Author Archives: Paul Coby and Sally Blandford
Memorial for Men and Women of Chelsea in Sloane Square
‘INVICTIS PAX IN MEMORY OF THE MEN AND WOMEN OF CHELSEA WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THE GREAT WAR MDCCCCXIV MDCCCCCXVIII AND MCMXXXIX MCMXLV THEIR LIVES FOR THEIR COUNTRY THEIR SOULS TO THEIR GOD’ This Memorial in the centre of Sloane Square, Chelsea, is a bit of a puzzle since it is very unusual in […]
Cromer War Memorial
‘To the Glory of God In Honoured and Loving Memory of the Men of this Parish Who Fell in the Great War 1914 – 1919 and in Thanksgiving To God for their Comrades whose Lives were Spared’ This Memorial which is weathering badly, stands in Cromer Churchyard. It is unusual in commemorating those whose lives […]
Memorial in Norwich Cathedral to the 7th. [Princess Royal’s] Dragoon Guards
‘The above Window is dedicated by the 7th. [Princess Royal’s] Dragoon Guards To the Glory of God and in affectionate remembrance of their Comrades who lost their lives in the service of their King and Country during Great War 1914 – 1918. +’ This memorial to one of the Norfolk Cavalry Regiments is in the […]
WW1 War Memorials
War Memorials very rarely say what they are popularly thought to say: “They died for King and Empire”.
Given that most War Memorials were paid for by public subscription, and that the inscription would have as a result have been carefully considered and debated, they are a unique window into what people thought about the War and why it was fought.
The Course of the War in the West during August 1914
When Sir Henry Wilson when he was head of the Army Staff College at Camberley asked Marshal Foch, who at that time very influentially ran the French Ecole Superieure de la Guerre (where he pushed the suicidal doctrine of all attack by infantry) “What would you say is the smallest British military force that would be of practical assistance to you?”, Foch replied, “One single private soldier – and we would take good care that he was killed”. It was Britain’s commitment, the Royal Navy and her wealth, that mattered to France, not the 6 divisions of the BEF that mattered to France.
Did the BEF make the difference in France in September 1914?
“In the case of our remaining neutral, Germany will fight France single handed. The armies of Germany and the fleets of Germany are much stronger than those of France, and the results of such a war can scarcely be doubted… In a single handed war France in all probability will be defeated…
The speedy dispatch of a force consisting of the entire regular army six divisions and one of cavalry could turn the tables… The actual disparity in numbers becomes less… and the numbers of the opposing forces at the decisive point would be so nearly equal during the opening and early actions of the war that it is possible for the allies to win some initial successes which might prove invaluable
Did the BEF save France in August and September 1914?
Introduction to my series of Blogs on the Battle of the Marne Before launching this Centenary Blog, I thought I knew quite a lot about the First World War. I had certainly read a great deal about it, starting with the part-works published during the War, which I found in my grandfather’s house on visits […]
So Was the First World War Justified?
Books have been written on this and many are being written now. A tidal wave of polemical articles and documentaries is gathering. My son asked me what I thought about this, so I needed to gather my thoughts. As with any such debate you can find evidence to support both sides. There is no doubt […]
1914 – a Just War?
On the opposing side are the historians who brilliantly – against the prevailing orthodoxy – argue that 1914 was a “just war” like 1939. The German war aims, as demonstrated by the German Historian Fritz Fischer, were every bit as expansionist as Hitler’s. Britain’s fight was just, since the Reich’s occupation of Belgium and Northern […]
The Opposing Battle Lines
I asked in the first posting: Was the First World War worth the Sacrifice? There is a general consensus that Second World War was worth the sacrifice, because of the evil of Hitler and the Nazis, who most definitely had plans for the subjugation and cleansing of the UK and its people after they had […]
First World War Memorials 
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