Decisive Victory - The Battle of The Sambre 4 November 1918

[Guest]

I dont know if anybody has seen this book which was written by Derek Clayton and published this summer.

The book details the last large scale battle fought by the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front.  It contains excerpts from the original war diaries, as well as detailed maps,  and is well illustrated throughout.  It appears to be the only book devoted solely to this Battle, and is of particular interest to me, as one of my ancestors  2nd Lieutenant Leslie Jack Field of the 8th Battalion Royal Berkshire Regiment lost his life on 4th November 1918, and is buried in Neuville Road Cemetery,  Montay. 

[Robert Dunlop]

Yes, I have read this book. It is a very useful review of the Battle of the Sambre from the perspective of British and Dominion forces' war diaries. There are lots of details around the planning and execution of the attacks. These are broken down into divisional sectors from north to south respectively. The maps are excellent but, as with any book of this type covering a large battle, it takes some effort to keep track of what happened where and when. This is not a criticism in any way of the author, whose style makes for an easy read in all other respects. He covers the various arms that were involved, with particular focus on the infantry, artillery and tanks.

 

I have studied many of the German regimental histories for this battle. These provide additional insights from a German perspective, which would have been useful in rounding out the analysis. That said, this is the best book on an oft-neglected but highly significant battle in the Last 100 Days.

 

Robert

[Curmo]

My review for the WFA: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CBbijS1NsN-KgjlzM30qH80TR3MetAif/view?usp=drivesdk