The Battle of Cambrai 1917: Mœuvres and Bourlon, Cantaing and Graincourt to Flesquières, Masnières, Gouzeaucourt and Gonnelieu (A Visitor's Guide)

History

Murland, Jerry

Military

Pen and Sword Military

The river Aisne featured prominently in August 1914 during the Retreat from Mons and in September was the scene of bitter fighting when the BEF re-crossed it in their unsuccessful attempt to dislodge the German Army entrenched along the Northern Crest.\nThe fighting was hugely costly to the BEF which had already fought three major engagements and marched over 200 miles in a month. The three British Corps lost over 700 officers and some 15,000 men. Little wonder one officer wrote that he felt he was in the company of ghosts.\nHistorian Jerry Murland places the Aisne battles in their context, both from the BEF and German viewpoints. He highlights the early deficiencies and unpreparedness of the British Army staff and logistics organization as well as friction among the command structure, all of which hampered effective operations.

Battle on the Aisne 1914: The BEF and the Birth of the Western Front

Europe

Review\n"Murland gets into detail seldom found in other accounts." 
Journal of Military History\n"...a useful and comprehensive reference for those interested in the war in the air in the early months of World War II in Europe." 
The NYMAS Review\n"This book is best suited for those curious about the Battle of France." 
Air & Space Power History\nWhile much has been written about the Battle of Britain, the air war over France and the Low Countries from September 1939 to June 1940 has been largely neglected – until now. As expert aviation author Jerry Murland reveals in this fascinating book, there may have been little ground action until May 1940 but the war in the air was far from ‘phoney’.\nIn contrast to their adversaries, the Allied air forces on the mainland of Europe were poorly equipped, regardless of increased development from 1934 onwards. But in spite of this, when the German invasion began, the Low Countries of Holland and Belgium fought back tenaciously. While development of the Spitfire, Blenheim and Wellington was continuing at a pace, the RAF with only four squadrons of Hurricanes among a force of outdated bi-planes, was a little more prepared than the French, but still woefully outgunned by the Luftwaffe.\nWhile the Allied air forces of Britain, France and the Low Countries may have been inferior, the gallantry and tenacity of their pilots makes for inspiring reading.\nThis is a work that will enthrall and inform all those interested in the history of the Second World War, particularly aviation enthusiasts.

Allied Air Operations 1939–1940: The War Over France and the Low Countries

Americas

Pen and Sword Aviation

This book, the third title in the Author’s Retreat and Rearguard series, covers the actions of the BEF during the retreat from the Dyle Line to the evacuation points of Dunkirk, Boulogne, Calais, St Valery-en-Caux and finally the Cherbourg Peninsula. Some of the engagements are relatively well known (Cassell, the Arras counter-attack and the notorious Le Paradis SS massacre) but the author has unearthed many less known engagements from the long and painful withdrawal. While the main Dunkirk evacuation from the port and beaches was over by early June, elements of the BEF fought on until 21 June. In relating those, often heroic, actions the author catches the atmosphere of desperate defiance that typified this never-to-be-forgotten period.

Retreat and Rearguard - Dunkirk 1940: The Evacuation of the BEF to the Channel Ports

The battles fought by the British army in 1915, in the second year of the First World War, are less well known than those fought immediately after the outbreak of war in 1914 and those that followed in 1916 which culminated in the Battle of the Somme. But the fighting at Aubers Ridge, Festubert, Neuve Chapelle and Loos was just as severe – as was the 1916 battle at Fromelles – and the battlefields are just as interesting to explore today. This volume in the Battle Lines series is the perfect guide to them. Expert guides Jon Cooksey and Jerry Murland take visitors over a series of routes that can be walked, biked or driven, explaining the fighting that occurred at each place in vivid detail. They describe what happened, where it happened and why and who was involved, and point out the sights that remain for the visitor to see. Their highly illustrated guidebook is essential reading for visitors who wish to enhance their understanding of warfare on the Western Front.

The Battles of French Flanders: Neuve Chapelle, Aubers Ridge, Festubert, Loos and Fromelles (Battle Lines: The Western Front by Car, By Bike and on Front)

Cooksey, Jon

Many guidebooks cover the Somme offensive in 1916, the five-month struggle that has come to be seen as one of the defining episodes in the history of the fighting on the Western Front during the First World War. But no previous guide has concentrated on the first day, 1 July 1916, when the British Army suffered around 60,000 casualties. That is why, on the centenary of that great battle, this new volume in Pen & Sword’s Battle Lines series is so timely. In a series of tours that can be walked, biked or driven, expert authors Jon Cooksey and Jerry Murland take the visitor along the eighteen-mile front line that was the starting point for the Somme offensive, from Gommecourt in the north to Maricourt in the south. The tours allow the visitor to trace the entire course of the opening day on the ground. In vivid detail the authors describe what happened, where it happened and why and which units were involved, and point out the sights that remain for the visitor to see.

