121st Brigade (United Kingdom)
The 121st Brigade (121 Bde) was an infantry brigade formation of the British Army during World War I. Part of Lord Kitchener's 'New Armies', it served in the 40th Division on the Western Front. The brigade number was reactivated for deception purposes during World War II. Origin 121st Brigade was a New Army or 'Kitchener's Army' formation raised in October 1915, in 40th Division at Aldershot. An earlier 121 Brigade had been raised in late 1914 as part of the 'Fifth New Army', but when the Fourth New Army was broken up in April 1915 to provide reserve units for the First to Third New Armies, the formations of the Fifth took their place, and the original 121 Bde was renumbered 116th Brigade. By the time the new 120 Bde was organised the flow of volunteers had dwindled, and the standard of height for infantry soldiers had been lowered in order to encourage recruitment. Some of these so-called ' bantams' were well-knit, hardy men, but many others, especially in 121st Bde, were und ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
|
Infantry
Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadly encompasses a wide variety of subspecialties, including light infantry, irregular infantry, heavy infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry, mechanized infantry, Airborne forces, airborne infantry, Air assault, air assault infantry, and Marines, naval infantry. Other subtypes of infantry, such as line infantry and mounted infantry, were once commonplace but fell out of favor in the 1800s with the invention of more accurate and powerful weapons. Etymology and terminology In English, use of the term ''infantry'' began about the 1570s, describing soldiers who march and fight on foot. The word derives from Middle French , from older Italian (also Spanish) ''infanteria'' (foot soldiers too inexperienced for cavalry), from Latin '' ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
|
Richmond, Yorkshire
Richmond is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is located at the point where Swaledale, the upper valley of the River Swale, opens into the Vale of Mowbray. The town's population at the 2011 census was 8,413. The town is north-west of Northallerton, the county town, and north-west of York. In the Domesday Book of 1086 the area was collected under Yorkshire and the town was in the Gilling Wapentake. After the book it became the centre for wapentakes in the Honour of Richmond for the North Riding of Yorkshire. Between 1974 and 2023 the town was the administrative centre of the Richmondshire district of the North Yorkshire non-metropolitan county. Richmond is located near the eastern boundary of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, for which it has become a tourist centre. History Richmond in North Yorkshire was the Honour of Richmond of the Earls of Richmond (or ''comtes de Richemont''), a dignity also held by the Duke of Brittany from 1136 to 139 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
|
German Spring Offensive
The German spring offensive, also known as ''Kaiserschlacht'' ("Kaiser's Battle") or the Ludendorff offensive, was a series of German Empire, German attacks along the Western Front (World War I), Western Front during the World War I, First World War, beginning on 21 March 1918. Following American entry into World War I, American entry into the war in April 1917, the Germans decided that their only remaining chance of victory was to defeat the Allies of World War I, Allies before the United States could ship soldiers across the Atlantic and fully deploy its resources. The Imperial German Army, German Army had gained a temporary advantage in numbers as nearly 50 Division (military), divisions had been freed by the Russian defeat and withdrawal from the war with the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. There were four German offensives, codenamed ''Operation Michael, Michael'', ''Operation Georgette, Georgette'', ''Gneisenau'', and ''Blücher-Yorck''. ''Michael'' was the main attack, which wa ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
|
Machine Gun Corps
The Machine Gun Corps (MGC) was a Regiment, corps of the British Army, formed in October 1915 in response to the need for more effective use of machine guns on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front in the World War I, First World War. The Heavy Branch of the MGC was the first to use tanks in combat and was subsequently turned into the Tank Corps, later called the Royal Tank Regiment. The MGC remained in existence after the war until it was disbanded in 1922. Formation At the outbreak of the World War I, First World War in August 1914, the tactical potential of machine guns was not appreciated by the British Armed Forces. The prevalent attitude of senior ranks at the outbreak of the Great War can be summed up by the opinion of an officer expressed a decade earlier that a single battery of machine guns per army corps was a sufficient level of issue. Despite the evidence of fighting in Manchuria (1905 onwards) the army went to war with each infantry battalion and cavalry ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
|
119th Brigade (United Kingdom)
The 119th Brigade (119th Bed), originally the Welsh Bantam Brigade, was an infantry brigade formation of the British Army during World War I. Part of Lord Kitchener's 'New Armies', it was formed of men under the normal regulation height, known as bantams. It served in the 40th Division on the Western Front, distinguishing itself in actions against the Hindenburg Line and the capture of Bourlon Wood. It was reorganised as a conventional brigade in early 1918 and served until the end of the war. The brigade number was reactivated for deception purposes during World War II. Original 119th Brigade On 6 August 1914, less than 48 hours after Britain's declaration of war, Parliament sanctioned an increase of 500,000 men for the Regular British Army. The newly appointed Secretary of State for War, Earl Kitchener of Khartoum, issued his famous call to arms: 'Your King and Country Need You', urging the first 100,000 volunteers to come forward. This group of six divisions with supp ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
|
Battle Of Cambrai (1917)
