Anonymous,
A GENERAL'S LETTERS TO HIS SON ON OBTAINING HIS COMMISSION.
First Edition. VG. Some slight edgewear & slightly bumped corners.
Paper of covers torn slightly on top & bottom edge & bottom
corners. Otherwise clean & tight. Preface by General H.H. Smith-Dorrien.
Letters, of a British general with 38 years service to his officer
son who has joined his father's old battalion. Letters date from
1916-17, and cover such topics as: On Joining the Battalion; On
Discipline; On Billets and Care of the Men; On the Art of Command;
On Training; On What We Are Fighting For; On Facing Death, etc.
111 pages.
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Bairnsfather, Bruce,
BULLETS & BILLETS. GP Putnam's Sons, 1917, VG. Eighth Impression.
Small inked note on page listing author's previous works. Very minor fraying to cover edge in several
spots. Minor fraying to bottom edge of spine. Covers & spine bright. Full-page plates & intertextual
drawings. Ads at rear of book. 286 pages.
~~~ War memoirs of British Army's most famous cartoonist in
World War I.
|
 Bairnsfather, Capt Bruce. Edited by Valmai & Tonie Holt.
THE BEST OF FRAGMENTS FROM FRANCE.
NEW copy, trade paperback.
(Pen and Sword, 2010). 6x9, 150 b&w cartoons. 160 pages.
~~~ Bruce Bairnsfather (BB) was the most famous cartoonist of the First World War and his soldier characters Old Bill, Bert and Alf, faced with sardonic good humor everything that the Germans, the mud and their officers could throw at them. However, Bruce (known by some as ‘The Man Who Won the War’) never received the acclaim that he deserved for the morale boost that his cartoons gave to the troops at the front and to the people back at home. The 50th Anniversary of Bairnsfather’s death on 29 September 2009 offered an opportunity to redress the balance, and acknowledging it in combination with raising funds for Help for Heroes (H4H) seemed to be most appropriate.
~~~
The cartoons reproduced in this collection were originally drawn for The Bystander, a popular weekly magazine, in which they appeared each Tuesday throughout most of the Great War. Their effect on the public was totally unexpected, and so dramatic that Bystander sales soared. The organization, with unerring good judgement, decided it had a winner in Bairnsfather, and published the first 43 of his cartoons in an anthology. It was produced in February 1916, given the name Fragments from France and sold for 1s. On the front cover was a colored print of The Better ‘Ole which soon became, and was to remain, the most loved of all Bairnsfather’s cartoons. The authors own the original. Sales quickly reached a quarter of a million and a second anthology was published, More Fragments from France. It was described on the title page as ‘Vol II’ and the price was still 1s. The cartoon on the cover was 'What time do they feed the sea lions'?
~~~
In this volume The Bystander launched the first of a series of imaginative marketing exercises, similar to modern promotional methods. The full extent of the proliferation of the cartoons on all manner of products, from playing cards to pottery, is described in our Bairnsfather biography. Soon Still More Fragments from France were clamored for, and, with an eye to the future, the booklet was labeled No. 3 on the cover, Vol III on the title page. The success of the Fragments magazines was such that edition followed edition in rapid succession and at least eleven editions were published. The covers retained the same cartoon but were reproduced in different colors, both of board and ink — green, blue, red, grey, fawn and mauve. In America Putnam’s issued Nos. I-IV as one volume and parts V and VI separately. Various hard and leather-bound collections were offered for sale by The Bystander, and the drawings were sold separately as prints and “Portfolios” for framing. They were also printed in color as giveaways for Answers magazine. Leafing through these pages, the reader will soon understand their tremendous popularity and success which have withstood the test of time.
$29.95
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Holt, Valmai & Tonie.
IN SEARCH OF A BETTER 'OLE: The Life, the Words and the Collectibles of Captain Bruce Bairnsfather.
NEW copy, hardcover with dust jacket.
(Pen and Sword, 2010). 6x9, 150 illustrations. 224 pages.
~~~ Bruce Bairnsfather's cartoons were to the general public during World War I what Bill Mauldin's cartoons were to be in World War II. His "If you know of a better 'ole - get to it" may be the most famous cartoon of all time. His humorous portrayals of ordinary soldiers in the trenches were a great morale booster and were still serving as an inspiration years later during the dark days of the Second World War.
~~~
Over the years, particularly in Britain, a vast array of Bairnsfather collectables have appeared, such as plates, cups, mugs, car mascots and ashtrays. Renowned World War I tour guides Tonie and Valmai Holt provide a heavily illustrated guide to the world of Bairnsfather collectibles, and a detailed account of the man behind the legend.
