Preparations for a recent trip to Ypres took me back to an event referred to briefly in “Arras Memorials”. It appeared there by virtue of the fact that one of the men involved, Private Howard Clifford ODLUM, happens to be commemorated on the Vimy Memorial. The event in question was a two-pronged raid carried out […]
Archive | Behind the Stories
A daring rescue at sea
In the article I wrote concerning the grave of Surgeon-Lieutenant Frank Pearce Pocock, DSO, MC and Bar, I mentioned Lieutenant Commander George Nicholson Bradford, VC. He featured briefly in “Arras North” by virtue of the fact that one of his brothers, 2nd Lieutenant James Barker Bradford, MC, happens to be buried in Duisans British Cemetery. […]
The cavalry question at Arras
During the German withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line our cavalry performed a useful role in operations against the enemy’s rearguard. It successfully outflanked the village of Roisel, even though many of the garrison there were able to slip away. Elsewhere, there were similar small triumphs. At Equancourt, for example, the Fort Garry Horse showed flexibility, […]
Avesnes-le-Comte Communal Cemetery Extension
From time to time I’ve written pieces for the website highlighting some of the CWGC cemeteries that lay just beyond the geographical scope of my books on Arras. One of those is the extension to the communal cemetery at Avesnes-le-Comte. This cemetery does have links to the fighting around Arras, not just during the Great […]
“A solitary grave in a grassy valley”
Henry Williamson, best known for his work, “Tarka the Otter”, was a controversial figure. Although his naive leanings towards Hitler and National Socialism turned many away from him, his reputation as an author seems to have endured. Another of Williamson’s works, ” The Wet Flanders Plain”, first published in revised format in 1929, then thankfully re-printed […]
Joining up the dots – linking people and locations
During a recent tour of the Cambrai battlefield I began by taking my group to the memorial to those missing during that fighting. It was a few years since I had last visited the memorial, and quite a few more since I had ventured down the steps into the adjacent cemetery (Louverval Military Cemetery, Doignies). […]
Beyond Monchy-le-Preux
During a recent group visit to the Arras battlefield we stayed at Boiry- Notre-Dame. One morning, before breakfast, I decided to take myself off on foot through the village heading west along a track (a continuation of the Route d’ Arras) towards Monchy-le-Preux. After about twenty minutes the ground began to rise slightly (Infantry Hill), […]
“High Hopes and Disappointments”
Last year, during the winter months, I was involved in the ‘WW100Scotland’ project. I was asked to write a short piece on the Battle of Arras for inclusion in a booklet to commemorate the centenary. The work is just one in a series of booklets covering Scotland’s part in the Great War. For anyone going […]
Guémappe and Cavalry Farm – Applying the Brakes
Guémappe did not lie on high ground, nor was it very far from Wancourt, which lay a mere thousand yards or so further up the Cojeul valley to the south-west. With the Wancourt Tower in British hands, Guémappe appeared extremely vulnerable from the south, whilst to the north, with Monchy gone, it was beginning to […]
Wancourt, Héninel and the art of flexible defence
When the Germans evacuated the villages of Wancourt and Héninel on the 12th April they did so out of necessity. By then, the Wancourt-Feuchy Line, including Feuchy Chapel, had already fallen. The Hindenburg Line to the north of Héninel, around Neuville-Vitasse and Telegraph Hill, was now in our hands and Monchy-le-Preux had also been prised […]