North on the heights above the town of Meaux, a great slab of glass and concrete has recently appeared. This is France’s Museum of the Great War.

Cantilevered out of the hillside it provides a covered area for community events and sculptural displays. Its paved area is constructed to act as a topographic map of the Marne battle area. Accessing the museum underneath this architectural overhang, one approaches the glass-wreathed entrance hall which houses the café, lifts, and ramp to the main exhibition spaces.

The ramp affords a good view of the Marne Battle Monument that sits above the museum looking down on Meaux. This 22 metre-high sculpture was a present from America to France in recognition of its soldiers’ bravery at the First Battle of the Marne in 1914.

The monument was designed by American sculptor Frederick MacMonnies (1863-1937) and carved by Edmondo Quattrocchi from 220 blocks of Lorraine-sourced limestone. Opened by the American Ambassador to France, Evans Edge, in September 1928, it was heavily restored in time for the opening of the Musée de la Grande Guerre.

At the top of the ramp lie the main ticket area and bookshop, a temporary exhibition hall, and the entrance into the museum itself. There is a cinematic space which provides a filmic introduction to the Great War. An introductory gallery places the origins of the war in France’s failure during the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871) and its loss of Alsace-Lorraine.

This is a simplification of what is a rather more complex picture. However this Franco-centric view does allow you to see a splendid collection of period uniforms. There is also a range of supporting military objects, large mural-sized photos, and collages of contemporary posters.

Main exhibition

This brings us to the main exhibition spaces, which consist of the central gallery, or ‘Great Nave’, and a series of thematically organised side-galleries. The side-galleries explore Great War experiences that are not always on show in museum displays of the period.

As you would expect there are displays of matériel showing a variety of military equipment. Among them is an artistically arranged case of hand-grenades, resembling a case of specimens from a museum of natural history. But the museum goes further than the strictly military, with exhibitions exploring the role of women in the war, not only as mothers and wives on the Home Front, but as workers in munition factories, as farmworkers, and as auxiliary personnel.

There is a section devoted to the development of medicine. Issues surrounding the role of colonial forces are explored, and spreads of everyday objects – cigarette packets, shaving gear, camera equipment, food packaging – are given an added poignancy when viewed in the context of the trenches. There are also displays of advertising material including paintings, posters, and prints.

Land, air, and sea

Although the museum primarily focuses on land-warfare, these side galleries also explore the battles in the air and at sea. The naval material contains several large scale models of various vessels, as well as uniforms and small pieces of kit. There are two full-sized planes in the Great Nave, and there you will also find an example of a wickerwork basket for an observation balloon and a variety of headgear worn by WWI pilots.

The Great Nave is most certainly the pièce de résistance, a lofty and lengthy space where numerous large pieces of military hardware can be shown in all their glory. But it is not just a display of objects. It has a didactic objective behind its design.

Focusing on 1914 and 1918 it compares the shift from the military equipment used at the beginning of the war, to that used at the end when industrialised warfare was fully in its stride. The display focuses on the stalemate of trench warfare with life-size reconstructions of a French zone and its equipment, and a similar reconstruction of a German trench. The two opposing systems are appropriately separated by the detritus of a recreated ‘no man’s land’.

One can compare a Blériot XI-2 with a Spad XIII, although both are suspended from the ceiling ‘mid-flight’ so close-up inspection is not possible. There are, however, many pieces of equipment to get a closer look at: a Renault taxi that ferried troops from Paris to the Front during the First Battle of the Marne, and a fascinating example of a pigeonnier – a double-decker bus transformed into a mobile dovecote for transporting carrier pigeons – to name just two.

A Latil TAR artillery tractor is shown pulling a 1913 Canon de 105 mle 1913 Schneider, a 105mm artillery piece. There is also a 6.5 tonne Char Renault FT17 tank which had a range of just 35km. This tank was the first to have its armament in a fully 360 degrees rotating turret, and some 3,200 of them were produced before the Armistice.
The jewels of the collection are the more than 200 full uniforms from the combatant nations, many of which are on display throughout the exhibitions.

Although the displays are perhaps a little too artfully displayed for their own good at times, and despite the colourful lighting sometimes obscuring rather than revealing, this is a fantastic collection. The museum holds over 50,000 items, most of which can be seen in its 3,000m² of permanent exhibition space. The museum is also child-friendly, with special activities and interactive displays. Definitely worth a visit.

Airships had previously been used as long range bombers by the German Navy, targeting London and the east coast of England from bases on the continent between 1915 and 1918. Large, slow-moving, and filled with highly flammable hydrogen gas, the Zeppelins were extremely vulnerable to fighter aircraft and were forced operate at high altitudes, out of the fighters’ range. However, this made accurate bombing impossible, rendering them obsolete by the end of the war.

Airships could stay aloft for days on end and cover thousands of miles, making them ideal scouting vessels. The American navy realised that if the airships could be adapted to carry fighter aircraft, they would be able to defend themselves from enemy attack too. So they set about improving the Zeppelin’s design to suit their purposes.

Built by the Goodyear-Zeppelin Corporation, the USS Akron was ‘launched’ in 1931, followed by her sister ship, the USS Macon, in 1933. Instead of hydrogen, they were filled with helium, a rare noble gas that is inert and therefore not a fire hazard. While the hull was strengthened thanks to a deep ring design, the tail was lightened and the stabiliser fins then attached to it. This was to be a crucial design flaw.

At 239m long they were a similar length to a Yorktown Class aircraft carrier and could transport four or five Curtiss Sparrowhawk fighter biplanes. Powered by eight 560hp petrol engines and with a cruising speed of 50 knots, they had a range of 10,580 nautical miles. In May 1932 Akron successfully launched and recovered Sparrowhawks on several occasions, using an ingenious trapeze system.

