A Gunner's Great War

A Gunner's Great War PDF Author: Ian Ronayne
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1783461322
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 216

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Book Description
“A graphic and moving account of an artilleryman’s experience on the Western Front. An interesting book for those who like artillery and WWI” (English Heritage). If the First World War had not happened when it did, Channel Islander Clarence Ahier would almost certainly have led a mostly unremarkable life. But it did, and in October 1915, at just twenty-three-years-old, Clarence left his home and volunteered to join the British Army. He would spend the next two and half years serving as an artilleryman on the Western Front. Now this in itself is not remarkable—millions of other young men did the same thing. But Clarence did do something that set him apart from almost all his contemporaries: from the very beginning of his time at the front, he kept a meticulously written journal. Having lain unnoticed for years, the journal was recently discovered in a collection of dusty ephemera handed to a local history society. It consists of around twenty-five thousand words with a focus on Clarence’s experience during the Battle of the Somme, in the fighting around Ypres, and, after he was wounded for the second time, the journey to India and his time there as a member of the garrison. Additional explanatory text by Ian Ronayne puts Clarence’s experiences in the context of the wider war that would transform him—and the world. “A very useful introduction to the Great War . . . An excellent read.” —War History Online

A Gunner's Great War

A Gunner's Great War PDF Author: Ian Ronayne
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1783461322
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 216

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Book Description
“A graphic and moving account of an artilleryman’s experience on the Western Front. An interesting book for those who like artillery and WWI” (English Heritage). If the First World War had not happened when it did, Channel Islander Clarence Ahier would almost certainly have led a mostly unremarkable life. But it did, and in October 1915, at just twenty-three-years-old, Clarence left his home and volunteered to join the British Army. He would spend the next two and half years serving as an artilleryman on the Western Front. Now this in itself is not remarkable—millions of other young men did the same thing. But Clarence did do something that set him apart from almost all his contemporaries: from the very beginning of his time at the front, he kept a meticulously written journal. Having lain unnoticed for years, the journal was recently discovered in a collection of dusty ephemera handed to a local history society. It consists of around twenty-five thousand words with a focus on Clarence’s experience during the Battle of the Somme, in the fighting around Ypres, and, after he was wounded for the second time, the journey to India and his time there as a member of the garrison. Additional explanatory text by Ian Ronayne puts Clarence’s experiences in the context of the wider war that would transform him—and the world. “A very useful introduction to the Great War . . . An excellent read.” —War History Online

A Machine-Gunner in France

A Machine-Gunner in France PDF Author: Ward Schrantz
Publisher: University of North Texas Press
ISBN: 1574417614
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 534

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Book Description
Despite their extensive service in World War I, few members of the Kansas-Missouri 35th Division left lengthy memoirs of their experiences in the American Expeditionary Forces. But Ward Loren Schrantz filled dozens of pages with his recollections of life as a National Guard officer and machine gun company commander in the “Santa Fe” Division. In A Machine-Gunner in France, Schrantz extensively documents his experiences and those of his men, from training at Camp Doniphan to their voyage across the Atlantic, and to their time in the trenches in France’s Vosges Mountains and ultimately to their return home. He devotes much of his memoir to the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, in which the 35th Division suffered heavy casualties and made only moderate gains before being replaced by fresh troops. Schrantz provides a valuable “common soldier’s” view of why the division failed to live up to the expectations of the A.E.F. high command. Schrantz also describes the daily life of a soldier, including living conditions, relations between officers and enlisted men, and the horrific experience of combat. He paints literary portraits of the warriors who populated the A.E.F. and the civilians he encountered in France. Schrantz’s small-town newspaper experience allowed him to craft a well-written and entertaining narrative. Because he did not intend his memoir for publication, the Missourian wrote in an honest and unassuming style, with extensive detail, vivid descriptions, and occasional humor. Editor Jeffrey Patrick combines his narrative with excerpts from a detailed history of the unit that Schrantz wrote for his local newspaper, and also provides an editor’s introduction and annotations to document and explain items and sources in the memoir. This is not a romantic account of the war, but a realistic record of how American citizen-soldiers actually fought on the Western Front.

