Download or read book Counter Attack written by Peter Edgar and published by . This book was released on 2019-05-05 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The brutal 1914 German invasion of Belgium and France had gained a large portion of both countries. Over three-and-a-half punishing years the Allies were slowly pushing the Germans back but in March 1918, Germany launched a massive spring offensive

Download or read book 1918 Villers Bretonneux to Le Hamel written by Peter Burness and published by DVA Anzac Portal. This book was released on 2008-09-01 with total page 118 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Australians on the Western Front—1918 Villers-Bretonneux to Le Hamel is the fourth book in the Australians on the Western Front 1916-1918 series developed by the Department of Veterans' Affairs.

Download or read book Counter Attack Villers Bretonneux April 1918 written by Peter Edgar and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2019-05-05 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The brutal 1914 German invasion of Belgium and France had gained a large portion of both countries. Over three-and-a-half punishing years the Allies were slowly pushing the Germans back but in March 1918, Germany launched a massive spring offensive. Resting in the Ypres sector after the horrors of the Passchendaele campaign, the Australians were among the first sent south to try to block the enemy. Now, after an unprecedented fortnight of advance, Germany’s goal was to capture the town of Villers-Bretonneux, key to the major rail junction of Amiens. The first attempt on 4 April found the 9th Australian Infantry Brigade in the centre of the line. They stopped the enemy at the gates. Then on 24 April the Germans launched a new attack, led by tanks, and took the town. Standing by to counter-attack were the 15th and 13th brigades of the Australian Corps. Not everything went to plan and casualties were high, but the counter-attack was brilliantly executed in spite of the odds. It became ‘a soldier’s fight’ in which the Australian troops’ morale and eagerness to get to grips with the enemy, together with their aggressive, well-practised moves under fire triumphed. Counter Attack: Villers-Bretonneux – April 1918 details the pivotal role the Australians played in denying German victory. Villers-Bretonneux was never again threatened by the enemy.

Download or read book Our Corner of the Somme written by Romain Fathi and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2019-02-28 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By the time of the Armistice, Villers-Bretonneux - once a lively and flourishing French town - had been largely destroyed, and half its population had fled or died. From March to August 1918, Villers-Bretonneux formed part of an active front line, at which Australian troops were heavily involved. As a result, it holds a significant place in Australian history. Villers-Bretonneux has since become an open-air memorial to Australia's participation in the First World War. Successive Australian governments have valourised the Australian engagement, contributing to an evolving Anzac narrative that has become entrenched in Australia's national identity. Our Corner of the Somme provides an eye-opening analysis of the memorialisation of Australia's role on the Western Front and the Anzac mythology that so heavily contributes to Australians' understanding of themselves. In this rigorous and richly detailed study, Romain Fathi challenges accepted historiography by examining the assembly, projection and performance of Australia's national identity in northern France.

Download or read book Victory at Villers Bretonneux written by Peter FitzSimons and published by Random House Australia. This book was released on 2016-10-31 with total page 645 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It’s early 1918, and after four brutal years, the fate of the Great War hangs in the balance. On the one hand, the fact that Vladimir Lenin and the Bolsheviks have seized power in Russia – immediately suing for peace with Germany – means that no fewer than one million of the Kaiser’s soldiers can now be transferred from there to the Western Front. On the other, now that America has entered the war, it means that two million American soldiers are also on their way, to tip the scales of war to the Allies. The Germans, realising that their only hope is striking at the Allied lines first, do exactly that, and on the morning of 21 March 1918, the Kaiserschlacht, the Kaiser’s battle, is launched – the biggest set-piece battle the world has ever seen. Across a 45-mile front, no fewer than two million German soldiers hurl themselves at the Allied lines, with the specific intention of splitting the British and French forces, and driving all the way through to the town of Villers-Bretonneux, at which point their artillery will be able to rain down shells on the key train-hub town of Amiens, thus throttling the Allied supply lines. For nigh on two weeks, the plan works brilliantly, and the Germans are able to advance without check, as the exhausted British troops flee before them, together with tens of thousands of French refugees. In desperation, the British commander, General Douglas Haig, calls upon the Australian soldiers to stop the German advance, and save Villers-Bretonneux. If the Australians can hold this, the very gate to Amiens, then the Germans will not win the war. 'It's up to us, then,' one of the Diggers writes in his diary. Arriving at Villers-Bretonneux just in time, the Australians are indeed able to hold off the Germans, launching a vicious counterattack that hurls the Germans back the first time. And then, on Anzac Day 1918, when the town falls after all to the British defenders, it is again the Australians who are called on to save the day, the town, and the entire battle. Not for nothing does the primary school at Villers-Bretonneux have above every blackboard, to this day, 'N’oublions jamais, l’Australie.' Never forget Australia. And they never have. ______________________________________________ PRAISE FOR PETER FITZSIMONS 'Peter FitzSimons is an Australian phenomenon.' The Canberra Times '[FitzSimons] knows how to make words race like eager sled dogs on their homeward run.' Newcastle Herald 'Meticulously researched, well-written and incredibly presented.' Weekend Notes

