First World War Books

Book SynopsisThe Great War produced many innovations, in particular the spectacular development by the British and French armies of motor transport. The age-old problem of moving soldiers and their supplies was no different in 1914 than it had been some 2,400 years ago, when the great Chinese military thinker Sun Tzu informed his readers that the further an army marched into enemy territory, the more the cost of transport increased, even to the point that more supplies were consumed by the transportation of men and their horses than was delivered to the troops. Using many previously unpublished illustrations, including artists' impressions, this book tells the story of the men and women who made motor transport [MT] work for the victorious British Army on the Western Front, so that in 1918, the humble lorry did indeed help propel the British Army forward On the Road to Victory'.

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Book SynopsisMuch of the popular attention on the Battle of the Somme 1916 is focussed on the first day of the infantry assault, 1st July, when such high hopes were dashed and British casualties ran into the tens of thousands. However, the Somme was a battle that lasted over twenty weeks, running well into the autumn. This book is concerned with fighting south of the famous Albert-Bapaume road from mid September to the official end of the battle. The coverage includes Martinpuich, the hamlet of Eaucourt l'Abbaye, Le Sars and that strange topographical feature the Butte de Warlencourt. The action starts with the major British attack of 15 September 1916, which enjoyed some success and which included the first use of tanks. The book takes up the story from the fall of Martinpuich and follows the British as they inched their way north eastwards to Le Sars and Eaucourt l'Abbaye. This was gruelling warfare, fought in fast deteriorating weather conditions and in the face of ever increasing volumes of artillery fire: the mud was almost as much the enemy of both sides as the weight of lead and iron fired at them. The Butte de Warlencourt has come to have an almost iconic status. This rather insignificant hillock, almost certainly a burial mound of the Romano-Gallic period, marks the point at which the battle officially ceased along the Albert-Bapaume road. For days before the battle ended both sides tussled to secure its possession, numerous limited attacks taking place over devastated, utterly water logged and featureless ground. Indeed it was the 'emptiness' of the area that made the Butte of such significance, a fearsome, solitary landmark standing out against a backdrop of desolation. It was the focus of the fighting in the area for almost six weeks. As well as the customary walks, essential to an understanding of the confused fighting in the area, there is a long car tour, covering many less visited parts of the battlefield to the east and north of the Butte and which places it firmly in the context of the battle. Charles Carrington, who wrote one of the classic memoirs of the war, was not alone amongst those who fought here when he commented that, 'the Butte de Warlencourt terrified us'.

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Book SynopsisIn 1914 the British expedition to Mesopotamia set out with the modest ambition of protecting the oil concession in Southern Persia but, after numerous misfortunes, ended up capturing Baghdad and Northern Towns in Iraq. Initially the mission was successful in seizing Basra but the British under Generals Nixon and Townshend, found themselves drawn North, becoming besieged by the Turks at Kut. After various failed relief attempts the British surrendered and the prisoners suffered appalling indignities and hardship, culminating in a death march to Turkey. In 1917 General Maude was appointed CinC but, as usual in Iraq, policy kept changing. Hopes that the Russians would come into the war were dashed by the Revolution. Operations were further frustrated by the hottest of summers. Fighting against the Turks continued right up to the Armistice. The conduct of the Campaign was subject to a Commission of Inquiry which was highly critical of numerous individuals and the administrative arrangements.

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Book SynopsisThe Great War helped China emerge from humiliation and obscurity and take its first tentative steps as a full member of the global community. In 1912 the Qing Dynasty had ended. President Yuan Shikai, who seized power in 1914, offered the British 50,000 troops to recover the German colony in Shandong but this was refused. In 1916 China sent a vast army of labourers to Europe. In 1917 she declared war on Germany despite this effectively making the real enemy Japan an ally. The betrayal came when Japan was awarded the former German colony. This inspired the rise of Chinese nationalism and communism, enflamed by Russia. The scene was set for Japans incursions into China and thirty years of bloodshed. One hundred years on, the time is right for this accessible and authoritative account of Chinas role in The Great War and assessment of its national and international significance