Controlling the Akron proved rather more challenging. In April 1933 she encountered severe weather off the coast of New England and was battered by strong gusts of wind. In attempting to fly upwards with the ship’s nose in the air, the pilot inadvertently allowed the vulnerable tail to strike the water, tearing off the lower fin. She fell into the Atlantic, and, without life jackets or rafts, all but three of the crew drowned or died of hypothermia. Among them was Admiral William A Moffett, widely known as ‘the Air Admiral’ and a key advocate of the airship programme.

Launched in the same month the Akron was lost, the USS Macon participated in naval exercises, including a publicity stunt involving the heavy cruiser Houston which was bringing President Roosevelt back from a trip to Hawaii.
Macon’s fortunes were reversed in February 1935 when once again the flimsy tail proved its downfall. Flying off California she was caught in a storm. The upper tail fin, weakened from a previous buffeting, sheared off, puncturing the airship. She drifted gently down from a height of nearly 1,400m and settled on the sea. This time around two crew-members died, and with them, the US Navy’s airship experiment.

Aged 97 when he died, he first came to prominence during the Second World War and was the last of that classic wartime generation of Fleet Street cartoonists which included Osbert Lancaster, David Low, Vicky (Victor Weisz), Leslie Illingworth, Carl Giles, Philip Zec, and JON (W J P Jones), all now sadly deceased.

Langdon’s professional career lasted more than 70 years, beginning when he sold his first drawing (a joke about Mussolini) in 1936. One of the longest serving and most prolific Punch cartoonists ever – producing at least 5000 cartoons for that magazine alone over a period of 55 years (1937-1992) – he was also a regular contributor to the Sunday Mirror for more than 40 years (1948-1990) and the New Yorker for more than half a century. He was also a highly successful book illustrator and advertising artist.

Where it all began

Langdon was born in London on 24 February 1914. He was the son of an antiques dealer who, on the outbreak of the First World War, worked in an armaments factory at Woolwich Arsenal. The family moved to Stepney where he attended the Robert Montefiore School and later, Davenant Foundation Grammar School for Boys (then in Whitechapel High Street).

He began drawing cartoons while at school and credited his uncle, Joe Freeman, for his interest in the art form. During the Great War Freeman had served in the Royal Flying Corps in the Piave sector in Austria and had been wounded in action. As Langdon later recalled, ‘He showed me some sketches he had made of nurses, while in his hospital bed, which so impressed me as a child, that I always blamed my Uncle Joe for setting me on my subsequent career as a cartoonist.’

Offered a scholarship to study architecture at London University, Langdon had to turn it down because of the slump in building work and his parents’ financial straits. Instead he became a trainee in the London County Council Architects’ Department (1931–1939), based at County Hall, Westminster, and in 1935 had his first cartoons published in the LCC’s staff journal, London Town.

In 1936 he sold his first drawing to Time & Tide. The following year he not only began contributing to the new monthly magazine Lilliput (from its first volume), but started producing weekly sports cartoons for the Sunday Referee and sold his first advertising idea to Shell. The same year his first drawing was accepted by Punch. It was bought by the magazine’s new Art Editor ‘Fougasse’ (Kenneth Bird), who was himself a distinguished cartoonist who would later draw the famous ‘Careless Talk Costs Lives’ series of wartime posters for the Ministry of Information.

With the outbreak of the Second World War Langdon was seconded to the newly formed London Rescue Service (1939–1941). He was then posted to the Rescue & Demolition Depot in Finsbury in the City of London as an Executive Officer. In his spare time he continued to draw cartoons, making good-humoured fun of air-raid wardens, the Home Guard, the police, the army, the navy, the RAF, and wartime life in general. Such was his success that between 1939 and 1941 he had more cartoons published in Punch than any other single contributor.

During the war he also drew advertisements for government agencies such as the Ministry of Food. One of these, promoting wheat meal bread, featured a drawing of the BBC radio newsreader, Alvar Liddell, who began his programme with the phrase, ‘Here is the News – and this is Alvar Liddell reading it.’ In Langdon’s version he said: ‘Here is National Wheatmeal Bread – and this is Alvar Liddell eating it.’

Billy Brown of London Town

However, his most famous wartime creation was ‘Billy Brown of London Town’ (1940-1943), a series of cautionary advertisements for the London Passenger Transport Board (later London Transport), with rhyming couplet verses by fellow Punch contributor Richard Usborne. The series featured a clean-shaven, middle-aged, middle-class City gent who always wore a white shirt, black tie, pinstripe trousers, a black coat, and a bowler hat. Over his shoulder he carried a gas-mask in a white box and in his hand he held a black furled umbrella. Occasionally, Mrs Brown and their daughter Sally also appeared in the drawings.

The advertisements, which appeared on buses, trams, trains, and the Underground, often led to amusing graffiti. In one, Billy Brown wags an admonitory finger at a Tube passenger trying to peel off the netting stuck over the windows to protect the trains from bomb blasts. The caption reads: ‘I trust you’ll pardon my correction, but that stuff is there for your protection.’ As Langdon later recalled, ‘A Cockney wag scrawled his alternative couplet over the poster: “Thank you for your information, but I can’t see the bloody station!”’

Billy Brown soon became a part of popular culture, inspiring the song, Mr Brown of London Town (1941) by Noel Gay, and even appearing as nose-art painted on a wartime RAF bomber, holding a bomb ready to drop on Berlin.

A Brown-like figure also appeared on the cover of Langdon’s first collection of cartoons, Home Front Lines (1941). In his Foreword he wrote: ‘To me it is the British sense of humour which is still the fount of ideas, and in paying my tribute to it and to the marvellous way it has persisted undaunted through the darkest hours, I raise my tin hat to those faintly ridiculous but wonderful people, the men, women and children of the blitzed areas whose sense of humour will carry through to victory.’

