Most Unfavourable Ground: The Battle of Loos, 1915

by Niall Cherry

Overview

The year of 1914 had been a difficult one for the British Expeditionary Force, the war that had started in August had not been over by the expected time of Christmas. Additionally many of its original members had become casualties and replacements were difficult to find. 1915 did not go much better, the BEF was still a minor player with only a relatively small number of divisions compared to the many in the French Army. The culmination of several attacks by the BEF in 1915 was the attack in the Loos sector in September where in a mining area north of Arras, the largest British offensive of the war thus far took place. Forced into an offensive in an area which as one senior commander put it was on 'most unfavorable ground', the BEF suffered heavy casualties and little material gain. Probably for these reasons the 1915 battles have been largely ignored and there has been a dearth of decent publications on Loos. Helion and Co Ltd are therefore pleased to announce the publication of a major new work Most Unfavourable Ground. The Battle of Loos 1915 by Niall Cherry. Most Unfavourable Ground offers a detailed look at the planning, execution and aftermath of the fighting. As well as using official records and reports, numerous personal stories have been woven into the account.

The author's grandfather was present at Loos as a Chemical Corporal with the Royal Engineers gas units and this major new work reflects the author's passion for the subject.

Key sales points: A major new work on an oft-neglected and overlooked offensive launched by the British forces in 1915, Draws on a large number of personal accounts in addition to official sources to provide a rich and detailed account, Includes much information about overlooked aspects of the Battle, including the British use of gas, and medical facilities, Features a large number of rare photographs, a comprehensive selection of maps and an extensive number of statistical tables.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781907677922
Publisher:	Helion and Company
Publication date:	06/19/2005
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	384
File size:	14 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Niall Cherry was born in London in 1959 and recalls becoming interested in military history as a schoolboy from watching such classic war films as 'The Battle of Britain' and 'A Bridge Too Far'. He later found out that one of his grandfathers fought in the Great War, serving as a chemical corporal at Loos in 1915 and ended up as a Captain. His father served in the REME in the 1950's and Niall continued in the family tradition by serving in the RAMC. During his time he qualified as a Combat Medical Technician Class 1 and an instructor in First Aid and Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Warfare and ended as a Senior NCO. Deeply interested in the major conflicts of the 20th Century he has visited numerous battlefields including the Western Front, Arnhem, Gallipoli, Normandy and North Africa. He is a longstanding member of the Western Front Association, the Military Heraldry Society and 23 Parachute Field Ambulance Old Comrades Association. He also has the honour to be the UK representative for the Society of Friends of the Airborne Museum Oosterbeek and membership secretary and a trustee of the Arnhem 1944 Fellowship. He has now written five books - 'Red Berets and Red Crosses', 'I Shall Not Find His Equal', 'Most Unfavourable Ground: The Battle of Loos 1915', 'With Nothing Bigger than a Bren Gun' and 'Striking Back: Britain's Airborne & Commando Raids 1940-42'. He has led various groups around battlefields, contributed articles to 'After the Battle' and 'Battlefields Review' and has helped with around 30 books on the airborne forces and the Great War. Niall currently lives in Lancashire and works for BAE Systems in the aerospace industry.