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Book SynopsisFrom the bestselling author of The Road Beyond Ruin comes a novel about a family torn apart by grief and secrets, then pulled back together by hope in the wake of World War I. England 1922. It’s been four years since Rudy’s brother Edgar went missing in war-torn France. Still deep in mourning and grappling with unanswered questions, Rudy and his mother struggle to move on. When the enigmatic Mariette arrives unexpectedly at the family’s manor claiming to be Edgar’s widow, and the mother of his child, Rudy urges her to stay, hoping she’ll shed light on the missing pieces. Captivated by Mariette, Rudy finds that their mutual loss and grief bind them…as does the possibility of new love. But Mariette’s revelations bring more questions than answers about Edgar’s death. Suspicions threaten to divide Rudy’s already fractured family, setting him on a quest for the truth that takes him from England to France and beyond. In his search, Rudy is forced to confront the tragedies of war and the realities of the brother he’s lost and the woman he’s found. Will the truth set him free to find peace, or will it forever shadow his future?Trade Review“…A touching love story within a rich storyline that is well worth the read.” —Historical Novel Society

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Book SynopsisThe inspiring, heart-pumping true story of soldiers turned cyclists and the historic 1919 Tour de France that helped to restore a war-torn country and its people.On June 29, 1919, one day after the Treaty of Versailles brought about the end of World War I, nearly seventy cyclists embarked on the thirteenth Tour de France. From Paris, the war-weary men rode down the western coast on a race that would trace the country''s border, through seaside towns and mountains to the ghostly western front. Traversing a cratered postwar landscape, the cyclists faced near-impossible odds and the psychological scars of war. Most of the athletes had arrived straight from the front, where so many fellow countrymen had suffered or died. The cyclists'' perseverance and tolerance for pain would be tested in a grueling, monthlong competition.An inspiring true story of human endurance, Sprinting Through No Man''s Land explores how the cyclists united a country that had been torn apart by unprecedented desolation and tragedy. It shows how devastated countrymen and women can come together to celebrate the adventure of a lifetime and discover renewed fortitude, purpose, and national identity in the streets of their towns.

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Book SynopsisInspired by the true story of the World War I American Women’s Hospital, Mercy Road is a novel about love, courage, and a female ambulance driver who risks everything. In 1917, after Arlene Favier’s home burns to the ground, taking her father with it, she must find a way to support her mother and younger brother. If she doesn’t succeed, they will all be impoverished. Job opportunities are scarce, but then a daring possibility arises: the American Women’s Hospital needs ambulance drivers to join a trailblazing, all-female team of doctors and nurses bound for war-torn France. On the front lines, Arlene and her fellow ambulance drivers work day and night to aid injured soldiers and civilians. In between dangerous ambulance runs, Arlene reunites with a childhood friend, Jimmy Tucker, now a soldier, who opens her heart like no one before. But she has also caught the attention of Felix Brohammer, a charismatic army captain who harbors a dark, treacherous secret. To expose Brohammer means risking her family’s future and the promise of love. Arlene must make a choice: stay in the safety of silence or take the greatest chance of her life.Trade Review“…The World War I time frame and the vivid details about the American Women’s Hospital’s service in France make this a worthy read.” —Booklist “Creel writes with fluidity and precision…I read this in one sitting, and would recommend it to readers who are interested in the lesser known talents women brought to WWI.” —Historical Novel Society “I love the way Ann Howard Creel writes—she is as at home bringing the beauty of France to life as she is dealing with the heartbreak of war. Impeccably researched, Mercy Road has all the hallmarks of fine historical fiction. Strong, memorable characters tell the unsung story of a group of remarkable women who provided invaluable help during the First World War.” —Ella Carey, bestselling author of The House by the Lake “Mercy Road has everything a good historical novel needs from start to finish: compelling characters, wonderfully woven history, and a beautifully crafted storyline. The magic of Ann’s words transports the reader through this historical drama about the American women doctors, nurses and ambulance drivers in WWI France. Arlene is inspiring as are all the women with their courage and determination to support the war effort against many odds. Highly recommended.” —Gemma Liviero, bestselling author of The Road Beyond Ruin

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Book SynopsisIgnored by critics and readers of the time, these poems were written by Canadians who witnessed the horror of World War I first-hand, forming an anthology in which the forgotten experiences of a decade are finally remembered.Trade ReviewBarry Callaghan and Bruce Meyer have done yeoman service to Canadian literature with this volume." —Rex Murphy, host, Cross-Country Check-Up, CBC Radio One

