Courage Without Glory: The British Army on the Western Front 1915

[paulgranger]

I shall keep an eye out.Tanks for letting us know,harharhar.Sorry.

[Gareth Davies]

Back on topic (isn't it great when the Mods are all away at the conference?), here is a review:

https://www.warhistoryonline.com/reviews/courage-without-glory-review-mark-barnes.html

[Steven Broomfield]

Tanks, what else?

I think the correct answer was

Tanks, what else?

Tanks. what else?

[paulgranger]

Damn that double tap

[Steven Broomfield]

And the 1,000 yard stare.

[Brian Curragh]

There's certainly 14 excellent chapters! I thought I would get that in before my brother comments...

[David Filsell]

My review herewith - I think Courage Without Glory will undoubtedly prove one of my one of the books of the year, and hellion the publisher of the year. There books are not unreasonably priced and the quality seems uniformly high.

Edited by Spencer Jones Courage Without Glory, is the tenth book in the Wolverhampton Military Series. Like the first (the highly acclaimed Stemming the Tide; Officers and Leadership in the British Expeditionary Force in 1914) this new volume draws together essays on key aspects of the British Army's performance during the Great War - this time, 1915, the crucial year which followed the virtual destruction of the original BEF the period before it , capable of mounting serious or effective offensive action.

Fifteen Great War military historians ‘led’ by editor Spence Jones place key aspects of the development and the stuttering and stumbling performance of the BEF in 1915 under the spotlight of latest thinking. Here we see perceptive evaluations of a nation seeking to rebuild its shredded ranks with half trained amateurs, ‘weekend soldiers’ and green officers deal while seeking to cope with the realities of new weaponry, tactics et al to fight what the most the most perceptive recognised as industrialised siege warfare; a new, industrialised, siege warfare.

The authors spread their net wide in their choice of topics to illustrate a year in which the territorial’s and Kitchener volunteers joined the regular divisions and faced a mountain of learning. Editor Spencer Jones leads with a sound evaluation of the realities which the British Army faced in 1915. Essentially the problem was shortage. Shortage of the right numbers of the new weapons of war, skilled officers and fully trained men in the ranks - from guns and ammunition to awareness of the realities of ‘modern’ warfare, of command and of control.

Within the next five chapter/essays, munitions supply, the relations between the fading John French, the ultra competent ‘Wullie’ Robertson and the profoundly ambitious Haig, Horne’s performance as a divisional commander, the growing importance of the RFC, and the role of the Indian Army Cavalry on the Western front are keenly scrutinised. Focus then shifts to evaluation of the BEF’s performance in the hard ‘learning battles’ of 1915. Here the authors reveal the performance of the insufficiently experienced directors, managers, foremen and workers at war within what a growing corporate entity. The adequacies and inexperience became very clear operations examined here at Ypres, Festubert, Loos, Bois Grenier, and the Hohenzollern Redoubt

Without doubt, this is another highly valuable work of evaluation, analysis and historical judgement by writers unwilling to simply retread tired views of British valour and competence. It is to be hoped that similar volumes will cover 1916,17 and 18. Equally, Helion proves my point. It is possible for publishers to produce valuable works of academic standard at sensible prices. (Stemming the Tide, the first book in the series, has I am told proved to be a very ‘big seller’ and has now been reprinted in paperback!)

[Steven Broomfield]

I've been sent another Helion production to review elsewhere, and I fully concur with Mr Filsell's opinion regarding the company's output and the cost of that output.

[Fattyowls]

I've just ordered it based on such glowing testimonials. Inspired by the photo of Gareth's superbly organised work station I will also tidy my desk in readiness........

Pete.

[squirrel]

David's post #32 is spot on - a thoroughly excellent book. Can also recommend "Putty" by Anthony Leask another gem from Helion.

[Guest]

Finally got round to reading this. Not yet finished but on the back of a number of chapters this is a very strong recommendation: Buy.

Some annoying small errors such as claims that Kitchener's Army first saw action at Loos, and that overused expression 'forgotten battle', but overall very well researched. The ususal avalanche of foot notes (a good thing)

[seaforth78]

Finally got round to reading this. Not yet finished but on the back of a number of chapters this is a very strong recommendation: Buy.

Some annoying small errors such as claims that Kitchener's Army first saw action at Loos, and that overused expression 'forgotten battle', but overall very well researched. The ususal avalanche of foot notes (a good thing)

Bought. Thanks.

[Guest]

Surprisingly I found the chapters that I thought I would find the least interesting turned out to be the ones of greatest interest, and vice versa.

The Supply of Munitions to the Army 1915 by John Mason Sneddon and The BEF Takes Off:The Royal Flying Corps 1915 by Peter Hart were by far the most illuminating chapters. I found the battalion focused chapters fell short of my expectations.

British-Indian Army Cavalry: From Mobilisation to the Western front 1915 by Gordon Winton has nearly as much material in the footnotes as there is in the main text.

A sixteenth chapter on the Royal Artillery might have been useful given the transition through ammunition shortages and the need for heavy bombardments prior to major assaults. The outcomes of some of the major set-pieces in 1915 seem to largely hinge on this major factor.

No-one seems to have ever written a decent study of the reinforcements in 1915, particularly the acceleration of Kitchener recruits through training to fill gaps in drafts in early 1915. The quality and training of these men seems to have been a contentious subject throughout 1915 and worthy of some serious study. Most of the focus seems to be on the K1 and K2 shortcomings at Loos but it seems a much broader issue. I recently read some detailed correspondence in the 3rd Div diaries where all battalion COs were asked their opinions. Most were unimpressed with drafts in late 1915.... a period that coincided with dramatically reduced reserves, falling recruitment and serious considerations on conscription.

