Attack on the Somme

Haig's Offensive 1916

By: PEGLER MARTIN

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Hardcover | 8 February 2006

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208 Pages

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24.13 x 16.51 x 1.91

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The Battle of the Somme is fixed in the country's collective memory as a disaster - probably the bloodiest episode in the catalogue of futile offensives launched by the British on the Western Front. Over five months of desperate fighting in 1916 the British wrestled with the Germans for control of a narrow strip of innocuous French countryside. When the fighting petered out the British had barely pushed back the Germans from their original positions for a combined casualty figure of over a million men. But after 80 years this notorious episode in western military history deserves to be reassessed.

Previously unpublished eyewitness accounts are used to give a fascinating first-hand view of the immediate experience of the fighting. As Martin Pegler shows, a revision in our assessment of the Somme, in particular of the tactics and the weaponry employed by the combatants, is overdue, and he challenges the traditional assumptions about the course of the battle and its future impact on the development of warfare.

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List of Illustrations and Maps	p. vii
Author's Note	p. ix
Epigraph	p. x
Prologue: A German Machine-Gunner at Serre	p. xi
Background	p. 1
Strategy	p. 5
The Balance of Forces	p. 6
The Start of the Conflict	p. 9
The Weapons of War	p. 11
The Royal Flying Corps	p. 15
The Plan of Attack	p. 17
Campaign Chronicle	p. 22
1 July: The Attack on Gommecourt	p. 24
1 July: The Attack on Serre	p. 26
1 July: The Attack on Beaumont Hamel	p. 28
1 July: The Attack on Thiepval	p. 29
1 July: The Attacks on Ovillers and La Boisselle	p. 31
1 July: The Fight for Montauban	p. 36
2 July: The Battle Continues	p. 38
3-4 July: The Fighting for Ovillers and La Boisselle	p. 39
7-8 July: The Battles for Trones and Mametz Woods	p. 42
9-13 July: Further Assaults	p. 44
14-31 July: Battles for the Bazentin and Longueval Ridges	p. 46
1-18 August: The Attacks on Pozieres, Guillemont, and Maurepas	p. 53
18-31 August: The Attacks on Martinpuich and High Wood	p. 59
1 September: The Ancre Offensive	p. 65
15-22 September: The Battle of Flers-Courcelette	p. 70
26 September: The Further Battle for Thiepval Ridge	p. 83
26-28 September: The Battle of Morval	p. 86
1-31 October: The Battle of the Ancre Heights	p. 95
1-31 October: The Battle of Transloy Ridge	p. 98
13-19 November: The Battle for the Ancre Valley	p. 108
Aftermath	p. 119
A Retrospective of the Campaign	p. 122
The Losses	p. 122
Manpower	p. 125
Communications	p. 125
The Tanks	p. 126
The Artillery	p. 127
Tactics	p. 127
Morale	p. 129
Summary	p. 130
Appendices	p. 131
Biographical Notes	p. 131
Order of Battle	p. 134
Roll Call	p. 151
Infantry Weapons of the Somme Campaign	p. 152
Glossary	p. 176
Bibliography	p. 178
Index	p. 179
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

Attack on the Somme

Haig's Offensive 1916

At a Glance

Hardcover

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

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