Download or read book Raiding on the Western Front written by Anthony Saunders and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2012-07-19 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The trench raid came to typify the aggression and close-combat of trench warfare on the Western Front. Inevitably, raiding by aggressively minded units had a psychological effect on the enemy. Dominance over the enemy could be established by aggressive raiding. Equally, raiding had an effect on the morale of friendly troops but not always a positive one. Successful raids buoyed spirits but unsuccessful raids could be detrimental because of the casualties sustained for no gain and raiding provoked retaliation from enemy artillery or mortars or a tit-for-tat return raid.Raids came to be the epitome of all-arms operations, combining individual weapons skills with tactical sense and requiring cooperation with artillery and mortar batteries for success. Yet, a raiding party was an ad hoc all-arms combat team put together and trained for a specific operation. In the early days of raiding, the raiders were always volunteers but the steady toll of experienced soldiers led to raiders being told off for the first task like any other.This is the first book to look at how raids were carried out, the successes, the failures, the consequences of raiding, and their effect on morale and their contribution to military operations on the Western Front.
Download or read book The Black ANZACs written by Doug Walsh and published by . This book was released on 2016-05-10 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After their retreat from Gallipoli, and recuperation in Egypt, among the first AIF troops to be posted to the Western Front were the ANZACs of the 26th & 28th Battalions/ 7th Brigade. Two months after their arrival, volunteers were selected to engage the Germans in a night-time trench raid. This unique book covers the story of the AIFs first action in Europe in June 1916 and the 73 soldiers involved. It tells the story of that raid and of each of the 73 soldiers who were subsequently dubbed ?The Black ANZACs? by the newspapers of the day. The raid was an action of firsts:
Download or read book Specialized Assault Units Of The World War I Western Front written by Major Christopher J. Ghiz and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2014-08-15 with total page 92 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This thesis will use a comparative study of the German Storm trooper battalions and the Canadian trench raiders in order to examine the dynamics of the World War I battlefield, the role of military culture in adaptation in order to acknowledge and act on the requirements of battlefield innovation. The purpose is to determine what key factors contributed to the tactical effectiveness of specialized assault units on the Western Front. The military cultures of these armies comprised the logical and innovative principles that were fundamental in the tactical effectiveness of these elite assault units by making revolutionary developments in force structure, institutional support, personnel selection, decentralized leadership, and training on small-unit tactics and advanced weaponry. Did these tactics create similar or different effects for each army? What factors did these armies use to organize and employ these assault units? To answer these questions, several areas will be examined: (1) force structure, (2) institutional support, (3) personnel selection, and (4) training on decentralized leadership, small unit infiltration tactics, and advanced weaponry. Both armies had different backgrounds and situations. The German Army’s Sturm battalions represented an army-wide institutionalization of organization, selection and technique. The Canadian Corps’ trench raiders were based on the Canadian Corps’ homogeneous structure that separated itself from the BEF in developing its own doctrine, training schools, organization, and tactical innovations.
Download or read book Battle Tactics of the Western Front written by Paddy Griffith and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 1996-01-01 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book The Royal Flying Corps the Western Front and the Control of the Air 1914 1918 written by James Pugh and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-05-12 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By the middle of 1918 the British Army had successfully mastered the concept of ’all arms’ warfare on the Western Front. This doctrine, integrating infantry, artillery, armoured vehicles and - crucially - air power, was to prove highly effective and formed the basis of major military operations for the next hundred years. Yet, whilst much has been written on the utilisation of ground forces, the air element still tends to be studied in isolation from the army as a whole. In order to move beyond the usual 'aircraft and aces' approach, this book explores the conceptual origins of the control of the air and the role of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) within the British army. In so doing it addresses four key themes. First, it explores and defines the most fundamental air power concept - the control of the air - by examining its conceptual origins before and during the First World War. Second, it moves beyond the popular history of air power during the First World War to reveal the complexity of the topic. Third, it reintegrates the study of air power during the First World War, specifically that of the RFC, into the strategic, operational, organisational, and intellectual contexts of the era, as well as embedding the study within the respective scholarly literatures of these contexts. Fourth, the book reinvigorates an entrenched historiography by challenging the usually critical interpretation of the RFC’s approach to the control of the air, providing new perspectives on air power during the First World War. This includes an exploration of the creation of the RAF and its impact on the development of air power concepts.
