bayonet fighting 382, 384
British casualties 7, 40, 41, 43, 45–7, 76, 90
the cavalry at High Wood 440–42
commemoration of 71
compared with Passchendaele 60
creeping barrage 407
first appearance of the tank 267, 427, 429. 433
Flers-Courcelette 44–5
German insistence on regaining
captured ground 42
Haig overrules Rawlinson 41
medical services 467, 470, 472–3, 477, 481
mining 458
Montagu-Stuart-Wortley sacked 231
no need for wire in 268–9
the old battlefield 228–9
padres 511–12
plan of attack 40, 188
Thiepval Memorial 14
trench system 249–50, 251, 255, 259, 260
Somme Times, The 608
Somme front 258, 270, 349, 450, 502, 527, 542, 549, 590
Somme River 16, 17, 21, 39, 49, 447
Somme sector 18, 313, 526, 627
sound-ranging 64, 184, 452
South Africa 13, 76, 108, 190
South African troops: casualties in France 13–14
South America 206
Southampton 4, 163, 579
souvenirs 546–7
Spanish Netherlands 19
Spears, Brig. Gen. Sir Edward 51–2, 190, 319
Special Service Party 419
Spicer, Maj. Lancelot 83, 171, 482, 614–15
Spiers, Edward 119
spirituality 503–27
St-Eloi 216, 304, 350, 457, 465
Mont 259, 350
St-Gilles church, Epagnette 20
St-Mihiel 18
St-Mihiel salient 1
St-Omer 23, 38, 39, 64, 193, 468, 511
St-Quentin, battle of (1557) 21
Stamfordham, Lord 267
Stanford, 2nd Lt H. M. 23, 328, 413
Stanhope, Lt Col Lord 171, 190, 205, 222, 230–33. 241–2, 419, 550, 556, 587
Stanhope Forbes, 2nd Lt W. A. 629
Stanton, RSM 83
Stanway, Capt. 356, 464
Starrett, Corporal David 238, 553–4
Steenbeek Stream 57, 62, 63
‘Stellenbosched’ 214, 218
Stewart, Col. 141
Stirling Castle 16
Stirling Wood 15–16
Stokes, Lt Stephen 550
Stokes, Wilfred 369–70
Stones, L/Sgt Willie 569 Stoughton barracks, Guildford 4, 132
Strachan, Lt Harcus 443–4
Strachan, Hew: First World War xxii
Streets, Sgt Will 45–6
strikes 96, 108, 347, 617
Studdert Kennedy, Rev. Geoffrey (‘Woodbine Willie’) 511, 518
The Unutterable Beauty 518
Stuff Redoubt (Thiepval) 529 submarine warfare 49, 54, 69
Suez canal 84
Sugden, Amy 158, 368
Sugden, Sgt Bill xxvi-xxvii, 158–9, 357, 368, 563–4
Surbiton Villas 271
surrender 547–51
surveying 453
Sutherland, Maj. 574
Swinford, Sapper (later Pte) George 91–2
Swinton, Maj. Gen. Sir Ernest: Twenty Years After 24
Swiss border 33, 246
swords 366–7, 436, 438, 444, 445, 448
syphilis 101, 483
T-shells 423
Talbot, Lt Gilbert 525
Talbot, Revd. Neville 522, 524–5
Talbot, Sgt 352
Talbot House, Poperinghe (‘Toe H’) 525
Talbot Kelly, 2nd Lt R. B. 148, 410, 417, 525, 539, 577–8
Tangiers 112, 113
tanks 44, 64, 69, 210, 267, 375, 427–34
A7V 430
Mark IV 428–9, 430, 434
Mark V 70, 431, 434
supply 431
‘whippet’ light 70, 375, 431
Tanner, Revd Victor 520
Taplow Court, Buckinghamshire 626
Tarawa 14
Tasmania 195
Tawney, Sgt Richard Henry 48, 145
Taylor, A. J. P. xxiii, 209, 628
The First World War: An Illustrated History xxi
Taylor, Pte George 523
Teed, Pte 353
telegraph 452
telephone communications 218, 226, 227, 303, 395, 398, 400, 410, 415,
Tennant, Gunner Norman 133–4, 612
Tennyson, Alfred, Lord 77
Ternon, Trevor 195
Terraine, John 210
Douglas Haig: The Educated Soldier xxii
Territorial Force 28, 75, 76, 79, 79–82, 87, 88, 89, 103, 107, 129–34, 135–8, l40, 174, 198, 368
Territorial Force Nursing Services 481
Territorial Year Book, The 130
Thermit bombs 424–5
Thesiger, Maj. Gen. George 212
Thiepval 40, 526
Thiepval Memorial, Somme 14, 628
Thirsk, Sgt 411
Thomas, Lt F.G. S. 622
Thomas, Corporal Reginald (John) 596
