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The British Army First World War Battlefield Guide Volume 1 The Western Front

afwwbg_coverThe British Army First World War Battlefield Guide should be the background reading for any battlefield study to the western Front.  It has been edited by retried major general Mungo Melvin, one of the leading practitioners in the art of the staff ride.

He has drawn on the resources of the British Commission for Military  History, of which he is currently the Secretary General.  The  contributors are from across the spectrum of contemporary British military history, illustrated by Barbara Taylor.

This has been made widely available for the officers and NCOs accompanying the  schools centenary programme.

An electronic version is available here.

Contents

Preface Lord Astor of Hever
Foreword Sir Hew Strachan
Introduction Mungo Melvin
The Principal Commanders, 1914-1918
Introduction to the Second Edition Mungo Melvin

The Battles

1. The Battle of Mons, 23 August 1914   Mungo Melvin
2. The Battle of Le Cateau, 26 August 1914 Spencer Jones
3. The First Battle of the Marne, 5-12 September 1914 Tim Gale
4. The First Battle of the Aisne, 12 September — 15 October 1914 Frank Baldwin
5. The First Battle of Ypres, 19 October — 22 November 1914 John Lee
6. The Battle of Neuve Chapelle, 10-12 March 1915 Michael Orr
7. The Second Battle of Ypres, 22 April- 25 May 1915 John Lee
8. The Battles of Aubers Ridge and Festubert, 9 & 16-27 May 1915 Michael Orr
9. The Second and Third Battles of Artois, 9 May- 18 June & 25 September-15 October 1915 Christophe Gue
10. The Battle of Loos, 25 September — 15 October 1915 Michael Orr
11. The Battle ofVerdun, 21 February — 20 December 1916 Frank Baldwin
12. The Battle of the Somme, 1 July — 18 November 1916 John Ross
13. The Battle of Arras, 9 April- 16 May 1917, John Peaty
14. The Second Battle of the Aisne (the Nivelle Offensive), 16 April-9May 1917 Frank Baldwin
15. The Battle of Messines, 7-14 June 1917 Edward Madigan
16. The Third Battle ofYpres (Passchendaele) 31 July — 20 November 1917 Jeremy Pughe-Morgan
17. The Battle of la Malmaison, 17-25 October 1917 Christophe Gue
18. The Battle of Cambrai, 20 November — 6 December 1917 Charles Messenger
19. Operation MICHAEL, 21 March — 5 April 1918 David T. Zabecki
20. Operation GEORGETTE (The Battle of the Lys), 9-29 April 1918 David T. Zabecki
21. The First Tank vs. Tank Action in History, Villers-Bretonneux, 24 April 1918 Geoffrey Vesey Holt
22. Operation BLUCHER (The Third Battle of the Aisne), 27 May — 5 June 1918 David T. Zabecki
23. The Battle of Belleau Wood, 6-26 June 1918 David T. Zabecki
24. The Battle of le Hamel, 4 July 1918 Geoffrey Vesey Holt
25. The Second Battle of the Marne, 15 July — 6 August 1918 Tim Gale
26. The Battle of Amiens, 8-11 August 1918 Gary Sheffeld
27. The Meuse Argonne Offensive, 26 September — 11 November 1918 Douglas Mastriano
28. The Battles for the Hindenburg Line, 27 September — 9 October 1918 Jonathan Boff

Supporting Essays

29. The Royal Navy and the First World War Stephen Prince
30. The First World War — A Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA) and the Birth of the Modern Style ofWarfare Jonathan Bailey
31. The Development of Air Power, 1914-1918 Seb Cox
32. The Development of Artillery on the Western Front James Cook
33. Tanks in the First World War David Fletcher
34. The Development of Military Engineering on the Western Front Michael Crawshaw
35. Mapping and Survey on the Western Front John Peaty
36. Logistic and Medical Support on the Western Front Alistair McC|uskey
37. A Brief Overview of British Communications on the Western Front Bob Evans
38. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission Colin Kerr