$34.95
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Kenyon, David.
BEST 500 COCKNEY WAR STORIES.
NEW copy, trade paperback.
(Amberley, 2010). 6x9, 70 b&w illustrations, 224 pages.
~~~
Published in London in the early 1920s, The Best 500 Cockney War Stories comprised, in the words of its newspaper publisher "a remembering and retelling of those war days when laughter sometimes saved men's reason."
~~~
The tone of the collection was, as the above quote suggests, determinedly humorous, reporting the lighter side of the conflict as viewed by its Cockney participants. Even so, the grimness behind what was in reality a brutal and highly mechanized conflict cut through many of the memoirs.
~~~
The collection of short memoirs, many illustrated by the famed Bert Thomas, is divided into five categories - Action, Lull, Hospital, High Seas and Here and There. Prefaced by an introduction by Sir Ian Hamilton, the British Commander-in-Chief who oversaw the Allies' unhappy campaign in Gallipoli.
|
Edmonds, Brigadier Sir James E.,
MILITARY OPERATIONS, FRANCE AND BELGIUM, 1914, Volume I
.
NEW copy, direct from publisher. Battery Press, 1996.
15 maps, 577 pages.
"Originally published as part of the British official history set for
ground operations in World War I, this volume chronicles the despatch
of the British Expeditionary Force to France, the initial engagements
at Mons & Le Cateau, the retreat to the Seine, and the British
defensive battles on the Marne & Aisne. It is a comprehensive account
of the destruction of Britains 'Old Regular Army' that was sent to
France in August 1914. 1996 reprint of 1933 3rd edition."
|
Edmonds, Brigadier Sir James E.,
MILITARY OPERATIONS, FRANCE AND BELGIUM, 1914, Volume II
.
NEW copy, direct from publisher. Battery Press, 1996.
18 maps, 593 pages.
"Originally published as part of the British official history set for ground operations in World War I, this volume begins with the siege of Antwerp from 19 Sept to 14 Oct, 1914, then covers the hard fighting of Oct. & Nov. in Flanders incl La Basse, Armentireres, Messines, lst Ypres, Langemarck, Gheluvelt & Nonne Bosschen.
|
Edmonds, Brigadier Sir James E.,
MILITARY OPERATIONS, FRANCE AND BELGIUM, 1914
COMPLETE TWO VOLUME SET for the year 1914.
|
Edmonds, Brigadier Sir James E.,
MILITARY OPERATIONS, FRANCE AND BELGIUM, 1915, Volume I
.
NEW copy, direct from publisher. Battery Press, 1995.
21 maps, 433 pages.
~~~
Originally published in 1927 as part of the British official history set for ground operations in World War I, this volume covers operations from Nov. 1914 to May 1915. It begins with the Allied plans for the Spring of 1915, the expansion of the British army, the battles of Neuve-Chapelle in March; Ypres April to May incl. Gravenstafel Ridge, St. Julien, Frezenberg Ridge and Bellewaarde Ridge.
|
Edmonds, Brigadier Sir James E.,
MILITARY OPERATIONS, FRANCE AND BELGIUM, 1915, Volume II
.
NEW copy, direct from publisher. Battery Press, 1995.
44 maps, 640 pages.
~~~ Originally published as part of the British official history set for ground operations in World War I, this volume covers operations from May to December of 1915 in Flanders, incl the battles of Aubers Ridge, Festubert, Givenchy, Bellewaarde & Loos. 1995 limited edition reprint of the 1928 edition.
|
Edmonds, Brigadier Sir James E.,
MILITARY OPERATIONS, FRANCE AND BELGIUM, 1915
COMPLETE TWO VOLUME SET for the year 1915.
|
Edmonds, Brigadier Sir James E.,
MILITARY OPERATIONS, FRANCE AND BELGIUM, 1916, Volume I
.
NEW copy, direct from publisher. Battery Press, 1996.
27 maps, 632 pages.
~~~ Originally published in 1932 as part of the British official history set for ground operations in World War I, this volume covers the first 6 1/2 months of Sir Douglas Haig's command on the Western Front, from Dec. 19th, 1915 to and including the first day of the great Somme Offensive on 1 July 1916.
|
Edmonds, Brigadier Sir James E.,
MILITARY OPERATIONS, FRANCE AND BELGIUM, 1916, Volume I, Appendices.
.