Download or read book On the Dangerous Edge written by Kenneth Radley and published by Helion. This book was released on 2018 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On The Dangerous Edge examines the nature, purposes, mechanics, course of execution and the value of British and Canadian trench raiding on the Western Front, 1914-1918.
Download or read book The British Army in Battle and Its Image 1914 18 written by Stephen Badsey and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2011-10-20 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this collection of essays of incomparable scholarship, Stephen Badsey explores in individual detail how the British Army fought in the First World War, how politics and strategy affected its battles and the decisions of senior commanders such as Douglas Haig, and how these issues were intimately intertwined with the mass media portrayal of the Army to itself and to the British people. Informative, provocative, and often entertaining, based on more than a quarter-century of research, these essays on the British Army in the First World War range through topics from a trench raid to modern television comedy. As a contribution to progressive military history, The British Army in Battle and Its Image 1914-1918 proves that the way the British Army fought and its portrayal through the media cannot be separated. It is one of a growing number of studies which show that, far from being in opposition to each other, cultural history and the history of battle must be combined for the First World War to be properly understood. For more information visit Stephen Badsey's website www.stephenbadsey.com .
Download or read book The Empire on the Western Front written by Geoffrey Jackson and published by UBC Press. This book was released on 2019-04-01 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book The Illustrated War News written by and published by . This book was released on 1918 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The AIF in Battle written by Jean Bou and published by Melbourne Univ. Publishing. This book was released on 2016-06-13 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By the end of the First World War the combat formations of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) in both France and the Middle East were considered among the British Empire’s most effective troops. While sometimes a source of pride and not a little boasting, how the force came to be so was not due to any inherent national prowess or trait. Instead it was the culmination of years of training, organisational change, battlefield experimentation and hard-won experience—a process that included not just the Australians, but the wider British imperial armies as well. This book brings together some of Australia's foremost military historians to outline how the military neophytes that left Australia's shores in 1914 became the battle winning troops of 1918. It will trace the evolution of several of the key arms of the AIF, including the infantry, the light horse, the artillery, and the flying corps, and also consider how the various arms worked together alongside other troops of the British Empire to achieve a remarkably high level of battlefield effectiveness.
Download or read book ANZACS on the Western Front written by Peter Pedersen and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2018-02-14 with total page 604 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A newly updated, lavishly illustrated account of the ANZACs involvement in the Western Front—complete with walking and driving tours of 28 battlefields. With rare photographs and documents from the Australian War Memorial archive and extensive travel information, this is the most comprehensive guide to the battlefields of the Western Front on the market. Every chapter covers not just the battles, but the often larger-than-life personalities who took part in them. Following a chronological order from 1916 through 1918, the book leads readers through every major engagement the Australian and New Zealanders fought in and includes tactical considerations and extracts from the personal diaries of soldiers. Anzacs On The Western Front: The Australian War Memorial Battlefield Guide is the perfect book for anyone who wants to explore the battlefields of the Western Front, either in-person or from the comfort of home. It does far more than show where the lines that generals drew on their maps actually ran on the ground and retrace the footsteps of the men advancing towards them. It is a graphic and wide-ranging record of the Australian and New Zealand achievements, and of the huge sacrifices both nations made, in what is still arguably the most grueling episode in their history. A complete guide to the ANZAC battlefields on the Western Front—featuring short essays on important personalities and events, details on relevant cemeteries, museums, memorials and nearby places of interest, and general travel information. Carefully researched and illustrated with colorful maps and both modern and period photographs. Includes information about the Sir John Monash Centre near Villers-Bretonneux in France—a new interpretative museum set to open on Anzac Day 2018, coinciding with the centenary of the Year of Victory 1918. Anzacs On The Western Front: The Australian War Memorial Battlefield Guide is the perfect book for historians, history buffs, military enthusiasts, and Australians and New Zealanders who want to explore the military history and battlefields of their heritage.
