Western Front: Difference between revisions

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**[https://www.deutsche-digitale-bibliothek.de/item/JUTM5NV4GRHSMEKA6RUKYA6RZZ67WQJH German Map of the main French prison camps, labor commandos and hospitals] 1917.  Karte der wichtigsten französischen Gefangenenlager, Arbeitskommandos u. Lazarette. Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek. Some additional camps are also mentioned.<ref>CROONAERT [http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?/topic/248554-german-map-of-the-main-french-prison-camps-labor-commandos-and-hospitals/&do=findComment&comment=2506307 German Map of the main French prison camps, labor commandos and hospitals] ''Great War Forum'' 21 March 2017.  Retrieved  8 April 2017.</ref>
**[https://www.deutsche-digitale-bibliothek.de/item/JUTM5NV4GRHSMEKA6RUKYA6RZZ67WQJH German Map of the main French prison camps, labor commandos and hospitals] 1917.  Karte der wichtigsten französischen Gefangenenlager, Arbeitskommandos u. Lazarette. Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek. Some additional camps are also mentioned.<ref>CROONAERT [http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?/topic/248554-german-map-of-the-main-french-prison-camps-labor-commandos-and-hospitals/&do=findComment&comment=2506307 German Map of the main French prison camps, labor commandos and hospitals] ''Great War Forum'' 21 March 2017.  Retrieved  8 April 2017.</ref>
**[https://archive.org/details/2864905upenn ''The Wooden City; a Journal for British Prisoners of War'']. Issues 1-15.  Published at Göttingen 1915. Archive.org. Includes Lists of POWs at Göttingen.
**[https://archive.org/details/2864905upenn ''The Wooden City; a Journal for British Prisoners of War'']. Issues 1-15.  Published at Göttingen 1915. Archive.org. Includes Lists of POWs at Göttingen.
*:[http://access.bl.uk/item/viewer/ark:/81055/vdc_100022553586.0x000002?bt=europeanaapi#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=0&z=-916.7904%2C0%2C4102.5809%2C2958 Issue No 16 February 15, 1916] British Library Digital file. The British Library has additional digital files for Issues 17-27 (September 1916). To access, through the [http://explore.bl.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?menuitem=0&fromTop=true&fromPreferences=false&fromEshelf=false&vid=BLVU1 Main Catalogue], use the search term BLL01016586686 Then click on "I want this', select the required edition, and click Go.
*:[http://access.bl.uk/item/viewer/ark:/81055/vdc_100022553586.0x000002?bt=europeanaapi#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=0&z=-916.7904%2C0%2C4102.5809%2C2958 Issue No 16 February 15, 1916] British Library Digital file. The British Library has additional digital files for Issues 17-27 (September 1916). To access, through the [http://explore.bl.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?menuitem=0&fromTop=true&fromPreferences=false&fromEshelf=false&vid=BLVU1 Main Catalogue], use the search term BLL01016586686 Then click on "I want this', select the required edition, and click Go. Alternatively, rather than using the Main Catalogue, the digital file for Issue 16, on the right hand side of the page, has an item "View the catalogue record".
**Also see [[First World War#Historical books online|First World War - Historical books online]] for more online books about Prisoners of War.
**Also see [[First World War#Historical books online|First World War - Historical books online]] for more online books about Prisoners of War.
*[https://archive.org/details/irishnunsatypres00coluuoft  ''The Irish Nuns at Ypres : an Episode of the War''] by D M C [Dame M Columban], (Member of the Community) [Benedictines] 1915 Archive.org.
*[https://archive.org/details/irishnunsatypres00coluuoft  ''The Irish Nuns at Ypres : an Episode of the War''] by D M C [Dame M Columban], (Member of the Community) [Benedictines] 1915 Archive.org.

Revision as of 01:22, 14 April 2017

As the First World War progressed more troops were needed for the Western Front. To meet this demand Expeditionary Force A from India was sent to reinforce the British Troops – particularly in France.[1]

Many men who fell during these campaigns are honoured by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Amongst these are 4,742 soldiers from India whose names are recorded on the Neuve Chapelle Memorial in France. In 1964 these names were expanded to also commemorate 210 servicemen of India whose graves at Zehrensdorf Indian Cemetery in East Germany could not be maintained.

Related articles

War Diaries

Included in the many records held at the National Archives Kew is the series WO 95 - War Office: First World War and Army of Occupation War Diaries.

