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The French on the Somme 1914 - 30 June 1916

Author: David O'Mara

Publisher: Pen & Sword Military

Published: 2019-03-30

Total Pages: 176

ISBN-13: 9781526722447

The 'twin' volume to that covering the French army north of the Somme before 1 July 1916, this book covers an almost unknown period to the average British visitor to the Somme. It also aims to serve as a 'prequel' to the events of the 1916 Battle of the Somme, though the ground covered in this volume is, perhaps, less familiar - but just as interesting and historic - territory. Beginning with the events of an earlier German invasion in the area, the book will also take a brief look at the period immediately prior to the outbreak of the Great War and includes a short study of the local territorial infantry regiment (who would see its first action near Amiens at the end of August 1914 - just days after many men of the regiment had seen their homes overrun by the German invaders), before moving on to the outbreak of war in August 1914. As was the case for the area north of the river, no set-piece 'battles' were to take place here following the costly engagements of August and September 1914; but localized actions of varying size were commonplace, such as the large scale actions at Lihons at Christmas 1914 (putting paid to the 'guns ceased firing along the Western Front' myth!) and at Frise in January and February 1916 to name just two. An intense underground war also raged south of the Somme, with three separate locations within five miles of each other being turned into moonscapes of mine craters between the end of 1914 into the summer of 1915 (and, in one case, beyond) The book includes a description of the brief British occupation (from the river to just below the Amiens - St. Quentin Roman road) during the autumn of 1915, a barely known part of the history of the BEF. A study of this part of the Somme, complementing that of the north, is necessary if a person is to gain a more complete understanding of the battlefield itself and of the great offensive of the summer and autumn of 1916. As is the case with the northern volume, each chapter - detailing events in specific sectors down to regimental, battalion and even company or individual level from information gleaned from war diaries, regimental histories and personal diaries, accompanied by period and modern mapping and imagery - is followed by a tour of the sector containing a number of 'stops' in which it is possible to appreciate specific actions and/or a general overview of events in and around the particular location. The majority of these tours are accessible by vehicle but, for a more in depth look, proceeding on foot will be necessary. A feature of this series of books on the French army on the Somme are sections to educate the reader about aspects of the French Army that have been somewhat neglected or misunderstood for many years in English histories. In this volume the focus lies upon one of the more structurally confusing elements of the French Army - the Légion étrangère and its organization and actions on the Western Front from the outbreak of war until its near destruction during the Second Battle of Champagne in 1915. There will also be a brief explanation of the developing organization and structure of the French Army of 1915.

The French on the Somme 1914 - 30 June 1916

Author: David O'Mara

Publisher: Pen & Sword Military

Published: 2018-05-30

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781526722409

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For many British visitors, the fighting in the Somme starts on 1 July 1916 and few consider what happened in the area before the British took over the line, part in later 1915 and some in 1916. In fact there was extensive fighting during the opening phase of he war, as both the French and Germans tried to outflank each other. Through the autumn and winter there was a struggle to hold the best tactical ground, with small scale but ferocious skirmishes from Beaumont Hamel to the Somme. The conflict in what became known as the Glory Hole, close to the well known Lochnagar Crater, was particularly prolonged. Evidence of the fighting, mainly in the form of a large mine crater field, is visible today. The underground war was not confined to la Boisselle, with a similar crater field developing on Redan Ridge; whilst south of the Somme, to be covered in a future volume, great lengths of No Man's Land were dominated by mine craters. Serre, best known to British readers for its association with the Pals Battalions on 1 July 1916, witnessed a significant, if local, French offensive in June 1915, with casualties running into the several thousands. It is a battle that has left its mark on the landscape today, with a French national cemetery and a commemorative chapel acting as memorials to the battle. The book is introduced by a chapter describing the role of the area in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, a war which arguably provided the seed bed for the outbreak of war in 1914. Several battles were fought in Somme villages that were to become the victims of war all over again forty plus years later.

