F.O.O. (Forward Observation Officer) is the pseudonym of Capt C.J.C Street OBE, MC, of the Royal Garrison Artillery special reserve. He does not say which battery he belongs to but as the book was published in 1916 and censorship being very strict, this is hardly surprising. But he does let slip it was a siege battery, equipped with howitzers and that would suggest 6-inch, the most common, though there were, of course, heavier pieces. The main event of this book is the battle of Loos and he gives a very good blow-by-blow account of the four-day preliminary bombardment followed by the day of the assault and the aftermath But he also gives clear picture, sometimes amusing, of artillery warfare, its evolution, employment, problems, the working of the guns, artillery observation, changing gun positions and the problem of communications (telephone lines) between F.O.O. and the guns. It tells something of the spirit of the men who served the guns and the officers who commanded them. An interesting and informative book.
If the part played by the Royal Navy in the Boer War has been overlooked among all the land based operations then this book will help to put matters right; the naval guns, brought ashore on improvised carriages, enabled the army to cope on equal terms with the Boer artillery and Royal Marines supplemented army units. A brigade of 17 officers and 267 men was at Ladysmith with guns to match those of the Boers; 33 died, of these one officer and five men were battle casualties , 27 (two of them officers) died from disease. And naval gun detachments outside the town played a big part in the relief. Another brigade, in Cape Colony, joined Lord Methuen s Kimberley relief force and took part in the battle of Belmont on 23 November 1899. Two days later a brigade which included 200 marines were in action at Graspan (also known as the battle of Enslin), a strong Boer position, and in the operations leading to its capture the marines lost 3 officers and 86 men of a total casualty list of 9 officers and 185 men. This is a comprehensive account of operations involving naval and marine units and appendices include casualty details, names of officers and details of honours and awards, including mention in despatches.
Max Hoffmann was Chief of Staff to Von Prittwitz, the aristocratic General charged with defending Germany's East Prussian heartland at the outbreak of the Great War. Prittwitz was as inept as his name suggests, and when the Russians steamrollered west far faster than the Germans had expected, he panicked and sought permission to retreat behind the River Vistula. But Hoffman kept his head and conceived a bold scheme to attack and annihilate the Russian advance. This was the operational plan that was already being put into effect when the dynamic duo of Hindenburg and Ludendorff arrived in the east to take over from the disgraced Prittwitz in late August 1914.The result was the total triumph of Tannenberg, soon followed by the twin victory at the Masurian Lakes. Hindenburg and Ludendorff got the credit for Tannenberg rather than its real author, the brilliant Hoffmann, who continued to be a tower of strength on the Eastern front, being part of the German delegation which negotiated the harsh Treaty of Brest-LItoskv which eliminated Russia from the war early in 1918. These two volumes of memoirs comprise (Vol 1) Hoffmann's War Diaries and (Vol II) his reflections which are summed up in his title 'The War of Lost Opportunities'. Hoffmannn believed that the Great War could have been won by Germany in the east in 1914-15, and that Falkenhayn made a major mistake by concentrating on the west. Hoffmann's frank and rather salty comments on Falkenhayn and his other brother officers - including Ludendorff of whom he was a criticial admirer - are valuable and revealing, coming as they do from one of the brightest minds among Germany's supreme commanders. Warning against the Bolsheviks, Hoffmann lived after the war in Berlin and Bavaria, where he died at Berchtesgaden in 1927.
The original of this handbook is amongst the rarest of all official Great War publications with its initial print runs being just 250 copies.Detailing the hull framework, gas bags, engines, instrumentation, controls, ballast, mooring and handling, armament, trial flights, modifications, stations and duties of crew, and specifications, etc, etc, with plates showing framework, walking ways, gondola, parachute, engine, etc, etc, etc.These three titles show in great details these lighter-than-air machines in the latter stages of the Great War.
The story of Major John Andre is one of the most dramatic and tragic in America's War of Independence. An adjutant on the Staff of Britain's General William Howe in Philadelphia, Major Andre was an unsuccessful suitor for the hand of Peggy Shippen, daughter of a prominent Philadelphia Loyalist. He kept in touch with the Shippen's after Peggy married Benedict Arnold, one of the most successful American Generals, who had become embittered after enemies on his own side falsely accused him of embezzlement. Under Peggy's influence, Arnold decided to switch sides and hand West Point Fort over to the British - with Andre acting as his contact man. Andre was arrested carrying papers incriminating Arnold, who was forced to flee to a British ship, narrowly evading George Washington's attempt to arrest him. Andre was tried as a spy, condemned and hanged. (His body was later buried with full honours in London's Westminster Cathedral). Arnold and Peggy lived in London for the rest of their lives - his name is execrated in America as the epitome of treason. The author of this 1808 'authentic narrative' of the story, Joshua Hett Smith, an American lawyer was present when Andre was arrested and charged as his accomplice, but acquitted. His book, therefore, is an invaluable eye-witness account of one of the most dramatic events in US history and will enthral anyone with an interest in the War of Independence.