[stiletto_33853]

Martin,

The 3rd Division C.O.'s note you refer to are very interesting and I would agree that some serious study there would be a good thing.

Courage Without Glory is a very good read and well put together. David's review is very accurate, a book that once started I could not put down, thoroughly recommended.

Andy

[SpencerJ]

Hello!

I was recently alerted by an undergraduate that Courage without Glory was under discussion on this forum, and I could not resist dropping in to see what the opinions were. I’m delighted to see that they are favourable. The book was a labour of love and I was lucky to work with some excellent contributors.

The final line up for the book went through several revisions. Oddly enough, both a study of the K1/K2 reinforcements and a study of the Royal Artillery were included in the chapter list in the earliest drafts. Unfortunately, in both cases the original contributor had to pull out and so the work did not see the light of day.

For those of you who have read and enjoyed the book I would ask a humble favour: please consider posting a review on Amazon.co.uk. A short Amazon review is a boon for any author. In our my case, it helps raise the profile of the book and most importantly, it helps ensure the Helion/University of Wolverhampton series will continue (and continue to expand!)

For those who may be interested, the next volume in the edited series will cover Gallipoli and will be edited by Michael LoCicero and Rhys Crawley (the latter is author of Climax at Gallipoli). It will contain a whopping 20 chapters rather than the usual 15 and should be out by the end of this year. I am also working on a 'British Army on the Western Front 1916' volume which will follow next year.

Spencer

[Gareth Davies]

Welcome to the GWF Spencer!

[Fattyowls]

Hi Spencer, I've dipped into a couple of chapters so far and liked it a lot. Interesting that your undergraduates frequent the forum.

Pete.

P.S. Is your avatar from 7 Samurai?

[Guest]

Hello!

I was recently alerted by an undergraduate that Courage without Glory was under discussion on this forum, and I could not resist dropping in to see what the opinions were. I’m delighted to see that they are favourable. The book was a labour of love and I was lucky to work with some excellent contributors.

The final line up for the book went through several revisions. Oddly enough, both a study of the K1/K2 reinforcements and a study of the Royal Artillery were included in the chapter list in the earliest drafts. Unfortunately, in both cases the original contributor had to pull out and so the work did not see the light of day.

For those of you who have read and enjoyed the book I would ask a humble favour: please consider posting a review on Amazon.co.uk. A short Amazon review is a boon for any author. In our my case, it helps raise the profile of the book and most importantly, it helps ensure the Helion/University of Wolverhampton series will continue (and continue to expand!)

For those who may be interested, the next volume in the edited series will cover Gallipoli and will be edited by Michael LoCicero and Rhys Crawley (the latter is author of Climax at Gallipoli). It will contain a whopping 20 chapters rather than the usual 15 and should be out by the end of this year. I am also working on a 'British Army on the Western Front 1916' volume which will follow next year.

Spencer

Hi Spencer

Any chance of seeing a list of Gallipoli chapters? Please tell me it includes 13th Div......

MG

[alantwo]

Spencer

A 'whole' chapter in the new Gallipoli book on the Royal Artillery would be most welcome.

Regards

Alan

[SpencerJ]

Welcome to the GWF Spencer!

Many thanks!

Hi Spencer, I've dipped into a couple of chapters so far and liked it a lot. Interesting that your undergraduates frequent the forum.

Pete.

P.S. Is your avatar from 7 Samurai?

Delighted that are you enjoying it so far. Well spotted - my avatar is indeed from The Seven Samurai!

Hi Spencer

Any chance of seeing a list of Gallipoli chapters? Please tell me it includes 13th Div......

MG

Of course. I'll make a seperate post on this topic.

[Steven Broomfield]

Alert: just had an e-mail from Naval & Military Press - they have 100 99 copies available at £12.99 + P&P.

 

Click

[Marc Thompson]

Currently enjoying reading this book.

 

One minor error that I have noted is that the photograph on page 316 is incorrectly titled '2nd Lancashire Fusiliers in canal bank trenches June 1915'. This image is taken from a bundle of photographs (ref DD\SLI/15/7/16) in the Somerset Light Infantry archive. The original is inscribed 'International Sap Boesinghe' on the back and is definitely 1st Somerset Light Infantry.

 

Marc

[SpencerJ]

On 26/07/2016 at 19:03, Marc Thompson said:

Currently enjoying reading this book.

 

One minor error that I have noted is that the photograph on page 316 is incorrectly titled '2nd Lancashire Fusiliers in canal bank trenches June 1915'. This image is taken from a bundle of photographs (ref DD\SLI/15/7/16) in the Somerset Light Infantry archive. The original is inscribed 'International Sap Boesinghe' on the back and is definitely 1st Somerset Light Infantry.

 

Marc

 

Thank you Marc: I will ensure the caption is corrected for future editions.

[Steven Broomfield]

On ‎30‎/‎06‎/‎2016 at 12:40, Steven Broomfield said:

Alert: just had an e-mail from Naval & Military Press - they have 100 99 copies available at £12.99 + P&P.

 

Click

 

Now here's a thing. I have just had another e-mail from the same company indicating thay they have 100 copies on sale at ... wait for it ... £12.99 & P+P.

 

Is it me that's a cynic?

[squirrel]

Cynical perhaps but maybe they have just been clearing out the odd corner or two in the warehouse?