The French on the Somme

Author: David O'Mara

Publisher: Pen and Sword

Published: 2018-05-30

Total Pages: 239

ISBN-13: 1526722410

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For many British visitors, the fighting in the Somme starts on 1 July 1916 and few consider what happened in the area before the British took over the line, part in later 1915 and some in 1916.In fact there was extensive fighting during the opening phase of he war, as both the French and Germans tried to outflank each other. Through the autumn and winter there was a struggle to hold the best tactical ground, with small scale but ferocious skirmishes from Beaumont Hamel to the Somme.The conflict in what became known as the Glory Hole, close to the well known Lochnagar Crater, was particularly prolonged. Evidence of the fighting, mainly in the form of a large mine crater field, is visible today. The underground war was not confined to la Boisselle, with a similar crater field developing on Redan Ridge; whilst south of the Somme, to be covered in a future volume, great lengths of No Man's Land were dominated by mine craters.Serre, best known to British readers for its association with the Pals Battalions on 1 July 1916, witnessed a significant, if local, French offensive in June 1915, with casualties running into the several thousands. It is a battle that has left its mark on the landscape today, with a French national cemetery and a commemorative chapel acting as memorials to the battle.The book is introduced by a chapter describing the role of the area in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, a war which arguably provided the seed bed for the outbreak of war in 1914. Several battles were fought in Somme villages that were to become the victims of war all over again forty plus years later.

The French Army on the Somme 1916

Author: Ian Sumner

Publisher: Casemate Publishers

Published: 2018-11-30

Total Pages: 236

ISBN-13: 1526725495

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So much has been written about the 1916 Battle of the Somme that it might appear that every aspect of the four-month struggle has been described and analyzed in exhaustive detail. Yet perhaps one aspect has not received the attention it deserves the French sector in the south of the battlefield which is often overshadowed by events in the British sector further north. That is why Ian Sumner's photographic history of the French army on the Somme is so interesting and valuable.Using a selection of over 200 wartime photographs, many of which have not been published before, he follows the entire course of the battle from the French point of view. The photographs show the build-up to the Somme offensive, the logistics involved, the key commanders, the soldiers as they prepared to go into action and the landscape over which the battle took place. Equally close coverage is given to the fighting during each phase of the offensive the initial French advances, the mounting German resistance and the terrible casualties the French incurred.The photographs are especially important in that they record the equipment and weapons that were used, the clothing the men wore and the conditions in which they fought, and they provide us with a visual insight into the realities of battle over a hundred years ago. They also document some of the most famous sites on the battlefield before they were destroyed in the course of the fighting, including villages like Gommecourt, Pozires, La Boiselle and Thiepval.

The Somme 1916

Author: David O'Mara

Publisher: Pen and Sword

Published: 2017-11-30

Total Pages: 238

ISBN-13: 1473897726

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With a few notable exceptions, the French efforts on the Somme have been largely missing or minimized in British accounts of the Battle of the Somme. And yet they held this sector of the Front from the outbreak of the war until well into 1915 and, indeed, in parts into 1916. It does not hurt to be reminded that the French army suffered some 200,000 casualties in the 1916 offensive.David OMaras book provides an outline narrative describing the arrival of the war on the Somme and some of the notable and quite fierce actions that took place that autumn and, indeed, into December of 1914. Extensive mine warfare was a feature of 1915 and beyond on the Somme; for example under Redan Ridge and before Dompierre and Fay. The French limited offensive at Serre in June 1915 is reasonably well known, but there was fighting elsewhere for example the Germans launched a short, sharp, limited attack at Frise in January 1916, part of the diversionary action before the Germans launched their ill-fated offensive at Verdun.The book covers the Somme front from Gommecourt, north of the Somme, to Chaulnes, at the southern end of the battle zone of 1916. The reader is taken around key points in various tours. For many British visitors the battlefields south of the Somme will be a revelation; there is much to see, both of cemeteries and memorials, but also substantial traces of the fighting remain on the ground, some of which is accessible to the public.It has always been something of a disgrace that there is so little available, even in French, to educate the public in an accessible written form about the substantial effort made by Frances army on the Somme; this book and subsequent, more detailed volumes to be published in the coming years will go some way to rectify this. British visitors should be fascinated by the story of these forgotten men of France and the largely unknown part of the Somme battlefield.