Thompson, Flora: Lark Rise to Candleford 100
Thornton-Smith, Capt A. D. 57, 59
Thorout 54
Tickler’s jam (‘pozzy’) 317–18, 319–20
Tillett, Ben 508
Tilques 350
Tilton, Sister May 481
Times the, 35, 138–41, 200, 311, 605
Toe H 525
Todhunter, B. E. 161
Tolkien, LtJ. R. R. 533
‘Tommy Atkins’ xv-xvi
Tompkins, Lt 126
Tompson, Capt. Reginald 22–3, 192, 212, 240–41, 587–8, 615
Touvent Farm, Somme 40
Tower Hamlets 271
Tower Hamlets ridge 15
Trades Union Congress 508
Training and Employment of Divisions, The (Pamphlet SS 135) 367–8
Transloy-Bapaume road 283
transport lines 335
Travers, Tim xxii
Treffry, 2nd Lt 473–4
Tregaskis, Lt Arthur 46
Tregaskis, Lt Leonard 46
trench fever 469
trench journals 605–10
Trench Supply Department 370, 387
trench warfare 245–66
aid posts 264–5
and blockhouses 261
communication trenches 252–5, 275, 305, 308–9, 388
conditions 247–g
digging trenches 305–7
dugouts 257–61
fatigues 295
fire trenches 247, 250, 252
firestep 250–51
food 314–26
funk holes 257, 306
German snipers 295–6
‘going over the top’ 251, 275
Grecian key design 251–2
increasing use of the grenade 380–81, 385
infantrymen 274
informative signs 256–7
latrines 262–3, 277> 284– 288
laying out a trench system 249–50
line-holding 275, 276–7, 278, 283
listening posts 252
lying trenches 246
pattern of rotation 274, 275–6, 279, 280
precedence for 245–6
raiding 311–14
rats 286–7
reserve trenches 295
reversing trenches 251
revetting of trench sides 249
scale and duration 246
sentry duty 301–3
the smell of the line 285–6, 290
social community 531–2
stone-built sangars 249
supervision trenches 252
trench names 253, 256
trench periscopes 295
trench stores 265, 275, 284, 303
trench-mortar dugouts 264
watches 292–3
Trench Warfare Department 387
Trinity College, Cambridge 357
Trones Wood 281
truces 544, 547
Trumpeter,
The (song) 147–8
Tuchman, Barbara xvii, 96
Tudor, Brig. Gen. Hugh ‘Owen’ 64, 233
Tunnel Trench, British attack on (1917) 537
tunnelling companies 311
Turks 194, 448
Turp, Farrier Sgt 445
Tyndale-Biscoe, Harold 143
Tyndale-Biscoe, Lt Julian 142–3, 203, 263, 354–5, 415
Tyne Cot memorial 59, 628, 629
Tyne Electrical Engineers 133
Ulster 120, 152
Ulster Tower 154
Ulster Unionists 135
Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) 153–4
West Belfast Regiment 154
Ulstermen 102, 153–4, L55 577
underclass 97–8
Underhill, 2nd Lt Edward 247, 259, 260–61, 271, 331, 528–9, 542, 604
unemployment 108, 620, 630
Union forces (American Civil War) 246
United States of America
and the 1918
German offensive 277
enters the war 54, 65, 68–9
Meuse-Argonne battle 71
United States Army 163, 376
University of Leeds xxiii
Ushant, battle of (1794) 114
Vailly-sur-Aisne 451
Valenciennes 21
Valois 20
Vauban Marshal Sebastien le Prestre de 21, 194
Vaughan, Lt Edwin Campion 61–2, 331, 360, 433, 542, 546, 553, 578–9, 581
Vaux 24
venereal disease 117, 483–4, 596
Verdun 18, 24, 542
battle of (1916) 18, 35, 39, 42, 43, 48, 49.52
Vermelles 298
Versailles, Treaty of (1919) xxiii
Victoria, Queen 105, 113
Victory Medal 630
Vietnam War (1961–70) xxi
Villers-Bretonneux 68, 430
Villers-Guislain 256
Vimy Ridge 16, 36, 312–13, 350
battle of (1917) 52–3, 269
Vimy Sector 180, 372, 421
violence 102
within the Army 555–6
Voller, Pte H. W. 606
voluntary recruiting 89–90
Volunteer Decoration 126
volunteers 90, 126, 128, 131, 134, 138, 153, 310–11, 027
Voormezeele 353, 463
Vosges, the 18, 52, 249
Wade, Gunner Aubrey 63–4, 303, 414, 596
