VCS Somme 1916

VCS Somme 1916 PDF Author: Gerald Gliddon
Publisher: The History Press
ISBN: 0752487469
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 303

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Battle of the Somme, which lasted from 1 July to 18 November 1916, is remembered as one of the most horrific and tragic battles of the First World War. On the first day alone nearly 19,000 British troops were killed – the greatest one-day loss in the history of the British Army. By November the death toll from the armies of Britain, France and Germany had risen to over a million. This book tells the stories of fifty-one soldiers from the Commonwealth and Empire armies whose bravery on the battlefield was rewarded by the Victoria Cross, the highest military honour – men like Private Billy McFadzean, who was blown up by two grenades which he smothered in order to save the lives of his comrades, and Private ‘Todger’ Jones, who single-handedly rounded up 102 German soldiers. Not only do we learn of heroic endeavours of these men at the height of battle, but we also read of their lives before 1914, ranging from the backstreets of Glasgow to a country house in Cheshire, and of what life was like after the war for the thirty-three survivors.

VCS Somme 1916

VCS Somme 1916 PDF Author: Gerald Gliddon
Publisher: The History Press
ISBN: 0752487469
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 303

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Battle of the Somme, which lasted from 1 July to 18 November 1916, is remembered as one of the most horrific and tragic battles of the First World War. On the first day alone nearly 19,000 British troops were killed – the greatest one-day loss in the history of the British Army. By November the death toll from the armies of Britain, France and Germany had risen to over a million. This book tells the stories of fifty-one soldiers from the Commonwealth and Empire armies whose bravery on the battlefield was rewarded by the Victoria Cross, the highest military honour – men like Private Billy McFadzean, who was blown up by two grenades which he smothered in order to save the lives of his comrades, and Private ‘Todger’ Jones, who single-handedly rounded up 102 German soldiers. Not only do we learn of heroic endeavours of these men at the height of battle, but we also read of their lives before 1914, ranging from the backstreets of Glasgow to a country house in Cheshire, and of what life was like after the war for the thirty-three survivors.

Somme 1916

Somme 1916 PDF Author: Paul Kendall
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 151070874X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 720

Get Book Here

Book Description
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.

Somme Harvest.

Somme Harvest. PDF Author: Giles E. M. Eyre
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781847340054
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 256

Get Book Here

Book Description


The Missing of the Somme

The Missing of the Somme PDF Author: Geoff Dyer
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0307743233
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 178

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Missing of the Somme is part travelogue, part meditation on remembrance—and completely, unabashedly, unlike any other book about the First World War. Through visits to battlefields and memorials, Geoff Dyer examines the way that photographs and film, poetry and prose determined—sometimes in advance of the events described—the way we would think about and remember the war. With his characteristic originality and insight, Dyer untangles and reconstructs the network of myth and memory that illuminates our understanding of, and relationship to, the Great War.

VCs Handbook

VCs Handbook PDF Author: Gerald Gliddon
Publisher: The History Press
ISBN: 0750952830
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 276

Get Book Here

Book Description
On the Western Front during the First World War, 490 men won the British Empire's highest award for gallantry, the Victoria Cross. A companion for any visitor to the First World War battlefields in France and Flanders, this reference book lists every VC recipient from 1914 to 1918 in alphabetical order.

Shadows of the Somme

Shadows of the Somme PDF Author: Paul Coffey
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 9781517066772
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 406

Get Book Here

Book Description
'He looked up at the sky, crystal blue and cloudless ... he closed his eyes, put the whistle to his lips and blew.' The first of July 1916 and in the French countryside tens of thousands of doomed British soldiers are being killed and wounded as the bloody Battle of the Somme begins. Captain Edward Harris, vainly encouraging his men over the top and headlong into the murderous German machine guns, is badly wounded. Crawling to a shell hole for cover, he lies helpless as the carnage continues around him. October 2015 and Tom Harris has no interest in the First World War. For him it's a conflict from another age. But during a visit to the battlefields he becomes fascinated by a headstone in a British war cemetery showing his namesake. Desperate to learn more Tom begins to delve into the past where he discovers ordinary men consumed by extraordinary times. And in doing so he unearths a remarkable and moving story of loss, despair, hope and redemption.

