Download or read book Victoria Cross Heroes of World War One written by Robert Hamilton and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Victoria Cross had been in existence over 60 years when Archduke Franz Ferdinand fell to an assassins bullet, the event that triggered a Europe-wide call to arms in August 1914. It was an award that democratised military honours, for it was open to all ranks, the sole qualification being a display of conspicuous bravery in the field. The sovereign whose name it bore was personally responsible for the Crosss simple legend: For Valour. Forged, it is said, from cannons captured during the Crimean War, the medals were rather too plain for some tastes. The Times derided the VC as a dull, heavy, tasteless prize when the first investiture ceremony took place in Hyde Park on 26 June 1857. But its virtue, quite deliberately, lay in its very simplicity. It was the action for which the medal was given that should dazzle, not the decoration itself. The Victoria Cross became pre-eminent: first in line when pinned to a uniform or appended to a recipients name. Over 500 VCs had been awarded by the outbreak of the First World War. That figure more than doubled during the four-year-long conflict. Trench warfare, when the rival camps might be dug in less than 100 yards apart, afforded endless opportunities to show courage and mettle in the face of the enemy. Many were honoured for attacking feats, often taking the fight to the foe when the odds were stacked against survival. But hurling oneself into the fray was but one of valours many faces. Stretcher-bearers, medical staff, pipers and chaplains also showed the same strength in adversity, the same disregard for personal safety, the same willingness to exceed the call of duty. And, in over 180 instances, a readiness to make the ultimate sacrifice for King and Country. The call to act could come at any moment. In William McFadzeans case it came when the safety pins slipped from two grenades in a crowded trench just before the Somme battle. He flung himself onto the bombs, saving his comrades at the cost of his own life. For Rex Warneford it came in the skies over Ghent on 7 June 1915, when he became the first man to down a German airship in flight. He was thrown from his plane during a flight ten days later. For Jack Cornwell it came during the Battle of Jutland, when, mortally wounded, he stuck doggedly to his post awaiting orders. He was 16 years old. This book chronicles the inspiring, thrilling, humbling and deeply moving stories behind the 628 Victoria Crosses awarded during the course of the Great War. Without inscription, those 628 medals, like all the others cast by London jewelers, Hancocks over the past century and a half, would have no intrinsic worth. Once earned, inscribed and conferred, they assume inestimable value.
Download or read book VCs of the First World War Spring Offensive 1918 written by Gerald Gliddon and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2013-02-01 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At the end of 1917, after three years of trench warfare on the Western Front, the Allied armies of Britain and France, and those of their main opponent, Germany, had reached a point of exhaustion and hibernation. On March 21 1918, the German Army launched a massive assault on the Western Front, hurling fifty-nine divisions into battle against the British Fifth Army, smashing through British lines and advancing 40 miles per week. More offensives were to follow throughout the spring, including at Aisne and Marne, with the aim of ending the war before American forces could reach the Continent and reinforce the Allied lines. Nevertheless, although the German Army left the British Army reeling, the Tommies retreated in good order and fought all the way. It was during these bloody battles, which lasted until July 1918, that fifty-seven men stood out for acts of extraordinary daring and bravery. To these men the highest military honour was awarded – the Victoria Cross. This book reveals the true extent of their bravery, their backgrounds and their lives after the war.
Download or read book The Commercial Handbook of Canada written by and published by . This book was released on 1926 with total page 708 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book VCs of the First World War The Air VCs written by Peter G. Cooksley and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2014-04-07 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Of more than 600 Victoria Crosses awarded to British and Empire servicemen during the First World War, nineteen were awarded to airmen of the newly formed Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service. Of these, four were posthumous awards and all but one of the total were to officers. Some of these valorous airmen were from humble backgrounds and with limited education; others were collegiate men from wealthy families. But in the words of one senior officer they all had in common 'the guts of a lion'. Each VS winner's act of bravery is recorded here in intricate detail, along with their backgrounds and their lives after the war.
Download or read book Hazell s Annual written by and published by . This book was released on 1914 with total page 710 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Halfway to Hell written by Laurie Woods and published by Boolarong Press. This book was released on 2011 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The content of this book are based on personal interviews, personal service stories among my mates, members of the Royal Australian Air Force, and with historic records of airmen who were mainly trained in the Empire Air Training scheme. The scheme was set up to keep up a supply of trained aircrew to replace the immense numbers who were giving their lives. This book also tells of Australians among the heroic crews of Bomber Command and of their amazing courage and the record of achievement that is recorded forever in this history of Australian courage. It tells in detail the high price paid by aircrews to achieve victory, the loss of comrades and the extreme hazards faced day after day, which called for great courage and effort that in the end stole their youth.
