Michael Senior - Victory on the Western Front: The Development of the British Army 1914-1918

V ICTORY

ON THE

W ESTERN F RONT

For
Jenny, Jane, Richard, Simon and Edward

T HE D EVELOPMENT OF THE B RITISH A RMY
1914 - 1918

MICHAEL SENIOR

First published in Great Britain in 2016 by
Pen & Sword Military
an imprint of
Pen & Sword Books Ltd
47 Church Street
Barnsley
South Yorkshire
S70 2AS

Copyright Michael Senior 2016

ISBN 978 1 78340 065 2
eISBN 978 1 52670 957 8
Mobi ISBN 978 1 52670 956 1

The right of Michael Senior to be identified as the Author of this Work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the Publisher in writing.

Pen & Sword Books Ltd incorporates the imprints of Pen & Sword Archaeology, Atlas, Aviation, Battleground, Discovery, Family History, History, Maritime, Military, Naval, Politics, Railways, Select, Transport, True Crime, and Fiction, Frontline Books, Leo Cooper, Praetorian Press, Seaforth Publishing and Wharncliffe.

For a complete list of Pen & Sword titles please contact

PEN & SWORD BOOKS LIMITED

47 Church Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 2AS, England

E-mail:

Website: www.pen-and-sword.co.uk

War Plans, 1914.

Battle of the Marne, September 1914.

Northern France Trench Line, October 1914.

The Western Front, 1916.

German Offensives, 1918.

Battle of the Lys, April 1918.

British Advances on the Western Front, 1918.

Sir Douglas Haig.

Sir Henry Wilson.

Sir Hugh Trenchard.

Sir John French.

Sir William Birdwood and Anzac soldiers.

Sir William Robertson.

Marshal Joffre.

Marshal Ferdinand Foch.

General Erich von Falkenhayn.

Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg.

General Erich Ludendorff.

Field Marshal Lord Kitchener.

David Lloyd George.

Winston Churchill.

Tsar Nicholas and King George V.

Kaiser Wilhelm II.

New recruits, 1914.

A British BE2c in 1914.

A squadron of German Albatross DVs.

An Austrian siege gun.

The French 75mm quick firer.

The German U-boat U-9 sank three British destroyers in 1914.

A German defensive position on the Somme, 1916.

A British Mark II tank captured at Arras, 1917.

Photographs courtesy of the Taylor Library.

T he chapter endnotes and the Bibliography in this book indicate quite clearly the huge debt I owe to the many writers who have specialised in the First World War and who, over several decades, have stimulated my interest in this complex subject. Throughout the book I have quoted from and made references to numerous monographs and articles and I have endeavoured to make the appropriate acknowledgements. My sincere thanks go to all the authors concerned.

In addition I would like to thank the staff of The National Archives, the Imperial War Museum, the Hendon Air Museum and the Western Front Association for their courteous and efficient support. I have also received considerable help from Professor Ian Beckett, Chris Carleton-Smith, Tim Halstead, Francis Hanford, Dr Emily Mayhew, John Newton, Jane Perkin, Professor Andrew Rice, Air Marshal Sir Michael Simmons, Jim Spence and Geoff Spring. I would particularly like to thank my wife, Jenny, who has contributed in so many ways to this book.

It has been a pleasure to work with my editors Rupert Harding and Matilda Richards and also with other members of the Pen & Sword Books Ltd team Lisa Hooson, Dave Hemingway, Jon Wilkinson and Roni Wilkinson. I am grateful to them for their encouragement and practical advice.

Any errors that might be found in this book are entirely mine and I offer my apologies in advance.