RAF Hunsdon

After two years in the London Rescue Service Langdon applied to join the RAF Volunteer Reserve and was accepted in October 1941. He had volunteered for aircrew but failed the medical examination. Thus, after six weeks at an Initial Training Station he joined the RAFVR’s Administrative and Special Duties Branch with the rank of Aircraftsman, Second Class. He was commissioned Pilot Officer in January 1942 (it was a non-flying, ‘war substantive rank’) and was posted as an administrator to RAF Hunsdon in Hertfordshire, a night-fighter station.

While at RAF Hunsdon Langdon drew illustrations for The Tizzy Angle, an instructional leaflet for RAF ground controllers showing how to determine the interception course for fighters in the air. It was issued to all Fighter Command Groups and written by Sir Henry Tizard, chairman of the government’s Aeronautical Research Committee. He also illustrated a number of RAF pamphlets, posters, and manuals such as Bombing Sense, Stirling Fighting Tactics and Are These Your Tactics?

By this time Langdon was sufficiently well known to feature in a book. They Make Us Smile (1942) was based on Percy Bradshaw’s series of monthly articles in London Opinion about contemporary humorous artists. As Bradshaw says, ‘though the Air Force doesn’t provide its young officers with a lot of leisure, I fancy that the Mirth Control Department will allow Langdon a few extra coupons’.

In October 1942 he was promoted to Flying Officer and was posted to the Air Ministry in Adastral House, London. Here he joined Air Commodore G O Venn’s Directorate of Personal Services in the Department of the Air Member for Personnel run by Air Marshall Sir Bertine E D Sutton. His commanding officer (and later close friend) was Squadron Leader Rene Raymond, who, under the pseudonym James Hadley Chase, had become famous at the beginning of the war as the author of the thriller No Orchids for Miss Blandish (1939).

The Directorate of Personal Services also produced the Royal Air Force Journal. Founded in September 1939 as a small weekly Intelligence Bulletin produced by the novelist Hector Bolitho, it was published monthly with a circulation of 50,000 copies by the end of the war.

Raymond took over as editor in October 1942 and by September 1943 Langdon had become Assistant Editor with the rank of Flight-Lieutenant. As well as drawing general cartoons and cover illustrations (including the special Christmas and Birthday Number for November/December 1943), one of his most popular creations for the Journal was ‘Joe the Erk’ (‘erk’ being RAF slang for Aircraftman).

A close shave

While out walking with Raymond near the Strand one day, a German bomb landed behind them and they were thrown onto the ground. As Langdon later recalled:

Mercifully uninjured, we got up and looked back to see a burning bus lying on top of an EWS [Emergency Water Supply] tank, and the bodies of the unfortunate passengers and passers-by lying around. We helped as best we could and when the Fire Brigade and ambulances arrived, we staggered, shaken and covered in dust into Adastral House. Most of its windows were shattered…’ 

In 1943 Langdon illustrated a book on wartime cookery, Brave New Cooking, by Katalin Frank, and It’s a Piece of Cake: RAF Slang Made Easy (an enlarged edition appeared in 1945) by Squadron Leader C H Ward-Jackson, who worked in the Directorate of Air Force Welfare (which was also part of the Department of the Air Member for Personnel at the Air Ministry).

The following year his second book, All Buttoned Up! A Scrapbook of RAF Cartoons (a collection of his work for Royal Air Force Journal) was published, he contributed to the RAF anthology RAF Parade, and he illustrated Jenny Nicholson’s Kiss the Girls Good-bye, a book about women in the WAAF.

In August 1945 Langdon, by then working in Room 20 of the Air Ministry, featured in The Gen: Voice of the Service, one of a series of 18 short films produced by the Air Ministry’s RAF Film Production Unit. He also drew title cartoons for some of the films including Burma Front, Joe the Erk, and Winnie the WAAF.

By the end of 1945 he had taken over from Raymond as editor of the Royal Air Force Journal and was then himself promoted to the rank of Squadron Leader (he continued to edit the Royal Air Force Journal until 1946).

In 1946 he published a collection of his Punch drawings, Meet Me Inside and jointly edited (with Rene Raymond) a book of stories, articles and photos from the Royal Air Force Journal entitled Slipstream: A Royal Air Force Anthology.

Life after the war

After being demobilised the same year, Langdon became a full-time freelance, contributing, among many other publications, to Aeroplane and RAF Review. He also drew for advertising, illustrated books, and continued to publish collections of his own work (from 1947 to 1960 these became almost an annual event).

In addition he edited two anthologies of Punch cartoons about flying: Punch with Wings: A Cartoon History of the Royal Air Force (1961) – with a Foreword by The Marshal of the Air Force, Sir Dermot Boyle – and Punch in the Air (1983). He also illustrated The Story of W V S (1959) by Virginia Graham, published to celebrate the 21st anniversary of the founding of the Women’s Voluntary Service.

In 1955 he married April Sadler-Philips, whom he had met at the War Office in London. They had a daughter and two sons. His wife’s sister, Primrose, later married Admiral Sir Andrew Lewis, former Second Sea Lord, Commander-in-Chief of Naval Home Command and Flag Aide de Camp to the Queen. Awarded an OBE in 1988, Langdon was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts the same year and was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Cartoon Art Trust in 2001. He died on 18 November 2011.

Weetwood Hall

Weetwood Hall Conference Centre and Hotel is launching its First World War In Retrospect Conference from 28 July 2014 to 1 August 2014. This is to acknowledge the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War, and will be the first in a series of annual conferences based upon the First World War to be hosted at Weetwood Hall through to 2018. The five-day conference will cater for residential and non-residential participation, with all the
accommodation, catering, and events included in the conference programme.

