Book Description

This illustrated WWI battlefield guide explores the heroic acts honored with Victoria Crosses—and the sites where they took place—in 1918 France. Historian and battlefield tour guide Paul Oldenfield spent years researching the Victoria Cross actions of the First World War and accurately locating where each event took place. He now shares his remarkable findings with battlefield visitors and armchair historians in this fascinating series of guidebooks. This volume in the Victoria Crosses on the Western Front series covers the first Battles of the Somme in 1918, the Battle of the Lys, and other combat operation in western France. A thorough account of each VC action is set within the wider strategic and tactical context. Detailed maps show the area today, together with the battle-lines and movements of the combatants, while photographs of the battle sites richly illustrate the accounts. Oldfield also includes a comprehensive biography for each recipient, covering their families, education, civilian employment, military career, death, and commemoration. A host of other information, much of it published for the first time, reveals some fascinating characters, with numerous links to many famous people and events.