Search results for 1916.

The Somme: The Epic Battle in the Soldiers’ own Words and Photographs

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By Richard van Emden Pen and Sword, 2016, £20.00 hb, £11.99 pb and £15.00 e–book, 355pp, fully illustrated throughout, index. ISBN: 9–781– 473–855–21 2 Review by Barbara Taylor   Richard van Emden is an ‘everyman’ author. He has published many titles that need no repetition here. His work is very popular and it seems that this book is an almo…


The Imperial War Museum Book of the Somme

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Book Review by Bob Butcher. It was with a certain feeling of 'We've been here before' that I opened this book, afterall, had not so many already explored the Somme from every angle? Moreover I am not too keen on books consisting largely of personal accounts, valuable though these may be. Nonetheless I had not turned many pages before I became engr…


106: July 2016 Special Edition

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The Somme and Beyond: The BEF on the Western Front 1916-1918

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The British Army’s Experience on the Western Front 1916-1918 Written by Peter Simkins ISBN 978 1 78159 312 7 254pp. Maps. Praetorian Press, Barnsley, 2014 WFA members will welcome this book of essays from our President. They are, in effect, a synthesis of a lifetime of deep study of the British Army’s performance on the Western Front. In Everym…


'The Battle of Fromelles' by Niall Cherry'

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Niall Cherry will be giving a talk on the Battle of Fromelles. Image: a German strongpoint in the Fromelles salient, July 1916. 


The golden locket, the hidden grave and the forgotten soldier : Ireland April 1916

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On Easter Monday, 24 April 1916, as the independent Irish Republic was being declared from the steps of the General Post Office in Sackville Street (now O' Connell St), Dublin, Ireland, a young British army officer was preparing to go on duty. Lieutenant Guy Vickery Pinfield was twenty-one years old and was a rugby-playing, former student of Cambr…


Video: Four veterans remember the Battle of the Somme

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The documentary below was produced in 1991 and featured four veterans reminiscing about their time on the Somme in 1916. The veterans featured were Tom Bromley, Alf Razzell, Sid Lovell and Donald Hodge. Although the picture quality is not great, we thought members may enjoy watching this video.  As will be seen in the end credits, The Western Fro…


Ep. 41 – The Canadians on the Somme – Dr William Stewart

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Dr William Stewart talks about his latest book, published by Helion and Co, that examines the Canadian forces contribution, experience and performance during the Battle of the Somme.


Ep. 84 – The British Army on the Western Front in 1916 – Dr Spencer Jones

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Scholar and author Dr Spencer Jones from the University of Wolverhampton talks about his new book, At All Costs, which looks at the British Army on the Western Front in 1916. This is published by Helion and Co.


Ep. 142 – The Battle of the Somme Film – Dr Toby Haggith

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Dr Toby Haggith, Senior Curator, Department of Second World War and Mid-20th Century Conflict, Imperial War Museum, talks about his research into the 1916 Battle of the Somme Film.


Ep. 152 – Defence of Trinity College during the Easter Rising – Dr Rory Sweetman

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Dr Rory Sweetman, of the Centre for Scottish and Irish Studies at the University of Otago, New Zealand talks about his recent book on the defence of Trinity College Dublin during the Easter Rising in 1916. This is published by Four Courts Press.


The Battle of Jutland : May 1916

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Of the countless acts of gallantry took place during the First World War, only a small proportion were recognised with the Victoria Cross.  Many of those who were awarded the VC were not out of their teens, for example Thomas Ricketts of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment earned his in 1918 when aged 17. The youngest winner of the VC in the Great War…


The Battle of Jutland: A Boy Telegraphist : 31 May 1916

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On 31 May 1916 the largest naval battle of the First World War took place off the coast Denmark. the Battle of Jutland is now easily the most remembered of the First World War naval engagements. HMS Queen Mary put to sea with the rest of the Battlecruiser Fleet to intercept a sortie by the High Seas Fleet into the North Sea. The British had bee…


2 August 1916 : 292 L/Cpl Stephen Henry (Harry) Horrocks

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Harry was the son of Henry Horrocks and Mary Ann.  The family had emigrated from Lancashire to Australia and lived at Palmyra, Forrest Street, Freemantle in Western Australia.  Stephen wasa mill hand before the war. He enlisted in Perth, 2 March 1915 and attended a medical in Bunbury on the same day. His service record states that he was 5…


Ep. 176 – 1 million rounds from a Vickers’ gun in 12 hours: myth or truth? Dr Rich Willis & Richard Fisher

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Dr Rich Willis and Richard Fisher, Founder and Director of the Vickers Machine Gun Research Association, talk about their research into the legend that ten guns of the 100th Machine Gun Company in August 1916 fired off 1,000,000 rounds in a twelve-hour period throughout fighting at High Wood during the Battle of the Somme. …


