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The Middlebrook Guide to the Somme Battlefields

Author : Martin Middlebrook

Publisher : Casemate Publishers

Page : 623 pages

File Size : 15,32 MB

Release : 2007-10-06

Category : History

ISBN : 1783460490

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Book Description

While best known as being the scene of the most terrible carnage in the WW1 the French department of the Somme has seen many other battles from Roman times to 1944. William the Conqueror launched his invasion from there; the French and English fought at Crecy in 1346; Henry Vs army marched through on their way to Agincourt in 1415; the Prussians came in 1870.The Great War saw three great battles and approximately half of the 400,000 who died on the Somme were British a terrible harvest, marked by 242 British cemeteries and over 50,000 lie in unmarked graves. These statistics explain in part why the area is visited year-on-year by ever increasing numbers of British and Commonwealth citizens. This evocative book written by the authors of the iconic First Day on the Somme is a thorough guide to the cemeteries, memorials and battlefields of the area, with the emphasis on the fighting of 1916 and 1918, with fascinating descriptions and anecdotes.



The First Day on the Somme

Author : Martin Middlebrook

Publisher : Pen and Sword

Page : 344 pages

File Size : 30,95 MB

Release : 2006-05-25

Category : History

ISBN : 1473814243

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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 Middlebrook Guide to the Somme Battlefields

Author : Mary Middlebrook

Publisher : Casemate Publishers

Page : 395 pages

File Size : 16,81 MB

Release : 2007-01-01

Category : History

ISBN : 1844155331

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Book Description

Since Roman times, the French department of the Somme has witnessed many wars, including Grecy (1346), Agincourt (1415), the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 and, of course, the two World Wars. It is the Great War that has the dubious distinction of being the most notorious and 1 July 1916, the opening day of the Battle of the Somme, was the costliest in our nation's long history with some 60,000 British casualties. Thirty-five years ago Martin Middlebrook opened his literary career by writing The First Day on the Somme and, seven years later, The Kaiser's Battle, his description of the first day of the German 1918 Spring Offensive over much the same area. Having also taken numerous tours and given many lectures he knows the ground intimately. This superb guide book sets out to describe every place on the Somme where there is a military cemetery, memorial, preserved trench or crater not just from the First World War but throughout the ages until the Allies swept away the Nazi armies during their 1944 advance. Aided by his wife Mary, Martin has used his encyclopaedic knowledge to make this a truly formidable work. It is more than just a guide book as readers will benefit from the descriptive powers and sound research that are the hallmarks of this highly respected historian.



The Middlebrook Guide to the Somme Battlefields

Author : Mary Middlebrook

Publisher : Pen & Sword Books

Page : 0 pages

File Size : 32,99 MB

Release : 2016-04-30

Category : Battlefields

ISBN : 9781473879072

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Book Description

* The name Middlebrook is greatly respected by experts and laymen alike. * Covers not just the WW1 battles but the full span of history. * Full of useful information and points of interest. * Well illustrated and beautifully written. * A proven success now fully updated.



The Somme 1916

Author : David O'Mara

Publisher : Pen and Sword

Page : 238 pages

File Size : 33,35 MB

Release : 2017-11-30

Category : History

ISBN : 1473897726

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Book Description

With a few notable exceptions, the French efforts on the Somme have been largely missing or minimized in British accounts of the Battle of the Somme. And yet they held this sector of the Front from the outbreak of the war until well into 1915 and, indeed, in parts into 1916. It does not hurt to be reminded that the French army suffered some 200,000 casualties in the 1916 offensive.David OMaras book provides an outline narrative describing the arrival of the war on the Somme and some of the notable and quite fierce actions that took place that autumn and, indeed, into December of 1914. Extensive mine warfare was a feature of 1915 and beyond on the Somme; for example under Redan Ridge and before Dompierre and Fay. The French limited offensive at Serre in June 1915 is reasonably well known, but there was fighting elsewhere for example the Germans launched a short, sharp, limited attack at Frise in January 1916, part of the diversionary action before the Germans launched their ill-fated offensive at Verdun.The book covers the Somme front from Gommecourt, north of the Somme, to Chaulnes, at the southern end of the battle zone of 1916. The reader is taken around key points in various tours. For many British visitors the battlefields south of the Somme will be a revelation; there is much to see, both of cemeteries and memorials, but also substantial traces of the fighting remain on the ground, some of which is accessible to the public.It has always been something of a disgrace that there is so little available, even in French, to educate the public in an accessible written form about the substantial effort made by Frances army on the Somme; this book and subsequent, more detailed volumes to be published in the coming years will go some way to rectify this. British visitors should be fascinated by the story of these forgotten men of France and the largely unknown part of the Somme battlefield.



The First Day on the Somme

Author : Martin Middlebrook

Publisher : Pen and Sword

Page : 265 pages

File Size : 10,98 MB

Release : 2016-06-30

Category : History

ISBN : 1473877180

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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. Revised in 2016 from the 1971 original edition. Praise for The First Day on the Somme “The remembrance of those lives, difficult as it may be, will start in earnest now, with this wonderful book. It’s almost like being there yourself... enough said.”—Books Monthly (UK)



