Download or read book A Storm in Flanders written by Winston Groom and published by Hachette UK. This book was released on 2016-03-31 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A fast-paced and vivid narrative of the most horrific campaign in history: the four-year slaughter around the Belgian town of Ypres 1914-18. Switching seamlessly between the generals' headquarters, the politicians' councils and, above all, the mud and blood of the trenches, this is a wonderfully accessible history. Winston Churchill and Adolf Hitler both fought in the front line at Ypres: Groom reveals what happened to both men. We see the campaign through their eyes and the experience of other officers and men, including the war poet Edmund Blunden (later professor of poetry at Oxford). From the desperate defence put up by the tiny British regular army in 1914 to the infamous Passchendaele offensive, this is popular history at its best.

Download or read book The Ypres Salient written by John Giles and published by Leo Cooper Books. This book was released on 1970 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book From the Channel to the Ypres Salient written by Chris Baker and published by Pen and Sword Military. This book was released on 2021-10-31 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The sector north of Ypres is best known for the inundation of much of the ground to the east of the Yser that acted as a block to the German advance in the autumn of 1914. From that time on military activities were extremely limited. Much of this line was manned by Belgian troops, with some assistance from the French army at its southern end and of the British army on the Channel coast. The role of the Belgian army in the Great War is little known, apart from the opening months, when 'brave little Belgium' held on to its important fortified cities, notably Liege and Antwerp, for longer than German planning had anticipated. It was not until mid October 1914 that the Belgian army was forced back to the area of the Yser, when its defences were bolstered by French troops whilst Haig's I Corps came up on its southern flank. At this crucial phase of the campaign, the harsh decision was taken to open the dykes at the end of October 1914 and thereby flooding much of the low lying ground east of the Yser and so effectively halting major German offensive operations. For almost four years the Belgian army rested reasonably secure behind this sodden landscape, although certain key points were the scene of frequent, if limited, tussles. 'Free' Belgium was reduced to two significant towns that could be regarded as secure and out of the range of most German artillery - the coastal resort of La Panne (De Panne) and the much bigger settlement of Furnes (Veurne), Over these years the Belgian army was rebuilt under the dynamic leadership of the king, Albert I, and by the time of the general allied advance in September 1918, the Belgian army was able to take its place in the Advance to Victory, in an allied Army that was commanded by King Albert. Although this phase of the war is outside the scope of the book, it is important to realise that the Belgian army was a very active player in these last few months. Amongst the achievements of Belgian troops at this stage of the war was the final capture of Passchendaele. This book concerns itself with the years of defence and the reconstruction of the army behind the Yser. Relatively little of Belgium's efforts in the Great War remained, but recent years have seen action to preserve what does. Most significant of these, perhaps, is the so called Trench of Death near Diksmuide. Although always preserved, it has recently been very successfully refurbished and is now most effectively and informatively presented. Other remains from the war have also been developed so as to be more informative and the result is that touring this area provides a fascinating insight into one of the most unusual sectors of the Western Front and which is conveniently close to the much visited Ypres Salient. In this book Chris Baker brings his extensive knowledge of the Belgian army (helped by his ability to read French and Dutch) and of the Flanders region to produce a much needed insight into Belgium's army role for most of the war as the protector of the northern flank of the whole of the Allied line.

Download or read book A Storm in Flanders written by Winston Groom and published by Open Road + Grove/Atlantic. This book was released on 2007-12-01 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the Pulitzer Prize–nominated author of Forrest Gump: “A fascinating, evenhanded, page-turning account” of Ypres’s pivotal WWI battles (San Francisco Chronicle). The Ypres Salient in Belgian Flanders was the most notorious and dreaded territory in all of World War I—possibly of any war in history. After Germany’s failed attempt to capture Britain’s critical ports along the English Channel, a bloody stalemate ensued in this pastoral area no larger than the island of Manhattan. Ypres became a place of horror, heroism, and terrifying new tactics and technologies: poison gas, tanks, mines, air strikes, and the unspeakable misery of trench warfare. Drawing on the journals of the men and women who were there, Winston Groom has penned a drama of politics, strategy, the human heart, and the struggle for victory against all odds. This ebook features 16 pages of black-and-white historical photographs. “Everything nonfiction should be.” —Fort Worth Star-Telegram “Groom reconstructs a forgotten military passage that serves as a cautionary tale about war’s consequences.” —Pittsburgh Tribune-Review “Groom’s account, full of detail and the smell of gunsmoke, is expertly paced and free of dull stretches.” —Kirkus Reviews “Moving . . . Inspiring . . . An important and brilliantly written book.” —Booklist