The Battle of Cambrai (Battle of Cambrai, 1917, First Battle of Cambrai and ''Schlacht von Cambrai'') was a British attack in the First World War, followed by the biggest German counter-attack against the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) since 1914. The town of Cambrai, in the département of Nord, in France, was an important supply centre for the German (known to the British as the Hindenburg Line) and capture of the town and the nearby Bourlon Ridge would threaten the rear of the German line to the north. Major General Henry Tudor, Commander, Royal Artillery (CRA), of the 9th (Scottish) Division, advocated the use of new artillery-infantry tactics on his sector of the front. During preparations, J. F. C. Fuller, a staff officer with the Tank Corps, looked for places to use tanks for raids. General Julian Byng, commander of the Third Army, decided to combine both plans. The French and British armies had used tanks en masse earlier in 1917, although to considerably ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
|
Hindenburg Line
The Hindenburg Line (, Siegfried Position) was a German Defense line, defensive position built during the winter of 1916–1917 on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front in France during the First World War. The line ran from Arras to Laffaux, near Soissons on the Aisne River, Aisne. In 1916, the Battle of Verdun and the Battle of the Somme left the German western armies () exhausted and on the Eastern Front (World War I), Eastern Front, the Brusilov Offensive had inflicted huge losses on the Austro-Hungarian armies and forced the Germans to take over more of the front. The declaration of war by Romania during World War I, Romania had placed additional strain on the German army and war economy. The Hindenburg Line, built behind the Noyon Salient (territory), Salient, was to replace the old front line as a precaution against a resumption of the Battle of the Somme in 1917. By devastating the intervening ground, the Germans could delay a spring offensive in 1917. A shorte ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
|
I Corps (United Kingdom)
I Corps ("First Corps") was an army corps in existence as an active formation in the British Army for most of the 80 years from its creation in the World War I, First World War until the end of the Cold War, longer than any other corps. It had a short-lived precursor during the Waterloo Campaign. It served as the operational component of the British Army of the Rhine (part of NATO's Northern Army Group (NORTHAG)) during the Cold War, and was tasked with defending West Germany. Napoleonic precursor Assembling an army in Belgium to fight Napoleon's resurgent forces in the spring of 1815, the Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, Duke of Wellington formed it into army corps, deliberately mixing units from the Anglo-Hanoverian, Dutch-Belgian and German contingents so that the weaker elements would be stiffened by more experienced or reliable troops. As he put it: 'It was necessary to organize these troops in brigades, divisions, and corps d’armee with those better disciplined ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
|
Lillers
Lillers (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France, department in the Hauts-de-France region of France about 15 km northwest of Béthune and 40 km west of Lille. The river Clarence (river), Clarence flows through the town. History After being owned by the Counts of Flanders, Lillers, which had been fortified against the Normans was given as a dowry in 1179 to King Philip II Augustus of France. In 1327, Artois was created a county by Louis IX. His brother Robert became the first Count. In 1303, the city of Lillers was looted by the Flemings. In 1340, King Edward III of England claimed the throne of France and started the Hundred Years War, marked by two famous battles, that of Battle of Crecy, Crécy 1346 and that of Battle of Agincourt, 1415, where Robert Wavrin, Lord of Lillers, met his death. In 1542, during the war against Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, French troops burned Lillers. The population were still living in tents or hut ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
|
Le Havre
Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very close to the Prime Meridian (Greenwich), Prime Meridian. Le Havre is the most populous commune of Upper Normandy, although the total population of the greater Le Havre conurbation is smaller than that of Rouen. It is also the second largest subprefecture in France, after only Reims. The name ''Le Havre'' means "the harbour" or "the port". Its inhabitants are known as ''Havrais'' or ''Havraises''. The city and Port of Le Havre, port were founded by Francis I of France, King Francis I in 1517. Economic development in the early modern period was hampered by European wars of religion, religious wars, conflicts with the English, epidemics, and storms. It was from the end of the 18th century that Le Havre st ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
|
21st (Service) Battalion, Middlesex Regiment (Islington)
The 21st (Service) Battalion, Middlesex Regiment (Islington) (21st Middlesex) was an infantry unit recruited as part of 'Kitchener's Army' in World War I. It was raised in the spring of 1915 by the Mayor and Borough of Islington in North London. Serving on the Western Front from June 1916 it saw action against the Hindenburg Line and at Bourlon Wood. It then fought through the German spring offensive and the Battle of the Lys. Reduced to a training cadre following heavy casualties, the battalion was sent back to England, where it was disbanded at the end of the war. Recruitment and training On 6 August 1914, less than 48 hours after Britain's declaration of war, Parliament sanctioned an increase of 500,000 men for the Regular British Army. The newly appointed Secretary of State for War, Earl Kitchener of Khartoum, issued his famous call to arms: 'Your King and Country Need You', urging the first 100,000 volunteers to come forward. Men flooded into the recruiting offices an ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |
|
20th (Service) Battalion, Middlesex Regiment (Shoreditch)
The 20th (Service) Battalion, Middlesex Regiment (Shoreditch) (20th Middlesex) was an infantry unit recruited as part of 'Kitchener's Army' in World War I. It was raised in the spring of 1915 by the Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch, Mayor and Borough of Shoreditch in the East End of London. It served on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front from June 1916, seeing action against the Hindenburg Line and at Battle of Cambrai (1917), Bourlon Wood. It then fought through the German spring offensive and the Battle of the Lys (1918), Battle of the Lys. Reduced to a Cadre (military), training cadre following heavy casualties, the battalion was sent back to England to be reconstituted, returning to take part in the final victorious Hundred Days Offensive. It was disbanded in 1919. Recruitment and training On 6 August 1914, less than 48 hours after Britain's declaration of war, Parliament of the United Kingdom, Parliament sanctioned an increase of 500,000 men for the Regular Br ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon] |