Victoria Crosses on the Western Front – Cambrai to the Battle of St Quentin (Hardback)
20 November 1917 – 23 March 1918
Imprint: Pen & Sword Military
Series: Victoria Crosses on the Western Front
Pages: 553
Illustrations: 150
ISBN: 9781473827110
Published: 18th June 2018
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In the past, while visiting the First World War battlefields, the author often wondered where the various Victoria Cross actions took place. He resolved to find out. In 1988, in the midst of his army career, research for this book commenced and over the years numerous sources have been consulted.
Victoria Crosses on the Western Front - Cambrai to the German Spring Offensive is designed for the battlefield visitor as much as the armchair reader. A thorough account of each VC action is set within the wider strategic and tactical context. Detailed sketch maps show the area today, together with the battle-lines and movements of the combatants. It will allow visitors to stand upon the spot, or very close to, where each VC was won. Photographs of the battle sites richly illustrate the accounts. There is also a comprehensive biography for each recipient, covering every aspect of their lives warts and all: parents and siblings, education, civilian employment, military career, wife and children, death and burial/commemoration. A host of other information, much of it published for the first time, reveals some fascinating characters, with numerous links to many famous people and events.
One of the great strengths of Paul Oldfield‘s series of books on Victoria Cross heroes of WW1 is to draw you down to the level of a single combatant... Readers may be so immersed in the achievements of any particular hero that they feel obliged to go and visit the scene of their action. If so, the book even provides enough useful information to make that a feasible option.
Alnwick Family History Society
"This book will be an invaluable tool for the battlefield visitor and enable those with a passion for the Victoria Cross, a particular regiment, or indeed the battles specifically covered in this volume, to really understand the moment in the battle that produced a Victoria Cross action."
Orders and Medals Research Society
Each individual tale is given special attention in its own way, thus ensuring that each man’s bravery will never be forgotten. This is the result of painstaking work, the euphoria, having visited the Western Front many times in the midst of an Army careers, research stories of the Victoria Cross. Each volume is very unique... Like all his work, the interspersed photographs in this book are first class. They show photographs of the land horizon with each section labelled in both modern and 1917 contexts to enable anyone visiting these sites to get a feel for the action that took place.
Jon Sandison, Freelance
It would definitely come in useful when planning a trip to visit the sites and graves/memorials associated with VC actions from the campaign, and it is unlikely you will ever need any other book on Third Ypres VCs – should you have room on your bookcase!
WW1 Geek
Read the full review here
Like its companion volumes, this is a most commendable effort and therefore highly recommended.
Medal News, December 2018/January 2019 - reviewed by Allan Stanistreet
Excellent work. 10/10
The Great War magazine, November 2018
As featured by
Lancashire & North West magazine, November 2018
Interview article: 'Unremarkable' Ernest whose great courage and initiative won him a most unexpected VC as featured by
Eastern Daily Press, 22nd September 2018 – words by Steve Snelling
As featured by
24seven Lifestyle, September 2018
Article: 'First World War heroes have their legacies shared in a popular book' as featured by
Wiltshire Times, 3rd August 2018 – words by Ellie Botti
Article: 'First World War veterans have their legacies shared in a new book' as featured by
Gazette and Herald (Devizes), 2nd August 2018 – words by Ellie Botti
As featured by
The Star (Sheffield), 28th July 2018
As featured 'on the shelf' in
Wargames Illustrated, November 2017
About Paul Oldfield
Paul Oldfield was born in Sheffield and was educated at Victoria College in Jersey. After serving in the Army for thirty-six years, he became a freelance battlefield guide (he is a badged member of the Guild of Battlefield Guides) and a historian. In 1988 he co-authored Sheffield City Battalion in the Pals series. Cockleshell Raid and Bruneval in Pen & Sword's Battleground Europe series were published in 2013.This is the twelfth book in his Victoria Crosses on the Western Front series.