Download or read book Major Mrs Holt s Battlefield Guide to Ypres Salient and Passchendaele written by Major Holt and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2012-05-14 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the most complete guide to the First World War Battlefield of Ypres that has ever been published. Tonie and Valmai Holt, have condensed the knowledge gained from almost a quarter of a century of researching, writing about, visiting and conducting groups around Ypres into this remarkable book. Here are concise descriptions of the military elements of the battles woven into a kaleidoscope of human, literary and travel information. There are recommended, timed itineraries, in each itinerary representing one day's travelling. Every stop on the routes has an accompanying description and often a tale of heroic or tragic action.Memorials large and small, private and official, sites of memorable conflict, the resting places of personalities of note - they are all here and joined together by a sympathetic and understanding commentary that gives the reader a sensitivity toward the events of 1914-1918 that can only be matched by visiting the battlefield itself. This is a guide book written by people who, because they have been directly involved in taking tours themselves, know the form and type of information that best serves the visitor to the battlefield. NEW, FULLY UPDATED EDITION PACKAGED WITH A FREE, FULL COLOUR FOLD-OUT MAP WORTH '3.99

Download or read book The Battle Book of Ypres written by Beatrix Brice and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2014-09-22 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Of the many hard-fought battles on the Western Front, Ypres stands out as an example of almost inhuman endeavour. For four long years it was the focal point of desperate fighting. Officially there were four main battles in 1914, 1915, 1917 and 1918; these were more accurately peaks in a continuing struggle, for Ypres symbolised Belgian defiance, and the British continued to expend disproportionate resources on defending it. It never fell, although the Germans came close to its gates, and indeed its loss would have been a severe blow to morale.The Battle Book of Ypres, originally published in 1927 and now presented again as a special Centenary Edition, comprises a chronological account of the fighting in the Ypres Salient during the First World War, followed by a useful and unique alphabetical reference to the events in and around each hamlet, village or wood names familiar to those who fought or followed the course of war all those years ago, names now once again lost in insignificance. The names given to each stage of the struggle by the Battle Nomenclature Committee are listed in the appendix. Also included is an index of formations and units, an annotated bibliography and a new Foreword by military historian Nigel Cave.

Download or read book The Battle Book of Ypres written by Beatrix Brice and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2014-09-22 with total page 283 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Of the many hard-fought battles on the Western Front, Ypres stands out as an example of almost inhuman endeavour. For four long years it was the focal point of desperate fighting. Officially there were four main battles in 1914, 1915, 1917 and 1918; these were more accurately peaks in a continuing struggle, for Ypres symbolised Belgian defiance, and the British continued to expend disproportionate resources on defending it. It never fell, although the Germans came close to its gates, and indeed its loss would have been a severe blow to morale.??The Battle Book of Ypres, originally published in 1927 and now presented again as a special Centenary Edition, comprises a chronological account of the fighting in the Ypres Salient during the First World War, followed by a useful and unique alphabetical reference to the events in and around each hamlet, village or wood Ð names familiar to those who fought or followed the course of war all those years ago, names now once again lost in insignificance. The names given to each stage of the struggle by the Battle Nomenclature Committee are listed in the appendix. Also included is an index of formations and units, an annotated bibliography and a new Foreword by military historian Nigel Cave.

