Battle Tactics of the Western Front: The British Army`s Art of Attack, 1916-18 [Hardcover]

Mr. Paddy Griffith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 25, 1994

Historians have portrayed British participation in World War I as a series of tragic debacles, with lines of men mown down by machine guns, with untried new military technology, and incompetent generals who threw their troops into improvised and unsuccessful attacks. In this book a renowned military historian studies the evolution of British infantry tactics during the war and challenges this interpretation, showing that while the British army's plans and technologies failed persistently during the improvised first half of the war, the army gradually improved its technique, technology, and, eventually, its self-assurance. By the time of its successful sustained offensive in the autumn of 1918, says Paddy Griffith, the British army was demonstrating a battlefield skill and mobility that would rarely be surpassed even during World War II. Evaluating the great gap that exists between theory and practice, between textbook and bullet-swept mudfield, Griffith argues that many battles were carefully planned to exploit advanced tactics and to avoid casualties, but that breakthrough was simply impossible under the conditions of the time. According to Griffith, the British were already masters of "storm troop tactics" by the end of 1916, and in several important respects were further ahead than the Germans would be even in 1918. In fields such as the timing and orchestration of all-arms assaults, predicted artillery fire, "Commando-style" trench raiding, the use of light machine guns, or the barrage fire of heavy machine guns, the British led the world. Although British generals were not military geniuses, says Griffith, they should at least be credited for effectively inventing much of the 20th-century's art of war.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Griffith's book represents a major departure from the standard interpretation of British participation in World War I as being a litany of tragic mistakes with multitudes of innocent soldiers led by incompetent generals to their slaughter. With deliberate steps the author (Forward into Battle, Presidio, 1992) studies the evolution of British infantry tactics from the slipshod techniques of the first half of the war to the tactically sound sustained offensive during the latter half. Using the Somme campaign of 1916 as a starting point, Griffith illustrates the effect new technology had on tactical thinking and the resulting new techniques of ground assault. He argues that many battles were carefully planned out using these techniques and technologies but that a breakout from trench warfare was not possible under the conditions of the time period. For specialized collections.
David Lee Poremba, Detroit
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (May 25, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300059108
• ISBN-13: 978-0300059106
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,443,592 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent and thought provoking book., March 8, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (New Zealand) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Battle Tactics of the Western Front: The British Army`s Art of Attack, 1916-18 (Paperback)

Mr Griffith has written an outstanding review of WWI battle tactics that helps restore the fighting reputation of the British Empire forces in the Great War. He also restores the balance of view on the German Army, whose reputation in both wars appears to grow with every new publication (in spite of the fact that they were losers on two occasions!). The only reservation I have of the book is Mr. Griffith makes it difficult for you to agree with his conclusions because he sometimes appears to be pushing a strangely reactionary and conservative military barrow. As a citizen of a nation that suffered as much as any in the 1914-18 holocaust, his belief in the offensive sounds all to much like a justification the semi-mystical cult of the offensive that created that unnecessary disaster. But books are meant to stimulate, and Mr Griffith has created a fine work of well researched and highly readable prose that I would recommend to any history buff.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good study of the evolution of infantry tactics, December 17, 2000

By 

Tom Munro "tomfrombrunswick" (Melbourne, Victoria Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Battle Tactics of the Western Front: The British Army`s Art of Attack, 1916-18 (Paperback)

In 1916 the British Army launched a huge attack which was latter to be called the battle of the Somme. After a three day artillery barrage over 50,000 soldiers emerged from their trenches and in parade ground formation walked slowly towards the German lines. Unfortunately the artillery barrage had used low calibre shells and as a result the German defenders were unharmed. As the British approached the Germans leaped from their dugouts and started to fire using all the modern weapons of war they had available on the slowly advancing British. The slow movement and concentration meant that within a short time 50,000 men were either killed or wounded.

Since that battle most historians writing about the first world war have been little less than contemptuous of the British Military leadership in the first World War. Following the war, memoirs of individual soldiers have described accurately the horror of life in the trenches. Books such as In Flanders Fields and the Donkey's have ridiculed the military ability of Sir Douglas Haig the British Commander in Chief.

This book is an attempt to balance the impression which has been created of the British Officer Class as a number of ill informed Dodo's who had a callous disregard for the lives of their men. It examines in detail the battle tactics of the British at Squad and Battalion level. It shows that instead of the army developing a head in the sand attitude to the disasters which were befalling it that most officers were keen to innovate.

During the war a number of innovations were developed by the British prior to the use of the tank the innovation most people are familiar with. These included the Lewis Gun (a movable light machine gun) trench mortars and Mills bombs (hand grenades). One of the strengths of this book is that it shows that these developments were noted by British Officers and quickly used.

Mortars and Grenades became vital in attacks. The Lewis Gun became important not only in suppressing enemy fire but in holding newly won ground against counter attacks.

In fact if one looks at the first World War it is clear that both sides were innovating all the time. After the initial Somme Battles the Germans rejected the use of defensive trench systems in favour of machine gun posts and pill boxes. They then save there infantry for counter attacks. The British and French in turn had to alter there tactics to using artillery as a means of allowing there troops to approach enemy positions instead of expecting it destroy them. In addition the British succesfully used mines burried under the German positions to considerable effect.

All in all the book is interesting and adds to our understanding of the First World War a conflict which in the past has been over schematised.

12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Poorly titled polemic, February 13, 2001

By 

Douglas Turnbull (Fallston, MD USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Battle Tactics of the Western Front: The British Army`s Art of Attack, 1916-18 (Paperback)

Griffith has a clear goal with this book, and that is to demonstrate that the British Infantry was at least as skilled at attacking as the German infantry in WWI. He does a good job of this, but a much less satisfactory job of exploring actual small unit tactics in any depth.

Most of the discussion of infantry tactics is in very general terms that would be familiar to anyone who's read a decent general history of the war. I was hoping for more details and case studies, going down into the nitty gritty of what went on during an attack. How did units advance? How did they coordinate with flank units and supporting arms? How were trench assaults carried out and successes reinforced?

Instead, Griffith looks at the broad scale development of British tactics and shows that the British weren't stuck with hidebound ideas, but were actually rather innovative in important ways. While this does answer some of the criticisms levelled against British generalship, it only sharpens others. If British tactics were so good, then why were the results so miserable? Either some of the tactics weren't as good as Griffith makes out, or the larger strategy was unbelievably incompetant.