Books in the Wolverhampton Military Studies series

A significant new contribution to the underrepresented historiography of the British campaign in Italy during 1917-1918.A Brilliant Little Victory is a history of the 48th (South Midland) during the First World War, including its successful defense of a critical position on the Asiago Plateau in June 1918. It charts the history of the division from establishment in 1908 to its initial deployment on the Western Front in March 1915. What followed was an introduction to the trenches at Ploegsteert Wood; participation in the Battle of the Somme where it assisted with the capture of Pozières in July-August 1916 and the pursuit of the German army to the Hindenburg Line the following spring. The role of the South Midland Division during the Third Ypres offensive in late summer and autumn of 1917 is also chronicled. Following this, the division entrained for Italy where it was part of the Franco-British force dispatched to reinforce the Italian Army following the Caporetto disaster.It was 48th Division's successful defense of the tactically important Asiago Plateau high above the Lombardy Plain on 15 June 1918 that contributed to the defeat of Austro-Hungarian attackers attempting to break into the rear of the main Italian position on the Piave with potentially disastrous results. Despite fighting an effective defensive action, subsequently described by one officer as 'a brilliant little victory', the Divisional Commander, Major General Sir Robert Fanshawe, was sacked and sent home much to the dismay of officers and men. In seeking to understand what lay behind the shocking removal of an apparently successful commander, A Brilliant Little Victory provides a detailed analysis of the battle and factors that may have contributed to this sacking before offering a conclusion about whether or not it was, given the standards of the era, justified.

This book is the latest volume of Spencer Jones's award-winning series which examines the British Army on the Western Front year-by-year.

This book demonstrates the significant role sea power played in shaping the Middle East. From the dawn of Islam, until the 21st Century - naval power profoundly impacted on national policy.

This book is an in-depth analysis of the Arras August 1918 campaign that was the Canadian Corps' most important operational assignment. The Corps smashed through 15 kilometers of some of the strongest defenses on the Western Front that forced the Germans to fall back on a wide front.

The mechanization of British and Household Cavalry regiments took place between the two World Wars and on into 1942.

1916 was a pivotal year for the British Army. It was a year of intense combat that was defined by the Battle of the Somme and the appalling casualties of the 1st July 1916.

This book provides the first comprehensive study of the British Army's use of horses between 1875-1925, including their use in the 1899-1902 Anglo-Boer and the Great War 1914-1918.

Public schoolboys in the Great War were part of a nation in arms. This book explains how their involvement was far more than romantic idealism.

The Revd P.B. Tubby Clayton may lay claim to have been one of the most charismatic and influential Anglican priests of the twentieth century. This is a modern assessment of the career of this remarkable man, using his personal papers, family papers, Toc H archives and Church Archives. The life and times of Tubby Clayton encompass the most interesti

The evolution of British airborne warfare cannot be fully appreciated without reference to the technological development required to convert the detail contained in the doctrine and concept into operational reality. This is a detailed investigation of the British technological investment in an airborne capability and analyses whether the new techno

Between 1941 & 1945 the war in the Far East is occasionally referred to as the 'Forgotten War'. This book will analyse how the Allies lost air superiority during the initial exchanges, and then how technical and material difficulties were overcome before air superiority was won in 1944, and air supremacy was gained in 1945.

At a time when many books about the Great War of 1914-1918 are largely reiterations of earlier strictly chronological accounts, wherein not much is new except perhaps the author's style, it is refreshing, even exciting, when a book offering new vistas comes along. Such a book is this one.

Field-Marshal Sir Henry Wilson is one of the most controversial British officers of the Great War, condemned as much for what he wrote as for what he did. Making extensive use of primary sources, this new study sheds fresh light on Wilson's Great War career.

Early Modern Systems of Command explores the lives these individuals led on campaign and the nature of the apparatus of command they formed. Drawing upon a wealth of primary material it examines topics as diverse as corruption, logistics, military justice and intelligence-gathering.

"This book argues that the 8th Division, a war-raised formation made up of units recalled from overseas, became a much more effective and experienced organization by the war's end. it ruther argues that the formation did not use one solution to problems but adopted a sophisticated approach dependent on the tactical situation. This is supported by original sources including war diaries, after-action reports and the post-war correspondence with the British official historian. From its first acquainance with the peculiar nature of trench-warfare following its arrival in France in late 1914, 8th Division undertook a series of operations that attempted to break the deadlock ... by the "advance to victory" of late 1918, 8th Division was able to operate at a tempo far higher than it had achieved before. Unique selling points: first examination of the Division since the 1920s; gives the background to classic works such as General Jack's Diary and Sir John Baynes' Morale; shows that not all troops marched in lines on 1st July 1916; use of new tactics, especially in 1917-1918; e.g. "neutralsation" not "destruction."-- Page [i].

The First World War showed the vital importance of oil. The use of oil-fuelled aircraft, tanks, motor vehicles - and especially warships - increased greatly during the war. Britain and its allies found themselves in an oil crisis in 1917, but it was overcome (with difficulty) and the Allies' greater oil resources - mostly supplied by the USA - cont

In this ground-breaking work, James Roberts examines the willingness and ability of British volunteer and conscript infantrymen of the Great War to perform the soldier's fundamental role: to kill or maim the enemy, and accept the attendant chance of being killed or wounded. Literature to date has been, paradoxically, somewhat silent on the soldier'

This book is a study of the importance of community identity to a fighting unit in the First World War. In this case, the unit in question is primarily 7th King's Regiment - and more widely, the 55th West Lancashire Division (1914-1918). The book is based upon the author's own PhD thesis - 'The 1/7th Battalion King's Liverpool Regiment and the Grea

