Featured battle : Malplaquet

Part of The War of the Spanish Succession

Date : 11 September 1709

The largest of Marlborough's battles in terms of troops involved. The Allies with 110,000 men attacked the French and Bavarian's of 80,000. The French/Bavarian army was in a strong position in wooded country side on a front which they had spent three days preparing. In a very bloody battle the Allies, particularly the Dutch, took very heavy casualties. About 24,000 Allied soldiers were killed compared with 9,000 French/Bavarians. The French/Bavarians conducted an orderly retreat and saved most of their guns. The result was a technical victory for the Allies in that it removed the French from a strategically important position and opened the way for the seige and capture of Mons and Tournai

Arras Counter-Attack 1940

Tim Saunders
By late May 1940 the German Panzer spearhead had reached the coast of France. This effectively cut off the British and French armies fighting in Belgium from the main body of France. The German extended lines of communication necessitated by the nature of Blitzkrieg were ripe for counter attack. Tim Saunders’s book is an account of the major attempt to cut the German lines of communication which took place around Arras.
The counter attack was hastily put together. A serious lack of command and control leading to a lack of coordination between infantry, armour and artillery resulted in chaos and failure. The German effective response was largely due to their superior communications net and Rommel’s grip in command. Within two days the Germans out numbered the British to the point where three British infantry brigades faced four Panzer divisions.
When the author first looked at this event writing it up in any coherent fashion must have seemed a daunting task. In making sense, for the reader, of chaos and confusion he has succeeded brilliantly. All through the book there many first-hand accounts and a large number of maps and photographs. The final chapter is an up to the minute guide to the battlefield.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it highly.

Pen & Sword Military, 2018