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Robert Bacon — Life And Letters [Illustrated Edition]
By Field-Marshal Earl Haig, Elihu Root, James Brown Scott. 2013
Numerous portraits, prints and photographs throughout.Robert Bacon stands as one of the pivotal figures in the United States around the…
turn of the Twentieth Century. A native of Massachusetts, he graduated from Harvard before becoming a senior figure at J.P. Morgan & Co, instrumental in brokering the deals that formed the U.S. Steel Corporation and the Northern Securities Company. Following a brief period of inactivity, he was named Assistant Secretary of State in 1905, a position he held until 1909. He was even acting Secretary of State in the absence of Elihu Root (who wrote the introduction to this book). After this, he was posted to the vital role of Ambassador to France in Paris as the storm clouds of the First World War started to appear, and, following a brief spell back in America, returned to work with the American Ambulance Service in France in 1914.Once America had committed to military involvement in the First World War, Bacon held various senior positions on General Pershing's staff. His post as Chief of the American Military Mission at British General Headquarters brought him into contact with Field Marshal Haig (who wrote a foreword to this book) and many of the other British generals.On Two Fronts - Being The Adventures Of An Indian Mule Corps In France And Gallipoli
By Major Heber Maitland Alexander. 2013
Men from all around the far reaches of the British Empire flooded into the ranks of the British army for…
the titanic struggle against Germany and her allies during the First World War. Ghurkhas from Nepal, Men of the Punjab, Rajputs, Dogras and Pathans volunteered to fight in the Indian regiments destined for service across the wide oceans in Europe. The men found warm comradeship with the Tommies who fought beside them, cold climates in Flanders and Belgium, and hellishly hot fighting against the enemy.Major Maitland was an officer in the Indian Army attached to the supply corps bringing vital arms, ammunition and food to the front-line. The job was certainly not a sinecure as the supply depots were often not out of range of the enemy's guns, particularly at Gallipoli. He tells his story with great detail, probably based on a diary or notes that he took at the time. His book is particularly interesting regarding the hellish conditions at Gallipoli - in fact, so interesting that the official Australian Government Anzac site quotes from his book.Essential reading.In The Firing Line: Stories Of The War By Land And Sea
By A St John Adcock. 2013
Arthur St. John Adcock was a novelist and poet of great repute in the early decades of the twentieth century.…
A noted journalist on Fleet Street, his great experience and literary acumen were ideal qualifications to produce this anthology volume of war stories from the frontlines of the First World War. Weaving the letters, diaries and reminiscences of the eye-witnesses, soldiers and officers who fought during the opening months of the war, he covers the battles around Mons, the destruction of Louvain, the fighting at Ypres and the first battle of the Marne and naval engagements in the North Sea.Well worth a read.The German Pirate; His Methods And Record
By Ajax. 2013
The conflict at sea during the First World War was as tense and gripping as the battles on land; as…
the Allies fought the German Armies in France, the Royal Navy sought out the German Kriegsmarine on the High Seas for a decisive engagement. The German Navy was outnumbered and outgunned, and so sought to avoid fleet actions and concentrate on commerce raiding across the globe. If they could sink the lighter armed oilers, troop ships, and merchant vessels, they could force the British to the sue for peace as their sea-borne commerce dried up. However, the ships and submarines could not always distinguish between British targets and those of neutrals; the German Navy gained a reputation for ruthlessness in interpreting the rules of war. There was much indignation from the British for acts of Teutonic 'Beastliness' on the waves and hence this book detailing the cases of German misconduct and brutality. The Author, although he wrote under a pseudonym, was clearly a man of much naval experience and describes the engagements with great detail and passion.Winged Warfare - Hunting The Huns In The Air [Illustrated Edition]
By Major Billy Bishop V.C. D.S.O. M.C.. 2013
[Illustrated with 17 additional photos of the author and the machines he flew and fought against]As a young Billy Bishop…
