My boy Jack

CHRONIC ANXIETY WAS intermittently unbearable. Civilians’ perception of the Western Front was shaped overwhelmingly by the extent to which they were personally invested. Those with intimates fighting there endured a double burden. As rumours grew (whether of imminent offensives or of enemy atrocities) they…

False dawn on the Western Front

THE BATTLE OF Neuve Chapelle exploded on 10 March — Britain’s first attempt to break out of the deadlock on the Western Front since the previous autumn.

The preliminary bombardment began early in the day. Described by one commentator as “perhaps…

Hope which springs eternal

ONCE AGAIN, THE Germans bombed Rheims Cathedral on 30 March. As an event, it was undeniably traumatic episode for those who happened to be in the vicinity, but its capacity to elicit outrage had been spent. The Allies were similarly engaged, anyway, although their targets were less…

Toujours la meme chose

The tremendous exertion of will and firepower which had been launched by the British the previous week at Neuve Chapelle seemed to have foundered. This was no ignominious defeat, but there was no breakout either — no great advances which sent the Germans scurrying into retreat across open…

The soft underbelly

FOR MONTHS, it had seemed, all had been meaningless on the Western Front.

Very discreetly, however, the British were preparing for a forthcoming offensive, known better to later generations as the Battle of Neuve Chapelle. Lieutenant Rory MacLeod recalled being…