In 1917 the soldiers of the Canadian Corps would prove themselves the equal of any fighting on the Western Front, while on the other side of the wire, the men of the Royal Bavarian Army won a distinguished reputation in combat. Employing the latest weapons and pioneering tactics, these two forces would clash in three notable encounters: the Canadian storming of Vimy Ridge, the back-and-forth engagement at Fresnoy and at the sodden, bloody battle of Passchendaele. Featuring carefully chosen archive photographs and specially commissioned artwork, this study assesses these three hard-fought battles in 1917 on the Western Front, and offers a new take on the evolving nature of infantry combat in World War I.

This illustrated study pits the Kaiser's troops against their British opponents during the climactic year of 1918 on the Western Front. Launched on 21 March 1918, the Spring Offensive saw Germany use veteran, highly trained assault troops and innovative assault tactics to encircle and outflank the British and Empire forces manning the front line, hoping to force the French to seek terms and hand victory to Germany. After this attempt stalled, the Allied armies mounted a series of offensives during the so-called 'Hundred Days', actions that pushed the Kaiser's forces back and prompted the demoralized German High Command to sue for peace. In this book, Stephen Bull shows how the British Army on the Western Front fared as it survived the Spring Offensive and then went on the attack during the Hundred Days. While the picked units spearheading the German offensive were well-trained and -armed but short of supplies, the regular divisions following in their wake would prove much less resolute. The fighting would see both sides' forces tested to the limit and beyond, as initial German progress gave way to stalemate and the Allies then took the offensive, driving the Germans back. Featuring specially commissioned artwork and mapping, carefully chosen archive photos and expert analysis and commentary, this study assesses the fighting men on both sides during the climactic months of fighting on the Western Front in 1918.

In 1915–18, ANZAC and Ottoman soldiers clashed on numerous battlefields, from Gallipoli to Jerusalem. This illustrated study investigates the two sides' fighting men. The Gallipoli campaign of 1915–16 pitched the Australian and New Zealand volunteers known as the ANZACs into a series of desperate battles with the Ottoman soldiers defending their homeland. In August 1915, the bitter struggle for the high ground known as Chunuk Bair saw the peak change hands as the Allies sought to overcome the stalemate that set in following the landings in April. The ANZACs also played a key part in the battle of Lone Pine, intended to divert Ottoman attention away from the bid to seize Chunuk Bair. The Gallipoli campaign ended in Allied evacuation in the opening days of 1916. Thereafter, many ANZAC units remained in the Middle East and played a decisive role in the Allies' hard-fought advance through Palestine that finally forced the Turks to the peace table. The fateful battle of Beersheba in October 1917 pitted Australian mounted infantry against Ottoman foot soldiers as the Allies moved on Jerusalem. In this book, noted military historian Si Sheppard examines the fighting men on both sides who fought at Lone Pine, Chunuk Bair and Beersheba. The authoritative text is supported by specially commissioned artwork and mapping plus carefully chosen archive photographs.

On 21 February 1916, the German Army launched a major attack on the French fortress of Verdun. The Germans were confident that the ensuing battle would compel France to expend its strategic reserves in a savage attritional battle, thereby wearing down Allied fighting power on the Western Front. However, initial German success in capturing a key early objective, Fort Douaumont, was swiftly stemmed by the French defences, despite heavy French casualties. The Germans then switched objectives, but made slow progress towards their goals; by July, the battle had become a stalemate. During the protracted struggle for Verdun, the two sides' infantrymen faced appalling battlefield conditions; their training, equipment and doctrine would be tested to the limit and beyond. New technologies, including flamethrowers, hand grenades, trench mortars and more mobile machine guns, would play a key role in the hands of infantry specialists thrown into the developing battle, and innovations in combat communications were employed to overcome the confusion of the battlefield. This study outlines the two sides' wider approach to the evolving battle, before assessing the preparations and combat record of the French and German fighting men who fought one another during three pivotal moments of the 101⁄2-month struggle for Verdun.

Canadian and Waffen-SS troops of 12. SS-Panzer-Division Hitlerjugend faced one another in a series of bloody battles following the D-Day landings of June 1944. The Canadian units fought in a number of distinguished regiments, while the Hitlerjugend Division were drawn from the ranks of the Hitler Youth organizations. Veteran officers and NCOs were joined by inexperienced teenagers, and clashed with the Canadians repeatedly, notably at Authie, Bretteville and Hill 168. The struggle quickly took on an especially bitter nature, fuelled by the massacre of Canadian prisoners by Hitlerjugend personnel. Employing first-hand accounts and the latest research, as well as specially commissioned artwork and carefully selected archive photographs this absorbing study investigates the origins, ethos, training, fighting techniques and weapons of both sides during the epic struggle for Normandy.

Featuring specially commissioned artwork and careful analysis, this volume investigates the fighting between US Marines and their German opponents during the battle for Belleau Wood in June 1918.

The bestselling, award-winning author of The American Invasion of Canada “has given great drama and immediacy to that turning point in Canadian history” (Maclean’s). On Easter Monday 1917 with a blizzard blowing in their faces, the four divisions of the Canadian Corps in France seized and held the best-defended German bastion on the Western Front—the muddy scarp of Vimy Ridge. The British had failed to take the Ridge, and so had the French who had lost 150,000 men in the attempt. Yet these magnificent colonial troops did so in a morning at the cost of only 10,000 casualties. The author recounts this remarkable feat of arms with both pace and style. He has gathered many personal accounts from soldiers who fought at Vimy. He describes the commanders and the men, the organization and the training, and above all notes the thorough preparation for the attack from which the British General Staff could have learned much. The action is placed within the context both of the Battle of Arras, of which this attack was part, and as a milestone in the development of Canada as a nation. “This wonderful book brings to life the amazing men who came across the Atlantic nearly a century ago and won a famous victory which helped change a nation forever . . . the wonderful prose of Pierre Berton is all from the heart and you should share in it.” —War History Online “The cinematic writing plunks the reader in the midst of the actual battle, and a judicious use of quotes from soldiers’ diaries and letters helps provide a ground-level perspective.” —Quill & Quire