The Battle of Loos, Philip Warner

The Battle of Loos, Philip Warner

The battle of Loos of September 1915 is seen as one of the great 'missed changes' of the First World War, when a brave but poorly planned British attack came close to breaking through the German lines. Warner's classic account of the battle provides us with first hand accounts of the fighting.

After a brief narrative account of the battle, extracts from Sir John French's diaries and some contemporary general accounts of the battle, Warner moves on to the heart of the book – eyewitness accounts from each of the British divisions involved in the battle. Some of these came from pre-existing sources but most were taken from letters written to the author in the 1970s.

Most of the accounts here have three things in common – their matter of fact tone, the constant presence of death, and pride in the performance of the writer's comrades in arms.

The eyewitness accounts build up to produce a vivid picture of the fighting at Loos. The impression is of a terribly chaotic scene in which most men had very little idea of what was going on away from their own unit.

The key strength of this book is that the soldiers are allowed to speak for themselves. A classic work of military history and one that takes us into the trenches in a most impressive way.

Chapters
The Battle of Loos
The Opening Stages
The Second Day
Extracts from the Diaries of Sir John French
General Accounts
Gunners Supporting the Attack
47th Division
15th (Scottish) Division
1st Division
12th Division
7th Division
28th Division
9th (Scottish) Division
Indian Corps
24th Division
Guards and Cavalry

Author: Philip Warner
Edition: Hardcover
Pages: 245
Publisher: Pen & Sword Military
Year: 1976 and 2009


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