looking up into the sky above his Canadian trench in July 1915, a passing Royal Flying Corps aircraft was returning home from patrol. He was envious and said to whoever was listening "...it's clean up there! I'll bet you don't get any mud or horse **** on you up there. If you die, at least it would be a clean death.". Struck by his sudden epiphany he requested a transfer to the Royal Flying Corps, it was a momentous decision, for within the next three years Bishop would claim 72 victories over his German opponents, making him the highest scoring British Empire air ace of the First World War.A National Hero in his native Canada, he was awarded a V.C. for conspicuous services - the citation read:"For most conspicuous bravery, determination, and skill. Captain Bishop,...[On his own] flew first of all to an enemy aerodrome; finding no machines about, he flew on to another aerodrome...which was at least 12 miles the other side of the line. Seven machines....were on the ground. He attacked these from about fifty feet...One of the machines got off the ground, but at a height of 60 feet, Captain Bishop fired 15 rounds into it at very close range, and it crashed to the ground. A second machine got off the ground, into which he fired 30 rounds at 150 yards range, and it fell into a tree. Two more machines then rose from the aerodrome. One of these he engaged at a height of 1,000 feet, emptying the rest of his drum of ammunition. This machine crashed 300 yards from the aerodrome, after which Captain Bishop emptied a whole drum into the fourth hostile machine, and then flew back to his station. Four hostile scouts were about 1,250 feet above him for about a mile of his return journey, but they would not attack. His machine was very badly shot about by machine gun fire from the ground."A fine memoir from an Air Ace legend.A Crusader Of France: The Letters Of Captain Ferdinand Belmont Of The Chasseurs Alpins (August 2, 1914-December 28, #1915)
By George Frederic Lees, Captain Ferdinand Belmont. 2013
The Chasseurs Alpins, trained to fight in the mountains that border France, were and are to this day considered among…
the elite of the French Army. It was in the mountains of the Alsace region during the First World War that Captain Ferdinand Belmont fell prey to German fire. He was a soldier of rare ability fighting, decorated with the Légion d'Honneur and mentioned in despatches three times, but does not truly paint the picture of the man. A doctor by profession, he volunteered for front-line service along with his brother and was described by his superiors only in the most glowing terms as both a man and a soldier. In his letters home, Captain Belmont provides a detailed and rich picture of his men, full of the thoughtful musings of an educated man on the strains of war. His encounters with the enemy were fairly numerous and are detailed from his first clashes on the Somme up to the mountain fighting in the Vosges, with not a little venom directed at his German foe. During the bitter struggles for the mountain peak at Hartmannswillerkopf, he and his men suffered heavy casualties, and during a barrage, Captain Belmont was wounded by a shell splinter that took off his right arm, a wound that proved fatal.The Cannoneers Have Hairy Ears: A Diary Of The Front Lines
By Anon.. 2013
An American Captain tells the story of his unit of artillery in the Front Lines of the Western front through…
the battles of St Mihiel and the Argonne to the ceasefire.An acclaimed classic account of an American Officer whose battery fought bravely as part of the American Expeditionary Forces in 1918. The unedited journal, which was kept by the author on his person at all times, is a gem of reportage filled with scenes that vividly portray the battle front and at times the sheer brutality of war. His unit were cited for their accurate and deadly work with their French-made 75 mm. guns, and despite the unit not often being more than 1000 yards away from the trenchlines the efficiency of the battery allowed the author time to write. Not polished or damaged by post-war editing the author's diary retains its freshness and immediacy of the shell-torn trenches of the French countryside."Diary, August--November 1918, of a U.S. Field Artillery unit--75mm guns--attached to the 33rd Division. One of the best American artillery accounts" - p. 120, Edward Lengel, World War I Memories, 2004, The Scarecrow Press, Lanham Maryland, Toronto, Oxford.Voyage Of The Deutschland, The First Merchant Submarine
By Kapitänleutnant Paul König. 2013
The arrival of the submarine Deutschland in the harbour of New York in July of 1916 produced one of the…
sensation of the year. How had a U-Boat sailed all the way from Germany to the United States evading all of the counter-measures of the might Royal Navy and the even the U.S. coastal defences? The captain of the Deutschland, Paul König, was feted as a national hero in Germany and was lauded by those of German extraction in New York.He wrote this memoir of his famed journey from the inland waters of Germany all the way to the United States, it is filled with the dangers of the nascent submarine, in particular the fumes and heat of the diving compartment. Notable also the U-Boat had come as a merchantman, meaning that König was unarmed for combat and could only rely on deception to fulfill his mission to outwit his enemies.Author -- Kapitänleutnant Paul König (1867-1933)Text taken, whole and complete, from the edition published in New York, Hearst's international library co., 1916.Original Page Count - xii and 247 pages.The German General Staff And Its Decisions, 1914-1916
By General Erich von Falkenhayn, Anon Anon. 2013
Having had a long and distinguished military career, in 1914 General Erich von Falkenhayn assumed the post as chief of…
the German General Staff in the middle of the First World War. The German position was at a crisis point, the initial plan to win the war by a wide out-flanking movement through Belgium had been foiled; a new plan would have to decided on. In the West, increasing numbers of British troops poured to the Front; in the East, the ambitious team of generals Hindenburg and Ludendorff pushed for reinforcements to finally beat the Russians. Falkenhayn decided that significant efforts must be made in the Western theatre and came up with a brutal plan to decide the war: he conceived the idea of besieging the historic French city of Verdun in early 1916, of "bleeding it white", as he phrased it. He planned to draw the bulk of the French army into the Verdun salient, thus effectively tying up the French army, and then to methodically destroy them with concentrated artillery fire. The plan failed only by valiant sacrifices and fighting by the French and pressure applied by their allies in other sectors, not least the British effort during the battle of the Somme. Falkenhayn was thereafter removed from his supreme post and would fight on other front in charge of smaller forces.His memoirs of the period of his command are illuminating and give an insight of what was going on "on the other side of the hill" during the First World War.Author -- General von Falkenhayn, Erich, 1861-1922.Translator -- AnonText taken, whole and complete, from the edition published in London, Hutchinson 1919. Original Page Count - 299 pages.A Canadian Soldier
By Lt. Colonel George Harold Baker M.P.. 2013
Lt.-Col. Baker was born into a family with a long history of service to Canada: his father had served in…
the Provincial Legislature or the Dominion Parliament for over forty years. Colonel Baker, a man of many interests, undertook law at McGill University and was called to the Bar in 1900. After a successful career, which included a stint as a member of Parliament, his military career started in the cavalry gazetted as a provisional lieutenant in the 6th Hussars, and by 1913 he was Lt.-Colonel of the 13th Scottish Light Dragoons. With the gathering of the clouds over Europe, Colonel Baker steeled himself for field service and responded to a toast to his health: "my aim is to win, if possible, the confidence of my men and to leave the rest to circumstance and the turn of events."His military career was to be of great merit but short in duration, like many of his comrades-in-arms who travelled from the furthest Dominions to Flanders Fields. His story is told in his collection of letters, and a copy of the despatch that memorialises his death; but suffice to say that they are a telling recollection of an upright, honourable soldier, loved by his men, conscientious to his duty, who lay down his life for his country.Author -- Lt. Colonel George Harold Baker M.P. d. 1916Text taken, whole and complete, from the edition privately published.Original Page Count - 83Illustrations -- 3 PortraitsMy Experiences In The World War – Vol. I [Illustrated Edition] (My Experiences In the World War #1)
By General of the Armies John Joseph Pershing. 2013
The Pulitzer prize has been the sought after goal of many thousands of writers ever since it was first awarded…
in 1917. In 1932, the Pulitzer in the history category was awarded to General John "Black Jack" Pershing for his two volume memoirs spanning his time in command of the American Forces in World War One. Given that Pershing should receive such an illustrious prize in the literary arena outside of his army career was a just testament to his multi-faceted and outstanding talents. As the First World War raged into its fourth year, the lifeblood of the Allied forces on the Western Front laid spilt on the fields of Northern France and Flanders. Their only hope in facing the German onslaught lay in the newly mobilized American forces, who had joined the struggle against the central powers in Germany and Austro-Hungary. It would take a commander of towering strength, firm loyalty, and iron determination to change the small American peacetime army into the millions strong wartime colossus it was to become. Such a man was John "Black Jack" Pershing.AS he took command, Pershing was faced with four almightily difficult challenges to overcome in order to achieve success; the first to turn the raw American Doughboys into an army, trained in the new tactics of the industrial carnage of the Western Front. Secondly, to ship enough men, and supplies across the U-boat infested Atlantic to create such an army. Thirdly, to keep his allies hands off American manpower that became trained and ready for battle, they should fight under American flags and American leaders. It was only once the first three huge challenges were overcome could he think about his fourth, how his new troops could fight and beat the battle-hardened German army: but fight and beat them they did!A Pulitzer Prize winning classic!With The French Flying Corps [Illustrated Edition]