NEW copy, direct from publisher. Battery Press, 1996.
240 pages.
~~~
"A title in the British official history set for ground operations in World War II. This volume is a companion to Military Operations, France and Belgium 1916 I (text)."
|
Miles, Captain Wilfrid,
MILITARY OPERATIONS, FRANCE AND BELGIUM, 1916,
Volume II.
.
NEW copy, direct from publisher. Battery Press, 1991
reprint edition of original 1938 edition. 1 photograph,
51 maps, 654 pages.
~~~
Originally published in 1938 as part of the British official history set for
ground operations in World War I, this volume covers the Battle of the Somme
from 2 July to the end of 1916.
|
Miles, Captain Wilfrid,
MILITARY OPERATIONS, FRANCE AND BELGIUM, 1916,
Volume II, Maps & Appendices.
.
NEW copy, direct from publisher. Battery Press, 1994
reprint edition of original 1938 edition. 6 maps, 135 pages.
~~~ Originally published in 1938, this title is part of the British official history
set for ground operations in World War I. It is a companion volume to Military
Operations, France and Belgium, 1916 Volume II (text).
|
Falls, Captain Cyril,
MILITARY OPERATIONS, FRANCE AND BELGIUM, 1917, Volume I
.
NEW copy, direct from publisher. Battery Press, 1992.
25 maps, 664 pages.
~~~
Originally published in 1940 as part of the British official history set for ground operations in World War I, this volume covers the Battle of Arras.
|
Falls, Captain Cyril,
MILITARY OPERATIONS, FRANCE AND BELGIUM, 1917, Volume I,
Appendices.
NEW copy, direct from publisher. Battery Press, 1994.
176 pages.
~~~
Originally published in 1940 as part of the British official history set for WWI
ground operations, this volume is a companion to Military Operations, France and
Belgium, 1917 (text). It also covers the battle of Arras.
|
Edmonds, Brigadier Sir James E.,
MILITARY OPERATIONS, FRANCE AND BELGIUM, 1917, Volume II
.
NEW copy, direct from publisher. Battery Press, 1991.
8 photos/drawings, 28 maps, 576 pages.
~~~
Originally published in 1949 as part of the British official history set for
ground operations in World War I, this volume details the two Flanders
offensives of 1917, - the 'Battle of Messines' and the 'Battle of Ypres' (
better known as Passchendaele). The first was a success and the second the point
of a continuing controversy regarding its failure and heavy losses.
|
Miles, Captain Wilfrid,
MILITARY OPERATIONS, FRANCE AND BELGIUM, 1917, Volume III
.
NEW copy, direct from publisher. Battery Press, 1991.
1 photo/drawing, 24 maps, 432 pages.
~~~
This is a volume in the British official history set for ground operations in
World War II. Published in 1949, this volume covers November & December of
1917 which involved the first great tank battle of CAMBRAI during the British
offensive conducted by the Third Army under Sir Julian Byng.
|
Edmonds, Brigadier Sir James E.,
MILITARY OPERATIONS, FRANCE AND BELGIUM, 1918, Volume I
.
NEW copy, direct from publisher. Battery Press, 1995.
22 maps, 648 pages.
~~~
Published as part of the British official history set for ground operations in
World War I, this volumes chronicles the operations from Jan. 1918 on through
the German offensive of March 21st, 1918 until March 26th. It covers in great
detail the disaster to the British Fifth Army and he hugh initial success of the
German offensive, a return to open warfare for the first time.
|
Edmonds, Brigadier Sir James E.,
MILITARY OPERATIONS, FRANCE AND BELGIUM, 1918, Volume I, Appendices
.
NEW copy, direct from publisher. Battery Press, 1994.
160 pages.
~~~
Originally published in 1935 as part of the Britih official history for ground
operations in World War I, this is a companion volume is a companion to Military
Operations, France and Belgium, 1918 Volume I (text).
|
Edmonds, Brigadier Sir James E.,
MILITARY OPERATIONS, FRANCE AND BELGIUM, 1918, Volume II
.
NEW copy, direct from publisher. Battery Press, 1995.
33 maps, 656 pages.
~~~
Originally published as part of the British official history set for ground
operations in World War I, this volume continues the account of the German
spring offensive from March 27th to its final halt by the Australians on the
Somme at Villiers-Bretonneaux in late April. It also covers the German LYS
offensive in Flanders in March & April incl the battles of Estaires,
Hazebrouck, Bailleul, Kemmel Hill and Bethune. This volume closes with 30
April, 1918.
|
Edmonds, Brigadier Sir James E.,
MILITARY OPERATIONS, FRANCE AND BELGIUM, 1918, Volume III
.
