Scotland provided two Territorial Force divisions at the outbreak of
the First World War, in due course taking their place in the order of
battle as the 51st (Highland) Division and the 52nd (Lowland)
Division. 1066 and All That concluded that the war was won by the
Americans, assisted by the Australians (AZTECS) and some Canadians,
and 51 Highlanders. If nothing else, this ironic analysis showed that
Major General George (Uncle, sometimes Daddy) Harper was a master of
positive publicity and knew its value in building the Divisions image
and morale. He commanded the Division from late September 1915 until
shortly before the opening of the German Spring Offensive in March
1918, when he was promoted to the command of IV Corps; his name is
firmly linked to the 51st.The Division arrived in France in May 1915
and took part in a limited (and unsuccessful) attack in French
Flanders in June 1915, which revealed hardly surprising weaknesses in
training. The next year was spent relatively quietly on the Somme and,
from March 1916, the southern end of Vimy Ridge. Thereafter it fought
on the Somme at High Wood and Beaumont-Hamel, at the Battle of Arras,
at Third Ypres, Cambrai, faced two of the German spring offensives of
1918 and was then involved in the successful series of allied
offensives that ended the war, in the Divisions case starting with an
attack with the French and the Italians in the Champagne in July
1918.No history of the Division has been written since Brewshers in
1921. This book aims to cast a more objective light on its activities
and to challenge its post war critics. It makes full use of official
records and first hand accounts, including those provided by
descendants with previously unpublished family records or
illustrations. The books main purpose is to pay tribute to a
generation that met hitherto unimagined horrors with fortitude,
adaptability, resilience and humour and, despite the awful price in
lives, broken bodies and minds, carried on until the job was done.
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Engine of Destruction
Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9781526747044
Publisert
2020
Utgiver
Independent Publishers Group (Chicago Review Press)
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter