BATTLEGROUND EUROPE: FLERS & GUEUDECOURT: Somme :: The Great War :: Time Periods

Vivid battlefield guide to the Somme hamlet where the tank made its debut on September 15th 1916. A clear account of the battle with superb maps.

The insignificant and tiny village of Flers on the Somme has an imperishable place in history thanks to what happened there on 15th September 1916 - the day the tank made its debut appearance in warfare. 36 of the new secret weapons - developed under the energetic guidance of the youthful First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill, - lined up to assault the German-held hamlet of Flers. Trevor PIdgeon’s meticulous account - profusely illustrated with maps marking the progress of the tanks - takes us step by step through the battle that followed. Although the tank had the desired shock effect on the enemy - at one point a lumbering tank was reportedly seen chasing fleeing Germans up the main street of Flers - the great breakthrough that was hoped for by the new weapon’s supporters did not occur. Frequent mechanical failure over the chewed-up Somme soil meant that the tank was as yet unable to fulfil its huge future potential. But it had arrived. This guide never forgets that, while giving the tank its due, Flers was primarily an infantry battle.

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Details


Product Code:	10791
Author:	Trevor Pidgeon
Format:	144pp, b/w photographs, maps, sb. Published Price £9.95
Shipping Time:	This item is usually dispatched Next Day
Retail Price:	~~£9.95~~
Our Price:	£3.95 save 60% January sale price: £3.16