The conference has been planned – by Dr Peter Liddle, Conference Director, and Colonel Alan Roberts, Military Consultant – for like-minded enthusiasts and experts to listen, reflect, network, and acquire a fresh perspective.

All this and more is to be brought to the delegates at this imaginative conference by a team of talented men and women accustomed to sharing their knowledge and enthusiasm with audiences from a wide-ranging interest in the First World War.

Peter Chubb, Development Director for Weetwood Hall said, ‘I am inspired by what we have achieved in the researching and organising of the extensive programme, quality speakers, and events for our 2014 First World War Conference. Working with Dr Liddle and Colonel Roberts has been a most enjoyable experience.”’

WHEN: From 28th July 2014 to 1st August 2014
WHERE: Weetwood Hall, Conference Centre & Hotel, Otley Road, Leeds, LS16 5PS
HOW MUCH: For information on prices, please visit the website.
WEB: www.weetwood.co.uk/firstworldwar

1940s Weekend

Experience the 1940s lifestyle as the Railway turns back the clock to wartime Britain. Enjoy flying displays by iconic wartime planes – the Hurricane and Spitfire from the Biggin Hill Heritage Hanger – singing by Lady Ella, a polished professional, delivering the sound of the with sophistication and a splash of fun, and dancing from the foot-tapping Cinque Ports Lindy Hoppers. Vintage vehicles and authentic costumes from the period and a 1940s village scene will be on view with wartime cookery demonstrations. Steam trains run all weekend, and your train ticket gains entry to the event and includes unlimited train travel.

WHEN: 18th & 19th May
HOW MUCH: Adult £16.00, Senior £15.00, Child (3 – 15) £11.00, Family (2 adults 3 children or 1 adult and 4 children) £45.00
WHERE: Kent & East Sussex Railway, Tenterden Town Station, Station Road, Kent, Tenterden, TN30 6HE
WEB: www.kesr.org.uk

‘Pack Up Your Troubles’ – a Great War weekend

The Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment wearing appropriate military and civilian costume are camping at Tenterden! Authentic equipment displayed will include a General Service Wagon, Lewis Machine Gun Cart, and Water Cart. There will be a Casualty Reception Facility, Recruitment Hall, Period Photography, and Bell Tent encampment. Enjoy Tiger Moth flying displays, drills, demonstrations, and live music. Visitors can also take advantage of a full steam train service to visit the loving restored Cavell Van, built in 1919 and historically significant for conveying the remains of three war heroes: Nurse Edith Cavell, Captain Charles Fryatt and the Unknown Warrior.

WHEN: 29th & 30th June
HOW MUCH: Adult £15.00, Senior £14.00, Child (3 – 15) £10.00, Family (2 adults & 3 children or 1 adult and 4 children) £42.00
WHERE: Kent & East Sussex Railway, Tenterden Town Station, Station Road, Kent, Tenterden, TN30 6HE
WEB: www.kesr.org.uk

Battle Proms

The UK’s premier picnic concert series, the Battle Proms, takes traditional picnic proms to new heights, with soul-stirring classical music, tear jerking Spitfire displays, cavalry, cannons, and a flag waving, sing-a-long finale of
proms favourites with fantastic fireworks.

Starting at Burghley House in Lincolnshire on 6 July, and with five other stunning venues around the country to choose from (including Blenheim Palace and Highclere Castle, now better known as Downton Abbey), the Battle
Proms is an exceptional night out not to be missed!

WHEN: 6 July 2013. Gates open 4.30pm. Concert ends approx 10.30pm
WHERE: Burghley House, Stamford, Lincolnshire, PE9 £JY
Other venues:
Blenheim Palace Oxfordshire, 13 July
Hatfield House, Hertfordshire, 20 July
Highclere Castle, Berkshire, 3 August
Althorp Park, Northamptonshire, 10 August
Ragley Hall, Warwickshire, 31 August
HOW MUCH: Tickets: £31.50 until 30 April, £34 from 1 May, children (5-15) £16. 4 and under go free. If available, tickets are £39 on the gate
WEB: Order online at www.battleproms.com
PHONE: 01432 355 416 (box office)

History Live!

On Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 July at History Live!, over 2,000 re-enactors and performers will bring Kelmarsh Hall in Northamptonshire to life with the sights and sounds of England through the ages. With thrilling set piece battles, spectacular displays of skill, atmospheric living history encampments, and the chance to get hands-on with history, the flagship English Heritage event promises to be as exciting as ever this year.

Highlights include gripping re-enactments of the Battle of Hastings and The Wars of the Roses, while Drop Zone D-Day sees paratroopers, tanks, and armoured vehicles put on a real spectacle of WWII colour and drama. Popular favourites making an appearance include the knights of the Grand Medieval Joust, as well as the bloodthirsty gladiators of Anglo-Roman Britain.

There will be talks with historical experts covering wide-ranging subjects from the Norman Conquest to the Battle of Bannockburn, as well as a food and drink court with a traditional carvery, a rare-breed barbecue, and a real ale bar. For tickets and info, call 0870 333 1183 or log onto www.historylive.com

WHEN: Saturday 20th and Sunday 21st July 2013
WHERE: Kelmarsh Hall, Harborough Rd Kelmarsh, Northamptonshire NN6 9LY
HOW MUCH: Weekend tickets from £17.50 Adults (members) and £51.50 Family (members)
WEB: www.historylive.com

Military Odyssey

As Military Odyssey enters its 13th year the show continues to have re-enactment groups covering 2000 years of history and conflict. Visitors and serious collectors will also have the opportunity to browse hundreds of trader stalls.

See history come alive with Legio Secunda Augusta (Romans),The Hoplite (Ancient Greeks),Regia Anglorum, and the Knights of Draum (Celts, Vikings, Saxons and Normans). The WWI experience will be moving to a larger area and there will be WWII displays and major battles with tanks, aircraft, and plenty of bangs. Military vehicle owners will be doing a rolling display around the battlefield, and this year we have a large Vietnam contingent with displays and explosive battles, as well as modern desert bastion with weaponry and vehicles.

The event is the world’s largest of its type and great family entertainment for all ages.

So, if you and your family are interested in any period of History, then make a date to visit Military Odyssey.

WHEN: 24-26 August 2013, 9.30am-6pm
WHERE: Kent Show Ground, Detling, Kent, ME14 3JF
HOW MUCH: One-day ticket Adults £15.30, under-15s £9.30, Family ticket £45. Two-day ticket Adults £27.50, under-15s £16.75. Three-day ticket Adults £41.50, children £25
WEB: www.military-odyssey.com

To see this article as it appeared in issue 33 of Military History Monthly, click here.

In the latest issue we cover:

Marlborough’s Musketeers - The Battle of Malplaquet, 1709
We continue our occasional ‘Frontline’ series with a battle from the War of the Spanish Succession, joining the action at a full-scale frontal assault of massed musketry.

History of the British Army - Caen, 6 June-6 August 1944
MHM assesses a two-month battle of attrition that tested the British Army against the elite Waffen-SS.

Gettysburg - The Confederate invasion
Marking 150 years since it was fought, Julian Brazier begins a four-part series on this most pivotal and iconic of American battles.

Ludendorff - Imperial Germany’s flawed mastermind
Graham Goodlad assesses the military career of General Erich Ludendorff, architect of Germany’s final desperate bid for victory on the Western Front in 1918.

Caged Nazis - Guarding Rudolf Hess 
Historian Adrian Greaves has had a lifetime fascination for top Nazi Rudolf Hess. We asked him to explain.

Also in this issue:

Back to the Drawing Board, War Zone, Museum Review, Your Military History, War Culture, Book Reviews and much more.

From the editor

Gettysburg, the greatest battle ever fought in the Western Hemisphere, took place 150 years ago this summer. To mark the anniversary, Julian Brazier, former soldier, politician, and expert on the American Civil War, starts a four-part series this issue.

Julian offers a blow-by-blow analysis of the campaign and the battle, detailing the calculations of the commanders, the movements of the armies, and the clash of arms.

The tension was electric in those critical days of late June/early July 1863 as the armies manoeuvred in the summer sunshine of backcountry Pennsylvania. A Southern victory would have opened the way to Washington, and could well have broken the Northern people’s will to fight. The United States might have been permanently sundered, and slavery might have endured on the North American continent.

Gettysburg created modern America. The American Revolution had severed the tie with Britain, and founded a new, eager, independent republic. But it left unfinished business and deep divisions that made the proud claim that ‘all men are created equal’ a lie. It took the American Civil War to complete the work of the Revolution.

Also this issue, we have the second in our new occasional series looking at frontline combat experience. This month we hear the testimony of one of Marlborough’s infantry officers. What was it like to face massed, close-range musketry in 1709?

On the World Wars, we have Graham Goodlad’s assessment of Erich Ludendorff, the military brain behind Imperial Germany’s stormtrooper offensive of spring 1918; our own analysis of the Battle of Caen, the penultimate instalment in the British Battles series; and an intriguing article by military historian Adrian Greaves, who, as a young post-war officer, guarded three top Nazis in Spandau Prison, and formed a close relationship with Albert Speer.

Following the capture of Jerusalem, the Allied armies continued their campaign against the Turks, beating them at the great Battle of Megiddo and capturing Damascus with two forces simultaneously: the Australians, and T E Lawrence’s Arab insurgents. The French arrived late but, thanks to the secret – and now infamous – Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1915, were entitled to take over both Syria and Lebanon. The book covers all this in detail, as well as explaining how influenza weakened the next Allied advance, and how the Turks regrouped north of Aleppo to stop the Allies in their tracks.

Also covered are the subsequent peace negotiations, in which nationalist aspirations were thwarted; the French imperial grip on Syria was strengthened; and the Arab leader, Faisal, ousted from Syria, was provided with a kingdom by the British in Iraq.

At a time when new turmoil has brought Syria again to the headlines, this study provides exceptionally timely information on how Syria was fought over and shaped, as rule over the country by the Turkish Empire was brought to an end.

Competition closes 10th June 2013

Guided Battlefield Tours

Our success has been based on providing our guests with a quality, personal experience at a reasonable price. Our group sizes are limited on each scheduled tour. You will be accompanied by a specialist guide who will be aware of any special interest that you have discussed with us. Our guides will place sites in a proper historical context, in addition to bringing each site to life in terms of the experiences of men who served there.

We are happy to talk to you about the military service of relatives and can give you advice on how to undertake your own research or offer the services of our researcher. Our tours are inspired by a passion for history and a deep appreciation of the sacrifice of past generations. We ensure that all our guests experience the battlefields in an atmosphere of respect and remembrance.

We offer a range of WWI and WWII tours in Northern Europe. The cost of the tours include all travel from the point of pick up, bed and breakfast accommodation in 3* hotels, and bottled water each day, in addition to tea and coffee and entry to all museums. There are no hidden costs. Our 2014 dates are now available for booking. Details of our tours are on our website. Please telephone us if you have any questions or email us to receive a brochure.

