The Battle of the Bellicourt Tunnel

The Battle of the Bellicourt Tunnel PDF Author: Dale Blair
Publisher: Frontline Books
ISBN: 1848325878
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 209

Get Book Here

Book Description
In November 1918 the BEF under Field Marshal Haig fought a series of victorious battles on the Western Front that contributed mightily to the German army’s defeat. They did so as part of a coalition and the role of Australian ‘diggers’ and US ‘doughboys’ is often forgotten. The Bellicourt Tunnel attack, fought in the fading autumn light, was very much an inter-Allied affair and marked a unique moment in the Allied armies’ endeavours. It was the first time that such a large cohort of Americans had fought in a British army. Additionally, untried American II Corps and experienced Australian Corps were to spearhead the attack under the command of Lieutenant General Sir John Monash with British divisions adopting supporting roles on the flanks. Blair forensically details the fighting and the largely forgotten desperate German defence. Although celebrated as a marvellous feat of breaking the Hindenburg Line, the American attack failed generally to achieve its set objectives and it took the Australians three days of bitter fighting to reach theirs. Blair rejects the conventional explanation of the US ‘mop up’ failure and points the finger of blame at Rawlinson, Haig and Monash for expecting too much of the raw US troops, singling out the Australian Corps commander for particular criticism. Overall, Blair judges the fighting g a draw. At the end, like two boxers, the Australian-American force was gasping for breath and the Germans, badly battered, back-pedalling to remain on balance. Overall the day was calamitous for the German army, even if the clean break-through that Haig had hoped for did not occur. Forced out of the Hindenburg Line, the prognosis for the German army on the Western Front – and hence Imperial Germany itself – was bleak indeed.

Breaking the Hindenburg Line

Breaking the Hindenburg Line PDF Author: Major R. E. Priestley
Publisher: Andrews UK Limited
ISBN: 1781507392
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 211

Get Book Here

Book Description
At an hour and date to be notified later, the 46th Division, as part of a major operation, will cross the St. Quentin Canal, capture the Hindenburg Line, and advance to a position shown on the attached map A. This was the opening paragraph of the preliminary operation order which was to lead to one of the most outstanding feats of arms of the Great War, and that is where this story begins. It takes us through the planning, the opposed crossing and the subsequent divisional operations up to the armistice. How formidable the task was can be gauged from the photos of the canal; the bed was about 35 feet wide and it was like the ditch of a fortress. The approaches to the canal on the west side were covered by a continuous line of trenches, sited on a slight rise, with frequent strongpoints housing machine-guns, protected by a broad belt of barbed wire. Under the cover of a favourable mist and one of the finest barrages ever seen (fired without registration) the 46th Division stormed the enemy forward positions with few casualties and pushed on to make the crossing. The Riqueval bridge was still intact and it was secured by a party of N Staffs and sappers who rushed it, killing all the demolition party, who had been sheltering from the barrage, before they could reach it. The bridge still stands today, just as it was when captured. This is an absorbing account of an operation that went literally according to plan and from there the division went from one success to another as the story unfolds. The earlier history of the division is only briefly covered in an introductory chapter. It was the first complete TF division to arrive on the Western Front, in February 1915. Its first major battle was an attack on the Hohenzollern Redoubt at the end of the Loos offensive in which it suffered over 3,800 casualties in two days. Its attack on Gommecourt on 1st July 1916 was a failure that cost some 2,500 casualties; it also cost the divisional commander (Montagu-Stuart-Wortley). his job It wasn't until the last few weeks of the war that the 46th Division really made its mark. In that time it encountered and defeated sixteen German divisions at a cost of 4,200 casualties. Total casualties throughout the war amounted to 29,569 and six VCs were won. The divisional sign was a rectangle surrounded by a white edge; the top half of the rectangle was scarlet and the lower half rifle green, the colours of the KRRC, the first GOC's regiment.

The Battle of the Bellicourt Tunnel

The Battle of the Bellicourt Tunnel PDF Author: Dale Blair
Publisher: Frontline Books
ISBN: 1848325878
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 209

Get Book Here

Book Description
In November 1918 the BEF under Field Marshal Haig fought a series of victorious battles on the Western Front that contributed mightily to the German army’s defeat. They did so as part of a coalition and the role of Australian ‘diggers’ and US ‘doughboys’ is often forgotten. The Bellicourt Tunnel attack, fought in the fading autumn light, was very much an inter-Allied affair and marked a unique moment in the Allied armies’ endeavours. It was the first time that such a large cohort of Americans had fought in a British army. Additionally, untried American II Corps and experienced Australian Corps were to spearhead the attack under the command of Lieutenant General Sir John Monash with British divisions adopting supporting roles on the flanks. Blair forensically details the fighting and the largely forgotten desperate German defence. Although celebrated as a marvellous feat of breaking the Hindenburg Line, the American attack failed generally to achieve its set objectives and it took the Australians three days of bitter fighting to reach theirs. Blair rejects the conventional explanation of the US ‘mop up’ failure and points the finger of blame at Rawlinson, Haig and Monash for expecting too much of the raw US troops, singling out the Australian Corps commander for particular criticism. Overall, Blair judges the fighting g a draw. At the end, like two boxers, the Australian-American force was gasping for breath and the Germans, badly battered, back-pedalling to remain on balance. Overall the day was calamitous for the German army, even if the clean break-through that Haig had hoped for did not occur. Forced out of the Hindenburg Line, the prognosis for the German army on the Western Front – and hence Imperial Germany itself – was bleak indeed.

