Other Battlefields

The best place for any Military historian to be is at the site where the events occurred - on a  real battlefield. I don't venerate war or violence by any stretch of the imagination but there's an inequable atmosphere in these places that one can't find anywhere else. To walk the fields and touch the soil where a great battle took place is a very moving and poignant experience. To the unenlightened that field may be just a field, that old wall may be just an old wall in need of repair but if you know what happened there it takes on a life of its own. That place was the location where the extremes of human emotion were laid bare. The absolute pinnacles of fear, elation, hope and despair that were experienced there still resonate long, long after the armies have left the scene. I believe that these emotions are buried in the soil and the landscape where the battle took place. That site may have been the location of a resounding victory or a catastrophic defeat but ultimately it was created and experienced by normal human beings enduring abnormal circumstances. It's a privilege to be able to stand where they stood, see the horizon they saw and breathe the air that in many cases provided their last breath. That's why I visit battlefields...to honor the fallen and to keep their memory alive. That's also why I conduct research on the subject.

Agincourt The English victory at the Battle of Agincourt gave birth to a legend that was immortalized in William Shakespeare's King Henry V. The battle took place in a muddy farmer's field in northern France on October 25, 1415 and was one in a series of encounters between France and England that has become known as the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453). That field is still there and archaeologists are still finding relics

Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on 18th June and resulted in a total and catastrophic defeat for the French. Wellington fought a highly effective defensive battle, delivering a counter attack at the same time that the Prussians were breaking through and threatening the French flank. The demoralised French army fled from the battlefield to be mercilessly pursued and slaughtered throughout the night by the vengeful Prussians. The Allied army marched on to Paris, encountering little resistance along the way. Napoleon was forced to abdicate for a second time and the French monarchy was once again restored.

Passchendaele I died in hell, they called it Passchendaele (Siegried Sassoon) At dawn the ridge emerges massed and dun In the wild purple of the glow'ring sun, Smouldering through spouts of drifting smoke that shroud The menacing scarred slope; and, one by one, Tanks creep and topple forward to the wire. The barrage roars and lifts. Then, clumsily bowed With bombs and guns and shovels and battle-gear, Men jostle and climb to meet the bristling fire. Lines of grey, muttering faces, masked with fear, They leave their trenches, going over the top, While time ticks blank and busy on their wrists, And hope, with furtive eyes and grappling fists, Flounders in mud. O Jesus, make it stop!

The Somme The Battle of the Somme started on July 1st 1916. It lasted until November 1916. For many people, the Battle of the Somme was the battle that symbolised the horrors of warfare in World War One; this one battle had a marked effect on overall casualty figures and seemed to epitomise the futility of trench warfare.

Operation Market Garden On 17 September 1944 thousands of paratroopers descended from the sky by parachute or glider up to 150 km behind enemy lines. Their goal: to secure to bridges across the rivers in Holland so that the Allied army could advance rapidly northwards and turn right into the lowlands of Germany, hereby skirting around the Siegfried line, the German defence line. If all carried out as planned it should have ended the war by Christmas 1944. Unfortunately this daring plan didn't have the expected outcome. The bridge at Arnhem proved to be 'a bridge too far'. After 10 days of bitter fighting the operation ended with the evacuation of the remainder of the 1st British Airborne Division from the Arnhem area.

The Battle of the Hurtgen forest The Battle of  Hürtgen Forest was fought in an area of heavy forestation, of some 50 square miles in an area that begins about 5 miles south and east of Aachen, Germany and falls into a triangle outlined by Aachen, Düren and Monschau.  Although the battle did not officially end until February of 1945, the major part of the Battle of  Hürtgen Forest was fought during the 3 wet, cold, miserable months of  mid-September through mid-December 1944.  The battle claimed 24,000 Americans; killed, missing, captured and wounded, plus another 9,000 who succumbed to trench foot, respiratory diseases and combat fatigue.

Flanders Fields IN FLANDERS FIELDS In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields.