Download or read book The French on the Somme 1914 30 June 1916 written by David O'Mara and published by Pen & Sword Military. This book was released on 2019-03-30 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 'twin' volume to that covering the French army north of the Somme before 1 July 1916, this book covers an almost unknown period to the average British visitor to the Somme. It also aims to serve as a 'prequel' to the events of the 1916 Battle of the Somme, though the ground covered in this volume is, perhaps, less familiar - but just as interesting and historic - territory. Beginning with the events of an earlier German invasion in the area, the book will also take a brief look at the period immediately prior to the outbreak of the Great War and includes a short study of the local territorial infantry regiment (who would see its first action near Amiens at the end of August 1914 - just days after many men of the regiment had seen their homes overrun by the German invaders), before moving on to the outbreak of war in August 1914. As was the case for the area north of the river, no set-piece 'battles' were to take place here following the costly engagements of August and September 1914; but localized actions of varying size were commonplace, such as the large scale actions at Lihons at Christmas 1914 (putting paid to the 'guns ceased firing along the Western Front' myth!) and at Frise in January and February 1916 to name just two. An intense underground war also raged south of the Somme, with three separate locations within five miles of each other being turned into moonscapes of mine craters between the end of 1914 into the summer of 1915 (and, in one case, beyond) The book includes a description of the brief British occupation (from the river to just below the Amiens - St. Quentin Roman road) during the autumn of 1915, a barely known part of the history of the BEF. A study of this part of the Somme, complementing that of the north, is necessary if a person is to gain a more complete understanding of the battlefield itself and of the great offensive of the summer and autumn of 1916. As is the case with the northern volume, each chapter - detailing events in specific sectors down to regimental, battalion and even company or individual level from information gleaned from war diaries, regimental histories and personal diaries, accompanied by period and modern mapping and imagery - is followed by a tour of the sector containing a number of 'stops' in which it is possible to appreciate specific actions and/or a general overview of events in and around the particular location. The majority of these tours are accessible by vehicle but, for a more in depth look, proceeding on foot will be necessary. A feature of this series of books on the French army on the Somme are sections to educate the reader about aspects of the French Army that have been somewhat neglected or misunderstood for many years in English histories. In this volume the focus lies upon one of the more structurally confusing elements of the French Army - the Légion étrangère and its organization and actions on the Western Front from the outbreak of war until its near destruction during the Second Battle of Champagne in 1915. There will also be a brief explanation of the developing organization and structure of the French Army of 1915.

Download or read book The French on the Somme 1914 30 June 1916 written by David O'Mara and published by Pen & Sword Military. This book was released on 2018-05-30 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For many British visitors, the fighting in the Somme starts on 1 July 1916 and few consider what happened in the area before the British took over the line, part in later 1915 and some in 1916. In fact there was extensive fighting during the opening phase of he war, as both the French and Germans tried to outflank each other. Through the autumn and winter there was a struggle to hold the best tactical ground, with small scale but ferocious skirmishes from Beaumont Hamel to the Somme. The conflict in what became known as the Glory Hole, close to the well known Lochnagar Crater, was particularly prolonged. Evidence of the fighting, mainly in the form of a large mine crater field, is visible today. The underground war was not confined to la Boisselle, with a similar crater field developing on Redan Ridge; whilst south of the Somme, to be covered in a future volume, great lengths of No Man's Land were dominated by mine craters. Serre, best known to British readers for its association with the Pals Battalions on 1 July 1916, witnessed a significant, if local, French offensive in June 1915, with casualties running into the several thousands. It is a battle that has left its mark on the landscape today, with a French national cemetery and a commemorative chapel acting as memorials to the battle. The book is introduced by a chapter describing the role of the area in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, a war which arguably provided the seed bed for the outbreak of war in 1914. Several battles were fought in Somme villages that were to become the victims of war all over again forty plus years later.