Download or read book The Australian Imperial Force in France During the Main German Offensive 1918 written by Charles Edwin Woodrow Bean and published by . This book was released on 1983 with total page 946 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Australian Imperial Force in France During the Main German Offensive 1918 written by Charles Edwin Woodrow Bean and published by . This book was released on 1983 with total page 936 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Saving the Channel Ports 1918 written by William D. Joynt and published by [Melbourne] : Wren Pub.. This book was released on 1975 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Official History of Australia in the War of 1914 1918 Volume V The Australian Imperial Force in France December 1917 May 1918 written by C. E. W. Bean and published by . This book was released on 2017-09-11 with total page 902 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In volume five we see Australian troops fighting better and with more telling effect in a decisive period of military history. The great German offensive of March-April 1918 saw important battles for the Australian forces that were fought around Amiens and Hazelbrouck in the spring of 1918. By the end of April, despite huge casualties, the 2nd, 3rd and 5th Divisions were holding half the crucial front from Arras in the north to Amiens in the south-east. The Australian Corps. The Winter Campaign at Messiners. The Allies' Strife for a Plan. The Genesis of Michael.Ludendorff Strikes. Hebuterne. Before Amiens.Dernancourt - March 28th. Morlancourt - March 28th and 30th. The Truth About the Fifth Army. First Villers-Bretonneux. The Battle of Dernacourt. The Battle of the Lys - (I) April 9th-13th. The Battle of the Lys - (II) April 14th-24th. Hangard Wood and Somme - April 5th-23rd. Second Villers-Bretonneux - (I) The Germans Seize the Village. Second Villers-Bretonneux - (II) The Counter-Attack. After Villers-Bretonneux - Monument Wood. Results of the Offensive Against the British. The Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-1918 is a 12-volume series covering Australian involvement in the First World War. The series was edited by C.E.W. Bean, who also wrote six of the volumes, and was published between 1920 and 1942. The first seven volumes deal with the Australian Imperial Force while other volumes cover the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force at Rabaul, the Royal Australian Navy, the Australian Flying Corps and the home front; the final volume is a photographic record. Unlike other official histories that have been aimed at military staff, Bean intended the Australian history to be accessible to a non-military audience. The relatively small size of the Australian forces enabled the history to be presented in great detail, giving accounts of individual actions that would not have been possible when covering a larger force.

Download or read book Surviving the Great War written by Aaron Pegram and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2019-11-12 with total page 285 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Surviving the Great War is the first detailed analysis of Australians in German captivity in WW1. By placing the hardships of prisoners of war in a broader social and military content, this book adds a new dimension to the national wartime experience and challenges popular representations of Australia's involvement in the First World War.

Download or read book Sir William Glasgow written by Peter Edgar and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2011-08-01 with total page 415 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sir William Glasgow is a fascinating and valuable book that tells the story of this once famous figure: his early service in the Boer War, a career in the AIF which included serving at Gallipoli and distinguished command at the Western Front, and a knighthood and distinguished career in the Commonwealth Government and the diplomatic service. This meticulously researched portrait reveals much about Australia at war and peace in the first half of the 20th century.

