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. […]
Archive | February, 2018
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). […]