Some War Diaries, many of which are handwritten, have been digitised and are available (on a pay basis) online from various sources: from the National Archives through the Discovery catalogue[2], from Naval and Military Archive[3], part of Naval & Military Press, which also publishes print and DVD-ROM versions, and through Ancestry which contains the database "UK, WWI War Diaries (France, Belgium and Germany), 1914-1920" (selected war diaries only)[4] (and another database for Gallipoli). The Ancestry database also contains War Diaries for some Indian, Australian, New Zealand, and other regiments. Some transcribed war diaries edited by Martin Gillott. publisher Great War Diaries, for British Army regiments, are available in Kindle editions which have a Search facility (anyone with Kindle Unlimited can read them for free). (Download of a free Kindle App is available, you don't need Kindle).

Also see External links below.

There is also a record series, consisting of of printed volumes at the British Library called "Indian Army First World War - War Diaries" IOR/L/MIL/17/5/2421-4246 : 1914-1921, which includes Western Front War Diaries. The relevant records appear to be IOR/L/MIL/17/5/2421-2499.

The Australian War Memorial website[5] contains Australian and New Zealand Army War diaries (available for free).

Recommended reading

Recommended by Peter Moore on the Military reading list
"Sepoy in the Trenches: The Indian Corps on the Western Front, 1914-15 by Gordon Corrigan, Kent, UK; first edition. 1999; 16 plates; 9 maps; hardcover; 274 pp. An excellent, updated account of the sufferings and heroism of the Indian regiments sent to France in the bitterest of winters clad only in tropical uniforms until transferred to the Mesopotamian Campaign in 1915. The author, a retired Major (late Royal Gurkha Rifles and ex-10GR), 1998), has an authentic feel for the old Indian Army and the times".

“Well worth tracking a copy, both as a fascinating book and a display of how good military history should be written.“[6]

For an interview with the author Gordon Corrigan, see below.

Indian treacle (opium)

On the Western Front, Sikh troops were supplied with Indian treacle, an euphemism for opium, which was part of their ration.[7]

External links

Video and transcript: "Illiterate but Literary: The Censored Correspondence of Indian Soldiers in France, 1914-18" by Dr David Omissi, recorded on 2 November 2015 nam.ac.uk, including YouTube video.
See Historical books online, below.
Neuve Chapelle Memorial ww1cemeteries.com

Maps

This series contains Plans Directeurs maps. Information about these types of maps is included in the article "The Great War and Modern Mapping: WWI in the Map Division" May 15, 2015. New York Public Library.
  • French Maps Mostly "Cartes et plans directeurs de la bataille de la Somme, du 18 juin au 17 août 1916". Gallica BnF (Bibliothèque nationale de France) National Library of France.
  • The National Archives series WO 153 "War Office: War of 1914-1918: Maps and Plans" is another source of maps, although the maps themselves do not appear to be available online. The catalogue may be searched through Discovery. The maps and plans in this series were collected from various sources, mainly for use by the Official War Historians, and as such were originally held in the Cabinet Office Historical Section. Many were extracted from regimental war diaries. More details, Western Front maps.
  • The Military Map; Elements of Modern Topography (French School of War) by Gerald Maxwell 1916 Archive.org
  • Maps and Artillery Boards. Reprinted 1917 by Army War College, Washington, [USA] from a Pamphlet issued by the British General Staff 1916
  • List of conventional signs and abbreviations in use on French and German maps compiled by Second Section, General Staff (Topography) [USA Army] 1918 Archive.org.
  • Also see next section for some maps, including locations of Prisoners of War camps.

Historical books online

Volume of 14 Maps National Library of Australia, with a description in the catalogue entry.
Forty Years With Dogs by E H Richardson 1935. Pdf download, Digital Library of India. Archive.org. "A Biography of E H Richardson" k9history.com, probably based on the autobiography.
  • Les Archives de la Grande Guerre [et de l'histoire contemporaine]. French language.
Hathi Trust Digital Library catalogue record for 17 Volumes, viewable by those in regions such as North America. All except the last are stated to be Public Domain in the USA.
Gallica: Bibliothèque nationale de France There are 13 digital files for this publication on Gallica, but they are classified by year published, not volume number. (1919 (4), 1920-1923, 2 each year, 1924 (1)), and it is unclear whether these contain the complete series of 17 volumes, or 13 volumes. The last one digitized on Gallica is classified as 1924, and has the title 5th Annee Tome XVII, Volume 17. There is a Search facility (whole collection) or individual book files. For individual book files, click on the icon for Table des matières, for contents. Volume 17, the final volume, contains a Contents section which appears to cover all 17 Volumes, click on the icon for Table des matières. It is then possible to click through to relevant articles, which may be located in other volumes.