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Book SynopsisPublishing during the 100th Anniversary of the First World War   An NYRB Classics Original   The budding young Hungarian artist Béla Zombory-Moldován was on holiday when the First World War broke out in July 1914. Called up by the army, he soon found himself hundreds of miles away, advancing on Russian lines and facing relentless rifle and artillery fire. Badly wounded, he returned to normal life, which now struck him as unspeakably strange. He had witnessed, he realized, the end of a way of life, of a whole world. Published here for the first time in any language, this extraordinary reminiscence is a powerful addition to the literature of the war that defined the shape of the twentieth century.

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Book SynopsisAlthough the author has given this Jagdstaffel a fictitious number and changed the names of the pilots composing it, the incidents related in this book have the genuine ring of truth and will be recognised as facts by anyone who has had experience of flying on the Western Front or who has studied it since. Many experts believe this work draws on the experience of the Bavarian Jasta 35, which flew against the British; however, whatever its real number may have been, Jagdstaffel 356 undoubtedly fought in the air over Flanders in 1918.This book is an exciting account, obviously written from firsthand experience, of the air war from the German side.

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Book Synopsis“McScotch” himself describes his book and pays tribute to a colleague in this note, which appears at the front of the volume:“This book consists of the reminiscences of an ordinary fighter pilot of the R.F.C. who had the privilege of serving in one of the leading Fighter Squadrons and who had the honour of being the friend of the supreme fighter of all the Air Forces, that indomitable and loveable patriot, ‘MICK’ MANNOCK, V.C., D.S.O., M.C.”Available records and publications show “McScotch” himself as a fighter pilot with 40 Squadron, holding the rank of lieutenant and then captain. He is credited with 12 kills of German opponents.This is a detailed and exciting account of squadron life and shows the bravery and true comradeship of these fliers.

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Book SynopsisA.R. Kingsford flew with 100 Squadron, the unit that dropped the first bomb at night on Germany and, on November 11, 1918, the last one.One of the many who came to Europe from all over the Commonwealth to fight in the First World War, Kingsford had sailed from New Zealand in 1914. He joined the Royal Flying Corps in 1917 and learned to fly at Northolt, before being posted to 33 Squadron at Lincoln, where he flew against Zeppelins which had been sent from across the North Sea on night bombing raids. Kingsford joined 100 Squadron in France early in 1918. He had an active career with this famous squadron up until the end of the war.Full of incident and adventure, Night Raiders of the Air is a first-person account by this young Commonwealth volunteer on his experiences during the war against Germany.

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Book SynopsisIra “Taffy” Jones was a well-known air fighter during the First World War, having scored about 40 victories flying SE5 scouts in France with 74 Squadron. Well known in flying circles, Jones recorded stories drawn from his own experiences during the war and wrote of the many personalities he had met or known by association, both during the war and in the post-war flying years.An Air Fighter’s Scrap Book recreates the atmosphere of the days of the biplane, of wartime flying, of early peacetime adventures in the air, the development of civil aviation, and breathtaking record beating flights, all evoking the sheer delight in flying that characterised those early years.

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Book SynopsisJohn J. Pershing considered Fox Conner to have been "a brilliant soldier" and “one of the finest characters our Army has ever produced.” During World War I, General Conner served as chief of operations for the American Expeditionary Force in Europe. Pershing told Conner: “I could have spared any other man in the A.E.F. better than you.”Dwight D. Eisenhower viewed Fox Conner as “the outstanding soldier of my time.” In the early 1920s, Conner transformed his protégé Eisenhower from a struggling young officer on the verge of a court martial into one of the American army’s rising stars. Eisenhower acknowledged Fox Conner as “the one more or less invisible figure to whom I owe an incalculable debt.” This book presents the first complete biography of this significant, but now forgotten, figure in American military history.In addition to providing a unique insider’s view into the operations of the American high command during World War I, Fox Conner also tells the story of an interesting life. Conner felt a calling to military service, although his father had been blinded during the Civil War. From humble beginnings in rural Mississippi, Conner became one of the army’s intellectuals. During the 1920s, when most of the nation slumbered in isolationism, Conner predicted a second world war. As the nation began to awaken to new international dangers in the 1930s, President Roosevelt offered Fox Conner the position of army chief of staff, which he declined. Poor health prevented his participation in World War II, while others whom he influenced, including Eisenhower, Patton, and Marshall, went on to fame.Fox Conner presents the portrait of the quintessential man behind the scenes in U.S. military history. Readers will find this book, and the man, fascinating.Trade ReviewGeneral Fox Conner is a figure from American military history that more people ought to know. I encourage anyone with an interest in well written (and thoroughly researched) works of history to read Steven Rabalais' new book on General Conner.

