World War I

Find here all articles related to World War I (1914-1918). Find interesting facts about the First World War, incredible stories, battle of Somme, Ypres…

Futile Exercise? The British Army’s Preparations for War 1902-1914 by Simon Batten

     The popular notion of the British Expeditionary Force in 1914, as it prepared to embark for France in 1914, is of a small, professional Army comprised of regulars, experienced in practical soldiering from years of warfare throughout the British Empire. While this Army may have experienced hard campaigning in South Africa against the …

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Lawrence of Arabia: Colonel T.E. Lawrence, CB, DSO, Places and Objects of Interest By Paul Kendall

     Paul Kendall’s new book on the material history of the Lawrence of Arabia legend is chock full of amazing photographs that provide context to the story of T.E. Lawrence and the Arab Revolt, which is to be expected from a visual history. Kendall goes beyond merely “curating content” and provides readers with mini-essays regarding …

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The US Army Combat Historian and Combat History Operations

Review by Martin Koenigsberg Just finished my 1st Book Review of the Year!! In this book, two veterans of the Army and Department of the Army history programs give us the history of the overall Army History program from its roots in the new Industrial-sized army of WWI to the more smoothly planned and operated …

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Book Review: Jutland 1916: The Archaeology of a Naval Battlefield.

Book Review by Peter L. Belmonte The author is Innes McCartney, Jutland 1916: The Archaeology of a Naval Battlefield. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 2016. Hardcover, illus., 272pp.In Jutland 1916: The Archaeology of a Naval Battlefield, marine archaeologist and author Innes McCartney discusses his examination of the underwater wrecks of twenty-two of the twenty-five vessels sunk …

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The Archaeology of the Royal Flying Corps: Trench Art, Souvenirs, and Lucky Mascots by Melanie Winterton

     The Archaeology of the Royal Flying Corps, part of the Modern Conflict Archaeology series edited by Nicholas J. Saunders, is an absorbing discussion of the material culture of WW1 aviation, viewed through the lens of “the things they carried”, to borrow a phrase from author Tim O’Brien. Author Melanie Winterton’s goes beyond the notion …

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Masters of Mayhem: The Arab Revolt as the Cradle of Special Operations

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdnO6sibcEQ&t=5s Author and former Special Forces soldier James Stejskal takes the time to share his take on the birth of British Special Operations Forces during World War One, and the role armored cars and other combat arms in creating “Hedgehog Force” in support of the Arab Revolt. James’ book Masters of Mayhem is available from …

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Recollections of an Airman

Lt-Col Louis Arbon Strange. Recollections of an Airman. Philadelphia: Casemate, 2016.Hardcover, illustrated, 196pp.Review by Peter L. Belmonte Great War pilot memoirs usually find an appreciative audience among aviationenthusiasts. Louis Arbon Strange, a British war pilot of great experience, wrote hismemoir in 1933, and it was reprinted by Casemate in 2016. As a young man Strangeenlisted …

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Strike From the Air: The Early Years of the US Air Forces by Terry C. Treadwell

South Yorkshire, UK: Pen & Sword, 2020. Hardcover, illustrated, 320pp. Review by Peter L. Belmonte In this book, Terry C. Treadwell, an established British aviation author and journalist, desires to cover the history of “United States aviators and their aircraft in the First World War and in their little-known involvement in the Polish/Soviet War of …

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Kitchener: The Man Not the Myth by Anne Samson

A multi-dimensional view of one of Britain’s most distinguished officers Published by Helion & Company, LTD, available from Casemate Publishers The enduring image of Field Marshal Kitchener of Khartoum stares down through the decades since the First World War, index finger thrust towards the viewer enjoining him to action with the words “Your Country Needs …

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“Night Raiders of the Air” by A.R. Kingsford

Review by Peter L. Belmonte Night flying and aerial bombardment were both in their infancy during World War I. Contemporary airplanes lacked the navigation instruments that would have made those missions so much easier and safer. The men who conducted night bombing raids were, then, truly aviation pioneers. Thus this memoir of such a pilot …

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