TEL: 01633 258207
EMAIL: info@guidedbattlefieldtours.co.uk
WEB: www.guidedbattlefieldtours.co.uk

AVAILABLE TOURS:
Treading in Tommy’s Footsteps
Recalling the Somme
Chapters from the Western Front
Ypres Remembered
Battles of 1917-1918
The Forgotten Front
Poets at War 1914-1918
Walking the Somme Battlefields
Normandy and the D Day Landings
Dunkirk
The Battle of Arnhem – Operation Market Garden

Entente Cordiale Battlefield Tours

Entente Cordiale Battlefield Tours has developed themed WWI battlefield tours to key destinations on the Western Front. We also offer bespoke WWI battlefield tours that can be arranged as a personal journey for families or groups of friends or colleagues. Tours are available for larger groups, including school and college parties, army, and territorial units.

First World War battlefield tours can be planned, arranged, and tailored around your party’s requirements. We will visit places of special interest and locations off  the beaten track as well as the most popular sites on the Western Front. Your guide will help you to interpret the landscape and look for signs of battle evidence today. WWI tours last for between one and six days (or more if required). The atmosherere is friendly and informal. You will stay in quality accommodation and enjoy good food and hospitality. We are particular specialists in guiding visitors from New  Zealand, Australia, and Canada.

TEL: 01244 341920
WEB: www.ententecordialetours.co.uk

AVAILABLE TOURS:
In The Footsteps of The Early BEF – the retreat to Mons and the Battle of The Marne
Harry Patch ‘the Last Tommy’ – Ypres, Passchendaele and Poperinge
The AEF – Australian sites including Fromelles
The Canadians – Vimy Ridge, The Somme, and Ypres
Kitchener’s Pals – The Somme
The Americans in France
Victory – the last months of World War I in France and Belgium

The Battlefields Trust

The Battlefields Trust is the UK charity dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of Britain’s historic battlefields. It is perhaps best known for its recent ground-breaking work in locating the true site of the Battle of Bosworth. Readers may well have seen some of the information boards it has helped to erect at battlefields all across the country. This year’s programme includes Ray Wilkinson’s tour around two of Kent’s most important battlefields; Maidstone 1648 where Fairfax won a crucial victory over the Royalists and the Medway, the possible site of one of the most significant battles in British history when the invading Roman Legions defeated the Britons under Caratacus. A weekend of re-enactment events at Naseby Village Hall and playing fields is taking place in June, with the Sealed Knot, Vikings, and the Medieval Siege Society.

You are advised to consider becoming a member – as well as enjoying the above benefits, including a choice of over 30 events all around the country, you’ll also be making a real contribution to the protection and preservation of Britain’s battlefield heritage. Annual membership starts at £18 per person. For a membership form, to join online, and for more information on the work of this excellent organisation visit our website.

WEB: www.battlefieldstrust.com

AVAILABLE TOURS:
Guided tours have been organised studying the Battle of Upton, the Battle of Ripple, and the Battle of Nibley Green. Dr Peter Burley and Mike Elliott will be leading a walk around Medieval St Albans, and Dr Christopher Duffy will be delivering a lecture on Redcoats and Highlanders: the Jacobite Rebellions.

Holts Battlefields and History Tours

Although much has changed in the world of travel since the first Holts Tour, more than 30 years ago, visiting places of historic interest remains a most rewarding experience. Our 2013 programme is packed with the usual wide variety of tours. As always, popular regular tours such as It’s A Long Way To Tipperary, Dunkirk to D-Day and Waterloo are featured, as are anniversary tours Napoleon In Germany, Gettysburg, Dambusters, Kursk and Sicily. These days it is often not clear what you are getting for your money; we have always thought it important that there are no hidden costs, and so much is included in the price that each tour represents excellent value for money. We are fully bonded with ABTA and ATOL for your protection. If you would like to receive our 2013 Battlefields and History brochure, please telephone our office or request a brochure via our website.

TEL: 01293 865000
WEB: www.holts.co.uk

AVAILABLE TOURS:
The Zulu War: 19th April – 2nd May 2013
The Making of London: 27th – 29th April 2013
Dambusters 70th Anniversary: 15th – 19th May 2013
Walking the Five Battles of Ypres: 7th – 10th June 2013
The American Civil War 1863 – Battle of Gettysburg
150th Anniversary: 1st – 9th July 2013
The Battle of Kursk – 1943: 10th – 15th August 2013
The Eastern Front 1914-1921 : 24th – 30th August 2013
Napoleon in Germany 1813: 18th – 22nd October 2013

Waterloo Battlefield Tours

Talan Lindsey, who has lived close to the battlefield and studied it for 20 years, takes small groups or individuals over the three battlefields of Waterloo, Quatre Bras, and Ligny. The march of events, the dominant personalities, the manoeuvres of each army, and the actions of individual soldiers, coloured by the weather conditions and the influence of the terrain are all revealed with humour and insight.

• Each tour is organised according to your requirements and special interests.
• Transport for up to four passengers is included.

We recommend our clients to stay in Waterloo which is has many first class hotels and restaurants.

Alan Lindsey
TEL: +32 10 41 08 40
MOB: +32 (0)475 616 646
EMAIL: alanlindsey7@gmail.com
WEB: www.waterloobattlefieldtours.com

AVAILABLE TOURS:
Visits include the Wellington Museum, Le Caillou, Hougoumont, the Lion Mound, Plançenoit and more.

African Battlefields

South African Battlefields tours study the classical Victorian Military expeditions of the Anglo Zulu war and Anglo Boer Battlefields in KwaZulu Natal of 19th Century British colonial Africa. Walk the iconic battlefields from when the British first crossed the Buffalo River, and follow the trail of the biggest military reverse ever inflicted on the British army at the spears of the native Zulu force at the battle of Isandhlwana.
These tours will also take you around the Anglo-Boer battlefields, stopping at the siege towns of Ladysmith, the killing fields of Spionkop, the site where a young Winston Churchill witnessed the train ambush, and the British HQ of Melrose House in Pretoria where the peace accord was signed on 31 May 1902.