Download or read book The French on the Somme written by David O'Mara and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2018-05-30 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For many British visitors, the fighting in the Somme starts on 1 July 1916 and few consider what happened in the area before the British took over the line, part in later 1915 and some in 1916.In fact there was extensive fighting during the opening phase of he war, as both the French and Germans tried to outflank each other. Through the autumn and winter there was a struggle to hold the best tactical ground, with small scale but ferocious skirmishes from Beaumont Hamel to the Somme.The conflict in what became known as the Glory Hole, close to the well known Lochnagar Crater, was particularly prolonged. Evidence of the fighting, mainly in the form of a large mine crater field, is visible today. The underground war was not confined to la Boisselle, with a similar crater field developing on Redan Ridge; whilst south of the Somme, to be covered in a future volume, great lengths of No Man's Land were dominated by mine craters.Serre, best known to British readers for its association with the Pals Battalions on 1 July 1916, witnessed a significant, if local, French offensive in June 1915, with casualties running into the several thousands. It is a battle that has left its mark on the landscape today, with a French national cemetery and a commemorative chapel acting as memorials to the battle.The book is introduced by a chapter describing the role of the area in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, a war which arguably provided the seed bed for the outbreak of war in 1914. Several battles were fought in Somme villages that were to become the victims of war all over again forty plus years later.

Download or read book The Somme 1916 written by David O'Mara and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2017-11-30 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With a few notable exceptions, the French efforts on the Somme have been largely missing or minimized in British accounts of the Battle of the Somme. And yet they held this sector of the Front from the outbreak of the war until well into 1915 and, indeed, in parts into 1916. It does not hurt to be reminded that the French army suffered some 200,000 casualties in the 1916 offensive.David OMaras book provides an outline narrative describing the arrival of the war on the Somme and some of the notable and quite fierce actions that took place that autumn and, indeed, into December of 1914. Extensive mine warfare was a feature of 1915 and beyond on the Somme; for example under Redan Ridge and before Dompierre and Fay. The French limited offensive at Serre in June 1915 is reasonably well known, but there was fighting elsewhere for example the Germans launched a short, sharp, limited attack at Frise in January 1916, part of the diversionary action before the Germans launched their ill-fated offensive at Verdun.The book covers the Somme front from Gommecourt, north of the Somme, to Chaulnes, at the southern end of the battle zone of 1916. The reader is taken around key points in various tours. For many British visitors the battlefields south of the Somme will be a revelation; there is much to see, both of cemeteries and memorials, but also substantial traces of the fighting remain on the ground, some of which is accessible to the public.It has always been something of a disgrace that there is so little available, even in French, to educate the public in an accessible written form about the substantial effort made by Frances army on the Somme; this book and subsequent, more detailed volumes to be published in the coming years will go some way to rectify this. British visitors should be fascinated by the story of these forgotten men of France and the largely unknown part of the Somme battlefield.

Download or read book The French Army on the Somme 1916 written by Ian Sumner and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2018-11-30 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: So much has been written about the 1916 Battle of the Somme that it might appear that every aspect of the four-month struggle has been described and analyzed in exhaustive detail. Yet perhaps one aspect has not received the attention it deserves the French sector in the south of the battlefield which is often overshadowed by events in the British sector further north. That is why Ian Sumner's photographic history of the French army on the Somme is so interesting and valuable.Using a selection of over 200 wartime photographs, many of which have not been published before, he follows the entire course of the battle from the French point of view. The photographs show the build-up to the Somme offensive, the logistics involved, the key commanders, the soldiers as they prepared to go into action and the landscape over which the battle took place. Equally close coverage is given to the fighting during each phase of the offensive the initial French advances, the mounting German resistance and the terrible casualties the French incurred.The photographs are especially important in that they record the equipment and weapons that were used, the clothing the men wore and the conditions in which they fought, and they provide us with a visual insight into the realities of battle over a hundred years ago. They also document some of the most famous sites on the battlefield before they were destroyed in the course of the fighting, including villages like Gommecourt, Pozires, La Boiselle and Thiepval.

