The German Army At Cambrai Jack Sheldon Foreword By Professor Brian Bond by Jack Sheldon, Foreword By, Professor Brian Bond 9781526766724, 1526766728 instant download after payment.

After an introductory chapter tracing the situation in 1917 and the need for an orderly German withdrawal, along with the overall reasoning behind it, the Author explains how these decisions lead to the German Army developing and creating one of the wars most fearsome heavily reinforced defensive positions - 'The Hindenburg Line'. The narrative from this point on now concerns itself, in two individual sections, upon all of the German Army's defensive and counter offensive aspects as they conduct one of the wars most bitterly fought battles - The Battle of Cambrai which commenced on 20 November and concluded on 6 December. 

The First stage to be covered is the defensive battle of 20-29 November, to be followed by the German counter-attack which saw them regain not only most of the ground lost in the opening phase of the battle, but to actually achieve the unthinkable in this stage of the war - take ground away from the British and Commonwealth forces facing them. Detailed descriptions within cover all the major and minor engagements in this phase including Flesquires Ridge and Bourlon Wood. The second part of the history describes the effectiveness of the German counter offensive and the failures of the Allied forces trying to recapture their lost ground, before the end of the battle in December 1917.

As with his other Histories, the Author has made full use of German primary source material from the Munich Kriegsarchiv, the Hauptstaatsarchiv in Stuttgart, regimental histories and other translated personal accounts. Of particular interest are the controversial interventions in operational matters of Ludendorf, which were sharply criticised by Crown Prince Rupprecht after the battle.