. They provide a vivid, often highly critical and virtually unbroken account of those extraordinary days, seen through the eyes of a young Highland office. In Good Company gives a remarkable insight into some of the most terrible and challenging years of the Armys life.