Suggested reading
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by
LinsladeLad
The centenary of the Battle of the Somme will not have escaped your notice. Nor will the number of books released around the event. I came across one in particular which I thought might interest other OWD taggers. Originally published in 2013, it has been reprinted this year.
It's called "Slaughter on the Somme 1st July 1916". (Publisher : Pen & Sword; ISBN : 9781473892699) The subtitle was what originally caught my interest -"The complete war diaries of the British Army's worst day". What we have here are transcriptions of the war diaries for 1st July 1916 for every infantry battalion that went over the top on that day. Also included are appendices and reports that are relevant. Sadly, other arms like Artillery, Engineers, etc are not included - but I guess you can't have everything.
The book is organised into six main sections - one for each Army Corps involved in the attack. Each section starts with an overview of unit dispositions, enemy dispositions, objectives, and the outcome of the attack. Then follows the war diary for each battalion involved in that specific sector of the battlefield. There are copious notes throughout, as well as maps, photographs, and other useful information.
If interested, you might want to visit http://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Slaughter-on-the-Somme-1-July-1916-Paperback/p/12308
https://www.waterstones.com/book/slaughter-on-the-somme/john-grehan/9781473892699
and http://www.theworks.co.uk/p/military-books/slaughter-on-the-somme---1st-july-1916/9781473892699Happy reading
Peter
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Now that really sounds an interesting book to read. I read the new book by Richard Van Endem that came out this year entitled
"The Somme": The Epic Battle in the Soldiers' Own Words and Photographs (Soldiers Words & Photographs 3), which was another very interesting book by him. A link of his books: https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=richard+van+emden+booksPosted
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by
cyngast
moderator
Peter, Thank you for posting this. It looks like an interesting book. I might have to look into ordering it.
Having just gone through the July 1916 diary for the 12th Royal Irish Rifles, 36th Division, yesterday, their experience attacking trenches south of Beaumont-Hamel is pretty fresh in my mind. It would be interesting indeed to get the details for all the battalions who took part on that day.
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This is the order of battle for the Battle of the Somme fought from 1 July to 18 November 1916.
Very Comprehensive interesting information contained in the following link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_battle_for_the_Battle_of_the_Somme
As there is so much information in this article I have saved it into my WW1 File.
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by
cyngast
moderator
Goodness! Great article to find, Marie. All that information is so neatly organized and easy to compare. Thank you.
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by
ral104
moderator, scientist
Lots of interesting reading there. Thanks for the links, everybody!
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