The British Campaign in France and Flanders, Vol. VI

By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

"The British Campaign in France and Flanders, Vol. VI" is a historical account of the events of WWI, written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. This work is important among the books dealing with The Great War, built up from narratives, letters, diaries, and personal interviews, often with the help of the principal actors in the events narrated.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Good Press
• Release date: Nov 9, 2021
• ISBN: 4066338078315

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930) was a Scottish writer and physician, most famous for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes and long-suffering sidekick Dr Watson. Conan Doyle was a prolific writer whose other works include fantasy and science fiction stories, plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction and historical novels.

Book preview

Arthur Conan Doyle

The British Campaign in France and Flanders, Vol. VI

Published by Good Press, 2022

[e-mail]

EAN 4066338078315

Table of Contents

CHAPTER II. ATTACK OF RAWLINSON'S FOURTH ARMY The Battle of Amiens, August 8-22

CHAPTER III. CONTINUATION OF THE OPERATIONS OF RAWLINSON'S. FOURTH ARMY From August 22 to the Battle of the Hindenburg Line, September. 29

CHAPTER IV. THE ATTACK OF BYNG'S THIRD ARMY August 21, 1918, to September 29, 1918

CHAPTER V. THE ADVANCE OF HORNE'S FIRST ARMY From August 26 to September 27

CHAPTER VI. THE OPERATIONS OF RAWLINSON'S FOURTH. ARMY From the Battle of the Hindenburg Line (September 29) to the Battle of the. Selle (October 17)

CHAPTER VII. THE OPERATIONS OF RAWLINSON'S FOURTH. ARMY From the Battle of the Selle, October 17, to the end

CHAPTER VIII. OPERATIONS OF BYNG'S THIRD ARMY From the Battle of the Hindenburg Line (September 29) to the Battle of the. Selle (October 17)

CHAPTER IX. OPERATIONS OF BYNG'S THIRD ARMY From the Battle of the Selle, October 12, to the end

CHAPTER X. THE ADVANCE OF HORNE'S FIRST ARMY From September 27 to the end

CHAPTER XI. OPERATIONS OF THE SECOND AND FIFTH. ARMIES September 28—November 11

CHAPTER XII. THE END

APPENDIX

MAPS AND PLANS

I. THE OPENING OPERATIONS From July 1 to August 8, 191

II. ATTACK OF RAWLINSON'S FOURTH ARMY The Battle of Amiens, August 8—22

III. CONTINUATION OF THE OPERATIONS OF. RAWLINSON'S FOURTH ARMY From August 22 to the Battle of the Hindenburg Line, September 29

IV. THE ATTACK OF BYNG'S THIRD ARMY August 21, 1918, to September 29, 1918

CHAPTER II. ATTACK OF RAWLINSON'S FOURTH ARMY

The Battle of Amiens, August 8-22

Table of Contents

Great British victory—Advance of the Canadians—Of the Australians—Of the Third Corps—Hard struggle at Chipilly—American assistance— Continuance of the operations—Great importance of the battle

CHAPTER III. CONTINUATION OF THE OPERATIONS OF RAWLINSON'S FOURTH ARMY From August 22 to the Battle of the Hindenburg Line, September 29

Table of Contents

Further advance of the Australians—Of the Third Corps—Capture of Albert —Advance across the old Somme battlefield—Capture of Mont St. Quentin —Splendid Australian exploit—Fall of Peronne—Début of the Yeomanry (Seventy-fourth) Division—Attack on the outliers of the Hindenburg Line —Appearance of the Ninth Corps—Eve of the Judgment

CHAPTER IV. THE ATTACK OF BYNG'S THIRD ARMY

August 21, 1918, to September 29, 1918

Table of Contents

Advance of Shute's Fifth Corps—Great feat in crossing the Ancre—Across the old battlefield—Final position of Fifth Corps opposite Hindenburg's Main Line—Advance of Haldane's Sixth Corps—Severe fighting—Arrival of the Fifty-second Division—Formation of Fergusson's Seventeenth Corps—Recapture of Havrincourt—Advance of Harper's Fourth Corps—Great tenacity of the troops—The New Zealanders and the Jaeger—Final position before the decisive battle

CHAPTER V. THE ADVANCE OF HORNE'S FIRST ARMY

From August 26 to September 27

Table of Contents

The indefatigable Fifty-first Division—Capture of Greenland Hill—Fine advance of the Canadians—Breaking of the Drocourt-Quéant line—Fine work of the Sixty-third Naval Division—Great day for the Dominion—Demeanour of German prisoners

CHAPTER VI. THE OPERATIONS OF RAWLINSON'S FOURTH ARMY

From the Battle of the Hindenburg Line (September 29) to the Battle of the Selle (October 17)

