(Subject: World War I - Western Front) Success and Failure on the First Day of the Battle of the Somme. Much controversy has surrounded the offensive and its impact upon the course of the war. 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 and 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. (Published: 2015) (Publisher: Frontline Books) (ISBN: 9781848329058) (Pagination: 442pp, 31 b/w photos, 6 maps) (Condition: New in d/w) UL-XXXXXX
(Subject: World War I - Western Front) A VC's Diary, 1914-1916. William La Touche (Billy) Congreve was an an exceptional man. By the time he was killed on the Somme in July 1916 at the age of twenty-five he had been awarded the DSO, MC, the Légion d'Honneur, and a posthumous VC. Born into a military family (his father had also won the VC) he became a regular soldier in the Rifle Brigade and in France became a staff officer. He chose to be in the front line as often as he could, making his remarkable diaries all the more valuable since he writes from the thick of the fighting and yet retains an objectivity that enables him to observe all that is going on around him both in the trenches and at HQ. (Published: 2014) (Publisher: Pen & Sword) (ISBN: 9781473821194) (Pagination: 223pp, 20 b/w photos, 27 sketch maps/diagrams) (Condition: New in d/w) UL-XXXXXX
(Subject: World War I - Western Front) The battle for the possession of the villages of Messines Ridge, Messines, Wytchaete, St. Eloi, took place in 1914-17, and the final battle for Messines in 1918. The 1917 Battle of Messines was preceded by 19 giant mine explosions and was the biggest military mining effort in history. This book gives comprehensive details of what happened where and when, together with what can be seen today, including maps of all the remnants and sites. (Published: 2012) (Publisher: Pen & Sword) (ISBN: 9780850526240) (Pagination: 144pp, numerous b/w photos & maps) (Condition: New in card cover) UL-XXXXXX
(Subject: World War I - Western Front) This is an astonishingly comprehensive and forensic anatomy of how and why the armies fought, of their weapons, equipment and tactics, for over four long and bloody years on a battlefield that stretched from the Belgian coast to the Swiss frontier. Alongside the British Army, full coverage is given to Britain’s allies – France, Belgium, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, India and the United States – as well as the Germans. It includes masses of intricate full colour maps and diagrams, illustrating particular offensives, battles, raids or tactics, the configurations of trench formations or the trajectory of mortar bombardments. But this conflict was also the first to be chronicled from the start by photography, and the book does it full justice with over 200 resonant and remarkable archive images, many rarely seen. These are complemented with modern colour photographs showing how historic battlefields look nowadays. (Published: 2013) (Publisher: Aurum Press) (ISBN: 9781845137106) (Pagination: Large format, 528pp, numerous colour & b/w photos, illustrations & maps) (Condition: New) UL-XXXXXX
(Subject: World War I - Western Front) A fascinating new perspective on the German offensive against France and Belgium in 1914. It describes the intense fighting that took place around the forts and fortified cities that stood in the path of the invasion. The ordeal began with the German assault on the mighty fortress of Liège. They took twelve days to batter their way through the 'Gateway to Belgium', losing thousands of men in repeated frontal assaults, using the heaviest siege artillery ever developed to destroy the defences. The author describes the German attack, and traces the history and design of the massive infantry strongpoints, bunkers, casemates and shelters constructed by the French and the Belgians between 1871 and 1914. (Published: 2013) (Publisher: Pen & Sword) (ISBN: 9781848848139) (Pagination: 225pp, numerous b/w photos, illustrations & maps) (Condition: New in d/w) UL-XXXXXX
(Subject: World War I - Western Front) The battles fought at Estaires and Givenchy, just south of Ypres, in April, 1918 were critical episodes in the larger Battle of Lys which determined the outcome of the ultimate German offensive on the Western Front. The massive assault of Ludendorff’s armies crashed against defences manned by the British and Portuguese. A German success might well have forced the British to retreat from Ypres. This vivid account uses eyewitness accounts, official records, photographs and maps, and provides walking and driving tours of the battlefield and its monuments and cemeteries. (Published: 2011) (Publisher: Pen & Sword) (ISBN: 9781844159116) (Pagination: 192pp. maps and photographs) (Condition: New in card covers) UL-XXXXXX
(Subject: World War I - Western Front) The 1914 Battle of the Aisne, officially from 12th to 15th September, came about as a result of the German retirement from the Battle of the Marne, which took place further south as the armies of France and Germany jostled for position almost within sight of Paris. By the time the British arrived on the Aisne the battle line stretched some 150 miles from Noyon in the west to Verdun in the east. The British Expeditionary fought bitter engagements, which took place in difficult conditions and casualties were heavy. (Published: 2013) (Publisher: Pen & Sword) (ISBN: 9781781591895) (Pagination: 208pp, maps, photographs) (Condition: New in card covers. ) UL-XXXXXX
(Subject: World War I - Western Front) In 1915 Lord Kitchener extended his famous “Your Country Needs You”. In south-west London, the response from two neighbouring boroughs, Wandsworth and Battersea, could not have been more different. In Wandsworth the Mayor took up the challenge and recruited, for the East Surrey Regiment, double the number of men needed for an infantry battalion. Battersea too raised a full infantry battalion pledged to the Queen’s (Royal West Surrey) Regiment. Wandsworth’s 13th East Surreys and Battersea’s 10th Queen’s both served with honour and distinction on the Western Front. (Published: 2010) (Publisher: Pen & Sword) (ISBN: 9781848841949) (Pagination: 288pp, numerous b/w illustrations) (Condition: New in d/w) UL-XXXXXX
(Subject: World War I - Western Front) When Britain went to war in 1914 many people from all backgrounds rallied to the cause. Lady Dorothie Feilding, the twenty-five-year-old daughter of the Earl of Denbigh, wasted no time volunteering for the Munro Motor Ambulance Corps. Spending nearly four years on the Western Front in Belgium driving ambulances, she had the distinction of being became the first woman to be awarded the Military Medal for her bravery, the French Croix de Guerre and the Belgian Order of Leopold. The book offers the reader a unique, view of The Great War. (Published: 2010) (Publisher: Pen & Sword) (ISBN: 9781848843226) (Pagination: 276pp) (Condition: New in d/w) UL-XXXXXX
(Subject: World War I - Western Front) The mist of poisonous gas that drifted across no man's land from the German trenches opposite the Ypres salient on 22 April, 1915 caused ghastly casualties and suffering among the unprepared defenders, and it opened up a seven-mile gap in the defensive line. It signalled the beginning of a new and frightful era of warfare. John Lee's graphic and perceptive reassessment of this milestone in the history of the Great War, and of the gruelling full-scale battle that followed, is one of the best studies of this historical event. (Published: 2009) (Publisher: Pen & Sword) (ISBN: 9781844159291) (Pagination: 224pp, 30 b/w photos) (Condition: New in d/w) UL-XXXXXX
(Subject: World War I - Western Front) A classic Battlefield Guide from the 'After the Battle' team. In this revised edition John Giles has succeeded in recapturing the atmosphere of an era when men fought savage battles in and around water-filled trenches, amongst the stinking litter of war. Eye-witness accounts of the bitter fighting are blended with contemporary photographs and comparison pictures taken by the author of the same places today. The result is a salute to all those men who marched along the roads of Picardy to the trenches of the Somme battleground, many of whom never returned. (Published: 1996) (Publisher: After the Battle) (ISBN: 090091341X) (Pagination: Large landscape format, 154pp, 300 ills & maps) (Condition: New in d/w) UL-XXXXXX
