In the Ypres Salient (Illustrated Edition)

In the Ypres Salient (Illustrated Edition) PDF Author: Beckles Willson
Publisher: Echo Library
ISBN: 9781406852660
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 48

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Book Description
The story of a fortnight's Canadian fighting, June 2-16 1916.

In the Ypres Salient (Illustrated Edition)

In the Ypres Salient (Illustrated Edition) PDF Author: Beckles Willson
Publisher: Echo Library
ISBN: 9781406852660
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 48

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Book Description
The story of a fortnight's Canadian fighting, June 2-16 1916.

In the Ypres Salient, The Story of a Fortnight’s Canadian Fighting, June 2-16 1916 [Illustrated Edition]

In the Ypres Salient, The Story of a Fortnight’s Canadian Fighting, June 2-16 1916 [Illustrated Edition] PDF Author: Beckles Willson
Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing
ISBN: 1782890637
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 65

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Book Description
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.

From the Channel to the Ypres Salient

From the Channel to the Ypres Salient PDF Author: Chris Baker
Publisher: Pen and Sword Military
ISBN: 1526749343
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 274

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Book Description
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.

Walking the Salient

Walking the Salient PDF Author: Paul Reed
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 0850526175
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 209

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Book Description
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.

The Coldstream Guards, 1914-1918 Vol. I [Illustrated Edition]

The Coldstream Guards, 1914-1918 Vol. I [Illustrated Edition] PDF Author: Lt. Col. Sir John Foster George Ross-of-Bladensburg
Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing
ISBN: 1786250993
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 815

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Book Description
Includes 27 maps “History of the four active service battalions in the Great War with details of officers’ services during the war. The Coldstream Guards had three battalions in August 1914, all three committed to the BEF: the 1st Battalion was in the 1st (Guards) Brigade, 1st Division; the 2nd and 3rd were both in 4th Guards Brigade, 2nd Division. As soon as war broke out a Reserve battalion (the 4th) was formed which provided drafts of 16,860 all ranks during the course of the war. In July 1915 a further battalion was raised as the Guards Pioneer Battalion for the Guards Division which was then being formed. This battalion was numbered 4th and the reserve battalion became the 5th. In all the Regiment suffered 14,137 casualties of which the dead numbered 180 officers and 3,860 other ranks. Seven VCs were won and 36 Battle Honours awarded. Volume I takes the story to the end of the Somme offensive, volume II begins with the situation at the end of 1916 after the Somme and carries through to the return of the Regiment to London in March 1919 and the Royal Review on the 22nd of that month when the Guards Division marched past their Colonel in Chief, the King. This is a well written history in which the author gives a good and detailed account of the Regiment’s actions, often with casualty details following various battles and nominal rolls of officers present for duty. He also comments on the wider issues, some of which had nothing to do with the Coldstream, not only on higher strategy on the Western Front but also on other campaigns such as Gallipoli, Mesopotamia, Palestine and Italy where no Guards battalions served, and it is in discussing these wider issues that he is sometimes frankly critical, allocating blame where he feels it belongs.Print ed.

A Storm in Flanders

A Storm in Flanders PDF Author: Winston Groom
Publisher: Hachette UK
ISBN: 147460434X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 353

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Book Description
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.

Reminiscences Of A Grenadier [Illustrated Edition]

Reminiscences Of A Grenadier [Illustrated Edition] PDF Author: Major E. R. M. Fryer
Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing
ISBN: 1786251124
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 558

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Book Description
Includes the First World War Illustrations Pack – 73 battle plans and diagrams and 198 photos “An account of the Front Line from the Guards Brigade The Guards have always been known as ‘The Gentlemen’s Sons’ and it seems that the author of this book was no exception. At work in ‘the City’ when war broke out and he managed initially to be elected to that other gentleman’s club of the time—The Honourable Artillery Company. It was with the HAC that he went to the continent and saw action in the early engagements of the war before selection for cadet school and a commission. Upon returning to the Front, Fryer embarked on a wartime career that would keep him in action almost constantly throughout the hostilities and which he would report with nothing less than the casual savoir faire one would expect of him. Despite his style Fryer clearly saw hard campaigning at Givenchy, Loos, the Hohenzollern Redoubt, Ypres, the Somme and many other brutal and significant actions until the final offensives of 1918.”-Print Ed.

The Emma Gees [Illustrated Edition]

The Emma Gees [Illustrated Edition] PDF Author: Captain Herbert W. McBride
Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing
ISBN: 1786255502
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 570

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Book Description
Includes the First World War Illustrations Pack – 73 battle plans and diagrams and 198 photos The classic account of sniping on the Western Front. “Herbert Wesley McBride was a Captain in the Twenty-first Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force, during the First World War. He was a sniper and commander of a machine gun unit known as the “Emma Gees.” He was also the author of two books on the war: “A Rifleman Went To War” (1933) and “The Emma Gees” (1918)...When the war started, he volunteered in a Canadian rifle company in Ottawa because he wanted to see action as quickly as possible. He was commissioned as an officer, but was reduced to a private due to several drunken incidents. He shipped to England for training and then to the Western Front, where he participated in battles around Ypres and the Somme throughout 1916. In his book, “A Rifleman Went To War,” he recounts killing more than 100 German soldiers as a sniper. This book is highly regarded by students of riflery, it’s mandatory reading in the U.S. Marine Corps Sniping School. It is also considered one of the best first-person accounts of World War I, often being compared favorably to “Storm of Steel” by Ernst Junger. However McBride notes in his book that by the end of 1916 he felt in his heart “the game was over,” and a series of alcoholic binges resulted in his court martial and dismissal from the Canadian Expeditionary Force in February 1917. He then joined the United States Army’s 38th Division, serving out the war as a marksmanship and sniping instructor at Camp Perry. He resigned in October 1918. After the war, he worked in the lumber industry in Oregon for most of his later years. He died in Indianapolis of a sudden heart failure on March 17, 1933, shortly after finishing “A Rifleman Went To War.” He was 60.”-Canadaatwar.com

Hell in Flanders Fields

Hell in Flanders Fields PDF Author: George H. Cassar
Publisher: Dundurn
ISBN: 177070471X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 403

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Book Description
On 22 April 1915, the men of the 1st Canadian Division faced chlorine gas, a new lethal weapon against which they had no defence. In defiance of a particularly horrible death, or, at the very least, severe lung injury, these untested Canadians fought almost continuously for four days, often hand-to-hand, as they clung stubbornly against overwhelming odds to a vital part of the Allied line after the French units on their left fled in panic. By doing so, they saved 50,000 troops in the Ypres salient from almost certain destruction, and, in addition, prevented the momentum of the war from tipping in favour of the Germans. In this new, deeply researched account, the distinguished military historian George H. Cassar skillfully blends into the history of the battle the graphic and moving words of the men on the front line. Illustrated with outstanding photographs and numerous maps, and drawing from diaries, letters, and documents from every level of planning, Hell in Flanders Fields is an authoritative, gripping drama of politics, strategy, and human courage.

Major & Mrs HoltÍs Battlefield Guide to Ypres Salient and Passchendaele

Major & Mrs HoltÍs Battlefield Guide to Ypres Salient and Passchendaele PDF Author: Major Holt
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 0850525519
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 290

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Book Description
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