Download or read book VCs of the First World War Cambrai 1917 written by Gerald Gliddon and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2012-02-29 with total page 359 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Featuring the careers of forty-three men, this volume tells the story of the Battle of Cambrai, famous for being the first occasion when tanks were used en masse in battle. Its first day was so successful that church bells in Britain were rung in anticipation of a great victory. A tank crewman numbers among the recipients of the VC. Containing biographies of a broad cross-section of men from Britain and the Dominions including Canada, Australia, New Zealand and even the Ukraine. It includes a sapper, a former miner, who chose to stay with his seriously wounded colleague underground and die with him, rather than obey an order to leave him and save his own life; a maverick lieutenant-colonel who was relieved of his command and a padre who worked tirelessly over a period of three nights bringing at least twenty-five men to safety from No Man's Land, who otherwise would have been left to die.
Download or read book VCs of the First World War Arras and Messines 1917 written by Gerald Gliddon and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2011-11-30 with total page 377 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For much of the First World War, the opposing armies on the Western Front were at a stalemate, with an unbroken line of fortified trenches stretching from the Belgian coast to the Swiss border. The Allied objective after the bloody Battle of the Somme drew to a close in November 1916 was to decisively break through the German 'Hindenburg Line' and engage the numerically inferior German forces in a war of movement. The Arras offensive was conceived to achieve this breakthrough and was planned for early 1917 after considerable pressure from the French High Command. Commonwealth Forces advanced on a broad front between Vimy in the northwest and Bullecourt in the southeast, with the French Army attacking 80km further south in the Aisne area. Initial successes, albeit costly, were followed by a reversion to the previous stalemate and lead to a change of focus, with an assault on the Messines Ridge, near Ypres, beginning in June 1917. By the end of July, on the eve of the Third Battle of Ypres, a total of fifty Victoria Crosses had been awarded, including many troops from the Australian, Canadian and New Zealand Forces. This includes Captain Robert Greive, who single-handedly silenced two enemy machine-gun nests at Messines, and L/Cpl James Welch, who captured four prisoners with an empty revolver. The courage, determination and sacrifice of their generation should never be forgotten.
Download or read book VCs of the First World War written by Gerald Gliddon and published by Sutton Pub Limited. This book was released on 2004-01-01 with total page 263 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this volume, Gliddon covers the men who won the Victoria Cross on the Western Front in 1916 prior to the beginning of the Battle of the Somme on 1st July, together with those who won the medal after the Battle of Paschendaele petered out at the end of October 1917.
Download or read book Victoria Crosses on the Western Front 20th November 1917 23rd March 1918 written by Paul Oldfield and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2017-11-30 with total page 697 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the past, while visiting the First World War battlefields, the author often wondered where the various Victoria Cross actions took place. He resolved to find out. In 1988, in the midst of his army career, research for this book commenced and over the years numerous sources have been consulted.Victoria Crosses on the Western Front - Cambrai to the German Spring Offensive is designed for the battlefield visitor as much as the armchair reader. A thorough account of each VC action is set within the wider strategic and tactical context. Detailed sketch maps show the area today, together with the battle-lines and movements of the combatants. It will allow visitors to stand upon the spot, or very close to, where each VC was won. Photographs of the battle sites richly illustrate the accounts. There is also a comprehensive biography for each recipient, covering every aspect of their lives warts and all: parents and siblings, education, civilian employment, military career, wife and children, death and burial/commemoration. A host of other information, much of it published for the first time, reveals some fascinating characters, with numerous links to many famous people and events.
Download or read book VCs of the First World War The Final Days 1918 written by Gerald Gliddon and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2014-07-15 with total page 366 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Towards the end of September 1918 the Allied armies were poised to seize the Hindenburg Line – the end of the war on the Western Front was at last in sight. These final days became a series of battles to capture a number of river lines: as each one was captured by the Allies, the German Army fell back to the next. Despite stiff resistance from the enemy, the Allies slowly advanced. The Germans became increasingly demoralised, and about a quarter of their army surrendered. By the beginning of November the Allies had closed in until they were flanking the Forest of Mormal, surrounding the enemy. On 11 November the Canadian Corps retook Mons and, following the signing of the armistice, the guns finally fell silent at 11 a.m. Covering the six-week period from the Battle of Canal du Nord to Armistice Day, this volume tells the story of the fifty-six VC winners from France, Canada and Britain who fought in the victorious Allied advance.