Walker, Pte Johnny 298
Walker, Revd Michael Stanhope 512
Walkey, Pte 603
Wambergen, Lt Meyer Zu 542
War Cabinet 54, 67, 215, 225
war literature xvii-xxiv
War Office xv, 82, 106, 121, 135, 142, 144, 177, 231, 506
ammunition supply 35
Committee on Shell Shock (1922) 330, 485
and mining 457
and New Armies 139
and territorials 136, 137, 140
and use of gas 419
and weapon inventions 387
Wareham, Capt. 582
Warley Barracks 156
Wars of the Roses (1453–85) 626
Waterloo, battle of (1815) 104, 120, 182, 365, 396
Waterloo station, London 132
Watney, Lt Col. Frank 79
Watson, W. H. L. 311
Watson-Smythe, Lt ‘Teddy’ 355–6
Watter, Lt Gen. von 429
Watts, Capt. A. R. E. 496
Watts, Maj. Gen. Herbert 6, 207
Watts, Sgt 573
Wavell, Field Marshal Lord 120
weapons see under individual types
Webber, Lt Henry 46
Weetman, Capt. W. L. 37–8
Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, Duke of 21, 104, 107–8, 118, 119–20, 182
Wellington Barracks 129
Welsh Division New Year Souvenir, The 608
Welsh National Eisteddfod 503
Welsh National Executive Committee 149, 150
Welsh nationalism 150
Welton, RQMS 356
West, Pte B. 297
Western Command Gas School 421
Western Desert 207, 622
Western Front
architecture 19–20
attack/defensive strategies 34–5
bayonet fighting 382
British C-in-Cs xix
casualty clearing stations 478
casualty statistics 13, 14
cavalry 375
Churchill’s comments xx
corps commanders 210
the costliest theatre for British troops 14
created by the war’s opening campaign 25
decorations 584
Haig’s insistence on its primacy 38
horses 163
importance of 29–30
length of 15
Liddell Hart’s comments xx line of field fortifications 32–3, 246
maps 453
motivation 489
mutinies 347
post-war appearance 23–4
routine line-holding 275
scale and duration of trench warfare 246
toll on British generals 212–13
and US entry into the war 65
veterans xxiii
victims of indirect fire 213
Westerners school of strategic policy xix
Westhoek Ridge (Ypres) 261
Westmann, Stephen 103, 406
Westminster Abbey, London: Tomb of the Unknown Warrior 630
Whatley, Driver J. 80–81
Whatley, Pte Richard 80, 81
When Cannon are Roaring (English Civil War song) 245
Whitehead, Lt Col. North 141–2
Whitmore, Capt. 326
Whittington Barracks, Lichfield 89
whiz-bangs 411, 497–8
Whizz-Bang, The 608
Wigram, Col. Clive 44
Wilkie, Lt 361–2
Will, 2nd LtJ. G. 301
Williams, Pte Erskine 266, 300
Williams, Pte William 383
Williamson, Henry 15, 23, 256, 296, 300, 346, 497, 553
Love and the Loveless 346
Wills, Lieutenant 3–4
Wilson, Field Marshal Sir Henry 26, 67, 123, 215
Wilson, Trevor xxii, 42, 441
Wimberley, Maj. Gen. Douglas 560
Wimereux (Boulogne) 480
Winchester Farm 63
Windmill Hill (Zonnebeke) 383
Windy Docks 450
Wing, Maj. Gen. Frederick 212
Wingate, Capt. Sandy 214
Winnington-Ingram, A. F., bishop of London 506, 511, 513
Winter, Denis 180
Winter, J. M. 149, 626
Winterbotham, 2nd Lt Cyril (‘C. W. W.’): The Wooden Cross 606
Wipers Times, The 22, 320, 606, 607
wireless 226–7, 371, 452
Wolf, Leon: In Flanders Fields xxi
Wood, Corporal W. B. 348
Woodroffe, Lt Neville 361
Woodruff, Dan 99
Woodruff, William 98–9
Woodville, Richard Caton 438
Woolwich, London 117, 120, 142, 157
Wootton, Pte Herbert 114–15
Workman, Lt 351
Worrell, Pte Ted 437
Wray, Capt. John 153
Wright, Capt. Theodore 451
Wulverghem 317
Wurttemburg 543
Wyn Griffith, Capt. Llewelyn 151–2, 217–18, 370, 544
Wytschaete 465, 494
Yates, Capt. 598