Download or read book The Battle of the Somme written by Alan Axelrod and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2016-10-03 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fought during 1916, the Battle of the Somme was conceived by the French and British as a great offensive to be waged against Germany even as France poured incredible numbers of men into the slaughterhouse that was the desperate defense of Verdun. The French general-in-chief, Joseph “Papa” Joffre, was especially anxious to go on the offensive. For the French high command cherished the belief, born in the era of Napoleon, that the success of French arms depended on attack and that defense was anathema to what the nationalistic philosopher Henri Bergson called the “élan vital” of the French people, a quality, he argued, that set the Gallic race apart from the rest of the world. After more than five months, the British eked out a penetration of some six miles into German territory. The cost had been 420,000 Britons killed or wounded (70,000 men per mile gained)—and most of these were from “Kitchener’s Army,” so-called Pals Battalions, working- and middle-class volunteers promised that they could fight alongside their friends, co-workers, and neighbors. This meant that the Somme, more than any other battle before or since, devastated the young male population of entire British towns, villages, and neighborhoods. French losses were just under 200,000. The Germans lost at least 650,000. Just as the French refused to give up ground at Verdun, the Germans held on stubbornly at the Somme—so stubbornly that General Ludendorff actually complained that his men “fought too doggedly, clinging too resolutely to the mere holding of ground, with the result that the losses were heavy.” The only thing “conclusive” about the Somme was the ineluctable fact of death. No battle ever fought in any conflict provided a stronger incentive for all sides to reach a negotiated peace—the “peace without victory” that Woodrow Wilson, still standing on the sidelines, urged the combatants to agree upon. Instead, the Kaiser, appalled both by Verdun and the Somme, relieved Falkenhayn and replaced him with Hindenburg and Ludendorff, who had achieved great success on the Eastern Front. The new commanders created two new defensive lines, both well behind the Somme front. On the one hand, it was a retreat. On the other, it was a commitment to draw the French and British farther east and invite them to sacrifice more of their soldiery. The modest advance the British made was but the prelude to additional slaughter.

Download or read book Somme 1916 written by Paul Kendall and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2016-06-28 with total page 456 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What really happened on the first day of the Somme? Much controversy has surrounded the Somme offensive relating to its justification and its impact upon the course of the war. General Sir Douglas Haig's policies have been the subject of considerable debate about whether the heavy losses sustained were worth the small gains that were achieved which appeared to have little strategic value. That was certainly the case on many sectors on 1 July 1916, where British soldiers were unable to cross No Man's Land and failed to reach, or penetrate into, the German trenches. In other sectors, however, breaches were made in the German lines culminating in the capture that day of Leipzig Redoubt, Mametz and Montauban. This book aims to highlight the failures and successes on that day and for the first time evaluate those factors that caused some divisions to succeed in capturing their objectives whilst others failed. An important new study, this book is certain to answer these questions as well as challenging the many myths and misconceptions surrounding the battle that have been propagated for the last 100 years. Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in history--books about World War II, the Third Reich, Hitler and his henchmen, the JFK assassination, conspiracies, the American Civil War, the American Revolution, gladiators, Vikings, ancient Rome, medieval times, the old West, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

Download or read book Anglo French Relations and Strategy on the Western Front 1914 18 written by William J. Philpott and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-07-27 with total page 237 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a study of Anglo-French relations and military policy making in the First World War, which considers the strategic policies and operational planning of the British and French armies in the joint campaign fought on the western front. It examines the influence of incompatible British and French strategic objectives, the role of the allies' military and political leaders and the institutional development of the military alliance, on the alliance relationship and military policy making.

Download or read book Somme written by Hugh Sebag-Montefiore and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2016-08-15 with total page 680 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The notion of battles as the irreducible building blocks of war demands a single verdict of each campaign—victory, defeat, stalemate. But this kind of accounting leaves no room to record the nuances and twists of actual conflict. In Somme: Into the Breach, the noted military historian Hugh Sebag-Montefiore shows that by turning our focus to stories of the front line—to acts of heroism and moments of both terror and triumph—we can counter, and even change, familiar narratives. Planned as a decisive strike but fought as a bloody battle of attrition, the Battle of the Somme claimed over a million dead or wounded in months of fighting that have long epitomized the tragedy and folly of World War I. Yet by focusing on the first-hand experiences and personal stories of both Allied and enemy soldiers, Hugh Sebag-Montefiore defies the customary framing of incompetent generals and senseless slaughter. In its place, eyewitness accounts relive scenes of extraordinary courage and sacrifice, as soldiers ordered “over the top” ventured into No Man’s Land and enemy trenches, where they met a hail of machine-gun fire, thickets of barbed wire, and exploding shells. Rescuing from history the many forgotten heroes whose bravery has been overlooked, and giving voice to their bereaved relatives at home, Hugh Sebag-Montefiore reveals the Somme campaign in all its glory as well as its misery, helping us to realize that there are many meaningful ways to define a battle when seen through the eyes of those who lived it.