Download or read book VCs of the First World War Road to Victory 1918 written by Gerald Gliddon and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2014-02-03 with total page 424 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By August 1918 fortune was on the side of the Allies: America was increasing its contribution of troops and equipment substantially; the morale of the German Army was sinking as it failed to deliver the desired 'knock out blow'; and Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig found a new confidence, firmly believing that the Allies could at last push the Germans out of France and Belgium. This volume of the best-selling VCs of the First World War series covers the fifty days of the Allied advance from 8 August to 26 September 1918. Arranged chronologically, it tells the story of the sixty-four VC winners during this period. The recipients came from many countries, including Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand; some never lived to know that they had been awarded for their extraordinary bravery, while others returned home to face an uncertain future. This is their story.
Download or read book VCs of the First World War The Naval VCs written by Stephen Snelling and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2013-11-04 with total page 472 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Naval VCs is a complete record of almost fifty men who won the Victoria Cross while serving in the Royal Navy during the First World War. They include the conflict's youngest and oldest winners in operations ranging from the Atlantic to the coast of Africa and from the Straits of Otranto to the rivers of Mesopotamia. These awards were won aboard all manner of fighting ships, from disguised schooner to light cruiser, from motor launch to submarine and from river steamer to battle cruiser. This book charts the lives and careers of the VC recipients and presents graphic accounts of their award-winning actions based on original material, much of it from eyewitness sources.
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 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 Memoirs of My Services in the World War 1917 1918 written by George Catlett Marshall and published by . This book was released on 1976 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: George C. Marshall was an American military leader, Chief of Staff of the Army, Secretary of State, and the third Secretary of Defense. Once noted as the "organizer of victory" by Winston Churchill for his leadership of the Allied victory in World War II, Marshall served as the United States Army Chief of Staff during the war and as the chief military adviser to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. As Secretary of State, his name was given to the Marshall Plan, for which he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953. He drafted this manuscript while he was in Washington, D.C., between 1919 and 1924 as aide-de-camp to General of the Armies John J. Pershing. However, given the growing bitterness of the "memoirs wars" of the period he decided against publication, and the draft sat unused until the 1970s when Marshall's step-daughter and her husband decided to publish it.
Download or read book VCs Handbook written by Gerald Gliddon and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2005-09-28 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On the Western Front during the First World War, 490 men won the British Empire's highest award for gallantry, the Victoria Cross. A companion for any visitor to the First World War battlefields in France and Flanders, this reference book lists every VC recipient from 1914 to 1918 in alphabetical order.
Download or read book Battle Story Passchendaele 1917 written by Chris McNab and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2014-12-01 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Passchendaele 1917 is the story of one of the most pitiless and iconic battles of the First World War, known today as Third Ypres. Fought over three tortuous months in 1917, the fighting raged through some of the worst physical conditions of the entire war, across battlefields collapsing into endless mud and blood. Eventually, more than 500,000 casualties bought front-line changes measured only in hundreds of yards. If you truly want to understand what happened and why – read Battle Story.
Download or read book Valour Beyond Measure Captain Richard William Leslie Wain V C The Tank Corps at Cambrai 1917 written by Jonathan Hicks and published by Y Lolfa. This book was released on 2020-08-05 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Biography of Richard Wain from Penarth, Glamorgan, Wales, who won the Victoria Cross for his heroic actions at the Battle of Cambrai in the First World War, aged only 20. Also traces in detail the history of the British Army Tank Corps and its contribution to the winning of the war, looking at personnel training and the development of early tanks.
