Centre for War Studies Summer Day School – The Military Lessons of the Great War 1918-40

Centre for War Studies Public Programme The Summer Day School Saturday, 23 June 2012 The Military Lessons of the Great War 1918-40 The final years of the Great War saw a radical change in the conduct of warfare. This Day School will examine how well the lessons of the Western Front were learnt over the [...]

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Vanishing Battalions: The Nature, Impact and Implications of British Infantry Reorganisation prior to the German Spring Offensives of 1918

Here is another abstract from our forthcoming book. ————————————————————————————————————————— Disputes concerning the structure of the British Armies in France (BAF),[1] alongside a concomitant disagreement over manpower provision, rumbled on during most of 1917. Field-Marshal Sir Douglas Haig and the Chief of the Imperial General Staff, backed by the Army Council, argued for the status quo [...]

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“Hopeless Inefficiency”? The Operational Performance and Transformation of Brigade Staff, 1916-1918

Another abstract from our forthcoming book. —————————————————————————————————————————————————— In his wartime memoir, Captain Gerald Burgoyne declared that the red tabs of the staff were ‘the insignia of hopeless inefficiency’. The performance of the staff during the First World War has always invited controversial and, at times, apocryphal opinions. The staff are popularly viewed as a single, [...]

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Naval Wing Good, Military Wing Bad? An Orwellian inspired analysis of British Aviation Doctrine, 1912-1914

Here is another abstract from the fortcoming book on Transformation and Innovation in the British Military ————————————————————————————————————————————————— In light of the historiographical consensus regarding the innovative dominance displayed by the Naval Wing of the Royal Flying Corps (NW), this essay sets out to readdress this position and stress at least one aspect of innovation in [...]

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TOC – War in History, Vol. 19, No. 2

Here is the table of contents for the latest issue of War in History. It includes a few interesting articles and response from Nichlas Lambert to an article by Christopher Bell. Articles Jan Willem Honig, ‘Reappraising Late Medieval Strategy: The Example of the 1415 Agincourt Campaign’ Modern military historians struggle to explain medieval strategic behaviour. [...]

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US Civil War to First World War: Learning the Lessons – Part 2

Here is the second part of the recent Day School at the Centre for War Studies that examined the links between the American Civil War and the First  World War. ‘A Veritable Rain of Bullets’: Firepower in the American Civil War and the First World War (Dr Spencer Jones, University of Birmingham) Spencer Jones delivered [...]

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The John Terraine Lecture at the University of Birmingham

The next War Studies Seminar at the Centre for War Studies, University of Birmingham, is the annual John Terraine Lecture: Professor Gary Sheffield (University of Birmingham) ‘Douglas Haig, John Terraine, and the History of the First World War’ The event will be on 1 May 2012. The Seminar meets on TUESDAYS at 5.30 p.m. in [...]

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The Thin Khaki Line: The Evolution of Infantry Attack Formations in the British Army 1899-1914

The transformation of British infantry between 1899 and 1914 was one of the most striking developments in an era of British Army reform. However, while the high quality of the British infantry of 1914 is well known, the process through which it was developed is often neglected. The development of superior weapons in the later [...]

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US Civil War to First World War: Learning the Lessons – Part 1

What follows is a critique of a couple of the lectures at the recent Day School at the Centre for War Studies that examined the links between the American Civil War and the First  World War. ‘Two Worcesters, Two Wars: Contrasting Approaches to Recruitment & Mobilisation in the American Civil War and the Great War’ [...]

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Innovation and Transformation in the British Army Medical Services 1854-1914: Resistance and Reform

The medical services often do not draw much attention from military historians except when they fail to perform adequately. However, there is great potential for an examination of an army through its medical services because it gives a clear indication of how officers and men react to scientific innovation. Unlike debates over tactics or strategy, [...]

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