TEL: +27 83 448 6898
EMAIL: info@africatravelservices.co.za
WEB: www.africatravelservices.co.za

AVAILABLE TOURS:
Anglo Zulu Battlefields
Anglo Boer Zulu Battlefields
Anglo Boer Zulu Battlefields and
Kruger Park Safari
Please refer to website for combined tour options.

Rifleman Tours

Rifleman Tours brings the battlefield back to life and conveys the thoughts, perspectives, and experiences of all those who fought during WWI and WWII from the General to the humble Tommy.

Run by husband and wife team Tony and Allison Eden they provide battlefield tours of an extremely high quality along with a high level of personal service. From first time visitors to history students, tours cater for groups of 12 to 18 people of all ages, providing a relaxed, friendly, and informal atmosphere.

Tony’s grandfather, Rifleman William James Eden of the King’s Royal Rifle Corps, was killed at the first battle of Ypres and is remembered on the Menin Gate, which has fuelled Tony’s passion for the battlefields. Over the years Tony has taken guests on personal pilgrimages to the graves of loved ones as well as helping trace their specific involvement in the conflict.

Visit our website, read our testimonials, and for the perfect tour of remembrance, choose Rifleman Tours. Lest We Forget.

TEL: 01908 617264
WEB: www.riflemantours.co.uk

AVAILABLE TOURS:
Somme and Ypres Salient including ‘Behind the Lines’ – 21 June 2013
The Somme – 5 July 2013
Loos and the Ypres Salient – 6 September 2013
Mons and the Ypres Salient – 25 October 2013
Normandy and the D-Day Beaches – 13 June and 18 July 2013
Private tours can be arranged.
Please view our website for 2014 Centenary Tours.

To view this feature as it appeared in issue 32 of Military History Monthly, click here.

The Operation Overlord beaches stretch for some 60-miles along the Normandy coastline. Today this part of France is dotted with museums of varying sizes and quality, ranging from the large and purpose-built (such as the American Airborne Museum at St. Marie-Englise) to the tiny one or two-room collections in cafes and bars. Many are excellent, including the small Dead Man’s Corner Museum at Saint-Côme-du-Mont. But whilst size is not always an indication of quality, one of the larger and best is the Pegasus Bridge Memorial Museum at Ranville, near Caen.

The Pegasus Bridge Memorial Museum was opened on 4 June 2000 by the Prince of Wales, Colonel-in-Chief of the Parachute Regiment. Dedicated to the men of 6th Airborne Division, the museum tells the story of the first action of D-Day – Operation Deadstick ¬– the capture of the Caen Canal and Orne river bridges by a coup de main. Their capture would prevent their use in any German counter-attack against eastern flank of the landings at Sword Beach. So it was a critical undertaking.

Major John Howard led a force of 181 men from Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (plus sappers from the Royal Engineers and men from the Glider Pilot Regiment) in six Airspeed Horsa gliders. Landing at 00:16 on 6 June 1944, the attack was virtually a complete surprise to the Germans (one of the gliders, Chalk 91, landed just 47 yards from Bénouville Bridge over the Caen Canal). The objectives were captured within 10 minutes of landing.

They were reinforced half-an-hour later by 7th Battalion the Parachute Regiment. Later they were joined by the beach landing forces with the arrival of Lord Lovat’s Commandos. One of the members of 7th Battalion was a young actor by the name of Richard Todd, who would go on to play Major Howard in the film The Longest Day.

The action saw the first Allied deaths of D-Day – Lieutenant Den Brotheridge and Lance-Corporal Fred Greenhalgh – and the first house to be liberated, now the Café Gondrée, close to Pegasus Bridge. The coup de main as a tactic was more closely associated with Germany’s 1940 attacks on Fort Eben Emael and the Corinth Canal in 1941 than anything the British had mounted before. A number of authors have suggested that Operation Market Garden might have been more successful had the British repeated this tactic at Arnhem Bridge three and a half months later.

Saving the Pegasus Bridge

The original museum – the Airborne Forces Museum – opened in 1974 but was closed in 1997. In 1993, as part of the canal widening, the original Pegasus Bridge (renamed from Bénouville Bridge on 26 June 1944) was removed and replaced by the current bridge. The original was left on waste-ground close by. Shortly after the closure of the first museum, the D-Day Commemoration Committee launched a campaign to raise funds and find a site for a new museum. In 1999 the original Pegasus Bridge was bought by the museum committee from the French authorities for the symbolic price of one franc and now forms the focal-point for the new museum.

Located between the canal and river bridges, the museum has been designed to resemble a glider from the front. The spacious entrance houses both the museum’s shop and ticket desk. Generally speaking the shops and range of items sold in the many Overlord museums is better than in the military museums in the UK. The one here is no exception.

Upon entry into the main hall, virtually the first thing encountered is an example of Rupert, a paradummy dropped over Normandy in the deception mission Operation Titanic. There are hundreds of other exhibits on display, ranging from an airborne jeep to uniforms, equipment, photographs, and models. Everything is well laid-out and the accompanying explanation panels are appropriately and thoughtfully written. There is also a very good film, telling the story of the action and of the museum itself. The film is available in English, although you may need to ask.