Download or read book The First VCs written by Mark Ryan and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2014-07-07 with total page 317 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What would you do if you were struck by an enemy bullet in wartime, then realised you were still alive? For most of us, that would be the end of our fight. If we were capable of thought while we tried to cope with the pain, we'd probably hope to be rushed to hospital so that someone could save our lives. But a hundred years ago, in the opening battle of the First World War at Mons, two young men didn't react like that. Lieutenant Maurice Dease and Private Sidney Godley, born only weeks apart into sharply contrasting worlds, shared the same defiance and steely streak. Without a thought for themselves, they went back into the action for more, sustaining dreadful wounds in the process. One man died, the other lived – pieced back together painstakingly by the Germans, who had taken many casualties of their own while overrunning the British position. Together, and against the odds, Dease and Godley became the first winners of the Victoria Cross in the First World War. Here Mark Ryan uses contemporary documentation and images to tell their astounding, fascinating stories, putting the focus on two genuine and ordinary heroes of the Great War.
Download or read book Victoria Cross Heroes Volume II written by Michael Ashcroft and published by Biteback Publishing. This book was released on 2016-11-08 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Foreword by Lance-Sergeant Johnson Beharry VC THE VICTORIA CROSS is Britain and the Commonwealth's most prestigious gallantry medal for courage in the face of the enemy. It has been bestowed upon 1,355 heroic individuals from all walks of life since its creation during the Crimean War. Lord Ashcroft, who has been fascinated with bravery since he was a young boy, now owns 200 VCs, by far the largest collection of its kind in the world. Following on from the bestselling Victoria Cross Heroes, first published in 2006 to mark the 150th anniversary of the award, Victoria Cross Heroes: Volume II gives extraordinary accounts of the bravery behind the newest additions to Lord Ashcroft's VC collection - those decorations purchased in the last decade. With nearly sixty action-packed stories of courageous soldiers, sailors and airmen from a range of global conflicts including the Indian Mutiny of 1857-58, the Second Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902 and the First and Second World Wars, this book is a powerful testament to the strength of the human spirit and a worthy tribute to the servicemen who earned the Victoria Cross. Their inspirational deeds of valour and self-sacrifice should be championed and never forgotten.
Download or read book Victoria Crosses on the Western Front Cambrai to the German Spring Offensive written by Paul Oldfield and published by . This book was released on 2018-02 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the past, while visiting the First World War battlefields, the author often wondered where the various Victoria Cross actions took place. He resolved to find out. In 1988, in the midst of his army career, research for this book commenced and over the years numerous sources have been consulted. Victoria Crosses on the Western Front - Cambrai to the German Spring Offensive is designed for the battlefield visitor as much as the armchair reader. A thorough account of each VC action is set within the wider strategic and tactical context. Detailed sketch maps show the area today, together with the battle-lines and movements of the combatants. It will allow visitors to stand upon the spot, or very close to, where each VC was won. Photographs of the battle sites richly illustrate the accounts. There is also a comprehensive biography for each recipient, covering every aspect of their lives warts and all: parents and siblings, education, civilian employment, military career, wife and children, death and burial/commemoration. A host of other information, much of it published for the first time, reveals some fascinating characters, with numerous links to many famous people and events.
Download or read book Liverpool Territorials in the Great War written by Paul Knight and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2016-09-30 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Territorial Force is the forgotten army of the First World War. Between the pre-war Regular Army, which attempted to stem the German advance in 1914, and the New Armies who took to the field with such disastrous consequences on the Somme in 1916, stood the Territorial Army. Liverpool's Territorials could be found on the Western Front before the famous Christmas truce of 1914, fighting in Gallipoli, and supporting the Canadians. Throughout 1916 and 1917, they succeeded and failed in some of the most brutal battles of the war. During the German 1918 Spring Offensive, Liverpool Territorials in the 55th (West Lancashire) Division halted the German advance, effectively ending Germany's final bid to win the war.Amazingly, the Territorials were never intended, trained, or equipped for overseas service; their role was to defend the UK mainland against invasion. Yet men across Liverpool's diverse communities volunteered for the Territorials in the thousands, forming the core of two divisions during the war.Formed in 1908, but building on the Volunteer tradition of the 1850s, the Territorials remain in Liverpool to this day. Renamed the Army Reserve, they are still training and volunteering for operations.Offering a fresh, integrated perspective on the Territorial Army during the First World War, this is the remarkable story of the Liverpool Territorials.
