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Author: Bernard Lewis
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1783037024
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 549
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Book Description
The Swansea Battalion was formed from local men by the Mayor of Swansea in the response to Lord Kitcheners famous appeal for volunteers. This, the first full history of the Battalion, covers early recruiting for the battalion in the Swansea area and its subsequent training in Swansea, Rhyl and Winchester, prior to departure, some 1,200 strong, in December 1915 for the Western Front. As part of the 38th Welsh Division it participated in the attack on Mametz Wood on the Somme where, in a single day, it suffered almost 100 men killed and 300 wounded out of an attacking contingent of less than 700. A further very successful raid on the German held High Command Redoubt was followed by front line service in the dreaded Ypres Salient. Here it took part in the bloody third Battle of Ypres, better known today as the Passchendaele Offensive. At Aveluy Wood it was accidentally shelled by its own artillery, suffering a number of fatalities. The Swansea Battalion then took an active part in the battles that finally broke the Hindenburg Line and the spirit of German resistance, one of its exploits being described as the high point of soldierly achievement by Douglas Haig. It was still advancing when the Armistice was signed in November 1918.
Author: Bernard Lewis
Publisher: Leo Cooper Books
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 218
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Book Description
The Swansea Battalion served in France and Flanders for over three years suffering heavy losses. Its courageous story has never been told before in such detail. Setting off in December 1915 for the Western Front it was still advancing when the Armistice was signed in November 1918.
Author: Russell Davies
Publisher: University of Wales Press
ISBN: 1783162392
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 608
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Book Description
It takes a different view of the history of Wales, examining a panorama of different emotions and experiences – laughter, happiness, fear, anger, adventure, lust, loneliness, anxiety – to give an entertaining and exciting new history to Wales. a wide range of sources are used to present the ambitions and anxieties which drove and destroyed Welsh people The book’s literary style and the fact that it follows earlier successful studies by the author should ensure an audience.
Author: Bernard Lewis
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1473840880
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 621
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Book Description
The Great War left an indelible mark on almost every town and village in Britain and this extensively researched book looks in detail at how that war affected the town of Swansea and its people.Themes covered in the book include recruitment and the treatment of conscientious objectors, how Belgian refugees were cared for, and what happened to foreign nationals who were living in Swansea at the outbreak of war. How the war affected the trade of the town, especially the docks, is examined, as well as the fate of numerous Swansea ships that became targets for the German U-Boat campaign. The organisation of medical aid for wounded servicemen and the effect of food shortages, and its subsequent rationing in Swansea, are covered. The new roles performed by women and the efforts made in the town to provide support for those left at home, or serving at the front, are also examined. Away from the Home Front, the actions of both of the Swansea Victoria Cross winners are recounted, as are the stories of some of those who served on land, on sea, or in the air. These include a Swansea airman who was downed by the famous Red Baron, another who flew again after losing a leg in combat, a Swansea sailor who was lost in an encounter with a German U-Boat, the Swansea officer who twice escaped from a POW camp, and several former Swansea men who returned with Canadian, Australian or South African units to fight the common foe, with often tragic results. There are also stories of a Swansea nurse captured by the Austrians in Serbia, and a Swansea doctor at Gallipoli.Swansea in the Great War is a welcome and long overdue look at how the Great War affected the town and its people. How did the experience of war affect Swansea and the surrounding area? - From the initial enthusiasm, to the gradual realization of the enormity of human sacrifice the families of Swansea were committed to as the war stretched out over the next four years. A record of the growing disillusion of the people, their tragedies and hardships and a determination to see it through. The Great War affected everyone. At home there were wounded soldiers in military hospitals, refugees from Belgium and later on German prisoners of war. There were food and fuel shortages and disruption to schooling. The role of women changed dramatically and they undertook a variety of work undreamed of in peacetime. Extracts from contemporary letters reveal their heroism and give insights into what it was like under battle conditions, including the disastrous first day at the Somme for the Swansea Pals.
Author: Jennifer Weiner
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0857200240
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 323
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Book Description
Jennifer Weiner, author of Good in Bed,In Her Shoes and the forthcoming Who DoYou Love, explores the nuances of female friendship with relish... Addie Downs and Valerie Adler were eight when they first met and decided to be best friends forever. But, in the wake of tragedy and betrayal during their teenage years, everything changed. Val went on to fame and fortune. Addie stayed behind in their small Midwestern town. Destiny, however, had more in store for these two. And when, twenty-five years later, Val shows up at Addie's front door with blood on her coat and terror on her face, it is the start of a wild adventure for two women joined by love and history who find strength together that they could not find alone.
