Another graphic covering the Battle of Tannenberg is not quite finished and will be added during the week.

These battle graphics are complex, difficult to put together, and represent a lot of time and effort – it is a big release for us! Each graphic consists of a map, a battle overview, the senior commanders involved as well as a host of stats and facts for each battle. We do hope you like them and find them useful as we continue our quest to tell the story of WW1 using infographics!

As always, this update is completely free to all of you who have already purchased the app. Just fire it up on your iPad/iPhone/Android device and the new images will magically appear within the ’battles’ area of the app.

If you are new to our app, then you can purchase it for just £1.49 whether you are an iOS or an Android user. Simply search for ‘The Great War 100′ in either the Apple App Store, or Google’s Marketplace. There are hundreds more infographics on the app already covering topics such as medals, weapons, remembrance, the war in the air, the war at sea and many more, and the plan is to update regularly over the coming months.

The next update is due within a week or so and will cover British and Commonwealth campaign medals – should be a good one!!

Alternatively for more information on the app, view this page

Below is an example from the new set of graphics that have been uploaded. (click image to see larger version).

Battle of Cambrai Infographic

These new graphics cover a general overview of the award including award criteria, size, material, as well as some facts and figures as to how many were awarded, what they were awarded for etc.

As always, this update is completely free to all of you who have already purchased the app. Just fire it up on your iPad/iPhone/Android device and the new images will magically appear within the ’medals’ tab.

If you are new to our app, then you can purchase it for just £1.49 whether you are an iOS or an Android user. Simply search for ‘The Great War 100′ in either the Apple App Store, or Google’s Marketplace. There are hundreds more infographics on the app already covering topics such as medals, weapons, battles, remembrance, the war in the air, the war at sea and many more, and the plan is to update regularly over the coming months.

Alternatively for more information on the app, view this page

Below is an example from the new set of graphics that have been uploaded.

DFC infographic example

The e-book itself is selling beyond my expectations (I don’t really know what ‘success’ is and how many I should be selling, but I set a target of monthly sales to be hit within 6 months of launch, but sales exceeded this target in month 2, and continues to grow month by month). Reviews and feedback has been very positive and it gives me great motivation to perhaps expand on the ‘Layman’s Guide’ theme.

As the name suggests, this is a book that has been written for people who have had minimal exposure to WW1 in the past. It is ideal for school children and adults alike - it provides just enough detail to gain a good grounding of knowledge and understanding, without the reader becoming overwhelmed with detail and complexity.

If you are a book reviewer for a newspaper, magazine, website, or blog and think that the topic of WW1 would be of interest to your readership then let me know and I can send you a paperback version of the book for you to read and review!!! Email me at mustangscottie@sky.com

paperback version

Currently the database comprises over 100,000 records, providing valuable details about civilians and soldiers killed during conflicts ranging from the Boer War to the more recent clashes in Northern Ireland.

Each record  includes details of the memorial with overview images of the entire memorial and is connected to Google Maps with StreetView to see its precise location. The memorial is in turn linked to the Imperial War Museum’s Memorial Archive, giving you further details about the memorial, such as who built it, when it was built, who paid for it and more.

A subscription to www.thegenealogist.co.uk is required to access this new database – more details can be found here.

As part of Mike’s ‘my favourite things’ session we discussed how my tattoo of soldiers going ‘over the top’ has inspired me to write my latest Kindle book, ‘World War One: A Layman’s Guide‘. We also discussed wider topics around the First World War, how it affected so many families at the time and the fascination behind the many personal stories that are described in other books such as  the ‘Forgotten Voices…’ franchise.

If you want to have a listen, and find out what happened at my very first concert (Motorhead – Reading Hexagon in October 1987), the podcast of the radio show can be heard here – you will need to fast forward to 2hours and 6 minutes into the show to hear yours truly…

Mike Read

As always, this update is completely free to all of you who have already purchased the app. Just fire it up on your iPad/iPhone/Android device and the new images will magically appear within the ’medals’ tab.

If you are new to our app, then you can purchase it for just £1.49 whether you are an iOS or an Android user. Simply search for ‘The Great War 100′ in either the Apple App Store, or Google’s Marketplace. Alternatively for more information on the app, view this page

Below is an example from the new set of graphics that have been uploaded.