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Book SynopsisReverend David Railton MC served as a chaplain on the Western Front during World War I. Attached to three divisions between 1916 and 1918, Railton supported the soldiers in their worst moments, he buried the fallen, comforted the wounded, wrote to the families of the missing and killed, and helped the survivors to remember and mark the loss of their comrades so that they were able to carry on. He was with his men at many battles, including High Wood, the Aisne and Passchendaele; he received the Military Cross for rescuing an officer and two men under heavy fire on the Somme.It was Railton’s idea to bring home the body of an unidentified fallen comrade from the battlefields to be buried in Westminster Abbey, and on Armistice Day 1920, his flag covered the coffin as the Unknown Warrior was laid to rest with full honours.Although suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, he returned to work as a parish priest in Margate, where he took particular interest in supporting ex-servicemen who had returned home to the aftermath of a terrible war and crippling unemployment.While the story of the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior has been told before, this is the first book to explore David Railton’s life and war, and of ‘the padre’s flag’ he used as an altar cloth and shroud throughout the war. The flag was consecrated a year after the burial of the Unknown Warrior and hangs in Westminster Abbey to this day. This book explains how the idea came out of Railton's traumatic experiences on the Western front, and how he made his idea become reality, drawing on his letters and unpublished papers.Trade ReviewRailton's is a story worth telling and Richard's narrative of wartime events and peacetime social conditions is clear and effective. * Stand to! *We have waited nearly a century for Reverend David Railton's story, and this book does this humble and decent man a great service. It is an extraordinary story. * Guards Magazine *A worthwhile biography and one well worth reading. * Long Long Trail *The book is an attractive addition to the mass of literature about the First World War and about the tasks and frequent heroism of the chaplains. * Church Times *This is a well-researched book ...The style of writing brings home something of what it was to be an army chaplain amid the battles in France and Flanders. * Methodist Recorder *The Flag is a memoir full of hope and inspiration. It offers up a lesson to us all. It's a must-read and, once and for all, ensures the life and times of Padré Railton will never be forgotten. BRITAIN AT WAR BOOK OF THE MONTH NOVEMBER 2018 * Britain at War Magazine *

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Book SynopsisThe combined forces invasion of the Belgian port of Zeebrugge on 23 April 1918 remains one of Britain’s most glorious military undertakings; not quite as epic a failure as the charge of the Light Brigade, or as well publicised as the Dam Busters raid, but with many of the same basic ingredients.A force drawn from the Royal Navy and Royal Marines set out on ships and submarines to try to block the key strategic port, in a bold attempt to stem the catastrophic losses being inflicted on British shipping by German submarines. It meant attacking a heavily fortified German naval base. The tide, calm weather and the right wind direction for a smoke screen were crucial to the plan.Judged purely on results, it can only be considered a partial strategic success. Casualties were high and the base only partially blocked. Nonetheless, it came to represent the embodiment of the bulldog spirit, the peculiarly British fighting élan, the belief that anything was possible with enough dash and daring.The essential story of the Zeebrugge mission has been told before, but never through the direct, first-hand accounts of its survivors – including that of Lieutenant Richard Sandford, VC, the acknowledged hero of the day, and the author’s great uncle. The fire and bloodshed of the occasion is the book’s centrepiece, but there is also room for the family and private lives of the men who volunteered in their hundreds for what they knew effectively to be a suicide mission.Zeebrugge gives a very real sense of the existence of the ordinary British men and women of 100 years ago – made extraordinary by their role in what Winston Churchill called the ‘most intrepid and heroic single armed adventure of the Great War.’Trade ReviewThe use of first hand accounts is what brings the book vividly and grippingly to life as action is eventually joined and the cruelly depleted marines and seamen storm the Mole...Here we have a cracking read, very different from some more pedestrian analyses. * Army Rumour Service *Listed in Military History Monthly's round up of the best military history titles for June 2018. * Military History Matters (Reviewer) *This is an important story, well-told and Sandford has given us a deeply satisfying and highly recommended book. * Warships International 30/04/2019 *An extraordinary account of something quite extraordinary… * Books Monthly *Zeebrugge 1918: The Greatest Raid of All provides an easily accessible narrative of a high-risk and high-casualty operation. It is a worthy additon to any book shelf. * Naval Review *