Download or read book VCs of the First World War The Sideshows written by Gerald Gliddon and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2014-08-01 with total page 446 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The thirteenth and final volume of the VCs of the First World War series features the lives and careers of forty-six servicemen who won the coveted Victoria Cross in theatres of war – or ' Sideshows', as they became known – beyond the Western Front and Gallipoli. Opening with the stories of four VC winners who took part in the prolonged struggle to drive the German Army out of East Africa, VCs of the First World War: The Sideshows goes on to tell the stories of the two Indian Army winners of the VC defending the North-West Frontier. Finally, it covers the campaigns against the Austro–German forces in Italy; securing the oil wells in Mesopotamia (later Iraq); defending the Suez Canal and attacking the Ottoman Army in Palestine and lastly serving in Salonika in the Balkans. Each VC winner's act of bravery is recorded here in intricate detail, together with the background of the men and their lives after the war – if they survived.
Download or read book Debrett s Baronetage Knightage and Companionage written by and published by . This book was released on 1921 with total page 2168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The London Gazette written by and published by . This book was released on 1915 with total page 1224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Debrett s Peerage and Baronetage 2019 written by Susan Morris and published by eBook Partnership. This book was released on 2020-04-20 with total page 7460 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Debrett's Peerage & Baronetage is the only up-to-date printed reference guide to the United Kingdom's titled families: the hereditary peers, life peers and peeresses, and baronets, and their descendants who form the fascinating tapestry of the peerage. This is the first ebook edition of Debrett's Peerage &Baronetage, and it also contains information relating to:The Royal FamilyCoats of ArmsPrincipal British Commonwealth OrdersCourtesy titlesForms of addressExtinct, dormant, abeyant and disclaimed titles.Special features for this anniversary edition include:The Roll of Honour, 1920: a list of the 3,150 people whose names appeared in the volume who were killed in action or died as a result of injuries sustained during the First World War.A number of specially commissioned articles, including an account of John Debrett's life and the early history of Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage, a history of the royal dukedoms, and an in-depth feature exploring the implications of modern legislation and mores on the ancient traditions of succession.
Download or read book Composition of Headquarters British Armies in France written by Great Britain. Army. British Expeditionary Force 1914-1918. General Headquarters and published by . This book was released on 1918 with total page 426 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Colonial Office List for written by Great Britain. Colonial Office and published by . This book was released on 1918 with total page 928 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Navy List written by Great Britain. Admiralty and published by . This book was released on 1937 with total page 1932 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Bully Beef Balderdash written by Graham Wilson and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2012-03-15 with total page 448 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Australian Imperial Force, first raised in 1914 for overseas war service, became better known by its initials - the "AIF". There was a distinct character to those who enlisted in the earliest months and who were destined to fight on Gallipoli. During the war the AIF took its place among the great armies of the world, on some of history's oldest battlefields. The Australians would attack at the Dardanelles, enter Jerusalem and Damascus, defend Amiens and Ypres, and swagger through the streets of Cairo, Paris, and London, with their distinctive slouch hats and comparative wealth of six shillings per day. However, the legend of the AIF is shrouded in myth and mystery. Was Beersheba the last great cavalry charge in history? Did the AIF storm the red light district of Cairo and burn it to ground while fighting running battles with the military police? Was the AIF the only all-volunteer army of World War I? Graham Wilson's Bully Beef and Balderdash shines an unforgiving light on these and other well-known myths of the AIF in World War I, arguing that these spectacular legends simply serve to diminish the hard-won reputation of the AIF as a fighting force. Graham Wilson mounts his own campaign to rehabilitate the historical reputation of the force and to demonstrate that misleading and inaccurate embellishment does nothing but hide the true story of Australia's World War I fighting army. Bully Beef and Balderdash deliberately tilts at some well-loved windmills and, for those who cherish the mythical story of the AIF, this will not be comfortable reading. Yet, given the extraordinary truth of the AIF's history, it is certainly compelling reading.
Download or read book The work of Ambrose McEvoy written by Ambrose McEvoy and published by . This book was released on 1923 with total page 86 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Canadian Parliamentary Companion written by and published by . This book was released on 1923 with total page 690 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
