Most Unfavourable Ground

The Battle of Loos, 1915

Niall Cherry

• Publisher: Helion and Company
• Year: 2005
• eBook ISBN: 9781907677922
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: World War I
• Index: History

The year of 1914 had been a difficult one for the British Expeditionary Force, the war that had started in August had not been over by the expected time of Christmas. Additionally many of its original members had become casualties and replacements were difficult to find. 1915 did not go much better, the BEF was still a minor player with only a relatively small number of divisions compared to the many in the French Army. The culmination of several attacks by the BEF in 1915 was the attack in the Loos sector in September where in a mining area north of Arras, the largest British offensive of the war thus far took place. Forced into an offensive in an area which as one senior commander put it was on 'most unfavorable ground', the BEF suffered heavy casualties and little material gain. Probably for these reasons the 1915 battles have been largely ignored and there has been a dearth of decent publications on Loos. Helion and Co Ltd are therefore pleased to announce the publication of a major new work Most Unfavourable Ground. The Battle of Loos 1915 by Niall Cherry. Most Unfavourable Ground offers a detailed look at the planning, execution and aftermath of the fighting. As well as using official records and reports, numerous personal stories have been woven into the account. The author's grandfather was present at Loos as a Chemical Corporal with the Royal Engineers gas units and this major new work reflects the author's passion for the subject. Key sales points: A major new work on an oft-neglected and overlooked offensive launched by the British forces in 1915, Draws on a large number of personal accounts in addition to official sources to provide a rich and detailed account, Includes much information about overlooked aspects of the Battle, including the British use of gas, and medical facilities, Features a large number of rare photographs, a comprehensive selection of maps and an extensive number of statistical tables.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of maps
• List of tables
• Foreword
• Preface
• 1 The Road to Loos, September 1915
• 2 The Plan for the Attack at Loos
• 3 Over the Top: 25th September 1915, I Corps
• 4 IV Corps
• 5 Overnight 25th/26th September and the efforts to reinforce I and IV Corps
• 6 Behind the British lines
• 7 The Second Day - 26th September
• 8 The Guards go in - 27th September
• 9 A pause for breath
• 10 The Hohenzollern Redoubt - Again
• 11 Stuttering to a halt – October and November 1915
• 12 Loos: a Balance Sheet. Casualties and the Medical Services
• 13 The demise of Sir John French and other repercussions
• Appendices
• B Lessons learned from Loos
• C Second Lt K Kershaw, G Company, 9th Gordon Highlanders
• D Report from M Company, 10th Gordon Highlanders, 44th Brigade, on actions 25th/26th September
• E Special Divisional Order, 15th Division, 28th September
• F  The experiences of an infantry unit at Loos, a contemporary report
• G  Notes from the History of the 10th Battalion York and Lancaster Regiment for September 1915
• H  Report by the 12th Battalion Royal Scots on Operations 25th/27th September 1915
• I  Comments from Lieutenant-General Sir H. Rawlinson on 9th October 1915 regarding the performance of the Artillery at Loos
• Glossary
• Bibliography
• eBooks Published by Helion & Company