Surviving the Great War

Surviving the Great War PDF Author: Aaron Pegram
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108486193
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 285

Get Book Here

Book Description
Surviving the Great War is the first detailed analysis of Australians in German captivity in WW1. By placing the hardships of prisoners of war in a broader social and military content, this book adds a new dimension to the national wartime experience and challenges popular representations of Australia's involvement in the First World War.

Borrowed Soldiers

Borrowed Soldiers PDF Author: Mitchell A. Yockelson
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
ISBN: 0806155604
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 370

Get Book Here

Book Description
The combined British Expeditionary Force and American II Corps successfully pierced the Hindenburg Line during the Hundred Days Campaign of World War I, an offensive that hastened the war’s end. Yet despite the importance of this effort, the training and operation of II Corps has received scant attention from historians. Mitchell A. Yockelson delivers a comprehensive study of the first time American and British soldiers fought together as a coalition force—more than twenty years before D-Day. He follows the two divisions that constituted II Corps, the 27th and 30th, from the training camps of South Carolina to the bloody battlefields of Europe. Despite cultural differences, General Pershing’s misgivings, and the contrast between American eagerness and British exhaustion, the untested Yanks benefited from the experience of battle-toughened Tommies. Their combined forces contributed much to the Allied victory. Yockelson plumbs new archival sources, including letters and diaries of American, Australian, and British soldiers to examine how two forces of differing organization and attitude merged command relationships and operations. Emphasizing tactical cooperation and training, he details II Corps’ performance in Flanders during the Ypres-Lys offensive, the assault on the Hindenburg Line, and the decisive battle of the Selle. Featuring thirty-nine evocative photographs and nine maps, this account shows how the British and American military relationship evolved both strategically and politically. A case study of coalition warfare, Borrowed Soldiers adds significantly to our understanding of the Great War.

The Defeat of Imperial Germany, 1917-1918

The Defeat of Imperial Germany, 1917-1918 PDF Author: Colonel Rod Paschall
Publisher: Algonquin Books
ISBN: 1616204109
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 299

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Defeat of Imperial Germany, 1917-1918 by Rod Paschall is the first volume in the Major Battles and Campaigns series under the general editorship of John S. D. Eisenhower. Designed for the "armchair strategist," this book offers striking proof of the inaccuracy of the conventional depiction of the trench warfare of the First World War, in which commanding generals are seen as mediocre and unimaginative, having stubbornly sent hundreds of thousands of troops over the top to be mowed down by the lethal weaponry of modern war. Paschall builds a compelling case that the generals on both sides invented ingenious new strategies that simply failed in the context of a war of attrition. In a series of vivid analyses of successive offenses, Paschall describes the generals' plans, how their plans were aimed at dislodging the entrenched enemy and restoring maneuver and breakthrough on the Western Front, and what happened when the massed soldiery under their command sought to carry out their orders. Though these strategies and tactics largely failed at the time, they would prove successful when implemented twenty years later during World War II. Dozens of photographs, many never before published, as well as theater and battlefield maps help make The Defeat of Imperial Germany, 1917-1918 an outstanding and original contribution to the body of knowledge of the Great War.

The First World War

The First World War PDF Author: Michael Howard
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0199205590
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 161

Get Book Here

Book Description
This Very Short Introduction provides a concise and insightful history of the Great War--from the state of Europe in 1914, to the role of the US, the collapse of Russia, and the eventual surrender of the Central Powers. Examining how and why the war was fought, as well as the historical controversies that still surround the war, Michael Howard also looks at how peace was ultimately made, and describes the potent legacy of resentment left to Germany.

To the Last Man :.

To the Last Man :. PDF Author: Jonathan D. Bratten
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description


American Armies and Battlefields in Europe

American Armies and Battlefields in Europe PDF Author:
Publisher: Department of the Army
ISBN: 9780160945830
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 610

Get Book Here

Book Description
This volume was first published by the American Battle Monuments Commission in 1938 and was republished by CMH in 1992 to commemorate the American Expeditionary Forces' seventy-fifth birthday. American Armies and Battlefields in Europe, a facsimile edition to commemorate the seventy-fifth birthday of the American Expeditionary Forces, is a unique, illustrated volume that captures the AEF's lessons of battle during World War I. Based on the series of battlefield tours conducted for staff officers at General John J. Pershing's headquarters, the operational chapters describe the military situation, giving detailed accounts of actual fighting supported by maps and sketches, and a summary of events and service of combat divisions. Topical chapters on the Services of Supply, the U.S. Navy, military cemeteries and memorials, and other interesting and useful facts conclude the narrative. For scholars and students of the Great War, as well as veterans and their descendants wishing to find battle sites of long ago, this guidebook remains the most authoritative and easily usable source for visitors to the AEF's battlefields. The American Battle Monuments Commission, a small independent agency established by Congress in 1923 at the request of General John J. Pershing, is the guardian of America's overseas commemorative cemeteries and memorials. Its mission is to honor the service, achievements, and sacrifice of the United States armed forces. Related products: Check out our World War I resources collection here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/catalog/world-war-i Other products produced by the U.S. Army, Center of Military History can be found here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/agency/center-military-history-cmh

Infantry in Battle

Infantry in Battle PDF Author: Infantry School (U.S.)
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
ISBN: 1428916911
Category : Infantry drill and tactics
Languages : en
Pages : 428

Get Book Here

Book Description


Memories and Adventures

Memories and Adventures PDF Author: Arthur Conan Doyle
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 432

Get Book Here

Book Description