NEW copy, direct from publisher. Battery Press, 1994.
19 maps, 417 pages.
~~~
Originally published in 1939 as part of the British official history set for
ground operations in World War I, this volume chronicles May through July 1918,
from just after the end of the 2nd German offensive up to the beginning of the
great British counter-offensive in August. Much of the book covers the German
diversionary offensives against the French, Americans and some British units in
the south, incl the Second battle of the Aisne ( Chemin des Dames), Battle of
Metz and the Rheims-Soissons offensive.
|
Edmonds, Brigadier Sir James E.,
MILITARY OPERATIONS, FRANCE AND BELGIUM, 1918, Volume IV
.
NEW copy, direct from publisher. Battery Press, 1994.
34 maps, 688 pages.
~~~
Originally published in 1947 as part of the British official history set for
ground operations in World War I. this volume covers from 8th August 1918 'The
Black Day of the German Army' until Sept. 26th 1918 when the British armies were
lined up opposite the main Hindenburg line ready to play their part in the great
Allied offensive . It includes information on French units which operated with
British & Commonwealth forces at the Battle of Amiens, Albert, the Scarpe,
Peronne-Bapaume, Mont St.Quentin, the Drocourt-Queant switch line and others.
|
Edmonds, Brigadier Sir James E.,
MILITARY OPERATIONS, FRANCE AND BELGIUM, 1918, Volume V
.
NEW copy, direct from publisher. Battery Press, 1994.
42 maps, 760 pages.
~~~
Originally published in 1947 as part of the British official history set for
ground operations in World War I, this volume chronicles the final operations of
the war from 26 Sept. to 11 Nov. 1918. Included are the battles of the final
advance to victory incl the breaking of the Hindenburg line, Ypres 1918, Canal
de Nord, St. Quentin canal, Cambrai 1918, pursuit to the Selle, Courtrai,
Sambre, Schelde and more.
|
Edmonds, Brigadier Sir James E.,
MILITARY OPERATIONS, FRANCE AND BELGIUM, 1918
COMPLETE SIX VOLUME SET for the year 1918.
|
Fuller, J.F.C.,
TANKS IN THE GREAT WAR, 1914-1918
.
NEW copy, direct from publisher. Battery Press, 2003.
Photographs, drawings, maps, 338 pages.
~~~ This history of the Royal Tanks Corps in World War I covers the development of the tank, mechanical characteristics
of early British tanks, particularly the Mark I, as well as the early battles at the Somme and Ancre. It also
describes the growth of the Tank Corps itself, tank tactics, tank engineering, plus the tank battles of 1917-18.
There are also appreciations of German, French and American tank
activities.
|
Garston, Crosbie,
THE MUD LARKS.
N.Y.: George H. Doran Company, 1919. VG+/G+. First Edition.
Soiling & chipping to spine of jacket. Book itself is clean &
tight, except
for soiled top page edges. 213 pages.
~~~ Author was 1st Lieutenant with
King Edward's Horse Regiment. Book composed of humorous pieces of
Army
life in France, Belgium, Italy & Africa.
|
Kenyon, David.
HORSEMEN IN NO MAN'S LAND: British Cavalry and Trench Warfare 1914-1918.
NEW copy, hardcover with dust jacket.
(Pen & Sword, 2012). 6x9, 30 illustrations, 240 pages.
~~~ Of what use was the British cavalry during the years of trench warfare on the Western Front? On a static battlefield dominated by the weapons of the industrial age, by the machine gun and massed artillery, the cavalry was seen as an anachronism. It was vulnerable to modern armaments, of little value in combat and a waste of scarce resources.
~~~
At least, that is the common viewpoint. Indeed, the cavalry have been consistently underestimated since the first histories of the Great War were written. But, in light of modern research, is this the right verdict?
~~~
David Kenyon seeks to answer this question in his thought-provoking new study. His conclusions challenge conventional wisdom on the subject – they should prompt a radical reevaluation of the role of the horseman on the battlefields of France and Flanders a century ago.
~~~
Using evidence gained from research into wartime records and the eyewitness accounts of the men who were there – who saw the cavalry in action – he reassesses the cavalry's contribution and performance. His writing gives a vivid insight into cavalry tactics and the ethos of the cavalrymen of the time. He also examines how the cavalry combined with the other arms of the British army, in particular the tanks.