Download or read book Trench written by Stephen Bull and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2014-05-20 with total page 520 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A complete guide to trench warfare on the Western Front from an authority on the subject. Even now, 100 years on from the conflict, the image of trenches stretching across Western Europe – packed with young men clinging to life in horrendous conditions – remains a powerful reminder of one of the darkest moments in human history. In this excellent study of trench warfare on the Western Front, expert Dr Stephen Bull reveals the experience of life in the trenches, from length of service and coping with death and disease, to the uniforms and equipment given to soldiers on both sides of the conflict. He reveals how the trenches were constructed, the weaponry which was developed specifically for this new form of warfare, the tactics employed in mass attacks and the increasingly adept defensive methods designed to hold ground at all cost. Packed with photographs, illustrations, annotated trench maps, documents and first-hand accounts, this compelling narrative provides a richly detailed account of World War I, providing a soldier's-eye-view of life in the ominous trenches that scarred the land.
Download or read book Show No Fear written by Bernd Horn and published by Dundurn. This book was released on 2008-07-14 with total page 387 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Show No Fear is a collection of essays that captures the richness of Canadian military history. Although Canadians see their nation as a peaceable kingdom and themselves as an unmilitary people, the truth is that Canada has a proud military heritage. Moreover, the nations citizens and their descendants share a legacy of courage, tenacity, and warfighting prowess. This volume of daring actions showcases the country’s rich and distinct national military experience while capturing the indomitable spirit of the Canadian soldier. Actions studied include military bravery in the Seven Years War, the British attacks on Fort Mackinac and Fort Detroit in the War of 1812, the Lake Erie expeditions during the American Civil War, courage displayed at Paardeberg in the Boer War, trench raiding in the First World War, bold valour in the ill-fated Dieppe Raid in the Second World War, toe-to-toe fighting with the Chinese in the Korean War, and present-day heroics in Afghanistan.
Download or read book The Fortieth written by Frank C. Green and published by . This book was released on 1922 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Perspectives on the Canadian Way of War written by Bernd Horn and published by Dundurn. This book was released on 2006-04-01 with total page 411 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contrary to popular opinion, this nation has always consciously and consistently utilized military force to further its security, as well as its economic and political well-being. Despite the best of intentions to aid others, the reality is that military force has most often been used to serve the national interest in ways that were not always altruistic but rather to serve practical political purpose. In the final analysis, the Canadian military experience has been integral to creating the advanced, affluent, and vibrant nation that exists today. This collection of essays, written by such noted historians and authors as Douglas Delaney, Stephen J. Harris, Ronald Haycock, Michael Hennessy, Bernd Horn, and Sean Maloney, spans the entirety of the Canadian military experience and underlines the reality that the government has consistently used its armed forces to achieve political purpose. More often than not, the "Canadian way of war" has been a direct reflection of circumstance and political will.
Download or read book The Baby Killers written by Thomas Fegan and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2013-08-05 with total page 191 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Just over a decade after the Wright Brothers’ triumph of powered flight, the conduct of war was changed for ever. Until the Kaiser’s Zeppelins raided British cities and towns, it had been unthinkable that civilian populations and property hundreds of miles from the battlefield could be at risk from sudden death and destruction. In the first section of The ‘Baby Killers’ Thomas Fegan charts the precise chronology of the air raids on Britain in this most thorough and fascinating work. From the start-point of the doom-laden prophecies of HG Wells and others, he describes the development of the German threat and the desperate search for answers to it. He analyses public reaction and assesses the effectiveness of the campaign as it progressed from airships to Gotha heavy bombers and, later, ‘Giants’. The second part of this superbly researched book features a gazetteer to the places bombed. The extent of the list, which includes Edinburgh, Hull and Greater Manchester, will almost certainly surprise most readers. Helpfully there are also comprehensive lists of memorials and relevant museums. The ‘Baby Killers’ provides a chilling insight into an aspect of The Great War which is all too often overlooked. Yet, at the time, these raids, while modest compared with those of the Second World War Blitz, shook national morale and instilled great fear and outrage. This is an important and highly readable work.
Download or read book Men at War written by Timothy Travers and published by Transaction Publishers. This book was released on 2010-01-01 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Originally published: Chicago: Precedent, 1982.