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Book Synopsis“Retreat, hell! We just got here!” The words of Captain Lloyd Williams at Belleau Wood in June 1918 entered United States Marine Corps legend, and the Marine Brigade’s actions there—along with the censor’s failure to take out the name of the Brigade in the battle reports—made the Corps famous. The Marines went to war as part of the American Expeditionary Force, bitterly resented by the Army and General Pershing. The Army tried to use them solely as labor troops and replacements, but the German spring offensive of 1918 forced the issue. The French begged Pershing to commit his partially trained men, and two untested American divisions, supported by British and French units, were thrown into the path of five German divisions. Three horrific weeks later, the Marines held the entirety of Belleau Wood. The Marines then fought in the almost forgotten Blanc Mont Ridge Offensive in October, as well as in every well-known AEF action until the end of the war. This book will look at all the operations of the Marine Corps in World War I, cover the activities of both ground and air units, and consider the units that supported the Marine Brigade. It will examine how, during the war years, the Marine Corps changed from a small organization of naval security detachments to an elite land combat force.Trade ReviewAll and all, the book is a good, balanced and detailed account of the marine Corps in the Great War, Recommended. * Stand to! *If you have an interest in the activities of the USMC then this would be a welcome addition to your library, even if your interest is only passing there is more than enough to keep you dipping in and out. * Army Rumour Service *We simply don't know enough about the US Marine Corps's contribution to the First World War. Authors Gilbert and Cansiere set the records straight with an amazingly detailed account of the American Expeditionary Force at Belleau Wood in 1918. * Books Monthly *There is much here to tempt both the wargamer and the military historian. * Miniature Wargames - Chris Jarvis *

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Book SynopsisIn the dark days of World War I, when flying machines, radio, and electronics were infant technologies, the first remotely controlled experimental aircraft took to the skies and unmanned radio controlled 40-foot high-speed Motor Torpedo Boats ploughed the seas in Britain. Developed by the British Army’s Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Navy these prototype weapons stemmed from an early form of television demonstrated before the war by Prof. A. M. Low. The remote control systems for these aircraft and boats were invented at RFC Secret Experimental Works commanded by Prof. Low, which was part of the organization of ‘back-room boys’ in the Munitions Inventions Department. These audacious projects of Low and his contemporaries led to the hundreds of remotely controlled Queen Bee aerial targets in the 1930s and hence to all the machines that we now call ‘drones'.Starting well before WWI and, for the lucky ones, extending well beyond it, the lives of Archibald Low and many of his contemporaries were extraordinary as were the times they lived through. They witnessed many dawns, the coming of the oil and plastics age and of domestic electricity. They experienced vast social improvements and the pasturing of the working horse in favor of motor transport. They were around for the first epic aircraft flights and with the aid of the very technologies that had enabled the development of drones, they saw air travel transformed from the precarious to the routine. It is astonishing that the origins of the first drones are not common knowledge in Britain and that the achievement of these maverick inventors is not commemorated.

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Book SynopsisAt the turn of the 20th century, British leaders came to a decision to confront and neutralize the German empire. The fateful decision required treaties, agreements, accords, and contracts that could only be made with the prestige and gravitas of a King. Safely ensconced on his royal yacht, HMY Victoria and Albert, protected by a flotilla of British warships and thousands of miles away from troublesome ministers who might remind the King that he was overstepping his constitutional authority, King Edward VII concluded treaties with both members of the anti-German Franco-Russian Alliance. First with France in 1904, then with Russia in 1907, this was the grand achievement, strongly backed by his powerful Foreign Minister, Sir Edward Grey, of King Edward's near decade-long reign, It was this alliance between Britain, France, and Russia—known to history as the Triple Entente—which took the field against the Central Powers in 1914.