The First Day of the Somme: Gommecourt to Maricourt, 1 July 1916 (Battle Lines)

The network of canals stretching from the coast at Gravelines, through St-Omer, Béthune and La Bassée, follows the approximate boundary between Artois and Flanders and was, in 1940, the defensive line established on the western edge of the so-called Dunkerque Corridor designed by Lord Gort to provide an evacuation route to the channel coast. Even before events on the line of the Escaut line had concluded with yet another Allied withdrawal, Lord Gort was diverting units to bolster the Canal Line defenses This is probably the first occasion that the fighting along the Canal Line has been looked at in detail; overlooked by the inevitable withdrawal towards the channel coast, the units deployed along the canal faced some of the stiffest fighting in the whole 1940 France and Flanders campaign. Whole battalions, particularly those in the 2nd Division, were sacrificed as units were thrown into the battle in an attempt to slow down the German advance. The book looks in some detail at the ad hoc nature of the Usherforce and Polforce units, the units of the independent 25 Brigade and the vicious fighting that enveloped the 2nd Division. Time is given also to the notorious massacre of the Royal Norfolks at Louis Creton’s farm near Le Paradis. Material concerning the deployment of units along the Canal Line in 1940 has been found in a variety of sources, including regimental histories and unit war diaries. The author has been fortunate in being able to access a number of personal diaries and accounts from men serving with the independent 25 Brigade and the 2nd Division, which has, in some cases, added to and enhanced the actions taken by those units while deployed on the canal. The book is illustrated by over a hundred contemporary and modern photographs and by five car tours and three walks, all of which give the tourist a greater access to the battlefield.

The Canal Line: France and Flanders Campaign 1940 (Battleground Books: WWII)

The book, the latest in a series of eight Battleground Europe books that deals with the BEF's campaign in France and Flanders in 1940, covers the fierce fighting around the Dunkerque Perimeter during May and June 1940 between the retreating British Expeditionary Force and its French allies and the advancing German army. It covers the area that most people in Britain associate with the fighting in France in 1940, a military disaster that could have been much worse. This grievous military setback was soon transformed into a morale boosting symbol of the resilience of the British against a Germany that had crushed so many nations in a matter of weeks.With over 200 black and white photographs and fourteen maps, this book looks in some detail at the units deployed around Dunkerque and Nieuport and their often desperate actions to prevent the inevitable advance of German forces opposing them. The evacuation of the BEF from the beaches east of Dunkerque is covered in detail from the perspective of the Royal Navy and from the standpoint of the soldier on the beaches. Unusual for a Battleground Europe publication is the inclusion of a walk and drive around Ramsgate and Dover, covering the English end of the evacuation.In addition to visits to the relevant cemeteries, the book includes three appendices and two car tours, one tour covering the whole of the Dunkirk perimeter and the other covering Ramsgate and Dover, although there is plenty of scope for walking in both tours. There is also a walk around De Panne, which takes the tourist along the beach that saw so much of the evacuation, and into the back areas of the town where the Germans left their mark when clearing up after the British had gone.

The Dunkirk Perimeter and Evacuation 1940: France and Flanders Campaign (Battleground Books: WWII)

A further volume in Jerry Murland's series of Battleground books on the France and Flanders Campaign 1940, leading to the Dunkirk Evacuation. Known in some accounts as the Battle of Wijtschaete, the confrontation along the Ypres-Comines Canal in 1940 is still hardly remembered in this country and, apart from the battle honours displayed proudly on the colours of the regiments who took part - many no longer in existence, very little has been written about the four days which probably saved the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) from almost complete destruction. This is quite surprising, given the pivotal nature of the battle, for without the sacrifice of the battalions on the canal there would probably have been no evacuation from Dunkerque on the scale to which we have become accustomed, and the war may well have taken on a different outcome.Although there was fighting north of Ypres along the Canal Van Ieper Naar De Ijzer, where 151 Brigade and the 3rd Division were deployed, the actual Battle of the Ypres-Comines Canal took place to the south, where the three divisions of General der Infantry Viktor von Schwedler's IV Korps were pitted against three British brigades along the disused canal which runs from Comines in the south to Ypres in the north.The book looks in detail at the order of battle of the British and German units engaged and focuses on the four British brigades that fought on the canal. The mainly territorial 143 Brigade was positioned in the south, 13 Brigade was in the middle and 17 Brigade held the northern end of the line up to Zillebeke Lake. Apart from the 12/Lancers and a few tanks from 3/RTR, Ypres itself was largely defended by 150 Brigade. Major General Franklyn's instructions were to hold the line for as long as possible to allow the remainder of the BEF to strengthen the Dunkerque Perimeter.With over 150 contemporary and modern black and white photographs, ten maps, and visits to eight CWGC Cemeteries, the book enables the battlefield tourist to explore the area and undertake three car tours together with two short walks. Visitors will no doubt wish to combine a visit to the First World War sites around Ypres with the fighting along the canal in 1940, recognizing many places that were fought over in both wars

The Battle of the Ypres-Comines Canal 1940: France and Flanders Campaign (Battleground Books: WWII)

On 10 May 1940 the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), under the command of Lord Gort, moved forward from the Franco-Belgian border and took up positions along a 20-mile sector off the River Dyle, to await the arrival of the German Army Group B. Their expected stay was considerably shorter than planned as the German Army Group A pushed its way through the Ardennes and crossed the Meuse at Sedan, scattering the French before them. Little did the men of the BEF realize that the orders to retire would result in their evacuation from Dunkirk and other channel ports. The line of the River Escaut was seen as the last real opportunity for the Allied armies to halt the advancing German Army, but the jigsaw of defense was tenuous and the allied hold on the river was undone by the weight of opposing German forces and the speed of the armored ‘Blitzkrieg’ thrust further south. As far as the BEF were concerned, the Battle for the Escaut took place on a 30-mile sector from Oudenaarde to Bléharies and involved units in a sometimes desperate defense, during which two Victoria Crosses were awarded. This book takes the battlefield tourist from Oudenaarde to Hollain in a series of tours that retrace the footsteps of the BEF. With the help of local historians, the author has pinpointed crucial actions and answered some of the myriad questions associated with this important phase of the France and Flanders campaign of 1940.

Battle for the Escaut 1940: The France and Flanders Campaign (Battleground Dunkirk)

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Murland, Jerry. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Murland, Jerry