Download or read book Understanding the Ypres Salient written by Thomas Scotland and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This work aims to provide the reader with a clear understanding of what happened in Ypres Salient between 1914 and 1918. It sets out to transport the visitor around sites of importance for the First, Second and Third Battle of Ypres, and in so doing to bring the battlefield to life. It will augment existing guidebooks by providing a unique new dimension without listing memorials and cemeteries. It doesn`t matter whether you are in your armchair, on foot, on a bicycle, or in a car, this book will effortlessly transport you to Ypres Salient, where you will be able to visualise what happened. It will take you to Kruiseke Crossroads and Gheluvelt in late October 1914, where tired remnants of the British Expeditionary Force fought desperately to prevent the Germans from breaking through to Ypres. It will lead you to the St Julien-Poelcappelle road on 22 April 1915 where Canadian soldiers near the front line formed a defensive flank after a chlorine gas attack had engulfed adjacent French colonial troops, killing many, while the survivors fled to the rear. You will visit Gravenstafel Ridge, where the Canadians were involved in bitter fighting two days later. You will go to locations throughout the Salient, which will help you to understand the four stages of the Second Battle of Ypres and the eight major phases of the Third Battle of Ypres where British, Australian, New Zealand and Canadian divisions all fought at different times. Eighteen concise chapters will focus on aspects of particular battles, explaining troop movements and strategy. Each chapter is accompanied by many maps based on those in the Official History, which have been painstakingly designed to provide clarity, while colour photographs taken by the authors in the course of many visits to Ypres Salient will help the visitor to understand important points made in the text. After reading this book you should be able to stand at any location within Ypres salient and be able to work out what happened there throughout four years of war. You will also be able to conjure up a picture in your mind of events which took place more than 100 years ago as though they were happening in front of you

Download or read book In the Ypres Salient The Story of a Fortnight s Canadian Fighting June 2 16 1916 Illustrated Edition written by Beckles Willson and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2013-03-02 with total page 65 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Every evening since 1928, the Last Post is sounded in the town of Ypres in West Flanders, and the local fire brigade turn toward the Menin Gate as the local traffic stops. This Mark of respect to the Allied soldiers who fell defending the Ypres salient has been a tradition in the town for almost one hundred years. Tens of thousands of British, French, Canadian, Australian, Indian, New Zealand, South African and other Dominion troops came, fought and died to hold this little outpost of Belgium during the First World War. To comprehend and record the scale of the actions, battles and, most importantly, the human sacrifice of the four years of war, it is necessary to look at limited periods of the fighting. The author has picked one of the earliest baptisms of fire for the Canadian troops, the battle of Mount Sorrel in 1916. The Canadian Corps under Byng was holding the wooded ground south-east of Ypres town, including the important observation post Hill 62. Across the muddy front line, the German XIII Württemburg Corps was carefully planning an attack stiffened with much extra heavy artillery and trench mortars. On the 2nd of June, the German artillery shattered the morning’s peace, and heavy, savage fighting began only to cease on the 13th. The Battle was in the balance until the second and final counter attack by the Canadians on the 11th, as one Historian puts it: “A combination of excellent staff work and planning, brilliantly executed artillery work in poor weather and the formidable courage of the Canadian infantry, had saved the day.”—Chris Baker. Author — Willson, Beckles, 1869-1942. Text taken, whole and complete, from the edition published in London, Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & co. ltd., 1916. Original Page Count – 251 pages. Illustrations — 7 illustrations and maps.

Download or read book The Salient written by Alan Palmer and published by Constable & Robinson. This book was released on 2007 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Distinguished biographer and historian of modern Europe Alan Palmer tells the story of the war in Flanders as a conflict that has left a deep social and political mark on the history of Europe. Denying Germany possession of the historic town of Ypres and access to the Channel coast was crucial to Britain's victory in 1918. But though Flanders' battlefields are the closest on the continent to English shores, this was always much more than a narrowly British conflict. Passchendaele, the Menin Road, Hill 60 and the Messines Ridge remain names etched in folk memory. Militarily and tactically the four-year long campaign was innovative and a grim testing-ground with constantly changing ideas of strategy and disputes between politicians and generals. Alan Palmer details all its aspects in an illuminating history of the place as much as the fighting man's experience.

Download or read book Walking the Salient written by Paul Reed and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 1998-01-12 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Following on from Walking on the Somme, Reed has produced this remarkable voyage around the Ypres Salient, which saw some of the most memorable campaigns of WW1. Illustrated throughout, this book gives an insight for visitors and armchair travellers.