Yeomanry 121, 123, 126–8, 206, 208,
YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Association) 341, 343, 600
York Cemetery 72
Yorktown, battle of (1781) 397
Young, Brigham 497
Ypres (Belgium) 15, 21, 22, 33, 54, 194, 310, 349, 426, 470, 494, 574
Ypres, first battle of (1914) 9, 15, 33, 279, 36l, 366, 401, 438, 471, 499, 540–41, 615, 629
Ypres, second battle of (1915) 35, 36, 172, 198, 200, 214, 216, 418, 419, 497, 596
Ypres, third battle of (1
917 ‘Passchendaele’) xxi, 54–64, 76, 89, 152, 164–5, l78, 18l, l89, 208, 210, 213, 267, 274, 292, 327, 393, 409, 412–13, 416, 417, 433, 479, 526–7 533, 573, 577
appalling weather 56–7, 59
British plan 54
capture of Messines Ridge 55
French army 30
gas, use of 424
German dugouts 260–61
GHQ/army headquarters tensions 56
Jacob’s successful attack 233
and Kiggell 190
level of British morale 60–61
maps 454
medical services 478, 481
prisoners 541, 551–2
and Rawlinson 188–9
Ypres salient 15, 16, 54, 81, 216, 240, 271, 321, 383, 384, 457, 463, 481, 494, 522, 528
Yser River 271
Zeebrugge 49, 208
Zeppelin bombing 372, 384
Zillebeke 573
Zonnebeke, battle of (1917) 81, 82
P. S.
Ideas, interviews & features…
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
RICHARD HOLMES was one of Britain’s most distinguished and eminent military historians and broadcasters. For many years Professor of Military and Security Studies at Cranfield University and the Royal Military College of Science, he was the author of many books including the best-selling and widely acclaimed Redcoat: The British Soldier in the Age of Horse and Musket; Sahib: The British Soldier In India 1750-1914; Marlborough: England’s Fragile Genius; Wellington: The Iron Duke and most recently, Soldiers: Army Lives and Loyalties from Redcoats to Dusty Warriors. His other books include The Western Front and Dusty Warriors. He was general editor of the Oxford Companion to Military History and taught military history at Sandhurst for many years. As well as his work as an academic and writer, Richard Holmes joined the Territorial Army in 1964, and served for over 35 years, retiring as a brigadier and Britain’s most senior reservist. He was also Colonel of the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment from 1999 until 2007. Famous for his BBC series such as War Walks, In the Footsteps of Churchill and Wellington, Richard Holmes died suddenly in April 2011 from pneumonia. He had been suffering from non-Hodgkins’ Lymphoma.
Interview with Richard Holmes by Patrick Bishop
Q. You have written more than a dozen books on military subjects. What is it that keeps drawing you back?
A. I’ve been a military historian almost all my working life, interweaving an academic career with thirty-six years in the Territorial Army, and veering into full-time soldiering for three years in the 1980s. Military history is so vast a subject that I am always drawn back to look at aspects that seem to me to be worth re-examination. As time has gone on I have become less interested in what we might call ‘arrows on maps’ operational military history, and more and more concerned with what armies are rather than what they do. Tommy is the second volume in a trilogy concerned with the social history of the British army at three different times in its life. Redcoat was the first, and I am currently working on Sahib, a book about the British soldier in India, which will be the third.
Tommy Page 84