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Book SynopsisWorld War I ushered in a renewed scramble for Africa. At its helm, Jan Smuts grabbed the opportunity to realise his ambition of a Greater South Africa. He set his sights upon the vast German colonies of South-West Africa and East Africa - the demise of which would end the Kaiser's grandiose schemes for Mittelafrika. As part of his strategy to shift South Africa's borders inexorably northward, Smuts even cast an eye toward Portuguese and Belgian African possessions.Smuts, his abilities as a general much denigrated by both his contemporary and then later modern historians, was no armchair soldier. This cabinet minister and statesman donned a uniform and led his men into battle. He learned his soldiery craft under General Koos De la Rey's tutelage, and another soldier-statesman, General Louis Botha during the South African War 1899-1902. He emerged from that war, immersed in the Boer manoeuvre doctrine he devastatingly waged in the guerrilla phase of that conflict. His daring and epic invasion of the Cape at the head of his commando remains legendary. The first phase of the German South West African campaign and the Afrikaner Rebellion in 1914 placed his abilities as a sound strategic thinker and a bold operational planner on display. Champing at the bit, he finally had the opportunity to command the Southern Forces in the second phase of the German South West African campaign.Placed in command of the Allied forces in East Africa in 1916, he led a mixed bag of South Africans and Imperial troops against the legendary Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck and his Shutztruppe. Using his penchant for Boer manoeuvre warfare together with mounted infantry led and manned by Boer Republican veterans, he proceeded to free the vast German territory from Lettow-Vorbeck's grip. Often leading from the front, his operational concepts were an enigma to the British under his command, remaining so to modern-day historians. Although unable to bring the elusive and wily Lettow-Vorbeck to a final decisive battle, Smuts conquered most of the territory by the end of his tenure in February 1917.General Jan Smuts and his Great War in Africa makes use of multiple archival sources and the official accounts of all the participants to provide a long-overdue reassessment of Smuts's generalship and his role in furthering the strategic aims of South Africa and the British Empire in Africa during World War I.Trade ReviewSmuts is usually portrayed as a great statesman but an indifferent military commander. He emerges from David Brock Katz’s account as a much more substantial general than many other historians believe. Katz’s argument about a distinctive South Africa style of warfare which clashed with the British approach is not wholly original … but it is an important idea which needs to be placed into the broader context of the history of the armies of the British Empire in the twentieth century. General Jan Smuts is a significant contribution to the military history of the Great War in Africa.”—Professor Gary Sheffield, Stand To * Stand To! *Table of ContentsIntroduction Acknowledgements 1: Smuts Emerges: From Scholar to Intellectual—From Adversity to Reconciliation (1870–1910) 2: South Africa’s entry into the First World War 1910–1914 3: The German South West African Campaign and The Afrikaner Rebellion 1914 4: The German South West African Campaign 1915 (Phase II) 5: Smuts and the Kilimanjaro Operation in East Africa March 1916 6: Smuts and the Kilimanjaro Operation in East Africa March 1916 Conclusion Endnotes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisPhillip Parotti's new novel offers fast-paced action in the skies over the Sinai desert in 1916. Lieutenant Devlin Collins, an Irish-American flier in the Royal Flying Corps, expecting to fly on the Western Front, instead finds himself flying antiquated two-seater bomber and photo reconnaissance missions over the Egyptian desert against the forces of the Central Powers which are trying to capture the Suez Canal. Pitted against German machines which are up-to-date and well equipped, the men of the RFC fight at a considerable disadvantage as they go forth to meet their enemy, but committed to their cause and with aggressive spirit, no matter how great the stress of battle, they proceed and prevail, continually forcing the Turks and Germans back as the army moves slowly toward Palestine.Constantly endangered by superior German machines, facing incessant ground fire during their bombing and strafing attacks, Dev and his fellow pilot Crisp drive home their attacks with unremitting determination. In the off hours from combat, Dev discovers that he has a particular talent for planning his flight's air raids. This talent manifests itself completely in the campaign's culminating attack on the German redoubts at the battle of Magdhaba, an attack so successful that when the pilots are finally pulled back for a rest after a year of fighting, Dev is promoted and invited onto the staff at GHQ is order to apply his expertise to air planning as the army moves on Gaza with the intention of driving into Palestine.