Download or read book Sniper on the Ypres Salient written by Sue Boase and published by Pen and Sword Military. This book was released on 2022-12-01 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Just after midnight on 22 April 1916 on the Western Front, a sergeant from the 15th (1st London) Royal Welsh Fusiliers came sliding and stumbling along the dark, mud-filled trench towards the four men, huddled together and soaked-through, in the shallow dugout. He was clutching his postbag in which there were four parcels for one of them, William McCrae, whose twentieth birthday fell on this day. A hand-written account by William, my grandfather, was found in my mother’s papers, long after his death. This book describes a year of his time fighting in the First World War, from December 1915 to December 1916. Two months after his birthday, he was marching towards the Somme, where he was to act as a runner during the key Welsh engagement in the Battle of Mametz Wood. Later, he went on to volunteer and train as a sniper. He continued in this role for over a year, becoming a lance corporal in the 38th Divisional Sniping Company while fighting on the Ypres Salient. His words emphasise the key role snipers played in the collecting of intelligence about the enemy, through close observation and careful reporting. His account stops abruptly in mid-sentence, just at the point where he indicates he is about to reveal more to us about ‘a new, interesting part of the line to be manned by us Snipers’. Piecing together clues from his sketches, maps and photos, and this book paints a picture of Williams’ time during the rest of the war. In 1917 he returned to England to train as a temporary officer in the 18th Officer Cadet Battalion at Prior Park, Bath. He came back to the Western Front as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding) Regiment, where he was seconded to the 1/5 Lancashire Fusiliers until the end of the war. During this time, it is likely that his interest and experience as a sniper continued, with evidence that he may have taught at one of the Sniping Schools set up across France.

Download or read book Flanders Then and Now written by John Giles and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Ypres 1914 Langemarck written by Jack Sheldon and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2014-04-30 with total page 439 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: These three Battleground Europe books on Ypres 1914 mark the centenary of the final major battle of the 1914 campaign on the Western Front. Although fought over a relatively small area and short time span, the fighting was even more than usually chaotic and the stakes were extremely high. Authors Nigel Cave and Jack Sheldon combine their respective expertise to tell the story of the men British, French, Indian and German - who fought over the unremarkable undulating ground that was to become firmly placed in British national conscience ever afterwards.When, in October 1914, the newly created German Fourth Army attacked west to seize crossings over the Yser, prior to sweeping south in an attempt to surround the BEF, two things prevented it. To the north, it was the efforts of the Belgian army, reinforced by French troops, coupled with controlled flooding of the polders but, further south, the truly heroic defence of Langemarck, for three days by the BEF and then by the French army, was of decisive importance. The village stood as a bulwark against any further advance to the river or the town of Ypres. Here the German regiments bled to death in the face of resolute Allied defence and any remaining hope of forcing a decision in the west turned to dust.

Download or read book The Ypres Salient written by John Giles and published by . This book was released on 1979 with total page 229 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ypres; Messines; Passchendaele; Lys.

Download or read book In the Ypres Salient written by Beckles Willson and published by . This book was released on 2015-07-12 with total page 94 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from In the Ypres Salient: The Story of a Fortnight's Canadian Fighting, June 2-16, 1916 Long after the issue of minor engagements in this War are forgotten, and when everybody has ceased to care whether at any moment we gained or lost a hundred yards of ground or a mile of trench, the memory of how the Canadians fought against hopeless odds near Hooge will be remembered, and Canada will be proud and the Empire will be proud of these men. Nor will Canada or the Empire ever forget - what every neutral in the world should be told to-day - how the Germans called these men cowards. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Download or read book In the Ypres Salient written by Beckles Willson and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 1916-02-26 with total page 28 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On October 16th, 1914, the Ypres Salient, the theatre of three of the most deadly and critical battles in this War, was born. Up to that date the area it comprises--a few thousand acres at most--was merely a tract of well-tilled Flemish meadowland, with patches of forest and here and there a village or hamlet. Ten weeks before the Germans had invaded Belgium, and in the fateful and anxious time which followed, the Belgians had been pressed slowly back, those who had not been utterly crushed. Antwerp fell, and a mighty German host, foiled in its advance southward to Paris, was moving relentlessly towards the sea-coast, destroying and desolating the land as it came. A newly-landed British force advanced to check them and to take up a position in the long line of Allied troops. This force, the 7th Division, under Major-General Capper, and the 3rd Cavalry Division, commanded by Major-General the Hon. Julian Byng, marching through the quaint old Flemish city of Ypres, penetrated to a point six miles beyond the British, French, and Belgian alignment as it ran north and south.