Recommended WW I Books

[Barrett]

As noted on the movie/TV section, Prof. Edward Lengel just appeared on C-SPAN2's Book TV, lecturing about his new offering, To Conquer Hell: The Meuse-Argonne 1918. Normally he writes about Geo. Washington.

Amazon.com: To Conquer Hell: The Meuse-Argonne, 1918: Books: Edward G. Lengel

Lengel extrapolated US casualties from the Meuse-Argonne over the duration of Verdun and the Somme and came up with heavier losses than any of the Euro armies suffered.

He considers Toward the Flame the best American GW memoir, and perhaps the best ever.

Amazon.com: Toward the Flame: A Memoir of World War I: Books: Hervey Allen,Steven Trout

[Pips]

"General John J. Pershing believed in the superiority of American 'guts' over barbed wire, machine guns, massed artillery, and poison gas".

Shades of General Haig and just about every other Allied (and German)general of the period. Had nothing been learned over four years of slaughter?

[NeilE]

Originally Posted by Pips

"General John J. Pershing believed in the superiority of American 'guts' over barbed wire, machine guns, massed artillery, and poison gas".

Shades of General Haig and just about every other Allied (and German)general of the period. Had nothing been learned over four years of slaughter?

Hi Pip,

Yes, there were concerns raised by both the British and French commands about the state of American preparedness and staff work prior to their entering the theatre of combat. Some replacements were made on the staff re supply but the basic command stayed the same. Both the British and French, particularly the French, expressed concern regarding the situation, with the suggestion being given that US troops should be exposed to combat alongside French and Commonwealth veterans in order for them to learn more modern methods of trench fighting. By and large these offers were refused for the reasons you outlined.

Also while it is easy to extrapolate casualty rates etc, the differing battle environments, fighting conditions, German personnel present, etc can make such extrapolations somewhat limited in their worth for historical analysis. It may well have been the case that if the Americans were present at either of the two mentioned battles, given the state of their preparation in 1917-1918 etc. their casualties may have even have been worse than the French or British at Verdun and The Somme. But at the end of the day, it is playing around with figures.

Things had been learned, particularly by the French and Germans but it still didn't stop high casualty figures. The German March Offensive with its somewhat radical departure from previous doctrines, lost more men for the Germans than it did for the Entente armies.

Cheers

Neil

[Sandy Spigot-Colon]

Barrett,
thanks, I've just ordered 'Toward The Flame' from Amazon here in the UK and added two more to my 'wish list'.

'To Conquer Hell and this:-

To the Limit of Endurance: A Battalion of Marines in the Great War (C.A. Brannen Series)

Thanks
S S-C

[Barrett]

Sandy mate: I'll recommend Brannen's book to my leatherneck friends.

Some folks may not be aware of the residual (read: semi-permanent) resentment the Regular Army had toward the Marine Corps. It largely stemmed from the 5th and 6th Marine Regiments being brigaded in the 2nd Infantry Division, with much PR thanks to the likes of Floyd Gibbons. The army sorta got overlooked in many dispatches, earning the lasting enmity of the WW II generation of army officers.

It was so bad that Army chief of staff Marshall nearly croaked when the 6th Marine Division was formed, but that was minor compared to another episode. When the Navy and Marines proposed Project Danny to destroy V1 sites, using 4 USMC night-fighter squadrons toting Tiny Tim rockets, Marshall interrupted the briefing. He stood up and said "There will never be a marine in Europe as long as I'm chief of staff." Then he walked out.

The navy briefing officer told me that story--he grew up to become ADM Tom Moorer.