The author's compilation of a unique register identifying those individual South Wales miners who served in the tunneling companies has allowed a remarkable story to be told. For the first time, the lives of individual South Wales miners are highlighted from pre-war mining days: their very personal contribution within the tunneling companies, to the resting places of those who did not survive the war - and, for the survivors, their ultimate dispatch home. The underlying theme is of an indefatigable band of men, together with like-minded miners from other British coalfields, asked to carry out multi-tasked duties associated with a form of military mining not foreseen prior to the outbreak of war. Before a major battle, these men constructed large underground dugouts to house troops away from enemy shell fire. In exploding huge mines under German lines immediately before the British attack, they aided the advancing infantry in causing death and confusion in the German lines. During the British advance in 1918, they became experts in the dangerous work of defusing enemy booby-traps, delay-action and landmines in front of the advancing troops. They showed all the resolution, fortitude and determination - if not sheer bloody-mindedness - to see the job through; so reminiscent of the miner at home struggling to earn a decent rate of pay in the most arduous of conditions. There was a price to pay... Details are given of the 207 miners who died whilst on active service and of how many others were repatriated after gunshot wounds, gas poisoning or ill-health. Accounts are given of miners entombed underground as a result of enemy explosions; medals awarded for acts of bravery when attempting to free trapped miners; and of those taken as prisoners of war when the enemy broke into British workings. Old men and young boys lied about their ages to gain acceptance into the tunneling companies - and suffered the harsh consequences. A unique investigation such as this not only acknowledges the miners' personal contribution as tunnelers, but also serves as a scholarly and novel addition to the existing literature concerning the history of the Great War, its tunneling companies, South Wales, its coalfield and the lives of its miners. There can be little doubt that this work will, in years to come, establish itself as a standard text in the history of military mining not only in a specific sense, but also as a work on the Great War in general.

Towards a Wider War examines British policy, grand strategy, military operations and tactical execution in the critical period of the 'Phoney War' - culminating in Scandinavia and the forlorn campaign in Norway. Recognizing that political and military leaders rarely plan for failure, the work assesses the strengths and weaknesses of British performance in the last year of peace and during the first critical months of war. Fundamentally, major problems were evidenced across the spectrum of war, but perhaps the greatest failing demonstrated remained in the higher direction of war and the mismatch between avowed strategy and operational capability. Based on official and unofficial records - and a review of the existing secondary literature - Towards a Wider War offers a reasoned and balanced assessment of British war-making at the start of the Second World War. Following a summation of the actual experience of war, the work investigates and assesses the style and manner of Britain's higher direction of war and the effectiveness of each of the services at the strategic, operational and tactical levels of war - as well as their abilities to cooperate in the joint environment. Along the way, fresh insight is offered into the centrality of economic warfare in British planning; the place of the War Cabinet in executing oversight of the war; and the workings of the Chiefs of Staff Committee and the role of the Joint Planning Committee. Of the services, the Royal Navy was most prepared for war in a European theatre in 1939. Force structure alone made this so, yet German aggression against Poland demonstrated the limitations of maritime power. Both the British Army and the Royal Air Force were undergoing major expansion programs when war arose and, for the former, it was thought three years would be required before deficiencies were alleviated. Sustaining public support during the interim was by no means assured - and in the background stood the necessity to avoid another bloodletting on the Western Front. These factors loomed large in London in late 1939 and that Italy - a presumed belligerent - had opted for neutrality painted initial strategic plans false. Increasingly, Britain (and France) looked to defeat Germany by removing her access to those commodities that made modern warfare possible: petroleum, iron ore and finance. That it increasingly appeared Nazi Germany was allied to Communist Russia only made the problem of making war more vexing. Towards a Wider War offers a unique single-volume analysis of British war-making at the pivotal beginning of the Second World War when all remained to be won -- or lost -- in the far north.

The Anglican chaplains who served in the Great War were changed by their experience of total war. They returned determined to revitalize the Anglican Church in Britain and to create a society which would be a living memorial to the men who had died. The chaplains who served in the army returned to a wide variety of church posts, bringing with them their experiences and expectations. They were to serve as parish priests, in cathedral chapters, teaching in schools and universities, as chaplains in prisons and hospitals and as full time workers for national institutions such as Toc H and the Industrial Christian Fellowship. A substantial number were destined to achieve positions of significant influence as bishops, deans, chaplains to the King and to be instrumental in matters concerning the influence of the church in industrial and political issues. These chaplains will be shown to have had an influence on Prayer Book revision, developments in theological thinking, moves towards church unity as well as having an important part to play in the resolving of industrial tension. Changes in society such as new divorce laws, the acceptance of contraception, and the responsible use of new media were aspects of the inter-war years which former chaplains were to involve themselves in. They were also influential in shaping attitudes to rituals of remembrance in the 1920s and attitudes to pacifism in the 1930s. Given the changes that occurred in the Church of England, institutionally, liturgically and in its attitudes to a rapidly changing society, it is important that the role of former chaplains should be examined and their significance analyzed. This book argues that in the inter-war years the impact of former chaplains was enhanced by their experiences in an unprecedented global conflict, which gave their actions and opinions more moral authority than would otherwise been the case. This question of the impact of former chaplains is considered in the context of debates about the effect that the war had on British society as a whole and on the Church of England In particular. The inter-war years have been described as "the long peace". As the former chaplains were coming to terms with the way in which the Great War had affected their lives and ministries the threat of the next war loomed. In the twenty years after their wartime chaplaincies, former chaplains had gone some way to fulfilling the hopes and aspirations articulated on their return from the front and could claim to have contributed greatly to both developments in the Anglican Church and in wider society.