Table of Contents

The first American operations—The rupture of the Hindenburg Line—Predicament of Twenty-seventh American Division—Their gallant resistance—Great Australian attack—Remarkable feat by the Forty-sixth North Midland Territorial Division—Exeunt the Third Corps and the Australians—Entrance of the Thirteenth Corps—Rupture of the Beaurevoir line—Advance to the Selle River

CHAPTER VII. THE OPERATIONS OF RAWLINSON'S FOURTH ARMY

From the Battle of the Selle, October 17, to the end

Table of Contents

Attack upon the line of the Selle River—Stubborn work by the Second American Corps—Success of the Ninth Corps—Hard fighting at Le Cateau—Great feat of the South Africans—Continued advance—Delay-action mines—Capture of Landrecies—Dramatic exit of the German machine-gunner—Splendid work of the First Division

CHAPTER VIII. OPERATIONS OF BYNG'S THIRD ARMY

From the Battle of the Hindenburg Line (September 29) to the Battle of the Selle (October 17)

Table of Contents

Fighting at L'Escaut Canal—Dash of the New Zealanders—The Guards in a hot corner—Crossing of the Canal—Back on the old ground—Great work by all four Corps of the Third Army

CHAPTER IX. OPERATIONS OF BYNG'S THIRD ARMY

From the Battle of the Selle, October 12, to the end

Table of Contents

The battle of the Selle River—Reversion to open warfare—The valour of Lancashire—Haig's incessant blows—Weakening of the German morale—The battle of Mormal Forest—New Zealanders and the mediaeval fortress—Capture of the great forest—The Sambre bridged—A grand Division—Advance of Fergusson's Seventeenth Corps—The last phase

CHAPTER X. THE ADVANCE OF HORNE'S FIRST ARMY

From September 27 to the end

Table of Contents

The Canadians at the Canal du Nord—Hard fighting at Bourlon—Strong counter-attack at Abancourt—Canadian valour—Godley's Twenty-second Corps—The Ecaillon valley—Forcing of the Rhonelle—General Heneker's attack—Capture of Douai

CHAPTER XI. OPERATIONS OF THE SECOND AND FIFTH ARMIES

September 28—November 11

Table of Contents

King Albert in the field—Great Belgo-Franco-British advance—The last act on the old stage—The prophet of 1915—Renewed advance—Germans desert the coast—Relief of Douai and Lille—The final stage in the subsidiary theatres of war

CHAPTER XII. THE END

APPENDIX

MAPS AND PLANS

Table of Contents

Advance of Fourth Army, August 8, showing Gains up to August 12, and Final Position after the Fall of Peronne.

Position of British Corps, end of September 1918.

Advance of First, Third, and Fourth British Armies from August 21, 1918, to September 2, 1918. Arrows point to the Rupture of the Quéant-Drocourt Line.

The Attack on the Selle

General Position of the Allies immediately before the Armistice of November 11, 1918

Allied Advance in the North

---

I. THE OPENING OPERATIONS

From July 1 to August 8, 191

Table of Contents

The general position—German attack of July 16—French counter-attack of July 18—Turn of the tide—Fifty-first and Sixty-second Divisions on the Ardres—Desperate fighting—The Fifteenth Scots Division at Buzancy—Le Glorieux Chardon d'Ecosse—Nicholson's Thirty-fourth Division at Oulchy-le-Château—The campaigns on the periphery

WHEN the year 1918 had run half its course the Germans appeared to be triumphantly in the ascendant. In Flanders they had pushed back the British to positions which were, on an average, to the rear of those occupied in 1914. On the Somme they had more than neutralised all the Allied gains of 1916, and were stretched now from Arras to Montdidier, covering ground which they had not touched since the early days of the war. On the Aisne they had reconquered all that the French had so laboriously won in three campaigns, and were back along the Marne and within gun-shot of Paris. These results had been achieved in three great battles which had cost the Allies some 200,000 prisoners and nearly 2000 guns. In July it would have seemed that the German Empire was victorious, and yet ere the year had ended the very name had changed its meaning in the map of Europe, and was known only in the list of evil things which have had their day and then have passed. How this extraordinary change—the most sudden and dramatic in all history—came to pass is the theme of this final volume.

There were certain factors which even at the zenith of Germany's fortunes may have prepared a cool-headed critic for a swing of the scales, though the wisest and best informed could not have conceived how violent the oscillation would be. In the first place, the ever-pressing strangle-hold of the Navy, combined with an indifferent harvest and the exhaustion of certain stocks within the Empire, notably of copper, rubber, wool, and lubricants, produced great internal difficulties which grew worse with every month. Then again German successes had been bought in reckless fashion at a very heavy price, and if they brought a million men across from the Russian frontier