~~~
His well-balanced and original study will be essential reading for students of the Western Front and for anyone who is interested in the long history of cavalry combat.
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Macintyre, Ben,
THE ENGLISHMAN'S DAUGHTER: A True Story of Love and Betrayal in World War I.
NEW copy, hardcover with dust jacket.
(NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2001). Photographs, notes,
bibliography, index, 254 pages.
~~~ In the first terrifying days of World War I,
a handful of British soldiers found themselves trapped behind
enemy lines on the Western Front. Unable to rejoin their units,
which were retreating under the German onslaught, they were forced
to hide in the French countryside. The Englishman's Daughter
is the extraordinary true story of these men, their rescuers, and
the bittersweet love affair that sprang up between an enchanting
French villager and a fugitive English soldier. This romance
flourished under the very eyes of German occupiers, resulted
in the birth of a child, and eventually tore a community apart.
|
Nash, N.S.
VALOUR IN THE TRENCHES:
'Bombo' Pollard VC MC DCM HAC in the Great War.
NEW copy, hardcover with dust jacket.
(Pen & Sword, 2012). 6x9, 16 b&w plates, 256 pages.
~~~ Alfred Pollard joined the Honorable Artillery Company at Armory House in the City of London in 1914 aged 21. The HAC is a unique Territorial unit composed entirely of middle class volunteers, who recruit all their officers from the ranks.
~~~
Pollard was a natural soldier who believed himself (correctly as it turned out) to be invulnerable. He reveled in combat and unlike the vast majority of his peers claimed to enjoy going into action. This extraordinary mindset is borne out by his well documented acts of selfless courage. He rose quickly through the ranks, earned a battlefield commission and was awarded in quick succession the Distinguished Conduct Medal, two Military Crosses and finally the Victoria Cross.
~~~
Despite his experiences and the horrific sights he witnesses, in his own memoirs, entitled Fire-eater, published in 1932, he made it clear he felt ‘neither fear nor pity’.
~~~
Pollard’s character was a curious mix of self assurance, even arrogance, and innate immaturity.
~~~
In post-war years Pollard wrote some 60 books which sold half a million copies.
~~~
This is a fascinating study of a courageous patriot who saw action throughout the Great War.
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Palmer, Svetlana and Sarah Wallis,
INTIMATE VOICES FROM THE FIRST WORLD WAR.
William Morrow, 2003. NEW copy, except for black remainder mark
on top edge of book; hardcover with dust jacket. Maps,
photographs, bibliographic essay, 381 pages.
~~~ How do you tell the history of a war in which more
than nine million combatants and nearly seven million civilians
across the world died by bullet, fire, hunger and disease? How do
you describe the experience of a war that ignited two revolutions,
brought down four monarchies, scarred a generation and culminated
in major political and territorial changes that cast shadows to
this day?" Departing from traditional histories, Intimate
Voices from the First Wold War tells the story of the First
World War entirely through the diaries and letters of its
combatants, eyewitnesses and victims. Powerful individual
stories are interwoven to form an extraordinary narrative
that follows the chronology of the war, in words written on
the battlefield and on leave, under occupation and under siege.
Soldiers and civilians record with passion, fear and humor their
experiences and intimate thoughts, never intended for publication.
The book starts with the testimony of a Serbian teenager, one of
Archduke Franz Ferdinand's assassins. Each chapter focuses on one
important episode of the war told from opposite sides of the
conflict. A German and a British soldier are dug into the parallel
lines of trenches on the Somme. An Australian and a Turk describe
brutal bayonet charges on the beaches at Gallipoli. A Polish woman
endures a gruesome siege and an initially patriotic German
schoolgirl, after being exposed to the loss and pain of war,
gradually escapes into a world of adolescent love. The diaries
and letters featured were uncovered during extensive research
across twenty-eight countries for the groundbreaking television
series The First World War, based on the work of Professor
Hew Strachan, whose introduction starts this book. Gripping,
immediate and moving, Intimate Voices from the First World
War represents a major addition to First World War
literature.
~~~ Table of Contents as follows: The First
Shots; Setting Off to the Front; Children at War; The Siege of
Przemysl; The Eastern Front; Gallipoli; A Vertical War; In the
Bush; The Somme and Verdun; Empires at War; The War at Sea; In
Captivity; The Brown Shirt and the Red Commissar; The Final
Push; Victory and Defeat.
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Rider, Robert J. (Alan C. Robinson, ed)
REFLECTIONS ON THE BATTLEFIELD: From Infantryman to Chaplain, 1914-1919.
