Victoria Crosses on the Western Front – Battles of the Scarpe 1918 and Drocourt-Queant Line


Book Description

In the past, while visiting the First World War battlefields, the author often wondered where the various Victoria Cross actions took place. He resolved to find out. In 1988, in the midst of his army career, research for this book commenced and over the years numerous sources have been consulted. Victoria Crosses on the Western Front: Battles of the Scarpe & Drocourt- Quéant Line, is designed for the battlefield visitor as much as the armchair reader. A thorough account of each VC action is set within the wider strategic and tactical context. Detailed sketch maps show the area today, together with the battle-lines and movements of the combatants. It will allow visitors to stand upon the spot, or very close to, where each VC was won. Photographs of the battle sites richly illustrate the accounts. There is also a comprehensive biography for each recipient, covering every aspect of their lives warts and all: parents and siblings, education, civilian employment, military career, wife and children, death and burial/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.




Victoria Crosses on the Western Front - Battles of the Scarpe 1918 and Drocourt-Queant Line


Book Description

In the past, while visiting the First World War battlefields, the author often wondered where the various Victoria Cross actions took place. He resolved to find out. In 1988, in the midst of his army career, research for this book commenced and over the years numerous sources have been consulted. Victoria Crosses on the Western Front: Battles of the Scarpe & Drocourt- Quéant Line, is designed for the battlefield visitor as much as the armchair reader. A thorough account of each VC action is set within the wider strategic and tactical context. Detailed sketch maps show the area today, together with the battle-lines and movements of the combatants. It will allow visitors to stand upon the spot, or very close to, where each VC was won. Photographs of the battle sites richly illustrate the accounts. There is also a comprehensive biography for each recipient, covering every aspect of their lives warts and all: parents and siblings, education, civilian employment, military career, wife and children, death and burial/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.




Victoria Crosses on the Western Front


Book Description

In the past, while visiting the First World War battlefields, the author often wondered where the various Victoria Cross actions took place. He resolved to find out. In 1988, in the midst of his army career, research for this book commenced and over the years numerous sources have been consulted. Victoria Crosses on the Western Front: Second Battle of Bapaume is designed for the battlefield visitor as much as the armchair reader. A thorough account of each VC action is set within the wider strategic and tactical context. Detailed sketch maps show the area today, together with the battle-lines and movements of the combatants. It will allow visitors to stand upon the spot, or very close to, where each VC was won. Photographs of the battle sites richly illustrate the accounts. There is also a comprehensive biography for each recipient, covering every aspect of their lives warts and all: parents and siblings, education, civilian employment, military career, wife and children, death and burial/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.




Canadian Expeditionary Force, 1914-1919


Book Description

Colonel G.W.L. Nicholson's Canadian Expeditionary Force, 1914-1919 was first published by the Department of National Defence in 1962 as the official history of the Canadian Army’s involvement in the First World War. Immediately after the war ended Colonel A. Fortescue Duguid made a first attempt to write an official history of the war, but the ill-fated project produced only the first of an anticipated eight volumes. Decades later, G.W.L. Nicholson - already the author of an official history of the Second World War - was commissioned to write a new official history of the First. Illustrated with numerous photographs and full-colour maps, Nicholson’s text offers an authoritative account of the war effort, while also discussing politics on the home front, including debates around conscription in 1917. With a new critical introduction by Mark Osborne Humphries that traces the development of Nicholson’s text and analyzes its legacy, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 1914-1919 is an essential resource for both professional historians and military history enthusiasts.




Canada and the Battle of Vimy Ridge, 9-12 April 1917


Book Description

"Ninety years ago, Canadians defined who they were based on their region, province, culture and ethnic communities. Our national identity was little more than a vague notion. At that time, when Canada was still carving out its place on the world stage, our country was called to fight alongside the Allies during the First World War. History would remember the victories and courage of our soldiers, but if there was one battle that would forge our national identity, it was the Battle of Vimy Ridge"--Page [10].




Vimy


Book Description

The bestselling, award-winning author of The American Invasion of Canada “has given great drama and immediacy to that turning point in Canadian history” (Maclean’s). On Easter Monday 1917 with a blizzard blowing in their faces, the four divisions of the Canadian Corps in France seized and held the best-defended German bastion on the Western Front—the muddy scarp of Vimy Ridge. The British had failed to take the Ridge, and so had the French who had lost 150,000 men in the attempt. Yet these magnificent colonial troops did so in a morning at the cost of only 10,000 casualties. The author recounts this remarkable feat of arms with both pace and style. He has gathered many personal accounts from soldiers who fought at Vimy. He describes the commanders and the men, the organization and the training, and above all notes the thorough preparation for the attack from which the British General Staff could have learned much. The action is placed within the context both of the Battle of Arras, of which this attack was part, and as a milestone in the development of Canada as a nation. “This wonderful book brings to life the amazing men who came across the Atlantic nearly a century ago and won a famous victory which helped change a nation forever . . . the wonderful prose of Pierre Berton is all from the heart and you should share in it.” —War History Online “The cinematic writing plunks the reader in the midst of the actual battle, and a judicious use of quotes from soldiers’ diaries and letters helps provide a ground-level perspective.” —Quill & Quire




The Great War as I Saw It


Book Description

'May the eyes of Canada never be blind to that glorious light which shines upon our young national life from the deeds of those "who counted not their lives dear unto themselves"'. When World War I broke out in the summer of 1914, the Canadian chaplain Frederick George Scott volunteered for service despite his fears. He spent four long years in the trenches on the western front, where he developed close bonds with his fellow soldiers and sought to maintain his faith while the world around him collapsed into chaos. In evocative language befitting his background as a poet, Scott lays bare the horrors of modern warfare. Filled with heart-wrenching descriptions and tragic detail, The Great War as I Saw It is a powerful meditation on the Canadian experience during World War I and an important look into the life of the ordinary soldier.




Tanks in the Great War, 1914-1918


Book Description

This book presents the history of the British Tank Corps and the history of Great Britain's tanks. The author summarizes the campaigns of World War I emphasizing the role of the tanks during each of the battles.




Now It Can Be Told


Book Description

In 'Now It Can Be Told,' Philip Gibbs offers a candid and unvarnished portrait of World War I, which stands out in stark contrast to the sanitized versions that were permissible under wartime censorship. Gibbs masterfully employs a rich, journalistic prose style that captures the harrowing experiences and untold stories of soldiers on the Western Front. His work is not only a literary accomplishment but also a piece of historical journalism that has significantly contributed to the contemporary understanding of the Great War. Within the literary context, his narrative breaks free from the constraints of his time, providing a raw and essential account of the true costs of conflict. Philip Gibbs, an esteemed war correspondent, bore witness to the atrocities of the First World War, through which he experienced the indelible traumas and heroism of the battlefield firsthand. This direct exposure to the horrors of war informed his reflective and compassionate approach in documenting the lives of soldiers and civilians affected by the conflict. Gibbs's narrative is fuelled by an urgency to reveal the truths that wartime censorship had suppressed, a testament to his commitment to journalistic integrity and transparency. The book comes highly recommended for readers with an interest in military history, journalism, and the literature of war. Gibbs's 'Now It Can Be Told' transcends its own era to resonate with contemporary audiences seeking a deeper understanding of the human condition amidst the chaos of war. It is an essential read for anyone who wishes to grasp the reality of warfare beyond the romanticism and valor often depicted, unveiling the courage, tragedy, and sometimes the mundanity, of life on the front lines.




Victoria Crosses on the Western Front


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.