ONLINE: “ I Shall Hope To Try an Officer and at least One Corporal for Cowardice” -Michael Le Cicero ZOOM

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'I Shall Hope To Try an Officer and at least One Corporal for Cowardice' with Michael Le Cicero 1916 was a pivotal year for the British Army. It was a year of intense combat that was defined by the Battle of the Somme and the appalling casualties of the 1st July 1916. Yet it was also the year in which the British Army began to master industrial wa…


"The Somme, 1916" by Dr Rodney Attwood

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Dr Rodney Atwood is a graduate of the McMaster University, Canada and Churchill College, Cambridge. He served in the Royal Tank Regiment before pursuing an academic career. He has written extensively on the military history of the British Empire and his most recent book was a biography of General Rawlinson. Please note that this talk replaces any …


Guillemont, 3 September 1916 Tactics and Insights

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‘Not a Single Blade of Grass...’ by Sebastian Laudan [This article first appeared in Stand To! No.106 July 2016 Special Edition]. In 1926 Oberstleutnant aD (Lieutenant Colonel, retired) Wilhelm Nau published the last volume of a series of books covering the participation of the infantry regiment he had been serving with in Belgium and France thro…


'The Summer of Madness : 1916' with Peter Hart

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Author and Historian Peter Hart will give a talk on 'The Summer of Madness on the Somme 1916'. All welcome. Peter Hart is a British military historian and an oral historian at the IWM Sound Archive  since 1981. He has written extensively on the British role in the First World War. His books include; The Somme, Jutland 1916, Bloody April (on the ai…


Michael O’Brien - 'There were no neutrals in the Trenches'

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In this talk Michael O'Brien will give an account of those American citizens who died fighting in the British Army during the Somme Campaign from July to November 1916. Members and non-members of The Western Front Association are equally welcome. Any new visitors are guaranteed a friendly atmosphere and a warm welcome from a group of like-minded e…


A talk by Christina Holstein 'Verdun: The Left Bank'

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Christina Holstein is a leading authority on the Battle of Verdun. For many years she lived close to the battlefield and has explored it in great detail. She regularly conducts tours of the battlefield for individuals or groups and, with her specialized knowledge of the terrain, has acted as consultant to a number of other historians, TV producer…


A talk by Peter Hart 'Somme Success. The Royal Flying Corps and the Battle of the Somme'

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(Image IWM 05153 aircraft approaching the airfield at Baisieux, Somme)   Peter Hart needs little introduction to WFA members.  He has been speaking at branches for over twenty years and has visited us in Canterbury no fewer than nine times. However, he has eighteen talks in his list, so we are only half way through! He is also well known for hi…


Stuart Hadaway - 'Sinai Campaign 1916'

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Based in part on Stuart's book 'Pyramids and Fleshpots: The Egyptian, Senussi and Eastern Mediterranean Campaigns, 1914-16', this talk looks in detail at the realities of desert warfare and campaigning, covering the action at Qatia, the Battle of Romani, and the actions at Rafah and El Magdhaba. Members and non-members of The Western Front Associa…


"Gommecourt Revisited"

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The meeting is an opportunity for members and guests to rewrite history of the fateful diversionary attack upon the German held village of Gommecourt on the 1st July 1916. Divided into small groups the evening will be structured so that agreed plans can be re-enacted upon a mapping table leading up to the 'big push' of the 46th and 56th Division. W…


Ep.287 – The Bucks village of Lee in the First World War – Dr Michael Senior

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Dr Michael Senior, who has a lifelong interest in the First World War and has devoted much of his retirement to research, lecturing and writing about aspects of the Western Front.  Your browser does not support the audio element. In this Men…


'Gommecourt, 1st July 1916 through the eyes of the 'Robin Hoods'' with Jonathan d'Hooge

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Jonathan d'Hooge will be giving a talk on Gommecourt, 1st July 1916 through the eyes of the 'Robin Hoods'.  Image: Official Photographs taken on the Front in France, a German front line trench before Gommecourt (15560801016) UBC Library digitisation centre. 


Branch Event: 'Jig-a-jig Tommy'

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Bruce Cherry is an author, tour guide and former university lecturer with a PhD in military history. Amongst other titles is his book ’They Didn't Want to Die Virgins; a study of Sex and Morale on the Western Front'. Bruce’s talk includes the British Army’s attitude toward sex, the soldier’s moral code, army morale, and the sexual lives of troops o…


Somme Anniversary

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Branch members will tell the stories of soldiers with a connection to the Somme campaign in 1916. Stories will include local men and family connections.