Plough & Scatter

Plough & Scatter PDF Author: Alan Wakefield
Publisher: Haynes Publishing UK
ISBN: 9780857331366
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
J. Ivor Hanson’s personal diary describes his experiences as a gunner on the Western Front in the First World War, which left a deep and lasting impression on him. Imperial War Museum historian Alan Wakefield has edited the diaries and provides engaging explanatory narratives for each chapter to set them within the context of the First World War.

Machine Gunner, 1914-1918

Machine Gunner, 1914-1918 PDF Author: C. E. Crutchley
Publisher: Pen & Sword Books
ISBN: 9781783461783
Category : World War, 1914-1918
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
In 1914 there were only two machine guns supporting a British infantry battalion of 800 men, and in the light of the effectiveness of German and French machine guns the Machine Gun Corps was formed in October 1915. This remarkable book, compiled and edited by C E Crutchley, is a collection of the personal accounts of officers and men who served in the front lines with their machine guns in one of the most ghastly wars, spread over three continents. The strength of the book lies in the fact that these are the actual words of the soldiers themselves, complete with characteristic modes of expression and oddities of emphasis and spelling. All theatres of war are covered from the defence of the Suez Canal, Gallipoli and Mesopotamia in the east to France and Flanders, the German offensive of March 1918 and the final act on the Western Front that brought the war to an end. SELLING POINTS: * A harrowing story of the types of combat used in World War I * Pulls together the experiences of different people who served, helping yo to understand what these men went through 8 pages of b/w plates

Machine Gunner, 1914–18

Machine Gunner, 1914–18 PDF Author: C. E. Crutchley
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1473816092
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 326

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Book Description
In 1914 there were only two machine guns supporting a British infantry battalion of 800 men, and in the light of the effectiveness of German and French machine guns the Machine Gun Corps was formed in October 1915. This remarkable book, compiled and edited by C E Crutchley, is a collection of the personal accounts of officers and men who served in the front lines with their machine guns in one of the most ghastly wars, spread over three continents. The strength of the book lies in the fact that these are the actual words of the soldiers themselves, complete with characteristic modes of expression and oddities of emphasis and spelling. All theatres of war are covered from the defence of the Suez Canal, Gallipoli and Mesopotamia in the east to France and Flanders, the German offensive of March 1918 and the final act on the Western Front that brought the war to an end. October 2006 is the 90th anniversary of the formation of the Machine Gun Corps.

Loyal Gunners

Loyal Gunners PDF Author: Lee Windsor
Publisher: Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press
ISBN: 1771122560
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 819

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Book Description
Loyal Gunners uniquely encapsulates the experience of Canadian militia gunners and their units into a single compelling narrative that centres on the artillery units of New Brunswick. The story of those units is a profoundly Canadian story: one of dedication and sacrifice in service of great guns and of Canada. The 3rd Field Regiment (The Loyal Company), Royal Canadian Artillery, is Canada’s oldest artillery unit, dating to the founding of the Loyal Company in Saint John in 1793. Since its centennial in 1893, 3rd Field—in various permutations of medium, coastal, and anti-aircraft artillery—has formed the core of New Brunswick’s militia artillery, and it has endured into the twenty-first century as the last remaining artillery unit in the province. This book is the first modern assessment of the development of Canadian heavy artillery in the Great War, the first look at the development of artillery in general in both world wars, and the first exploration of the development and operational deployment of anti-tank artillery in the Second World War. It also tells a universal story of survival as it chronicles the fortunes of New Brunswick militia units through the darkest days of the Cold War, when conventional armed forces were entirely out of favour. In 1950 New Brunswick had four and a half regiments of artillery; by 1970 it had one—3rd Field. Loyal Gunners traces the rise and fall of artillery batteries in New Brunswick as the nature of modern war evolved. From the Great War to Afghanistan it provides the most comprehensive account to date of Canada’s gunners.

Gunner

Gunner PDF Author: Donald Nijboer
Publisher: Erin, Ont. : Boston Mills Press
ISBN: 9781550464863
Category : Aerial gunnery
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Through Patterson's remarkable photography and Nijboer's interviews with veterans, "Gunner" allows readers to imagine what it must have been like to be an air gunner in the Second World War. 150 color photos plus historical b&w photos.