MC and Three Bars infographic

The objective handed to the British First Army, led by Field Marshal Douglas Haig, was to take the village of Neuve Chapelle and then gain control of Aubers Ridge; a ridge of higher ground less than a mile to the east of the village that offered a commanding view of the surrounding area and would be an ideal launching pad for an advance towards German held Lille. This was to be the first time the British had launched an attack on their own in this war, and it was about time too. During the previous eight months they had retreated, counter-attacked, marched, dug trenches by the mile and fought a defensive war, now, at last, the British Tommies would be able to give Fritz an absolute hiding. Or at least that was the plan.

This was a new kind of war, a static war of attrition rather than fluid movements in the open that the British Army were more used to. However, Haig and his staff got their head around the issues of planning for a full-on attack quite well. Aerial reconnaissance provided intelligence of the size, position and depth of enemy defences. Meticulous time tables were drawn up for the artillery guns, they even built a light railway to ensure supplies could be brought to the front in a timely manner.

At 7.30am on 10^th March, the guns let rip. First off it was 35 minutes of hellfire directly onto the German front line. Haig wanted the bombardment to be much longer, but a shortage of shells forced his hand. However, in those 35 minutes the British guns fired more shells than in the entire South African war of 1899-1902. At 8.05am the guns lifted and the infantry of the British First Army (including a large number of Indian troops) advanced along a 2 mile front. The guns then switched their attack to the village of Neuve Chapelle itself, and the rear of the German lines, in an effort to deter re-enforcements and supplies to the front.

Maybe it was the organisation of the advancing infantry, maybe it was the fact that this part of the front was only lightly defended by the Germans, maybe the short preliminary bombardment didn’t raise the alarm that an attack was imminent. Whatever the reason (and it was probably a mixture of all three mentioned above), what followed next was a rare, rare bird indeed: a genuine and bonafide breakthrough of the enemy lines. By 8.30am Allied troops had captured the village of Neuve Chapelle!

However, it was not all tea and cupcakes. There was a small part of the German line, situated nearest the ridge, which had not been bombarded at all; the guns didn’t get up to the line quick enough to take part in the attack. The wires were untouched, the machine gun placements were not damaged, the troops were still there. The Indian soldiers who advanced on this sector in three successive waves stood no chance. Communication was so bad though, that because no one returned back to their lines in this sector, HQ thought they had succeeded in their objective. The grisly fact was they had all been killed or wounded; the best part of a thousand men cut to pieces in a matter of minutes.

Once the main breakthrough had been achieved the successful attackers succumbed to a number of communication and supply issues that would blight both sides continually until the end of the war. Haig found it difficult, if not impossible, to keep in contact with his field commanders. As a consequence opportunities to advance were missed due to a lack of concrete orders. Many field commanders, inexperienced with this kind of war, hampered by limited or no communications and unwilling to send their units forward without proper support decided to err on the side of caution. Instead of pushing east towards Lille as originally planned, they stopped and consolidated to take a breath and get prepared to meet whatever German counter-attack would appear.

That counter-attack didn’t appear, and on the morning of 11^th March, the British attacked once more. This time, however, the Germans were expecting them and the advancing infantry suffered terribly from machine-gun and artillery fire. In many areas the reserve troops could not even get to the front line due to German artillery fire to the rear of the British lines. Despite continued attempts, the British failed to take any more ground. Nonetheless, Haig ordered preparations to be made for a resumed offensive the next morning. Oh joy.

The Germans, however, had their own plan. Having soaked up 2 days of continual British attacks, now it was their turn to have a go. On the morning of 12^th March, more than 10,000 German soldiers launched a counter-attack. Unfortunately for the Germans, their attacks were just as dis-organised as the British, and although they recovered some ground, the British had held on to Neuve Chapelle. Just. And at a cost. These three days of fighting had cost Britain 544 officers and 11,108 other ranks killed, missing or wounded. German losses are estimated at 12,000.

Taken from the Kindle e-book – ‘World War One: A Layman’s Guide’ by Scott Addington.

Here is the first one – A guide to British and Commonwealth Campaign Medals of WW2. I hope you like it and find it of interest!!

So, get your clever face on and help us get a better understanding about the nation’s general knowledge of the ‘War to end all Wars’ by spending just 2 minutes to answer 30 multiple choice questions on The First World War.

Please answer the questions without using the Internet or any books to look up the answers – although the questions are not exhaustive and are perhaps slightly random, we are looking to create an honest assessment of the UK’s knowledge of this war…. so no cheating.

As a way of a thank you, everyone who completes the survey and submits their email address at the end will be in with a chance to win one of 50 www.thegreatwar100.com car stickers (winners will be chosen at random and notified via email during March 2013).

Any of the links in the above text will take you directly to the survey. Thank you in advance!!