Roger H Posted 13 March , 2009 Share Posted 13 March , 2009 Can anyone recommend any reading in respect of The 3 battles of Scarpe? Do any of the Battleground Europe series cover these at all? In particular I am interested in the 34th Division (1st battle), 63rd Division (2nd battle) and 31st Division (3rd battle) as these are the divisions that the 311th Brigade RFA were attached to at the relevant times. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 13 March , 2009 Share Posted 13 March , 2009 Cheerful Sacrifice, I eblieve, is about this group of battles. I think the author's name is Nichols, but as I don't actually have the book I'm stumbling in the dark. Others will chip in and prove me wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulgranger Posted 13 March , 2009 Share Posted 13 March , 2009 As Steve said 'Cheerful Sacrifice' by Jonathan Nicholls. Also 'Vimy Ridge' by Alexander McKee, and 'Vimy' by Pierre Breton, both with a strong Canadian slant, and 'The Blood Tub' by Jonathan Walker, covering the Bullecourt battles, with a strong Australian slant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimSmithson Posted 13 March , 2009 Share Posted 13 March , 2009 Roger The Battleground Arras series consists of: Vimy Ridge by Nigel Cave - covers not only the Canadians but all the fighting 1915 to 1917 The Battle for Vimy Ridge by Jack Sheldon & Nigel Cave - focused on the 1917 attack with a lot of German material care of Jack Gavrelle by Trevor Tasker & Kyle Tallert - the taking of Gavrelle and subsequent battles, lots of 63rd material here. Oppy Wood by David Bilton Bullecourt by Graham Keech Monchy le Preux byColin Fox All are very focused on elements of the battles, apart from the Vimy books mainly after 9th April. Finally there is Walking Arras by Paul Reed which is an invaluable guide if you visit the area as well as good armchair reading to get a feel for the 1917 battles. Apart from Cheerful Sacrifice and the Official History 1917 Part 1 there is very little material covering the general battles. There are some French books by Jacques and Duclos which do form one English version "Somewhere on the Western Front": Arras 1914-18, published 2003; these are mainly aimed at an archaeological audience but do hold some interesting material. With the posts above and those here you have, I think, almost the whole literature of that period. If someone has more I have some reading to do. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger H Posted 14 March , 2009 Author Share Posted 14 March , 2009 Many thanks everyone. Helpful as always! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matthew lucas Posted 14 March , 2009 Share Posted 14 March , 2009 also don't forget the official history, a must for anyone looking at arras matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now