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Guns at Le Cateau - Two Accounts of the B. E. F. in the First World War-The Royal Regiment of Artillery at Le Cateau, 26 August, 1914 by a (Hardcover)
Loot Price: R722
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Guns at Le Cateau - Two Accounts of the B. E. F. in the First World War-The Royal Regiment of Artillery at Le Cateau, 26 August, 1914 by a (Hardcover)
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The stand of the Field Artillery, 1914
Although Europe was at peace for the first half of 1914, plans for
the invasion of France by tens of thousands of German soldiers,
supported by a huge resource of material and artillery, were well
in place. By contrast the small standing army of Great Britain
languished in its garrisons. When war broke out the B. E. F was
hastened to the continent in little more than a week. That the
British were not annihilated in the first days of conflict
demonstrates the quality of every aspect of the British Army, which
many at that time believed to be the best army-man for man-in the
world. However, no force of its size could stop the inexorable
advance of the enemy, German superiority in numbers began to tell
and the retreat from Mons was ordered. By the 25th of August the
First German Army was so hard on the heels of the British II Corps
that, despite orders to the contrary, Smith-Dorrien, the corps
commander, realising that he could not rely on support while his
corps retreated, defied Sir John French and ordered his men to
stand and fight at Le Cateau, east of Cambrai. There the British
fired shrapnel shells into the advancing Germans, inflicting and
sustaining terrible casualties, but ensuring that the B. E. F would
exist to fight another day. Angry at the time, Sir John French
later freely acknowledged that Smith-Dorrien's action had saved the
army from destruction. Published to coincide with the centenary of
the outbreak of the First World War, this unique Leonaur book
contains two accounts of the fighting at Le Cateau, an iconic
example of the British Army performing at its very best.
Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each
title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket; our
hardbacks are cloth bound and feature gold foil lettering on their
spines and fabric head and tail bands.
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