From the Channel to the Ypres Salient

Author: Chris Baker

Publisher: Pen and Sword Military

Published: 2021-10-31

Total Pages: 274

ISBN-13: 1526749343

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The sector north of Ypres is best known for the inundation of much of the ground to the east of the Yser that acted as a block to the German advance in the autumn of 1914. From that time on military activities were extremely limited. Much of this line was manned by Belgian troops, with some assistance from the French army at its southern end and of the British army on the Channel coast. The role of the Belgian army in the Great War is little known, apart from the opening months, when 'brave little Belgium' held on to its important fortified cities, notably Liege and Antwerp, for longer than German planning had anticipated. It was not until mid October 1914 that the Belgian army was forced back to the area of the Yser, when its defences were bolstered by French troops whilst Haig's I Corps came up on its southern flank. At this crucial phase of the campaign, the harsh decision was taken to open the dykes at the end of October 1914 and thereby flooding much of the low lying ground east of the Yser and so effectively halting major German offensive operations. For almost four years the Belgian army rested reasonably secure behind this sodden landscape, although certain key points were the scene of frequent, if limited, tussles. 'Free' Belgium was reduced to two significant towns that could be regarded as secure and out of the range of most German artillery - the coastal resort of La Panne (De Panne) and the much bigger settlement of Furnes (Veurne), Over these years the Belgian army was rebuilt under the dynamic leadership of the king, Albert I, and by the time of the general allied advance in September 1918, the Belgian army was able to take its place in the Advance to Victory, in an allied Army that was commanded by King Albert. Although this phase of the war is outside the scope of the book, it is important to realise that the Belgian army was a very active player in these last few months. Amongst the achievements of Belgian troops at this stage of the war was the final capture of Passchendaele. This book concerns itself with the years of defence and the reconstruction of the army behind the Yser. Relatively little of Belgium's efforts in the Great War remained, but recent years have seen action to preserve what does. Most significant of these, perhaps, is the so called Trench of Death near Diksmuide. Although always preserved, it has recently been very successfully refurbished and is now most effectively and informatively presented. Other remains from the war have also been developed so as to be more informative and the result is that touring this area provides a fascinating insight into one of the most unusual sectors of the Western Front and which is conveniently close to the much visited Ypres Salient. In this book Chris Baker brings his extensive knowledge of the Belgian army (helped by his ability to read French and Dutch) and of the Flanders region to produce a much needed insight into Belgium's army role for most of the war as the protector of the northern flank of the whole of the Allied line.

Battle For Air Supremacy Over The Somme: 1 June-30 November 1916

Author: Lt-Col Thomas G. Bradbeer

Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing

Published: 2014-08-15

Total Pages: 114

ISBN-13: 1782896031

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Much has been written about the Battle of the Somme. From July through late November 1916, British, French, and German armies fought one of the costliest battles of the twentieth century. Well over a million casualties and only a few miles of ground gained by the Allies were the result when the battle ended. Little, however, has been written about the second battle which occurred simultaneously, this one in the skies above the Somme, where for the first time in the history of warfare a deliberate attempt was made to control the sky. The British Royal Flying Corps, under the resolute command of General Sir Hugh Trenchard, fought to gain air supremacy from the German Air Service. Trenchard believed that the best way to support the ground force was to dominate and control the sky above the battlefield. This air campaign was critical because of its impact on the doctrine and theory of air warfare which followed it. This study examines the efforts of the Royal Flying Corps to gain air supremacy against the German Air Service before and during the Battle of the Somme.

The French Army at Verdun

Author: Ian Sumner

Publisher: Casemate Publishers

Published: 2016-01-31

Total Pages: 225

ISBN-13: 1473856167

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In four and a half years of fighting on the Western Front during the First World War a few battles stand out from the rest. They had a decisive impact on the course of the conflict, and they still define the war for us today. For the French, the Battle of Verdun, fought between February and December 1916, was one of the greatest of these. That is why the selection of contemporary photographs Ian Sumner has brought together for this volume in the Images of War series is so important and revealing. They show the strained, sometimes shocked faces of the soldiers, record the shattered landscape in which they fought, and give us an insight into the sheer intensity of the fighting.At the time, and ever since, the battle has been portrayed as a triumph of French tenacity and heroism that is encapsulated in the famous phrase They shall not pass. These photographs remind us, in the most graphic way, what that slogan meant in terms of the devastating personal experience of the men on the Verdun battlefield.

Somme

Author: Hugh Sebag-Montefiore

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2016-07-01

Total Pages: 650

ISBN-13: 0674970039

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Rescuing from history the heroes on the front line whose bravery has been overlooked, and giving voice to their bereaved relatives at home, Hugh Sebag-Montefiore reveals the Battle of the Somme in all its glory and misery, helping us to realize that there are many meaningful ways to define a battle when seen through the eyes of those who lived it.

The Somme - English

Author: Chris McNab

Publisher: Pitkin

Published: 2010-06-01

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781841653112

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1st July 1916 saw a campaign that devastated the lives of thousands of young men serving under the British Empire. It was a day chosen to begin what had been called ‘The Big Push’, a desperate attempt to overwhelm the German Front Line and bring an end to a two year long stalemate on the Western Front. The Battle of the Somme has become tightly woven into the memory of the British nation and stands as a testimony to the conflict which took so many lives. This authoritative guide gives a factual account of the events leading up to the Somme battle, the battle itself, the politics of the day as well as the experiences of the young men who answered the call to join Kitchener’s Army. With dramatic photographs, maps and diagrams this guide is an informative and sensitive account of the conflict.