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In 1915, Great Britain and her Empire found itself engaged at
Gallipoli and on the Western Front. Lacking the wherewithal to
conduct both campaigns effectively, the year was one of
theatre-wide learning and experiential exchange that continued to
the armistice. Primarily based on a series of papers delivered at
the Western Front Association's Gallipoli and the Western Front
Centenary Conference (25-27 September 2015), this compendium volume
contains original essays by such notable First World War historians
as Stephen Chambers, Mark Connolly, Christopher Pugsley and Gary
Sheffield. The various topics include command and control, military
technology, logistics and British and Dominion forces.
A Victorian/Edwardian Guards officer and devout Roman Catholic
with, for the period, a remarkable amount of extra-regimental
active service, Major-General Sir Cecil Edward Pereira KCB CMG
(1869-1942) was educated at the Oratory School, Birmingham and
commissioned into the Coldstream Guards in 1890. Subsequent service
with the Niger Company provided the eager young subaltern with the
welcome opportunity to join the MacDonald Expedition (1897-98)
which ventured into the relatively unknown Ugandan interior. The
result was an epic albeit almost forgotten late 19th century
exploration feat. Further active service in Rhodesia, Transvaal and
Cape Colony followed with the outbreak of the Second Anglo-Boer War
(1899-1902). With the coming of the First World War Cecil
successively served on the Western Front as CO 2nd Battalion
Coldstream Guards (1914); GOC 85th Brigade (1915) and GOC 1st
Guards Brigade (1916). Promoted GOC 2nd Infantry Division in
December 1916, Cecil commanded this premier Regular Army formation
in the battles of Arras; Cambrai (1917); the German Spring
Offensive and Advance to Victory (1918). Appointed GOC 56th
(London) Division in 1919, he remained in command of this notable
Territorial formation until retirement in 1923. Great Britain under
threat of invasion in summer 1940, Cecil was called upon to
organise the London Local Defence Volunteers, a monumental task
that would be the final service to his country. Ably edited by
grandson Edward Pereira and military historians Spencer Jones and
Michael LoCicero, this detailed and fascinating mid-level BEF
commander's private wartime correspondence with his devoted wife
Helen and numerous contemporaries both civil and military is now
available for the first time to specialist and general readers
alike.
Between 1792 and 1945, the character of warfare changed. Battalions
standing shoulder to shoulder during the Napoleonic era gave way to
the industrialised, modern armies of the First and Second World
Wars. The organisation and operational methods of the major
military powers dramatically altered during this period and the
British forces were no different. From the transition of the Royal
Navy's ships to oil from coal to the creation of an independent air
force in 1918, the British military pioneered key innovations that
affected the character of war on land, sea and air. To date, many
commentators and historians have focused on contemporary debates or
specific historical examples. A Military Transformed? Adaptation
and Innovation in the British Military from 1792 to 1945 brings
many of these debates together and forms a broader picture. The
complexity of change in the British Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air
Force is explored in chapters drawing on new and original research.
Examples covered include the British military performance in the
Napoleonic Wars, the developments of the Army medical services in
the late-nineteenth century, the Royal Navy's introduction of the
Whitehead torpedo in the 1870s, air power doctrine on the eve of
the First World War, British Army reorganisation in 1918 and
amphibious operations in the Second World War. Spanning the period
of both peace and war this ground-breaking survey illustrates the
different drivers for transformation and innovation. Culture,
technology, tactics, organisation, personality, doctrine, command
and context have all shaped the speed and development of the
British Forces. A Military Transformed? Adaptation and Innovation
in the British Military from 1792 to 1945 shows that while it was
neither a revolutionary nor a conservative organisation, the
British military certainly evolved and reacted to the character of
warfare in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries; even if
change, at times, did not come easily.
The Third Battle of Ypres was officially terminated by Field
Marshal Sir Douglas Haig with the opening of the Battle of Cambrai
on 20 November 1917. Nevertheless, a comparatively unknown
set-piece attack - the only large-scale night operation carried out
on the Flanders front during the campaign - was launched twelve
days later on 2 December. This volume is a necessary corrective to
previously published campaign narratives of what has become
popularly known as 'Passchendaele'. It examines the course of
events from the mid-November decision to sanction further offensive
activity in the vicinity of Passchendaele village to the barren
operational outcome that forced British GHQ to halt the attack
within ten hours of Zero. A litany of unfortunate decisions and
circumstances contributed to the profitless result. At the tactical
level, a novel hybrid set-piece attack scheme was undermined by a
fatal combination of snow-covered terrain and bright moonlight. At
the operational level, the highly unsatisfactory local situation in
the immediate aftermath of Third Ypres' post-strategic phase (26
October-10 November) appeared to offer no other alternative to
attacking from the confines of an extremely vulnerable salient.
Perhaps the most tragic aspect of the affair occurred at the
political and strategic level, where Haig's earnest advocacy for
resumption of the Flanders offensive in spring 1918 was maintained
despite obvious signs that the initiative had now passed to the
enemy and the crisis of the war was fast approaching. A Moonlight
Massacre provides an important contribution and re-interpretation
of the discussion surrounding Passchendaele, based firmly on an
extensive array of sources, many unpublished, and supported by
illustrations and maps.
Between 1792 and 1945, the character of warfare changed. Battalions
standing shoulder to shoulder during the Napoleonic era gave way to
the industrialised, modern armies of the First and Second World
Wars. The organisation and operational methods of the major
military powers dramatically altered during this period and the
British forces were no different. From the transition of the Royal
Navy's ships to oil from coal to the creation of an independent air
force in 1918, the British military pioneered key innovations that
affected the character of war on land, sea and air. To date, many
commentators and historians have focused on contemporary debates or
specific historical examples. A Military Transformed? Adaptation
and Innovation in the British Military from 1792 to 1945 brings
many of these debates together and forms a broader picture. The
complexity of change in the British Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air
Force is explored in chapters drawing on new and original research.
Examples covered include the British military performance in the
Napoleonic Wars, the developments of the Army medical services in
the late-nineteenth century, the Royal Navy's introduction of the
Whitehead torpedo in the 1870s, air power doctrine on the eve of
the First World War, British Army reorganisation in 1918 and
amphibious operations in the Second World War. Spanning the period
of both peace and war this ground-breaking survey illustrates the
different drivers for transformation and innovation. Culture,
technology, tactics, organisation, personality, doctrine, command
and context have all shaped the speed and development of the
British Forces. A Military Transformed? Adaptation and Innovation
in the British Military from 1792 to 1945 shows that while it was
neither a revolutionary nor a conservative organisation, the
British military certainly evolved and reacted to the character of
warfare in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries; even if
change, at times, did not come easily.
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