Download or read book Pompey Elliott written by Ross McMullin and published by Scribe Publications. This book was released on 2009-05-01 with total page 739 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Pompey Elliott was a remarkable Australian. During the Great War he was a charismatic, controversial, and outstandingly successful military leader. An accomplished tactician and the bravest of the brave, he was renowned for never sending anyone anywhere he was not prepared to go himself. As a result, no Australian general was more revered by those he led or more famous outside his own command. An officer on his staff even concluded that no greater soldier or gentleman ever lived."--Provided by publisher.

Download or read book From the Somme to Victory written by Peter Simkins and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2014-10-30 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Download or read book Morland Great War Corps Commander written by Bill Thompson and published by Troubador Publishing Ltd. This book was released on 2015-06-28 with total page 448 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The British officer class in 1914 benefited from the discipline instilled by public schools. Thomas Morland was one such officer. Born in Canada, he was orphaned at the age of five. He became a widower with two daughters at a young age. In October 1914 he went to France to command the 5th Division, then south of Ypres. Morland served on the Somme and Messines & Third Ypres, and in 1918 he commanded a corps during the victorious 100 Days campaign. Morland’s diaries record the above events and his comments thereon, every day for four years, beginning at the Battle of La Bassee, near Ypres. He was parachuted in while the battle was raging and held the shaken division together during the second half of October. A modest man, he was surprised by his promotion to lieutenant-general in 1915. Morland led X Corps at the beginning of the Somme campaign in July 1916 but was replaced by General Gough, his army chief, who thought Morland was not sufficiently decisive. During 1917 he took part in the successful Battle of Messines on 7 June, a ‘Red Letter’ day, and the attrition of the Third Battle of Ypres from July to November. Morland ended the war in pursuit of the retreating Germans, in November 1918. A sense of realism permeates his diary, with comments like 'The war has simply become a process of attrition' in 1915 and 'We cannot expect men to advance to attack in mud up to the waist!' in 1917. During his time away from home, he wrote regularly to his daughters, in whom he confided his hopes and fears. His love for them shines through the pages, reflecting the man behind the uniform. Morland – Great War Corps Commander is the first book to publish the papers of an officer of his rank. With many original accounts of major battles, this is a book that will appeal to military history enthusiasts everywhere.

Download or read book Combat Colonels written by David Clare Holloway and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2014-12-05 with total page 323 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Combat Colonels seeks to address the regrettable gap in Australia's documented history of its combat colonels. Its purpose is to name all the Commanding Officers who led units into actions in the Great War and to describe their lives before and, for those who survived, after the war. From these pages emerge the men who shaped Australia's battlefield history - both the professional soldiers and the former teachers, accountants, salesmen, clerks, farmers and others from a broad range of occupations whose leadership on and off the battlefield proved so crucial. These are men Australia cannot afford to forget.

Download or read book 1918 Year of Victory written by Ashley Ekins and published by ReadHowYouWant.com. This book was released on 2010 with total page 570 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 1918: Year of Victory, convened by the Australian War Memorial in Canberra in November 2008 to mark the ninetieth anniversary of the end of the Great War. Ashley Ekins (volume editor) is Head of the Military History Section at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.

Download or read book Winged Victory written by V.M. Yeates and published by Grub Street Publishing. This book was released on 2004-05-19 with total page 455 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Experience the chilling combat of World War I from inside an early biplane in this classic novel, by a pilot who lived through the war himself. France, 1914. The war on the land is taking to the skies . . . Pilot Tom Cundall is ready to take on the enemy in his trusty Camel fighter plane. But as he sees more and more planes shot down in flames, he begins to question the war, and what, or who, he is fighting for. There is no bitter snarl nor self-pity in this classic novel about the air war of 1914-1918, based very largely on the author’s experiences. Combat, loneliness, fatigue, fear, comradeship, women, excitement—they all are part of a brilliantly told story of war and courage by one of the most valiant pilots of the then Royal Flying Corps. Praise for Winged Victory “The greatest novel of war in the air.” —The Daily Mail (UK) ‘Beautifully written with a poet’s eye as well as a pilot’s eye.” —Evening Echo (UK) “Not only one of the best war books . . . but as a transcription of reality, faithful and sustained in its author’s purpose of re-creating the past life he knew, it is unique.” —Henry Williamson, author of Tarka the Otter