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The Battle of the Somme, which lasted from 1 July to 18 November
1916, is remembered as one of the most horrific and tragic battles
of the First World War. On the first day alone nearly 19,000
British troops were killed - the greatest one-day loss in the
history of the British Army. By November the death toll from the
armies of Britain, France and Germany had risen to over a million.
This book tells the stories of fifty-one soldiers from the
Commonwealth and Empire armies whose bravery on the battlefield was
rewarded by the Victoria Cross, the highest military honour - men
like Private Billy McFadzean, who was blown up by two grenades
which he smothered in order to save the lives of his comrades, and
Private 'Todger' Jones, who single-handedly rounded up 102 German
soldiers. Not only do we learn of heroic endeavours of these men at
the height of battle, but we also read of their lives before 1914,
ranging from the backstreets of Glasgow to a country house in
Cheshire, and of what life was like after the war for the
thirty-three survivors.
The thirteenth and final volume of the VCs of the First World War
series features the lives and careers of forty-six servicemen who
won the coveted Victoria Cross in theatres of war - or 'Sideshows',
as they became known - beyond the Western Front and Gallipoli.
Opening with the stories of four VC winners who took part in the
prolonged struggle to drive the German Army out of East Africa, VCs
of the First World War: The Sideshows goes on to tell the stories
of the two Indian Army winners of the VC defending the North-West
Frontier. Finally, it covers the campaigns against the
Austro-German forces in Italy; securing the oil wells in
Mesopotamia (later Iraq); defending the Suez Canal and attacking
the Ottoman Army in Palestine and lastly serving in Salonika in the
Balkans. Each VC winner's act of bravery is recorded here in
intricate detail, together with the background of the men and their
lives after the war - if they survived.
Towards the end of September 1918 the Allied armies were poised to
seize the Hindenburg Line - the end of the war on the Western Front
was at last in sight. These final days became a series of battles
to capture a number of river lines: as each one was captured by the
Allies, the German Army fell back to the next. Despite stiff
resistance from the enemy, the Allies slowly advanced. The Germans
became increasingly demoralised, and about a quarter of their army
surrendered. By the beginning of November the Allies had closed in
until they were flanking the Forest of Mormal, surrounding the
enemy. On 11 November the Canadian Corps retook Mons and, following
the signing of the armistice, the guns finally fell silent at 11
a.m. Covering the six-week period from the Battle of Canal du Nord
to Armistice Day, this volume tells the story of the fifty-six VC
winners from France, Canada and Britain who fought in the
victorious Allied advance.
By August 1918 fortune was on the side of the Allies: America was
increasing its contribution of troops and equipment substantially;
the morale of the German Army was sinking as it failed to deliver
the desired 'knock out blow'; and Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig
found a new confidence, firmly believing that the Allies could at
last push the Germans out of France and Belgium. This volume of the
best-selling VCs of the First World War series covers the fifty
days of the Allied advance from 8 August to 26 September 1918.
Arranged chronologically, it tells the story of the sixty-four VC
winners during this period. The recipients came from many
countries, including Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand;
some never lived to know that they had been awarded for their
extraordinary bravery, while others returned home to face an
uncertain future. This is their story.
At the end of 1917, after three years of trench warfare on the
Western Front, the Allied armies of Britain and France, and those
of their main opponent, Germany, had reached a point of exhaustion
and hibernation. On March 21 1918, the German Army launched a
massive assault on the Western Front, hurling fifty-nine divisions
into battle against the British Fifth Army, smashing through
British lines and advancing 40 miles per week. More offensives were
to follow throughout the spring, including at Aisne and Marne, with
the aim of ending the war before American forces could reach the
Continent and reinforce the Allied lines. Nevertheless, although
the German Army left the British Army reeling, the Tommies
retreated in good order and fought all the way. It was during these
bloody battles, which lasted until July 1918, that fifty-seven men
stood out for acts of extraordinary daring and bravery. To these
men the highest military honour was awarded - the Victoria Cross.
This book reveals the true extent of their bravery, their
backgrounds and their lives after the war.
Featuring the careers of forty-three men, this volume tells the
story of the Battle of Cambrai, famous for being the first occasion
when tanks were used en masse in battle. Its first day was so
successful that church bells in Britain were rung in anticipation
of a great victory. A tank crewman numbers among the recipients of
the VC. Containing biographies of a broad cross-section of men from
Britain and the Dominions including Canada, Australia, New Zealand
and even the Ukraine. It includes a sapper, a former miner, who
chose to stay with his seriously wounded colleague underground and
die with him, rather than obey an order to leave him and save his
own life; a maverick lieutenant-colonel who was relieved of his
command and a padre who worked tirelessly over a period of three
nights bringing at least twenty-five men to safety from No Man's
Land, who otherwise would have been left to die.
For much of the First World War, the opposing armies on the Western
Front were at a stalemate, with an unbroken line of fortified
trenches stretching from the Belgian coast to the Swiss border. The
Allied objective after the bloody Battle of the Somme drew to a
close in November 1916 was to decisively break through the German
'Hindenburg Line' and engage the numerically inferior German forces
in a war of movement. The Arras offensive was conceived to achieve
this breakthrough and was planned for early 1917 after considerable
pressure from the French High Command. Commonwealth Forces advanced
on a broad front between Vimy in the northwest and Bullecourt in
the southeast, with the French Army attacking 80km further south in
the Aisne area. Initial successes, albeit costly, were followed by
a reversion to the previous stalemate and lead to a change of
focus, with an assault on the Messines Ridge, near Ypres, beginning
in June 1917. By the end of July, on the eve of the Third Battle of
Ypres, a total of fifty Victoria Crosses had been awarded,
including many troops from the Australian, Canadian and New Zealand
Forces. This includes Captain Robert Greive, who single-handedly
silenced two enemy machine-gun nests at Messines, and L/Cpl James
Welch, who captured four prisoners with an empty revolver. The
courage, determination and sacrifice of their generation should
never be forgotten.
In the latest volume of Sutton's VCs of the First World War series,
Gerald Gliddon covers the men who won the VC on the Western Front
in 1916 prior to the beginning of the Battle of the Somme on 1
July, together with those who won the medal after the Battle of
Paschendaele petered out at the end of October 1917. Featuring the
careers of 43 men, this volume tells the story of the Battle of
Cambrai, famous for being the first occasion when tanks were used
en masse. Its first day was so successful that church bells in
Britain were rung in anticipation of a great victory. A tank
crewmember numbers among the recipients of the VC. Containing
biographies of a broad cross-section of men from Britain and the
Dominions including Canada, Australia, New Zealand and even the
Ukraine, this volume completes the series' coverage of the Western
Front. It includes a sapper, a former miner, who chose to stay with
his seriously wounded colleague underground and die with him,
rather than obey an order to leave him and save his own life.
Further accounts concern a maverick lieutenant-colonel who was
relieved of his command and who later faced a court martial after
refusing to carry out an attack which he believed would prove
disastrous and a padre who worked tirelessly over a period of three
nights bringing at least twenty-five men to safety from
no-man's-land, who otherwise would have been left to die.
A new edition of When the Barrage Lifts published in 1987.
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