Spearhead

Spearhead PDF Author: Adam Makos
Publisher: Ballantine Books
ISBN: 0804176736
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 432

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Book Description
THE NEW YORK TIMES, WALL STREET JOURNAL, LOS ANGELES TIMES, AND USA TODAY BESTSELLER “A band of brothers in an American tank . . . Makos drops the reader back into the Pershing’s turret and dials up a battle scene to rival the peak moments of Fury.” —The Wall Street Journal From the author of the international bestseller A Higher Call comes the riveting World War II story of an American tank gunner’s journey into the heart of the Third Reich, where he will meet destiny in an iconic armor duel—and forge an enduring bond with his enemy. When Clarence Smoyer is assigned to the gunner’s seat of his Sherman tank, his crewmates discover that the gentle giant from Pennsylvania has a hidden talent: He’s a natural-born shooter. At first, Clarence and his fellow crews in the legendary 3rd Armored Division—“Spearhead”—thought their tanks were invincible. Then they met the German Panther, with a gun so murderous it could shoot through one Sherman and into the next. Soon a pattern emerged: The lead tank always gets hit. After Clarence sees his friends cut down breaching the West Wall and holding the line in the Battle of the Bulge, he and his crew are given a weapon with the power to avenge their fallen brothers: the Pershing, a state-of-the-art “super tank,” one of twenty in the European theater. But with it comes a harrowing new responsibility: Now they will spearhead every attack. That’s how Clarence, the corporal from coal country, finds himself leading the U.S. Army into its largest urban battle of the European war, the fight for Cologne, the “Fortress City” of Germany. Battling through the ruins, Clarence will engage the fearsome Panther in a duel immortalized by an army cameraman. And he will square off with Gustav Schaefer, a teenager behind the trigger in a Panzer IV tank, whose crew has been sent on a suicide mission to stop the Americans. As Clarence and Gustav trade fire down a long boulevard, they are taken by surprise by a tragic mistake of war. What happens next will haunt Clarence to the modern day, drawing him back to Cologne to do the unthinkable: to face his enemy, one last time. Praise for Spearhead “A detailed, gripping account . . . the remarkable story of two tank crewmen, from opposite sides of the conflict, who endure the grisly nature of tank warfare.” —USA Today (four out of four stars) “Strong and dramatic . . . Makos established himself as a meticulous researcher who’s equally adept at spinning a good old-fashioned yarn. . . . For a World War II aficionado, it will read like a dream.” —Associated Press

The First Day on the Somme

The First Day on the Somme PDF Author: Martin Middlebrook
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1473814243
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 344

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Book Description
A history of the British Army’s experience at the Battle of the Somme in France during World War I. After an immense but useless bombardment, at 7:30 AM on July 1, 1916, the British Army went over the top and attacked the German trenches. It was the first day of the battle of the Somme, and on that day, the British suffered nearly 60,000 casualties, two for every yard of their front. With more than fifty times the daily losses at El Alamein and fifteen times the British casualties on D-day, July 1, 1916, was the blackest day in the history of the British Army. But, more than that, as Lloyd George recognized, it was a watershed in the history of the First World War. The Army that attacked on that day was the volunteer Army that had answered Kitchener’s call. It had gone into action confident of a decisive victory. But by sunset on the first day on the Somme, no one could any longer think of a war that might be won. Martin Middlebrook’s research has covered not just official and regimental histories and tours of the battlefields, but interviews with hundreds of survivors, both British and German. As to the action itself, he conveys the overall strategic view and the terrifying reality that it was for front-line soldiers. Praise for The First Day on the Somme “The soldiers receive the best service a historian can provide: their story is told in their own words.” —The Guardian (UK)

The Machine Gunners

The Machine Gunners PDF Author: Robert Westall
Publisher: HarperTeen
ISBN: 9780688154981
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 196

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Book Description
After an air raid, a group of English children find a German machine gun and hide it from adults who are looking for it.