Poelcappelle 9 Oct 17

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Re: Poelcappelle 9 Oct 17

#286

Post by Attrition » 26 Mar 2018, 11:12


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Re: Poelcappelle 9 Oct 17

#287

Post by Attrition » 31 Mar 2018, 17:10

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convoy_PQ_18

Revised and expanded a bit more.


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Re: Poelcappelle 9 Oct 17

#288

Post by Attrition » 04 Apr 2018, 01:44

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

http://www.chtimiste.com/

I've been revising Siege of Maubeuge by rather reluctantly relying rather heavily on a French online source.

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Re: Poelcappelle 9 Oct 17

#289

Post by Attrition » 04 Apr 2018, 20:40

Oh dear, I've been barred for 36 hours by an Australian chauvinist for editing a mistake on Siege of Tobruk. Ouanqueur. I'll have to edit the Maubeuge section I'm on via Word instead.

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Re: Poelcappelle 9 Oct 17

#290

Post by Attrition » 05 Apr 2018, 12:01

I'm back, the block lifted on grounds of conflict of interest. Well, fancy that! A generic manager humbled.

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Re: Poelcappelle 9 Oct 17

#291

Post by Attrition » 05 Apr 2018, 23:11

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

Managed to plod through a French source but it's been knackering, I fear its full of typos. We'll see.

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Re: Poelcappelle 9 Oct 17

#292

Post by Attrition » 06 Apr 2018, 21:28

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

Renamed Battle of... to Attack at.... as per James 1924/1990.

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Re: Poelcappelle 9 Oct 17

#293

Post by Attrition » 07 Apr 2018, 20:22

Haig's Enemy: Crown Prince Rupprecht and Germany's War on the Western Front, Boff J. (2018) OUP 978-0-19-967046-8

Just arrived so I read chapters 16 and 17, pp. 168-189 on the 3rd Ypres campaign. The narrative cleaves too close to secondary sources and is marred by uncritical repetition of what Zuber called "common knowledge" in Ten Days in August: The Siege of Liege 1914 (2014). Boff makes the usual mistake of criticising Gough and the Fifth Army for failures in August but uses a false criterion, the red line on 31 July rather than the green line as the objective and also fails to acknowledge that XIV Corps exceeded its objectives, same as the French by edging towards the red line, as they were supposed to if the conditions were right. Boff uses a simplistic definition of attrition, by comparing losses rather than analysing explicitly the ability of the contenders to replace them but does give a pretty good exposition of the difficulties inflicted on the 4th Army when the British came close to the operational tempo their plans were based on. Boff's account is vastly superior on the difficulties imposed on the Germans during their defeats of September and early October but doesn't see that the 4th Army was in a similar boat to the Fifth Army in August. The weather determined the fortunes of both armies to a far greater degree than is commonly understood (in my opinion). As a synthesis of secondary sources, with welcome detail from German ones, the book is to be recommended but is not the last word by far.

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Re: Poelcappelle 9 Oct 17

#294

Post by Attrition » 14 Apr 2018, 21:37

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

Scraped together enough vaguely relevant data I think.

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Re: Poelcappelle 9 Oct 17

#295

Post by Attrition » 14 Apr 2018, 21:43

I've read more of Boff and think that it's a reasonable synthesis of mainstream opinion but rather lacking in reference (except in passing) to the scholarship of the last couple of decades. He's really rather good on the unbearable asininity of institutions and those who inhabit them which is to be expected since we get a lot from Rupprecht's original unpolished diary but I can't tell if he's colonised his subject somewhat or is reluctant to stick his neck out too far contra the mud, blood and poetry school of the Great War. He should lay off the hindsight a bit too. A missed opportunity or as much as can be expected from a commercial publication?

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Re: Poelcappelle 9 Oct 17

#296

Post by Attrition » 16 Apr 2018, 13:08


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Re: Poelcappelle 9 Oct 17

#297

Post by Attrition » 18 Apr 2018, 14:04


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Re: Poelcappelle 9 Oct 17

#298

Post by Attrition » 18 Apr 2018, 21:48


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Re: Poelcappelle 9 Oct 17

#299

Post by The Ibis » 19 Apr 2018, 00:26

Fascinating aspect of the war. Thanks. I suppose there wasn't a lot of beach weather on those islands!
"The secret of managing is to keep the guys who hate you away from the guys who are undecided." - Casey Stengel

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Re: Poelcappelle 9 Oct 17

#300

Post by Attrition » 19 Apr 2018, 02:48

I'm rather surprised that I could glean as much as I did but I enjoyed illuminating a dusty corner of the war. If anyone can suggest sources I'd be grateful, especially about the Germans and Norwegians.

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