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Book SynopsisTrained as a pursuit pilot but assigned to an observation squadron, the indefatigable Bill Erwin flew twice as many hours over the front lines as any other pilot in the 1st Aero Squadron. His two primary observers, Byrne Baucom and Arthur Easterbrook, were both previously Army infantry officers and deadly marksmen. It was their dedication, bravery, and courage under fire that kept them alive throughout the Château-Thierry, St. Mihiel, and Meuse-Argonne campaigns. Easterbrook scored four of his five victories while flying with Erwin, including two in one day, while Baucom scored all three of his victories with Erwin. Even after returning in shredded Salmsons, being forced down, and shot down on multiple occasions, all three remained relatively unscathed throughout the war.Erwin’s dramatic life culminated in his disappearance during the 1927 Dole Air Race, while Easterbrook became a revered figure in Washington. Revered in his home state of Texas, Baucom became a pilot in the 1920s and rose to become an instructor at an advanced flying school. He died in an aircraft crash in 1928. While Erwin became Dallas’ ‘favorite son’ in life, 3,000 people paid tributes to Baucom at his funeral, showing his immense popularity. Easterbrook was the only one of the three to survive to reach his military career potential, retiring as a brigadier general after World War II. Alan Roesler retraces the lives and careers of the three men in this new joint biography.Trade ReviewFive full color aircraft profiles are also included as well as the extensive footnotes expected from an author of Roesler's talent and experience. All in all, A Pair of Aces and a Trey is readable, enjoyable, well researched, properly illustrated and a superb addition to any enthusiast's library. * Indy Squadron Dispatch *[A]n inherently fascinating read and highly recommended for personal, community, and academic library World War I History & Biography collections. * Midwest Book Review *What makes this work so interesting is that Roesler takes this prevailing theme of aviation’s relevance for air superiority and yet retains the photographic reconnaissance mentioned in the reports. This better illustrates the aviators’ sorties those last months of 1918 when the American Expeditionary Force played a significant role. * Roads to the Great War *With so much emphasis on single-seat fighter pilot aces in World War I, it is refreshing to read about a two-seater pilot and two of his observers who scored impressive air combat triumphs . . . their full life stories are well told in this detailed and well-documented book. * Over the Front *Table of ContentsChapter One: William P. Erwin, Byrne V. Baucom & Château-Thierry Offensive Operations, July 1918 Chapter Two: Black Thursday—1st Aero Squadron and 1st Pursuit Group's Worst Day Chapter Three: St. Mihiel Operations & Easterbrook's Arrival Chapter Four: Meuse-Argonne Offensive Operations Chapter Five: The Final Assault Chapter Six: Postwar—Erwin's Early Return to Participate in America's Victory Loan Chapter Seven: "Lone Star Bill”and the Dole Air Race Chapter Eight: Career Accomplishments & Conclusions

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Book SynopsisThis is the story of Gallipoli in World War I, as seen through the eyes of several participants. Characters include Australians, Turks, English and Germans, in roles of a press correspondent, an ambassador, infantry privates, army and navy officers, a politician and a spy. Gallipoli Soup is history written to read like a novel, not traditional historical fiction. It is written to tell it like it was and why it happened. The reader will experience the horrors of the battlefield as well as gaining insights into why the campaign was initiated and why it played out in the way that it did through to the final evacuation. The Gallipoli battlefield was not a simple fight of good versus evil, but a conflict of more complex origins in which everyone was on the side of righteousness.

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Book SynopsisWith personal letters gathered from public archives and the relatives of those who fought in the First World War, historian Ross Hebb tells the story of Canadian soldiers, from recruitment to deployment to return, in their own words. Letters Home is a collection of the correspondences of 20 people shipped overseas from across the Maritimes, asking about their homes and farms, wondering at the girls in Britain, and leaving keepsakes and life advice for their children. Organized chronologically, the letters describe crossing the Atlantic, training in England, the confusion and anticipation leading up to combat, and for some, the journey home. Includes 20 photographs of the letter writers, their families, postcards, and memorials.