Download or read book The Marne 15 July 6 August 1918 written by Stephen C. McGeorge and Mason W. Watson and published by . This book was released on with total page 80 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Battle of the Somme written by Matthias Strohn and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2016-04-21 with total page 372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Battle of the Somme is the most famous battle of World War I in the English-speaking world. Published to coincide with the centenary commemoration of the battle of the Somme, this study comprises 12 separate articles written by some of the foremost military historians, each of whom looks at a specific aspect of the battle. The terrors of the Somme have largely come to embody trench warfare on the Western Front in the modern imagination, but this book looks beyond the horrendous conditions and staggering casualty rates to provide new, insightful research on one of the most pivotal battles of the war. Focusing on key aspects of the British, French and German forces, overall strategic and tactical impacts of the battle and with an introduction by renowned World War I scholar Professor Sir Hew Strachan, The Battle of the Somme is a timely collection of the latest research and analysis of the battle.

Download or read book The Battle of Verdun 1914 1918 written by and published by Clermont-Ferrand : Michelin. This book was released on 1919 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Somme written by Robin Prior and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2005-05-11 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the long history of the British Army, the Battle of the Somme was its bloodiest encounter. Between July 1 and mid-November 1916, 432,000 of its soldiers became casualties--about 3,600 for every day of battle. German casualties were far fewer despite British superiority in the air and in lethal artillery. What went wrong for the British, and who was responsible? Robin Prior and Trevor Wilson have examined the entire public archive on the Battle of the Somme to reconstruct the day-by-day course of the war. The result is the most precise and authentic account of the campaign on record and a book that challenges almost every received view of the battle. The colossal rate of infantry casualties in fact resulted from inadequate fire support; responsibility for tactical mistakes actually belonged to the High Command and the civilian War Committee. Field-Marshall Haig, the records show, was repeatedly deficient in strategy, tactics, command, and organization. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers died for a cause that lacked both a coherent military plan and responsible political leadership. Prior and Wilson decisively change our understanding of the history of the Western Front.

Download or read book Bygone Pilgrimage the Somme Volume 1 1916 1917 an Illustrated History and Guide to the Battlefields written by Michelin and published by . This book was released on 2000-04-01 with total page 136 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first thirty pages provide an overview of the offensive, the objectives, the theory, methods and tactics adopted and the part played by each arm in the different phases of the attack. In this preamble, which takes the reader up to the German withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line in February/March 1917, Gough is mistakenly referred to as commanding Second Army (page 2) instead of Fifth (Reserve Army till 30 October1916). Then follows an illustrated guide to the battlefield which covers both French and British operations with maps and photos, focussing on the area Albert-Bapaume-Peronne and the valley of the Somme, taking in all the battles in which the BEF was involved during the four and a half months campaign.

Download or read book An Illustrated Introduction to the Somme 1916 written by Robert J. Parker and published by Illustrated Introduction to ... This book was released on 2016 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fascinated by history? Wish you knew more? The Illustrated Introductions are here to help. In this lavishly illustrated, accessible guide, find out everything you need to know about the Battle of the Somme.

Download or read book The Purpose of the First World War written by Holger Afflerbach and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2015-07-01 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nearly fourteen million people died during the First World War. But why, and for what reason? Already many contemporaries saw the Great War as a "pointless carnage" (Pope Benedict XV, 1917). Was there a point, at least in the eyes of the political and military decision makers? How did they justify the losses, and why did they not try to end the war earlier? In this volume twelve international specialists analyses and compares the hopes and expectations of the political and military leaders of the main belligerent countries and of their respective societies. It shows that the war aims adopted during the First World War were not, for the most part, the cause of the conflict, but a reaction to it, an attempt to give the tragedy a purpose - even if the consequence was to oblige the belligerents to go on fighting until victory. The volume tries to explain why - and for what - the contemporaries thought that they had to fight the Great War.

Download or read book Somme 1916 written by Gerald Gliddon and published by Sutton Publishing. This book was released on 2006 with total page 550 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Set out topographically, it covers everything from the famous battle sites of High Wood and Mametz Wood to obscure villages on the outlying flanks. The British first began to take the Somme sector over from the French Army in June 1915. From this time onwards they built up a very close bond with the local population, many of whom continued to live in local villages close to the front line. The author draws on the latest research and analysis, as well as the testimony of those who took part, to present all aspects of a battle that was to become a symbol of the horrors of the Great War.