By Carroll Dana Winslow. 2013
"Petite bleu to pilote-a young American's flight into warThe author of this book, Dana Winslow, was a young American in…
Paris as France recruited men to fight the invading German forces of the Kaiser at the outbreak of the First World War. Feeling strongly for the plight and cause of the French, he immediately went to Les Invalides and there enlisted in the French Flying Corps as a trainee pilot. This vital first hand account is an essential source work of the period which reveals the training of the earliest French military aviators of the great conflict on the Western Front and it follows Winslow on his 'rite of passage' from inexperienced civilian, to lowly and little regarded aeronautical student (petit bleu) through his first perilous days in the combat zone to his time as an experienced and much prized pilote in the hostile skies over the trenches of the front lines. As may be expected, Winslow takes us to his war of dogfights, mid-air collisions, artillery spotting and reconnaissance in vivid-if humbly recounted-detail. Winslow's book is especially valuable as an insight into the variety of aircraft employed by the French during his time with them and he provides useful details as to their construction, abilities, applications and flying characteristics such-as those of the peculiar 'cut down' Bleriot that was 'the Penguin.' He also gives an interesting view of the business of military flying in wartime, which he distinguishes as entirely separate from piloting, as he describes it, as a mere 'conductor.' Accounts of battling in the air during the Great War are not common, so this volume is, of course, a welcome addition to their limited number and will be of interest to everyone interested in the subject."--Leonaur Print Version.Author -- Winslow, Carroll Dana.Text taken, whole and complete, from the edition published in New York, C. Scribner's sons, 1917.Original Page Count - xi and 226 pagesIllustration -- 15 illustrations."The adventures of a renowned American fighter pilot-in his own wordsAfter initially enlisting as an ambulance driver during the Great…
War, American born Wellman transferred into the French Foreign Legion. By the end of 1917 he had earned his wings as a fighter pilot and had joined N. 87 escadrille of the Lafayette Flying Corps. The 'Black Cats' flew Nieuport 'pursuit' aircraft-first 17s and latterly 24s. Wellman named his own plane Celia-after his mother. In his career as a fighter pilot Wellman chalked up three confirmed 'kills' and five 'probables' before eventually being shot down by German anti-aircraft fire in March 1918. He was awarded the Croix de Guerre with two palms. Due to his crash injury he was invalided out of French service and returned to the United States where he began a highly regarded career as a film director. This book, published in 1918, recounts Wellman's wartime experiences while they were still fresh in the mind, as such it is an invaluable first-hand account of the aerial war over the Western Front from the first days of air combat. Recommended."--Leonaur Print VersionAuthor -- Wellman, William Augustus, 1896-1975Text taken, whole and complete, from the edition published in Boston, The Page company, 1918Original Page Count - 284 pagesIllustration -- 16 illustrations.Plane Tales From The Sky
By Wing Adjutant. 2013
"Air Combat over the trenches by those who foughtThe first-hand accounts of the experiences of men in time of war…
always make fascinating reading. Their stories are, of course, always as varied as the individuals concerned and the eras to which they belonged, whether they were soldiers, sailors or airmen, the branch of their service, their nationalities, the conflict in which they were participants and in which theatre they fought. This is what makes military history so fascinating. Sometimes many men report a common experience that abided for decades. Occasionally we hear, across time, the voices of a few notable men who fought their own war in their own special way and once their time had past history would never know their like again. That is especially true of the pilots of the First World war. The machinery of flight was a new technology. The aircraft were raw, basic, flimsy and unproven machines and both they and the brave men who piloted them were fighting their first conflict while learning and evolving their skills and equipment, quite literally, as they fought and died. The dogfight days of the early biplanes, triplanes and early mono winged fighters would be short, but their images together with those of the iconic airships which they ultimately destroyed will remain indelibly imprinted on the history of conflict and the development of man's mastery of the air. Heroes to a man, these trailblazers were almost always young, carefree, well-educated and modest young men full of the joy of living and commitment to their aircraft and to flying."-Leonaur Print VersionAuthor -- Wing Adjutant (Pseud.)Text taken, whole and complete, from the edition published in London, New York, Cassell and company, ltd., 1918.Original Page Count - 182 pagesHunting The German Shark; The American Navy In The Underseas War [Illustrated Edition]
