by Dr DAVID MORGAN-OWEN Both at the time and since, the natural reaction to the Allied failure to capture the Gallipoli Peninsular has been to interrogate the records in search of lessons to be learned. The numerous shortcomings in planning and execution evident in the operation have provided ample opportunity for those searching for ways… Read More Lessons Learned from Gallipoli
by Dr ROBERT T. FOLEY Undoubtedly, the year 1915 has been largely ignored, if not forgotten, by British historians of the First World War. In part, this is because the year was one of success for Central Powers and failure for the Entente. In the West, the ‘Iron Wall’ of the German army repelled numerous… Read More Forgotten Battles: Gorlice-Tarnow, May-June 1915
In a recent post, Dr Nick Lloyd described 1915 as the ‘forgotten year‘ of the First World War. To correct this, in occasional posts throughout 2015 members of the First World War Research Group based in the Defence Studies Department will examine unknown or forgotten aspects of the war during 1915. by Dr IAN GOODERSON… Read More Towards Systematic Bombing: The Royal Flying Corps and Experience on the Western Front, 1915
by Dr ROBERT T. FOLEY On 25 April 1915, units of General Sir Ian Hamilton’s Mediterranean Expeditionary Force landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula. The goal of this force was to clear the peninsula of Turkish defenders, and in particular their heavy artillery, in order to allow an Anglo-French naval force to sweep the Dardanelles Straits… Read More From the Archives: A Disastrous Campaign: The US View of Gallipoli
In a recent post, Dr Nick Lloyd described 1915 as the ‘forgotten year‘ of the First World War. To correct this, in occasional posts throughout 2015 members of the First World War Research Group based in the Defence Studies Department will examine unknown or forgotten aspects of the war during 1915. by Dr DAVID MORGAN-OWEN… Read More The Turning Point of the First World War, 1915
by Dr ROBERT T. FOLEY In a recent post, I examined the growing availability of governmental archival sources covering the First World War. In this, I want to look at the increasing number of official histories of the war that are becoming available online. In this post, I will concentrate on texts covering land operations.… Read More Digital First World War Resources: Online Official Histories — The War on Land
by DR NICK LLOYD 2015 is the hundredth anniversary of one of the most important, yet little remembered, years in the history of Britain and her armed forces. Often overshadowed by the rush to war in 1914 and the momentous offensive on the Somme in 1916, the battles that the British Expeditionary Force fought on… Read More THE FORGOTTEN YEAR: 1915
by DR DAVID I. HALL On Monday 12 January 2015, the British Film Institute (BFI) hosted a special screening of the critically acclaimed Testament of Youth, by director James Kent and producer Rosie Alison, based on Vera Brittain’s poignant and powerful memoir of the same name, about the cataclysmic effect of the First World War… Read More Vera Brittain: Voice of a Depleted Generation
By DR ROBERT T. FOLEY For many years I envied the research sources available to my colleagues writing about contemporary defence and strategic issues. The ability to research a project from the comfort of their favorite desk, be this at home or in the office, seemed so much more appealing than exhausting and sometime fruitless… Read More Digital First World War Resources: Online Archival Sources
by DR HUW J. DAVIES This month marks the conclusion of my first decade teaching at Staff College. In that time, I can think of two years that stand-out as containing fundamentally unexpected events, that have caused quite drastic adjustments to what I talk about when I teach. Those years were 2011 – the year… Read More Hot Potatoes for 2015
Defence-In-Depth 