Arnhem 1944

Author : Martin Middlebrook

Publisher : Pen and Sword

Page : 682 pages

File Size : 16,94 MB

Release : 2009-09-19

Category : History

ISBN : 1844686329

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Book Description

A detailed history of the World War II battle, featuring experiences from over 500 participants, by the author of The First Day on the Somme. The Battle of Arnhem was a turning point in the war, a gamble by Montgomery, using three airborne divisions to capture a series of bridges spanning the wide rivers of Holland and unleash the Allied armies into the plains of northern Germany. If the bridges had been captured and held, and the ground forces had been able to relieve the airborne forces, then there would have been a good chance of ending the war before Christmas, 1944. It all went wrong. Although the bridges taken by the Americans were relieved by ground troops, these troops could not reach Arnhem quickly enough. In the meantime, only a small part of the 1st British Airborne Division had reached the Arnhem Bridge. Most of the remainder of the airborne force was held up on the outskirts of the town by German units that turned out to be far stronger than expected—a major intelligence failure. After nine days of fighting, the survivors of the division were withdrawn across the Rhine, and it was not until many months later that ground forces captured Arnhem. Using the technique he has perfected over twenty-five years of military study, blending meticulous research based on original documents with the personal experiences of more than 500 participants, Martin Middlebrook describes the Battle of Arnhem from start to finish, from one end of that complicated battlefield to the other. He offers a masterly summary of what went wrong in the last major defeat in battle suffered by the British Army.



Convoy SC122 & HX229

Author : Martin Middlebrook

Publisher : Casemate Publishers

Page : 633 pages

File Size : 34,91 MB

Release : 2011-07-12

Category : History

ISBN : 184468718X

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Book Description

The author of The First Day on the Somme details a naval skirmish that became a turning point for the Battle of the Atlantic during World War II. Winston Churchill wrote, “The only thing that ever really frightened me during the war was the U-boat peril.” Had the convoy link between North America and Britain been broken, the course of World War II would have been different. There was a period during the winter of 1942-43 when the Germans almost cut the North Atlantic lifeline. In the first twenty days of March, 1943, the Germans sank ninety-seven Allied merchant ships—twice the rate of replacement. During the same period, seven U-boats were lost and fourteen put in service. No wonder Churchill was worried. Early in March, 1943, Convoys SC122 and HX229 sailed from New York harbor for England, and Admiral Doenitz deployed forty-two U-boats to entrap them. Twenty-one merchant ships were sunk in the ensuing battle. The Germans called it “the greatest convoy battle of all time.” This book documents the convoys, every maneuver of the merchant ships, their escort vessels, the long-range aircraft cover, and the attacking U-boats in a powerful narrative reminiscent of Nicholas Monsarrat’s bestselling novel The Cruel Sea. In many ways, this book could be the story of any of the hundreds of convoys that sailed the ocean during the war. Middlebrook also elucidates three controversial aspects of the Battle of the Atlantic: why there was an “Air Gap” long after full air cover could have been provided, why the convoys had to sail with dangerously weak naval escorts, and how the Allied outwitted the Germans in the radio decoding war.



The Falklands War

Author : Martin Middlebrook

Publisher : Casemate Publishers

Page : 579 pages

File Size : 15,25 MB

Release : 2012-04-19

Category : History

ISBN : 1781597634

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Book Description

A detailed history of the brief 1980s conflict between the UK and Argentina, from the author of The First Day on the Somme. With the surprise Argentine invasion of the remote Falkland Islands on April 2, 1982, the United Kingdom found itself at war. Due to the resolve of a determined Prime Minister and the resourcefulness of the Armed Forces, a task force, codenamed Operation Corporate, was quickly dispatched. Remarkably, just over two months later, the islands were liberated, and the invaders defeated. By any standards this was an outstanding feat of arms, cooperation made possible by political resolve, sound planning, strong leadership and the courage and determination of the British forces. Martin Middlebrook, the renowned military historian, has skillfully weaved the many strands of this extraordinary achievement into a fascinating, thorough and highly readable account. Thanks to his meticulous research he covers action at sea, on the land and in the air as well as providing the strategic overview. The author’s use of many first-hand accounts reveals what it was like to be part of this audacious military endeavor. The experiences of the Falkland Islanders during the Argentine occupation are also included. Thirty years on, Middlebrook’s The Falklands War is still an authoritative and thoroughly readable account of this historic enterprise. Originally published as Operation Corporate: The Story of the Falklands War, 1982. Praise for The Falklands War “The author’s descriptions of confrontations in the air, on the sea and on the various battlegrounds are superb, as are his explanations of the use of new weapons, such as the Sea Harrier and the Exocet missile.” —Publishers Weekly



The Berlin Raids

Author : Martin Middlebrook

Publisher : Pen and Sword

Page : 344 pages

File Size : 39,58 MB

Release : 2010-07-12

Category : History

ISBN : 1473819059

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Book Description

A “meticulously documented” account that covers the RAF’s controversial attempt to end World War II by the aerial bombing of Berlin (Kirkus Reviews). The Battle of Berlin was the longest and most sustained bombing offensive against one target in the Second World War. Bomber Command Commander-in-Chief, Sir Arthur Harris, hoped to wreak Berlin from end to end and produce a state of devastation in which German surrender was inevitable. He dispatched nineteen major raids between August 1943 and March 1944—more than ten thousand aircraft sorties dropped over thirty thousand tons of bombs on Berlin. It was the RAF’s supreme effort to end the war by aerial bombing. But Berlin was not destroyed and the RAF lost more than six hundred aircraft and their crews. The controversy over whether the Battle of Berlin was a success or failure has continued ever since. Martin Middlebrook brings to this subject considerable experience as a military historian. In preparing his material he collected documents from both sides (many of the German ones never before used); he has also interviewed and corresponded with over four hundred of the people involved in the battle and has made trips to Germany to interview the people of Berlin and Luftwaffe aircrews. He has achieved the difficult task of bringing together both sides of the Battle of Berlin—the bombing force and the people on the ground—to tell a coherent, single story. “His straightforward narrative covers the 19 major raids, with a detailed description of three in particular, and includes recollections by British and German airmen as well as German civilians who weathered the storm.” —Publishers Weekly