Author: Martin Gilbert
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 9780805083019
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 372
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Book Description
"Gilbert has unearthed fascinating details of the campaign . . . An unforgettable read."—The Philadelphia Inquirer At 7:30 a.m. on July 1, 1916, the first Allied soldiers climbed out of their trenches along the Somme River in France and charged into no-man's-land, toward the barbed wire and machine guns at the German front lines. In the months that followed, the fifteen-mile-long territory erupted into the epicenter of the Great War, marking a pivotal moment in both the war and military history as tanks first appeared on the battlefield and air war emerged as a devastating and decisive factor in battle. All told, there were more than one million casualties, with 310,000 men dead in just 138 days. In this vivid account of one of history's most destructive battles, distinguished historian Martin Gilbert tracks the experiences of foot soldiers, generals, and everyone in between. With new photographs, journal entries, original maps, and military planning documents, The Somme is the most authoritative and affecting account of this bloody turning point in the Great War.
Author: Steven John
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1783409835
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 492
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Book Description
A history of the Welsh Battalion and its service during World War I in France. The Carmarthenshire Battalion was one of the early units raised in 1914 as a result of Lord Kitchener’s expansion of the regular army by 500,000 men for the duration of the Great War. Lloyd George, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, had a vision of a Welsh Army Group and massive efforts were made to recruit and form Welsh fighting units. The first 200 recruits for the Carmarthen Pals came from Bolton, strangely enough, but later they were mainly drawn from the County and wider Wales. Initial training was at Rhyl. In April 1915 the Battalion became part of 114 Brigade, 38 (Welsh) Division and after completing training and equipping it crossed to France in December 1915. From early 1916 until the Armistice, the Carmarthen Pals fought with distinction. Initially at Givenchy, it moved to the Somme in May 1916 and attacked Mametz Wood in the early days of that most terrible July offensive. Thereafter the Battalion moved to the Ypres Salient and in July 1917 attacked Pilckem Ridge. Moves south to Armentieres district, then the Albert Sector followed. In the closing months of the War alone, the Pals suffered 40 officer and 900 other rank killed and wounded as they pushed the Germans back capturing Ancre and crossing the Canal du Nord and Selle rivers.
Author: Ian Beckett
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1316824543
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 485
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Book Description
This is a major new history of the British army during the Great War written by three leading military historians. Ian Beckett, Timothy Bowman and Mark Connelly survey operations on the Western Front and throughout the rest of the world as well as the army's social history, pre-war and wartime planning and strategy, the maintenance of discipline and morale and the lasting legacy of the First World War on the army's development. They assess the strengths and weaknesses of the army between 1914 and 1918, engaging with key debates around the adequacy of British generalship and whether or not there was a significant 'learning curve' in terms of the development of operational art during the course of the war. Their findings show how, despite limitations of initiative and innovation amongst the high command, the British army did succeed in developing the effective combined arms warfare necessary for victory in 1918.
Author: Norman Ferguson
Publisher: Summersdale
ISBN: 1783720638
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 167
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Book Description
Telling the stories of the battles, the aircraft, the weapons, the soldiers, the poets, and the many heroes, Norman Ferguson delves deep into the history of the 'Great War'. Through anecdotes and statistics, and drawing on letters, speeches and official reports, this comprehensive miscellany is a compelling guide to the ‘Great War’.
Author: Mark Adkin
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1526707012
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 1075
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Book Description
The definitive guide to the main theater of WWI—“maps of the battles . . . military strategy . . . extraordinary anecdotes . . . it’s a triumph” (Daily Mail). Written by the author of the three previous bestselling Companions on Waterloo, Trafalgar and Gettysburg—now acclaimed as the definitive work of reference on each battle—The Western Front Companion is not a mere chronological account of the fighting. Rather, it 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—a distance of 450 miles. 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. The 350,000 words of text range over everything from the railways on the front to the medical corps and the chaplains. Like previous Companions, this book is equally distinguished by its magnificent visual resources—original and intricate maps and diagrams, over 200 resonant and remarkable archive images from the time (many rarely seen), and modern color photographs showing how historic battlefields look nowadays, and paying tribute to the magnificent and poignant cemeteries, monuments and ossuaries that mark the fallen for today’s battlefield visitor. Every reader, no matter how well informed already on the history of World War I, will learn something new from this extraordinary and exhaustive volume. No one interested in the true story and sheer sweep of the Great War on the Western Front can afford to be without it.
Author: Sue Boase
Publisher: Pen and Sword Military
ISBN: 1399095609
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 242
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Book Description
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.
