Ancre1917 Posted 11 September , 2017 Share Posted 11 September , 2017 I'm looking for recommended reading on the German Spring Offensive 1918. Does anyone have any suggestions? I imagine there will be material coming out soon ready for the 100the anniversary. Are there books I should wait for, or is there anything out there now? Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jervis Posted 11 September , 2017 Share Posted 11 September , 2017 (edited) The Kaiser's Battle by Martin Middlebrook is a great read, but only covers the first day Edited 11 September , 2017 by Jervis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeMeech Posted 11 September , 2017 Share Posted 11 September , 2017 1 hour ago, Longton1971 said: I'm looking for recommended reading on the German Spring Offensive 1918. Does anyone have any suggestions? I imagine there will be material coming out soon ready for the 100the anniversary. Are there books I should wait for, or is there anything out there now? Richard Hi There is 'The German 1918 Offensives - A case study in the operational level of war' by David T Zabecki, which is quite detailed. Also: 'The German Offensives of 1918 - The last desperate gamble' by Ian Passingham. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ancre1917 Posted 11 September , 2017 Author Share Posted 11 September , 2017 Thank you Mike and Jervis. I'll look them up. Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
593jones Posted 11 September , 2017 Share Posted 11 September , 2017 I enjoyed Lyn Macdonald's 'To The Last Man, Spring 1918' when I read it some years ago. Good for the personal view rather than the large picture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James A Pratt III Posted 11 September , 2017 Share Posted 11 September , 2017 The Last Act By Barrie Pitt Ludendorf's memoirs are online see his wiki bio john Toland has a book on this subject. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caulkheader Posted 11 September , 2017 Share Posted 11 September , 2017 2 hours ago, 593jones said: I enjoyed Lyn Macdonald's 'To The Last Man, Spring 1918' when I read it some years ago. Good for the personal view rather than the large picture. Just finished it and would second the above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ancre1917 Posted 12 September , 2017 Author Share Posted 12 September , 2017 Thank you all for your recommendations. Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Michelle Young Posted 12 September , 2017 Admin Share Posted 12 September , 2017 For the Lys Offensive, Chris Bakers book The Battle For Flanders is recommended. Michelle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donald D Posted 13 September , 2017 Share Posted 13 September , 2017 On 11/09/2017 at 17:17, MikeMeech said: Hi There is 'The German 1918 Offensives - A case study in the operational level of war' by David T Zabecki, which is quite detailed. Also: 'The German Offensives of 1918 - The last desperate gamble' by Ian Passingham. Mike The Ian Passingham book is available via Amazon but comes from the USA. One is on offer at at £32 and another at an eye watering £1999 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ancre1917 Posted 13 September , 2017 Author Share Posted 13 September , 2017 I think nearly £2000 would need some explaining to my wife. I'm particularly interested in the 5th Army retreat into the Somme area as I'm researching the impact the offensive had on the various North Staffordshire battalions that were caught up in it. Looks like the 1st and 2nd/6th were badly mauled in the opening advance, followed by the 4th and 8th. I've read the 1st North Staffords' battalion history which refers to criticisms made at the time of how 5th Army reacted. I'd be interested in seeing how far these criticisms were justified and how the North Stafford battalions reacted to events. Battalion histories and war diaries will obviously give a biased view of events with the writers not wanting to criticise colleagues. How do modern historians judge these events? I'm sure there will be many more books published on this topic before Christmas. (Sorry to be the first person on GWF to mention that feast day.) If you hear of any that focus on my area of interest, I would be grateful if you could add them to this topic. Thanks in advance. Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeMeech Posted 13 September , 2017 Share Posted 13 September , 2017 4 hours ago, Donald D said: The Ian Passingham book is available via Amazon but comes from the USA. One is on offer at at £32 and another at an eye watering £1999 Hi From the Amazon site the Passingham book is available from UK sources from £1.53 (used) plus postage upwards. The Zabecki book is available from £25.98 + postage and above, again from UK sources. So I don't quite understand the higher prices you found. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donald D Posted 16 September , 2017 Share Posted 16 September , 2017 I agree with you, but Amazon seems to have more than one web page for this book.... See: https://www.amazon.co.uk/German-Offensives-1918-Desperate-Passingham/dp/B00XWRTW34 Sold by Meridian Books, plus £2.80 pp for your pleasure! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GWF1967 Posted 16 September , 2017 Share Posted 16 September , 2017 On 9/11/2017 at 19:31, 593jones said: I enjoyed Lyn Macdonald's 'To The Last Man, Spring 1918' when I read it some years ago. Good for the personal view rather than the large picture. On 9/12/2017 at 20:10, Michelle Young said: For the Lys Offensive, Chris Bakers book The Battle For Flanders is recommended. Michelle i'll second both! