Historic battlefields.

Another part of the onion

Being male I have a weakness for gadgets. This is good, as technology evolves it directly effects our day to day lives and the world around us, but as a history geek as well as a gadget one I was amazed when a friend showed me Linesman.

This programme gives access to somewhere in the region of 750 First World War trench maps, good in itself, but allows data to be combined with the modern day French IGN mapping. A wealth of other options allow for a contoured view of the landscape, a fly through view and exporting data to GPS/GPS enabled PDAs.

So now, with a bit of work,  you can stand on the (military) spot of your choice, find trenches etc. But I've been having a lot of fun with laying my own tracks.

Using the grid references from the Assistant Director Medical Services (ADMS) war diaries from various divisions, I've been plotting the casualty evacuation routes of field ambulances at Arras, Ypres and Cambrai from 1917. This could be an extreme example of a geneologist trying to track "Uncle Albert's" war, but in my case it is an attempt to understand the casevac chainas part of my dissertation research. I'd started doing this on paper, but the ease with which Linesman allows this is amazing. By tracing the route of a trench the distance is measured, but the contoured/3d view helps get an appreciation of the ground, something which becomes paramount when carrying a stretcher.

I'm not claiming that I now understand all that was happening, I've just added another layer to the onion.

Calendar coincidence

It was only when I saw the date of my last post that I realised the importance of the date. It is one of those little milestones in my personal connection with the First World War. On the 12th December 1917 one of my relatives was wounded by shellfire whilst in the trenches of the Abraham Heights sector near Passchendaele.

It was only on my most recent visit to Tyne Cot cemetary that I realised that I've looked at and indeed crossed the Abraham heights on a number of occasions. Thankfully my relative survived, unfit to continue military service and returned to his (and my) family. I think the events of that day stayed with him, not just the physical scars but the whole experience. In later years he named his house "Passchendale". This allegedly prompted a neighbour to casually comment on the beauty of the word. It would seem my great uncle very quickly set them straight.

All quiet on the blogging front

Well its been a bit quiet on here of late. That's partly due to not wanting to just post for posting sake, but also due to life being a bit hectic.

In November I was lucky enough to make it to "Dead reckoning" a conference hosted by the In Flanders Fields museum at Ypres. This 3 day conference was simply excellent. I was, if honest, slightly disappointed not to see an academic fist fight, but all the papers were interesting.

I must especially mention Paul Gough from the University of the West of England. Not being artistically minded I was surprised to find myself throughly enjoying his paper, "An epic of mud- Passchendaele and the arts."

The day job has been doing that annoying thing of taking up my days and some evenings, but as we wind down towards the holiday period my attention is drifting back to my university work. So back to re-reading SS143 and the re-formation of the infantry platoon!

Weather- then and now

A few days ago the back of my head was been baked by the unseasonally fine sunshine through the office window. Now the rain against the window is calming but does remind me that I came out without a coat. Ninety years ago large parts of the British Expeditionary Force were engaged in the Third Battle of Ypres and for them the variations of weather meant more than a short dash from door to car.

The Third Battle of Ypres, or Passchendaele if you prefer, is burned into our memory as being a battle fought in a sea of mud, but ninety years ago today (and the next few days) the Battle of the Menin Road was fought in quite different conditions. The ground had dried out to such an extent it was dust clouds which hampered observation rather than storm clouds.

Hopefully over the next few days I'll put some details of this often overlooked phase on this site.

Another 18th Division memorial

And another 18th (Eastern) Division memorial. This time at Ypres near Glencourse Wood.

DNA

Who says that the First World War is in the past? I'm not a particularly sharp social observer, but DNA links 2 current news stories though their origins are years apart.

As widely reported, for example BBC, there are calls for all UK citizens to be on a DNA database. Bad news for civil rights? But DNA links us back to 1917. As shown here, DNA has allowed the remains of two Australian soldiers to be identified almost ninety years after their death.

The traditional methods of identification having failed its interesting to note the use of modern techniques. This once again highlights that our understanding, legacy and knowldege of the First World War is still developing.

Will this become more common? Or are only certain governments/organisations willing to take this approach. I'll be watching how the situation at Fromelles develops with interest.

The German Army at Passchedaele by Jack Sheldon

The German Army at Passchedaele by Jack Sheldon. Pen & Sword Military, Barnsley 2007 352 p.

The 31st July 2007, the 90th anniversary of the commencement of the Third Battle of Ypres, seems the most appropriate day to post this review.

English language accounts of the German forces in the First World War are fairly rare, a situation Jack Sheldon seems determined to change. This companion volume to his The German Army on the Somme 1914-1916 focuses on the entire battle of Third Ypres, not just the closing stages including the fighting around Passchendaele. Using a wide range of sources the author brings home the experience offrontline service from the other side of the wire.

A couple of key themes stand out, the crushing, numbing, paralysing effect of the British artillery and the determination of the fighting soldier. There are numerous accounts of German units being fragmented but drawing together into adhoc formations for both defensive and offensive[counterattack] operations. Reading the book as an Englishman it is also easy to fill pride in the steadfast effort of the Commonwealth troops fighting forward. German defensive tactics are considered and it is interesting to note the difficulties the Germans found in countering the evolving British tactics.

All in all, an excellent read in itself and a much needed insight into the German armies workings.

I read the hardcover edition ISBN 184415564-1