NEW copy, TRADE PAPERBACK. Liverpool University Press, 2001.
272 pages.
~~~ In August 1914, Robert J. Rider, aged twenty-five, was about
to begin his third year of training for the ministry of the Wesleyan
Methodist church, at Handsworth Theological College in Birmingham.
Two months later he had enlisted with the First Birmingham Battalion,
later termed the 14th Battalion, of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment.
His superiors became aware of his clerical background, and in 1916 he
was commissioned to serve as an army chaplain, and ministered to an
artillery unit on the Western Front until his eventual demobilisation
in 1919. Reflections on the Battlefield is Rider's account of his
experiences, and is derived from a typescript left to his descendants
after he died in 1961. Broadly autobiographical, the text is unusual
in that the author had experience of life both as a fighting soldier and
subsequently as a non-combatant Christian minister, and was thus
particularly exposed to the ambiguities of chaplaincy service on
the battlefield. Written as a series of episodes presented in the
third person, Rider's account is not so much a history as an attempt
to convey the decency and humanity of the men he served with and
ministered to, despite the brutalities, degradation and suffering
of war. Reflections on the Battlefield thus provides us with a personal and valuable contribution to the debate about how the ethics of war were viewed from the World War I battlefield.
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Weintraub, Stanley,
A DEAR AND NOBLE BOY: The Life and Letters of Louis Stokes, 1897-1916.
.
(Pen & Sword Books Limited, 1997). Hardcover with dust jacket.
190 pages.
~~~ Louis Stokes was not an outstanding scholar, nor did he meet with a glorious
death, but his letters are a fitting memorial to the generation of schoolboys
who lost their lives in the Great War.
~~~ Hardcover out of print; softcover in print at $26.95.
|
Vaughan, Edwin Campion, SOME DESPERATE GLORY: THE WORLD WAR I DIARY OF A
BRITISH OFFICER, 1917.
Touchstone, Simon & Schuster, 1989. NF. PAPERBACK. A tight, clean
copy. Introduction by Robert Cowley. 232 pages.
~~~ Vaughan's diary
records eight months in the life of a British 2nd Lt in 1917,
ending
in the killing fields of Passchendaele. Just as a first-hand
account
of what combat is like, and how men react to its unimaginable
stresses, the book has few equals. But it has noteworthy qualities
beyond that ... Some Desperate Glory ... is an
unpremediated triumph,
a small masterpiece of extemporaneous prose.
~~~ OUT OF PRINT.
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Weintraub, Stanley,
SILENT NIGHT: The Story of the World War I Christmas Truce.
The Free Press, 2001. Hardcover with dust jacket, in new condition
except for black
remainder mark on bottom edge of book. Drawings, engravings,
photographs, 19-page essay on Sources, index, 206 pages.
~~~ It was one of history's most powerful - yet forgotten -
Christmas stories. It took place in the improbable setting of the
mud, cold rain and senseless killing of the trenches of World War
I. It began when German soldiers lit candles on small Christmas
trees, and British, French, Belgian and German troops serenaded
each other on Christmas Eve. Soon they were gathering and burying
the dead, in an age-old custom of truces. But as the power of
Christmas grew among them, they broke bread, exchanged addresses
and letters and expressed deep admiration for one another. When
angry superiors ordered them to recommence the shooting, many men
aimed harmlessly high overhead. Silent Night, by renowned military
historian Stanley Weintraub, magically restores the 1914 Christmas
Truce to history.
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Westlake, Ray,
BRITISH BATTALIONS ON THE WESTERN FRONT: January to June 1915
.
NEW copy, hardcover with dust jacket. Leo Cooper, 2001. Maps,
photographs, regimental index, 270 pages.
~~~ The British
situation in the first half of 1915 is of particular interest to
those interested in British military history and in the recruiting
and replacement policies used by most major countries in both
world wars. Two new types of divisions began to arrive to fill
the gaps in Britain's Regular Army: the Territorial Army (roughly
equivalent to the U.S. National Guard) of pre-war reservists,
and the New Army of civilians who had volunteered for service
in the early days of the war. Various combinations were tried
with traditional units such as the Brigade of Guards and the Royal
Welch Fusiliers and newly-arrived units like the Artists Rifles,
London Irish, and Post Office Rifles. Ray Westlake's latest work
is a valuable day-to-day guide to the postings and actions of
nearly 300 British battalions during this period of reorganization
and preparation for massive future offensives.
~~~ British import, OUT OF PRINT.
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