Fiction

  • Memoirs of an Infantry Officer by Siegfried Sassoon 1930. Archive.org, Digital Library of India Collection. A fictionalised account of Sassoon's own life during and immediately after World War I. About the book Wikipedia
  • Half-novel, half-autobiography: The Middle Parts of Fortune: Somme and Ancre, 1916 by Frederic Manning 1929. Also published as Her Privates We. Pdf download of a transcription, University of Sydney Digital Collection. Considered “as being true to the actual experience of modern warfare in ways that nothing else had managed to be”. [12]
  • Peter Jackson, Cigar Merchant : a Romance of Married Life by Gilbert Frankau Seventh edition 1920. Archive.org. This book "is semi-autobiographical and gives an excellent feel for life as a Kitchener volunteer officer in both the infantry and then the RFA 1914-16… it was also one of the first books to reveal to the general public what Shell Shock was all about. A classic".[13]
  • Novels by Sapper, the non de plume of Herman Cyril McNeile , a writer of war stories that were hailed as realistic revelations of the truth about war. [14] He was the author of the later Bulldog Drummond series. Archive.org.
Men, Women and Guns 1916. Also available in an audio edition.
Sergeant Michael Cassidy, R. E. 1916
The Lieutenant and Others 1916
No Man's Land 1917
  • A novel: Across The Black Waters by Mulk Raj Anand. Reprint edition, possibly 1955, originally published 1940. Pdf download, Digital Library of India. A novel about Indian (Punjabi) soldiers who have crossed the black waters, against all the advice of their forefathers that calamity would befall anyone who went overseas, to join the British and their allies on the Western Front. The author was born in Peshawar in 1905, so was too young for first-hand experience of the war, but the book has a very authentic feel, suggesting that he not only did his research in books but also listened to the stories of older men who came back. He grew up in military cantonments, according to the introduction.[15] Review by Randeep Wadehra, August 6, 2000 The Tribune
  • A novel: The Ravi Lancers by John Masters 1972. Internet Archive (Archive.org) Lending Library. (Only one person at a time is able to borrow, so you may need to wait for the book to be returned. First you must register) . An Indian cavalry regiment is sent to France at the outbreak of the First World War.
  • A novel: Hira Singh: When India Came to Fight in Flanders by Talbot Mundy. Archive.org. Published in Britain as Hira Singh's Tale: When India Came to Fight in Flanders. Serialized in Adventure magazine, October 18 - December 3, 1917. Published in book form 1918. A fictional account of a cavalry regiment taken prisoners of war by the Germans.
  • A romantic novel: The Nurse's Story : In Which Reality Meets Romance by Adele Bleneau 1915 Archive.org. The hero of this romantic novel is a Captain in the Ludhiana Sikhs (page 97). There are suggestions that when it was published the book was considered to be fictionalized memoirs, perhaps not written under the author’s actual name. A film based on the book was made in 1919. The book is from the collection of the US National Library of Medicine, so perhaps is considered to have a realistic nursing background. For a review of this novel scroll if necessary to page 7, 5th column of the Pittsburgh Press (newspaper) dated August 7, 1917.

References

  1. India and the Western Front bbc.co.uk/history
  2. Discovery catalogue
  3. Naval and Military Archive
  4. UK, WWI War Diaries (France, Belgium and Germany), 1914-1920 consisting of WO 95/1096–3948 records. Ancestry. However, within this series, there appears to be a further selection of diaries available - not all are included.
  5. Australian Imperial Force unit war diaries, 1914-18 War
  6. Great War Forum thread Indian Re-evaluation by David Filsell 17 July 2014
  7. page 66, ‪British Logistics on the Western Front: 1914-1919‬ by Malcolm Brown. quoting end notes 84, 85 WO 95/74 Director of Supplies, War Diary 29 October 1914, 1 November 1914 page 72
  8. Indian infantry unit war diaries go online The National Archives
  9. Larkin, Roy. The Motor-Bus in War. A.M.Beatson , 1918 Historic Military Vehicle Forum 8 February 2015. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
  10. Naval & Military Press
  11. CROONAERT German Map of the main French prison camps, labor commandos and hospitals Great War Forum 21 March 2017. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  12. "An outsider at war" by Richard Johnstone 4 June 2012. Inside Story.
  13. charlesmessenger Casemate Books - a question Great War Forum 12 November 2016. Retrieved 2016.
  14. "‘Sapper’ : From Realism to Melodrama", a paper originally delivered at the conference of Les Amis du Roman Populaire in Amiens, in 2014. Great War Fiction. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  15. Liz in Eastbourne. Across the Black Waters by Mulk Raj Anand Great War Forum 3 March 2106. Retrieved 4 March 2016