One display shows the Sten gun, Lee Enfield rife, Bren gun, Gammon bomb, and other arms carried by the British troops who captured and held the bridges. Of particular note is a PIAT anti-tank weapon similar to the one used by Sergeant ‘Wagger’ Thornton to destroy a German armoured vehicle (accounts differ as to whether it was a tank or a half-track) in the early hours of D-Day. Stephen Ambrose has described this as ‘the single most important shot of D-Day’, as it halted the German counter-attack literally in its tracks. There is a display dedicated to Major John Howard which includes both his red beret and his helmet (the force of the glider landing had slammed Howard’s helmet so far forward over his eyes that he initially thought he was blind).

The bagpipes on display at the Memorial Museum are one of the sets belonging to Piper William ‘Bill’ Millin. Millin was piper to Lord Lovat, commander of the 1st Special Service Brigade, and it was the sound of Millin playing Blue Bonnets over the Border that first alerted Howard’s men to the approach of Lovat at 13:30 on D-Day. The bagpipes he played on D-Day, along with his beret, 100-year-old kilt, and dirk are on display at the museum in Dawlish, south Devon, where he lived until his death in August 2010. On 8 June this year a bronze life-size statue of Piper Bill Millin will be unveiled at Colleville-Montgomery, near Sword Beach.

The grounds

Within the three-acre grounds is a replica of the first Horsa glider to land at Bénouville Bridge. This was inaugurated on 5 June 2004 by the Prince of Wales and Jim Wallwork, the pilot of the first glider to land on D-Day in what has been described as the most outstanding feat of precision flying of the war. As this piece was being written, I learned of the death of Staff Sergeant Jim Wallwork DFM, on 24 January 2013. I therefore respectfully dedicate this article to his memory.

Also within the grounds is the original Pegasus Bridge (which visitors can walk across), still bearing the scars of the fighting. In a new museum building there is an original section of a Horsa Glider. Other exhibits not directly associated with Operation Deadstick include a Bailey bridge, a 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun, 25-pdr guns, an American M3 half-track, and a quad .303 anti-aircraft mounting.

The area surrounding the museum is simply a must to explore. Across the road from the museum is the landing zone where three of the gliders came down on D-Day. This is commemorated by a bust of Major Howard and plinths marking the position where each Horsa landed.

Moving closer to the canal bridge is one of the monuments signaux erected by the Comité du Débarquement at significant D-Day sites. Close by the bridge is the 75mm anti-tank gun in its Tobruk housing. This was turned on its former owners by Corporal Wally Parr and his makeshift gun-crew (they fired on the water tower and the Château de Bénouville across the canal, only later discovering that the château was a maternity hospital whose director was a member of the resistance). Across the canal is the Café Gondrée, which now contains a small museum. A Centaur VI Close Support tank of the Royal Marines is just across the road from the café.

Such is the quantity and quality of the D-Day sites, museums, and memorials that visitors are advised to select which ones to view. But the Pegasus Bridge Museum is a must. Not only for the excellence of the museum but also because the battlefield itself is so accessible and, with the appropriate guide, easy to interpret.

Daniel Sager examines this weapon’s limitations

Introduced by the Prussian Army in the mid-19th century, the Dreyse Needle Gun was a revolutionary breach-loading rifle which proved decisive in its victory over the Austrians in 1866. However, when the Prussians marched into France four years later, they faced soldiers equipped with the Chassepot rifle and the limitations of the Dreyse gun became clear.

Invented by the German gunsmith Johann Nicolaus von Dreyse in 1836, the needle gun was innovative in several respects. Until then rifles were muzzle-loaded – a procedure that involved ramming a cartridge down the barrel with a metal ram-rod, a procedure that had to be performed while standing.

Although there had been various experiments with breech-loading muskets since the 18th century, von Dreyse developed a bolt action for opening and closing the rear of the barrel. Into the breech was placed a paper cartridge. When the trigger was pulled a needle-like firing pin penetrated the paper cartridge and struck a percussion cap, firing the bullet. Hence the the gun’s name.

The Prussian military recognised that this would give their infantry two major advantages: the Dreyse gun could be re-loaded while kneeling or even lying down, making the firer less of a target than an opponent with a traditional muzzle-loader. Better still, using a bolt action to open and close the chamber significantly increased the rate of fire, in some instances by a ratio of five to one.

In the hands of well-trained and highly disciplined troops such as the Prussians, the Dreyse gun proved devastating. At the Battle of Königgrätz in 1866 the Prussian rate of fire overwhelmed the numerically superior Austrians at a crucial point in the engagement.

However, the benefits of the Dreyse gun came at a price. Its effective range was just 600m (at best), compared to 1,000 metres for the muzzle-loaded Austrian Lorenz rifle. The lack of an effective seal around the breech meant that hot gas escaped after several shots had been fired, burning the rifleman’s face while aiming from the shoulder and forcing him to shoot from the hip, greatly reducing accuracy.

While the Prussians were fighting their Austrian neighbours, the French had been busily re-arming with the Chassepot rifle. Like the Dreyse gun, it was loaded with bolt action. But its breech was sealed by a rubber obduration ring, preventing hot gas from escaping. This, combined with a smaller calibre (11mm compared to 15mm), increased the Chassepot’s velocity, giving an effective range of more than 1,000 metres.

When the Prussians faced the French infantry at the Battle of Gravelotte in 1870, they found themselves completely out-gunned, suffering more that 20,000 killed or wounded compared to fewer than 8,000 on the French side (most of them to artillery fire). Unfortunately for the French, the Chassepot did not give them a decisive advantage in the face of Prussian organisation, tactics, and artillery – but it signalled the end of the line for the Dreyse gun.

Following the French surrender in 1871, the Prussians and their German allies (with the exception of Bavaria) were re-equipped with the Mauser Model 71, a bolt action rifle that fired 11mm cartridges and had a maximum range of 2,000 metres. Like so many game-changing innovations, the Dreyse Needle Gun quickly became outmoded as competitors ironed out the creases in its design.