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Book SynopsisFrom an interest sparked by a family involvement in the Young Citizen Volunteers and the First World War, author Steven Moore has crafted an extensive, revealing and sympathetic account of the organisation. Conceived as non-sectarian and non-political the YCV was, in stages: a youth movement with national aspirations; a paramilitary body prepared to take up arms to prove its loyalty; and the core of a military unit of the British Army that fought in virtually all the major battles of 1916 and 1917. Unkindly dubbed 'The Chocolate Soldiers' and often, in short, the 'odd men out', their story is revealed through photographs and the words of the men themselves.Trade ReviewMichael Pegum for The Irish Sword - 'a coherent and compelling account of the rise and decline of a New Army battalion ... well illustrated and very well told, giving some understanding as to why so many men who fought in the Great War never talked about their experiences.'

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Book SynopsisOn the night of 20 November 1914, everything pointed to the likelihood of invasion by a German army, whisked across the North Sea on a fleet of fast transports. The Royal Navy's Grand Fleet prepared to sail south from remote bases in Scotland; shallow-draught monitors were moored in the Wash; and 300,000 troops stood by to repel the enemy on the beaches. Fortunately, the night passed without incident. For thirty years prior to the First World War, writers, with a variety of motivations, had been forecasting such an invasion. Britain regarded the army as an imperial police force and, despite the experience gained in military exercises involving simulated invasions, the Royal Navy was still expected to fulfil its traditional role of intercepting and destroying enemy forces. However, as the technology of warfare developed, with the proliferation of ever more powerful warships, submarines, mines, and torpedoes, alongside the added promise of aerial assault, it became obvious that these long-established notions of the Navy's invincibility might no longer be realistic. The perceived threat of invasion, whether justified or not, persisted throughout the First World War, and this book describes the measures taken to protect Britain against enemy attack by land, sea, or air.

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Book SynopsisEven by Victoria Cross standards, the exploits of Thomas 'Todger' Jones V.C., D.C.M., of the 1st Battalion, The Cheshire Regiment, are truly extraordinary. It was a miracle that he survived the act for which he was awarded his V.C., but remarkably, after going 'over the top' by himself, he defeated the odds and secured what is believed to be the most prisoners ever captured by a single individual in the entire war. 'Todger', as he was affectionately known, served as a private soldier for the duration of the conflict, but in that time he displayed outstanding levels of gallantry and leadership, far in excess of his rank. A quiet man unassuming man in peacetime, Todger was a force to reckon with when in battle. This book chronicles his life with an added emphasis on his wartime service in the trenches of France and Flanders. Todger was born and bred in Runcorn, Cheshire. In 2014 his commemorative statue was unveiled opposite the town's cenotaph. This book also features never seen before photographs of the statue being made.Table of ContentsForeword; Acknowledgements; Introduction; 1 Pre-War; 2 The World Goes to War; 3 Hill 60: 'One of my Hottest Trials'; 4 A Bombing Attack; 5 The Somme; 6 'I Laughed like Blazes'; 7 Heartiest Congratulations; 8 The Closest of Friends; 9 'How the Dickens did you do it Jones'?; 10 The Engagements Continue; 11 Back to the Front; 12 Return to Blighty; 13 Post War; 14 Family and Personal Life; 15 A Character Assessment; 16 Remembrance; 17 In His Own Words; Appendix I: Hugh Colvin VC; Appendix II: Todger's Siblings; Appendix III: Todger's Funeral; Endnotes; Bibliography; Index.

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Book Synopsis

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Book SynopsisBy Christmas 1914 Britain's Regular Army had virtually ceased to exist. Four months of hard fighting had drained its manpower and the Territorial Army were called on to plug the gaps. The part-timers leapt at the chance to serve their country overseas and were soon on their way to the trenches and the harsh realities of war on the Western Front. Flanders 1915 tells the story, through rare and previously unpublished photographs and extended captions, of one of those eager Territorial battalions posted to Flanders during the first twelve months of WW1. It forms a unique and intimate record of the early years of war; many images captured on film by the private cameras of the battalion's junior officers, before official censorship was established. Above all it is a rare and outstanding portrait of the 'great adventure' of war in the days before Loos, the Somme and Passchendaele and the resulting lengthy casualty lists.

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