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ancre1917 Posted 18 September , 2017 Author Share Posted 18 September , 2017 Thanks for all these recommendations. Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulgranger Posted 18 September , 2017 Share Posted 18 September , 2017 On 13/09/2017 at 13:53, Longton1971 said: I think nearly £2000 would need some explaining to my wife. I'm particularly interested in the 5th Army retreat into the Somme area as I'm researching the impact the offensive had on the various North Staffordshire battalions that were caught up in it. Looks like the 1st and 2nd/6th were badly mauled in the opening advance, followed by the 4th and 8th. I've read the 1st North Staffords' battalion history which refers to criticisms made at the time of how 5th Army reacted. I'd be interested in seeing how far these criticisms were justified and how the North Stafford battalions reacted to events. Battalion histories and war diaries will obviously give a biased view of events with the writers not wanting to criticise colleagues. How do modern historians judge these events? I'm sure there will be many more books published on this topic before Christmas. (Sorry to be the first person on GWF to mention that feast day.) If you hear of any that focus on my area of interest, I would be grateful if you could add them to this topic. Thanks in advance. Richard Along time since I read it, but Walter Shaw-Sparrow's ' The Fifth Army in March 1918' might be of interest. It's available as a Kindle at 49p at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mva Posted 18 September , 2017 Share Posted 18 September , 2017 @Longton1971 do you read French ? if yes, I would recommend : http://www.ebay.fr/itm/les-brumes-de-Picardie-Moreuil-1918-Pilot-Marc-Neuf-Livre-/131610012326?hash=item1ea4916aa6:g:2mQAAOSwKIpWAQdH http://www.ebay.fr/itm/Somme-1918-Santerre-mars-juillet-Pilot-Marc-Neuf-Livre-/131650530141?hash=item1ea6fbab5d:g:dHEAAOSw4UtWRFXe (in the Santerre region, ie Moreuil ...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ancre1917 Posted 18 September , 2017 Author Share Posted 18 September , 2017 The Walter Shaw-Sparrow sounds to be just what I need. Thanks for that. I'll check it out, and the links as well. I can read French, just about!! Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ancre1917 Posted 18 September , 2017 Author Share Posted 18 September , 2017 I found Shaw-Sparrow's book here https://archive.org/stream/fiftharmyinmarch00spar#page/331/mode/1up Amazon wouldn't let me download it for some reason. Thanks Paul. R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulgranger Posted 18 September , 2017 Share Posted 18 September , 2017 Saved 49p! Bargain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ancre1917 Posted 20 September , 2017 Author Share Posted 20 September , 2017 Every penny counts when you're on a pension. Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midge15 Posted 22 September , 2017 Share Posted 22 September , 2017 Hi - you could follow any of these from Wikipedia. Brown, Ian. British Logistics on the Western Front: 1914–1919. Praeger Publishers, 1998. ISBN 978-0-275-95894-7 Blaxland, Gregory (1981) [1968]. Amiens 1918. War in the Twentieth Century. London: W. H. Allen. ISBN 0-352-30833-8. Edmonds, J. E. (1994) [1939]. Military Operations France and Belgium, 1918 May–July: The German Diversion Offensives and the First Allied Counter-Offensive. History of the Great War Based on Official Documents By Direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence. III (Imperial War Museum & Battery Press ed.). London: Macmillan. ISBN 0-89839-211-X. Gray, Randal (1991) Kaiserschlacht, 1918: The Final German Offensive, Osprey Campaign Series 11, London: Osprey, ISBN 1-85532-157-2 Griffith, Paddy (1996). Battle Tactics of the Western Front: British Army's Art of Attack. 1916–18. Yale. ISBN 0-300-06663-5. Hart, Peter (2008). 1918: A Very British Victory, Phoenix Books, London. ISBN 978-0-7538-2689-8 Herwig, Holger H. (2014). The First World War: Germany and Austria-Hungary 1914–1918. A&C Black. ISBN 9781472508850. Keegan, John (1999). The First World War, London: Pimlico, ISBN 978-0-7126-6645-9 Marshall, George C. (1976). Memoirs of My Service in the World War 1917–1918, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, ISBN 0-395-20725-8 Marix Evans, Martin (2002) 1918: The Year of Victories, Arcturus Military History Series, London: Arcturus, ISBN 0-572-02838-5 Middlebrook, Martin. The Kaiser's Battle: 21 March 1918: The First Day of the German Spring Offensive. Penguin. 1983. ISBN 0-14-017135-5 Simpson, Andy. The Evolution of Victory: British Battles of the Western Front, 1914–1918. Tom Donovan, 1995. ISBN 1-871085-19-5 Robson, Stuart. The First World War. Longman. 2007. ISBN 978-1-4058-2471-2 Zabecki, David T. (2006) The German 1918 Offensives. A Case Study in the Operational Level of War, London: Routledge, ISBN 0-415-35600-8 Journals Greenhalgh, E. (July 2004). "Myth and Memory: Sir Douglas Haig and the Imposition of Allied Unified Command in March 1918". The Journal of Military History. 68 (3): 771–820. ISSN 0899-3718. JSTOR 3396728. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ancre1917 Posted 22 September , 2017 Author Share Posted 22 September , 2017 Thanks for this very comprehensive list. Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midge15 Posted 28 September , 2017 Share Posted 28 September , 2017 Glad to help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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