By Herman Whitaker. 2013
"The 'shark killers' of the U. S. fleet""The United States of America entered the First World War in April 1917,…
though its support for the allied war effort had, of course, been immensely influential in terms of the provision of material up to that point. The direct intervention of America in the war, with its vast resources of military personnel and equipment, backed by a huge manufacturing capacity, was inevitably pivotal. This account, part history, part anecdotal and part first hand account, was written shortly before the end of the conflict and describes in some detail the endeavours of the United States Navy during the war at sea in general and, more particularly, how it dealt with the omnipresent menace of the, 'German Shark'--the U Boats of the German Navy. This hidden undersea threat bore directly on America's role in the war. Men and vitally needed supplies had to traverse the Atlantic in merchant vessels to reach Europe. They were perilously exposed to the depredations of the German submarine force whose task it was to prevent them reaching their destinations. This well written and engaging book takes the reader to war on the United States Navy destroyers and with the navy pilots of early military aircraft whose task it was to pursue and destroy U-Boats in order to protect the vulnerable convoys of merchantmen on the high seas. Many interesting engagements, duels and sinkings are described in compelling detail from first-hand experience. An essential book for all those particularly interested in submarine and anti-submarine warfare or the Great War generally."-Leonaur Print VersionAuthor -- Whitaker, Herman, 1867-1919.Text taken, whole and complete, from the edition published in New York, The Century co., 1918.Original Page Count - 310 pagesIllustrations -- 15 illustrations.My Experiences In The World War – Vol. II [Illustrated Edition] (My Experiences In the World War #2)
By General of the Armies John Joseph Pershing. 2013
The Pulitzer prize has been the sought after goal of many thousands of writers ever since it was first awarded…
in 1917. In 1932, the Pulitzer in the history category was awarded to General John "Black Jack" Pershing for his two volume memoirs spanning his time in command of the American Forces in World War One. Given that Pershing should receive such an illustrious prize in the literary arena outside of his army career was a just testament to his multi-faceted and outstanding talents. As the First World War raged into its fourth year, the lifeblood of the Allied forces on the Western Front laid spilt on the fields of Northern France and Flanders. Their only hope in facing the German onslaught lay in the newly mobilized American forces, who had joined the struggle against the central powers in Germany and Austro-Hungary. It would take a commander of towering strength, firm loyalty, and iron determination to change the small American peacetime army into the millions strong wartime colossus it was to become. Such a man was John "Black Jack" Pershing.AS he took command, Pershing was faced with four almightily difficult challenges to overcome in order to achieve success; the first to turn the raw American Doughboys into an army, trained in the new tactics of the industrial carnage of the Western Front. Secondly, to ship enough men, and supplies across the U-boat infested Atlantic to create such an army. Thirdly, to keep his allies hands off American manpower that became trained and ready for battle, they should fight under American flags and American leaders. It was only once the first three huge challenges were overcome could he think about his fourth, how his new troops could fight and beat the battle-hardened German army: but fight and beat them they did!A Pulitzer Prize winning classic!"It is now seven weeks since the dispatches from Paris reported that Stuart Walcott was attacked by three German airplanes…