Somme Intelligence

Somme Intelligence PDF Author: William Langford
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1781590826
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 161

Get Book Here

Book Description
For the Somme offensive British Fourth Army headquarters was situated in a chateau at Querrieu on the Albert-Amiens road. In the build up months to Haig's Great Push a steady flow of intelligence was being compiled; captured German documents, intercepted messages, prisoners' letters, diaries and information gleaned from prisoner interviews were entered into foolscap-size ledgers where they could be perused by the planners.??The hand-written journal of intelligence reports upon which this work is formed was originally compiled by a former soldier of the 11th Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment, (Accrington Pals), Harry Platt of Burnley. In 1916 he was a sergeant working on intelligence duties at Fourth Army GHQ. He was later commissioned in the Royal Engineers. Harry also served in the Second World War in the Royal Artillery reaching the rank of Major. He was Mentioned in Despatches in both conflicts. Harry died in August 1951 aged 56.??In 2002 the handwritten journal was lodged with the Imperial War Museum at the instigation of historian William Turner, military historian and author of books on the Accrington Pals.??As the reader goes through these reports it would be helpful to keep in mind that members of the British staff at Querrieu chateau, including Generals Haig and Rawlinson, would have had their impressions coloured by the words you are reading and doubtless their optimism for a successful outcome to the Somme offensive greatly enhanced. They would have noted the effect the British bombardment was having; dominance of the Royal Flying Corps as its machines seemingly operated unmolested over the trenches; growing unrest in German cities as food shortages drove the populace to riot; and the relentless call-up to the colours of ever-younger youths as that nation's manhood bled in the great battles taking place.

The Complete Victoria Cross

The Complete Victoria Cross PDF Author: Kevin Brazier
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1473872065
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 450

Get Book Here

Book Description
This fully revised paperback edition of the complete chronological record of VC holders is an essential work of reference for every student of military history. All the British and Commonwealth servicemen who have been awarded the highest honour for exceptional acts of bravery and self-sacrifice are commemorated here. The first VCs awarded for the Crimean War and in the nineteenth-century colonial wars are described, as are the VCs awarded in the world wars of the twentieth century and the most recent VCs awarded during present-day conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. The extraordinary exploits recounted in this fascinating book make unforgettable reading.

Armageddon Road

Armageddon Road PDF Author: Billy Congreve
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1473821193
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 238

Get Book Here

Book Description
Billy Congreve was an exceptional soldier and 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, and the L_gion d'Honneur, and for his many deeds of gallantry on the Somme, a posthumous VC.??Born into a military family (his father General Congreve had also won the VC) he became a regular soldier in the Rifle Brigade before the war, and in France became a staff officer, but one who chose to be in the front line as often as he could. This makes 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 headquarters.??Terry Norman carefully edited the diary to set his story in the context of the war, and thus provide an exceptional picture of what an officer thought of the conduct of the war side by side with his personal grief at the loss of his friends and the wastage of human life.??Out of print for over 30 years, this special centenary edition of this classic work includes a new foreword from esteemed military author Nigel Cave, as well as an expanded introduction from Terry's widow, Joan and a newly designed plate section. Detailing the extraordinary exploits of a truly remarkable man during the first two years of the war, this book is a compulsive purchase for all fans of the period.

VCs Cambrai 1917

VCs Cambrai 1917 PDF Author: Gerald Gliddon
Publisher: The History Press
ISBN: 0752483773
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 348

Get Book Here

Book Description
Featuring the careers of forty-three men, this volume tells the story of the Battle of Cambrai, famous for being the first occasion when tanks were used en masse in battle. Its first day was so successful that church bells in Britain were rung in anticipation of a great victory. A tank crewman numbers among the recipients of the VC.Containing biographies of a broad cross-section of men from Britain and the Dominions including Canada, Australia, New Zealand and even the Ukraine. It includes a sapper, a former miner, who chose to stay with his seriously wounded colleague underground and die with him, rather than obey an order to leave him and save his own life; a maverick lieutenant-colonel who was relieved of his command and a padre who worked tirelessly over a period of three nights bringing at least twenty-five men to safety from No Man’s Land, who otherwise would have been left to die.