The Battle of Aubers
9-10 May 1915: the Battle of Aubers. A disastrous attack that cost 11,000 British casualties for no material gain: it was a minor supporting operation to a much larger French attack in an action known…
Search Results for Arthur Stanley JONEs 14087
The Battle of Festubert
15-25 May 1915 Inception The battle of Festubert was in effect a second phase of the recently failed attack on Aubers Ridge. The strategic context and why this battle took place are explained on that…
Neglect and disaster at Barnton Posts 7 March 1918
On 4 March 1918, 74 men of “B” Company of the 1/5th Battalion of the South Lancashire Regiment (of 166th Infantry Brigade, 55th (West Lancashire) Division, took over a small group of front line posts….
Evacuation of casualties from the Somme 1916
This article is a summary of the activity of the evacuation of wounded, sick and injured casualties from the Somme sector in the period 24 June to 25 November 1916. My date range is wider…
25th Division
The history of 25th Division This Division was established in September 1914 as part of Army Order 388 authorising Kitchener’s Third New Army, K3. The units of the Division began to assemble in the area…
Actions in the Spring and Summer of 1915 (Western Front)
15 June – 9 August 1915: actions in the Spring and Summer of 1915. Localised operations seeking tactical advantage. After the Battle of Neuve Chapelle, the French high command came to believe that the British…
South African forces in the British Army
In 1902, just twelve years before Great Britain declared war, the armies of Britain and the Boer Republics (Transvaal and Orange Free State) had been fighting each other in the Second Boer War. There had…
Finding soldiers through the 1918 Absent Voters Lists
There was a General Election in Britain in 1918. Details of men in the armed forces who were away from home were named on Absent Voters Lists (see details below and in the article The registration of…
Sir Charles Monro’s Gallipoli Despatch
The first and only Gallipoli Despatch of General Sir Charles Monro, who was sent to replace the sacked Sir Ian Hamilton as Commander in Chief of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. Printed in the Third Supplement…
Two officers killed accidentally by sentry
Several newspapers included details of a tragic story from an inquest held at a Police Court on Monday 25 January 1915. This example is from the “Manchester Evening News”: Harris was charged with causing the death…