and brought down behind the German lines, after he himself had brought down a German plane in his first combat on December 12, 1917, and that it was feared he had been killed; but even now, after the lapse of nearly two months, it is not definitely known whether his fall proved fatal, or whether the earnest hope of his friends that he is still alive may be realized."Unfortunately for the family and friends of Stuart Walcott, his grave was located not long after the Princeton Alumni Journal printed the above. He had given his life for his ideals of Democracy and Freedom fighting above the fields of France as a pilot. His letters recount his experiences training and fighting with the famed Lafayette Escadrille with fellow Americans.Author -- Walcott, Stuart, 1896-1917.Text taken, whole and complete, from the edition published in Princeton, Princeton university press; 1918. Original Page Count - 93 pagesIllustration -- 3 illustrations.With The Twenty-Ninth Division In Gallipoli, A Chaplain's Experiences. [Illustrated Edition]
By Creighton Oswin. 2013
"The padre of the 86th Brigade, 29th Division, gives an account of his experiences at Gallipoli where he landed on…
25th April 1915 to his evacuation on medical grounds on 12th August....it covers the period 27th January 1915, when he reported to the HQ of the newly formed 29th Division in Leamington, to 12th August 1915 when he arrived in Alexandria having been evacuated sick (diphtheria) from the Peninsula. The 86th Brigade was a Fusilier Brigade with 2nd Royal Fusiliers, 1st Lancashire Fusiliers, 1st Royal Munster Fusiliers and 1st Royal Dublin Fusiliers, and it was the first to land on 25th April 1915. It was with the first two mentioned that Creighton had most contact and they feature prominently in this account. The other two battalions, being recruited mainly from the south of Ireland, were predominantly RC.Creighton had come straight from civvy street and took a little while to find his feet among regular troops....This account is based on his diary and he took pains to write only what he got firsthand and from personal observation and he has tried to be as accurate as possible.The interesting photos were borrowed from the CO of 2nd RF and his narrative does give a feel for the conditions and fighting on the Peninsula. At one stage he gives vent to his feelings after a fruitless attack by a brigade of the newly arrived 52nd (Lowland) Division which cost over fifty percent casualties: "These things seem to happen every battle. The amount of unnecessary lives simply thrown away is appalling."...The book closes with a chapter by the BM, Major H.M. Farmar, on the landing of the 86th Brigade and the subsequent operations till 3rd May."N&M print versionAuthor -- Rev. Creighton Oswin, 1883-1918Text taken, whole and complete, from the edition published in London, Longmans, Green and co., 1916.Original Page Count - xiv and 191 pages.Illustrations -- 26 maps and Illustrations.The Spider Web, The Romance Of A Flying-Boat War Flight [Illustrated Edition]
By Anon, “P.I.X”. 2013
"War at sea-war in the air--This is an account of the early days, during the Great War, of the service…
that became the Fleet Air Arm. It did not take long after hostilities commenced for the Royal Navy to appreciate the potential of an 'air force' both as an eye in the sky and as an effective method of countering enemy surface vessels and most especially German submarine activity. Endurance, speed and surprise were the essential components of the sea-plane and flying boat war. Appearing suddenly out of the sun, a surface cruising U-Boat had little time to dive to safety before destruction rained down upon it. This book contains may gripping incidents of U-Boat hunting in the 'Spider Web', a great tract of the North Sea which was the Navy flyer's patrol area and battlefield. This was a hard war, fraught with dangers from mechanical breakdowns, attacks from enemy aircraft, lethal weather and anti-aircraft fire among its many perils. A riveting account of the sea and early aviation warfare."-Leonaur Print version.Author -- Anon, "P.I.X"Text taken, whole and complete, from the edition published in Edinburgh, W. Blackwood and sons, 1919.Original Page Count - x and 278 pages.Illustrations -- 20 maps and Illustrations.Pen Pictures From The Trenches
By Stanley Arthur Rutledge. 2013
Stanley Arthur Rutledge was a man of many parts: lawyer, beloved son, soldier, man of letters before his life was…
cut tragically short on the 16th November 1917. A member of the famed Canadian Corps, he left his home shore in 1915 and served courageously until dying in a flying accident whilst trained for the Royal Flying Corps.This volume is divided into two parts: the first contains notes, anecdotes and experiences that the Author wrote whilst in the trenches through the battles of the Western Front, including the Somme. In them he describes the daily shelling, sniper fire, deadly poison gas, going over the top and even a sentry shooting one of his own officers who didn't hear his challenge. The second part is made up of his letters home to his parents in Canada describing his experiences in the "Hippodrome of Hell" of the war. In spite of his audience, he pulled no punches in his retellings...An excellent First World War Memoir.Author -- Stanley Arthur Rutledge d. 1917Text taken, whole and complete, from the edition published in Toronto, William Briggs, 1918.Original Page Count - 159 pages.