Poelcappelle 9 Oct 17

[Terry Duncan]

At last I had some spare time to read the article properly and found it to be very good indeed. Well thought out presented details that would allow people to get a good overview of events and conditions during the battle. I would recommend it to anyone wanting to know about the battle. Getting full details from the German perspective is often a problem, maybe we might have some German visitors or members able to provide additional details for you?

[Attrition]

Thanks very much, I wasn't as happy with it as some of the others, because of the "bittiness". Trying to keep the six armies in mind, with so little information on the German and French armies available (in English) was quite difficult. Naturally any information offered will be gratefully received, even unto half my kingdom - well an opal fruit anyway. I'm only marking time while Messines 1917 is on the last lap to A-class but the Ancre Heights or Ginchy is next. I'm also contemplating a piece on the winter of 1916-1917 as I've noticed quite a lot of detail in the divisional histories I've got. The oddest thing about it is how modern it seems; swap the place names etc and you could pass it off as Normandy 1944.

[Attrition]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of ... %281917%29

Wahey, Messines is A-class.

[Attrition]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of ... re_Heights

I'm toying with the idea of collecting what I can from English sources about the retreat to the Hindenburg Line next. It should give me a chance to round off the Somme with the Fifth Army operations in early 1917.

[Attrition]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of ... re_Heights

B class.

[Attrition]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindenburg_Line

All I wanted to do was a bit on operations on the Ancre 1917. It needs more work though.

[Attrition]

I don't suppose anyone has sources on the German First Army on the Ancre 1916-1917 (in English) by any chance?

[Attrition]

Operations on the Ancre nearly ready, after that I may do something on operations around Lens after Arras.

[Attrition]

Hmmm I wrote too soon but not to worry, I'll get there.

[Attrition]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation ... March_1917

Not finished and a bit of a rag-bag but some interesting minutiae.

[Attrition]

B class now (after an embarrassingly large number of typos remedied).

[Attrition]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fromelles

Re-did the 1916 part of the page.

[Attrition]

Finished the lot

[Attrition]

I had a go at Ginchy then decided that Guillemont and Delville Wood formed a group and that the French 6th Army needed coverage too so I'm plodding through Guillemont July-September so that I can make my mind up about how much tactical development, inter-Allied co-operation and analysis to put on each page. With Doughty and Philpott the French won't be as anonymous as is ususal in English language accounts. The influence of Prior & Wilson's views is waning but Harris' farrago of Haig has some useful snippets in between the sniping.

[Attrition]

Ooh-er I wrote too soon, I've been afflicted by the lurgy so things have had to wait.