Warfare in News

Posted on Tuesday 17th January

The first of a new two-part adaptation of Sebastian Faulks's modern classic, Birdsong, is due to be aired on BBC One this coming Sunday.

The popular novel has been adapted by the Bafta award-winning Abi Morgan and spans the decade of the First World War, telling the story of a young Englishman named Stephen Wraysford who arrives in Amiens, Northern France, in 1910, to stay with the Azaire family and begins an illicit love affair with Isabelle Azaire.

In 1916, Stephen finds himself serving in the trenches on the Western Front in the area where he experienced his great love and meets a tunneller named Jack Firebrace who helps him endure the ravages of war and make peace with his feelings for Isabelle.

Part one, starring Eddie Redmayne and Clemence Poesy as Stephen and Isabelle, will be aired at 9.00pm-10.25pm on Sunday 22 January.

Further Reading

The Outbreak of War World One

Only £6.99

The Outbreak of War World One

(Commemorative magazine)

The First World War changed the history of the world and is used as a marker for modern day history. Its importance cannot be understated as it not only changed the way wars were fought, but influenced history.

Up until the First World War, battles had usually been fought between two armies and not involved civilians. With the outbreak of the Great War, this all changed as military leaders looked to… Read more...

Of further interest...

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The Lengthening War

Wed 3rd August

Michael Goode describes how he brought his Great Great Aunt's Great War diaries to life in his striking new book. Read article...

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His First Tour was his Last

Wed 21st June

Severely wounded at 19, veteran Stephen Vause shares his story for Armed Forces Day. Article from The Royal Star & Garter Homes. Read article...

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ARMISTICE AND REMEMBRANCE DAY

Mon 14th November

A remembrance of those who gave their lives so we could live ours. Read article...

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RANDOLPH CHURCHILL FOLLOWS IN WINSTON'S FOOTSTEPS

Fri 22nd April

With Winston Churchill at the Front is the new release from Frontline Books. It follows the story of Winston Churchill on the front line in 1916, as told my his Adjutant Andrew Dewar Gibb. Read article...

Dates in History

German forces cross the Somme River

24th March 1918

On March 24, 1918, German forces cross the Somme River, achieving their first goal of the major spring offensive begun three days earlier on the Western Front. Operation Michael, engineered by the German chief of the general staff, Erich von Ludendorff, aimed to decisively break through the Allied lines on the Western Front and destroy the British and French forces. The offensive began on the morning of March 21, 1918, with an aggressive bombardment. The brunt of the attack that followed was directed at the British 5th Army, commanded by General Sir Hubert Gough, stationed along the Somme River in northwestern France. This section was the most poorly defended of any spot on the British lines, due to the fact that it had been held by the French until only a few weeks before and its defensive positions were not yet fully fortified. Panic spread up and down the British lines of command, intensified by communications failures between Gough and his subordinates in the field, and German gains increased over the subsequent days of battle. On March 23, Crown Prince Rupprecht, on the German side of the line, remarked that The progress of our offensive is so quick, that one cannot follow it with a pen. The next day, German troops stormed across the Somme, having previously captured its bridges before French troops could destroy them. Despite having resolved to concentrate on weaker points of the enemy lines, Ludendorff continued to throw his armies against the crucial villages of Amiens (a railway junction) and Arras—which the British and French were instructed to hold at all costs—hoping to break through and push on towards Paris. By that time, German troops were exhausted, and transportation and supply lines had begun to break down in the cold and bad weather. Meanwhile, Allied forces had recovered from the initial disadvantage and had begun to gain the upper hand, halting the Germans at Moreuil Wood on March 30. On April 5, Ludendorff called off Operation Michael. It had yielded nearly 40 miles of territory, the greatest gains for either side on the Western Front since 1914. He would launch four more offensive pushes over the course of the spring and summer, throwing all of the German army’s resources into this last, desperate attempt to win the war. (www.history.com)

Further Reading

The Somme
(Paperback - 355 pages)
by Richard van Emden

The offensive on the Somme took place between July and November 1916 and is perhaps the most iconic battle of the Great War. It was there that Kitchener’s famous ‘Pals’ Battalions were first sent into action en masse and it was a battlefield where many of the dreams and aspirations… Read more at Pen & Sword...

Only £14.99 at Pen & Sword Books.

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