Featured battle : Alexandria [1]

Part of The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars

Date : 21 March 1801

A determined British attack against prepared French positions. In this engagement the 28th Foot [Gloucestershire Regiment] was attacked from both front and rear and were subsequently awarded the honour of wearing a badge on the front and back of their caps. The battle virtually decided the campaign as the French supply problem became acute and their morale suffered. The British commander Sir Ralph Abercromby was killed in this action.

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