Featured battle : The Ardennes

Part of First World War

Date : 20 August 1914 - 25 August 1914

The French Third and Fourth armies advanced into the path of the German Fourth and Fifth armies manouvering as part of the Schlieffen plan. The French were seriously outnumbered and took heavy losses before re-organising west of the River Meuse anchored on the Fortress of Verdun.

The BEF in France 1939-1940

John Grehan & Martin Mace
A most interesting compilation of some of the despatches sent by the senior Army and Naval commanders involved. Here presented is the raw material, the facts, as they were seen at that time by those people without the benefit of hindsight to enable them to make any adjustments to the narrative. The material covers some of the initial deployment of the BEF and its eventual evacuations from around Dunkirk and Cherbourg. Warmly recommended with the reservation that one needs either a very good knowledge of the geography of northern France or a large scale map to hand.
Pen & Sword Military, 2014