Featured battle : Civitate

Part of Norman Conqest of Southern Italy

Date : 18 June 1053

The Pope's army was waiting for a link up with the Byzantine army. The Normans, who were almost all cavalry, split into three divisions. The Pope's army was arranged in two wings. The first division drove off the left wing of their opponents and the other two divisions engaged the right wing [a much stronger group]. The first division returned to take the Pope's men in the rear. A crushing and significant Norman victory.

Arras Counter-Attack 1940

Tim Saunders
By late May 1940 the German Panzer spearhead had reached the coast of France. This effectively cut off the British and French armies fighting in Belgium from the main body of France. The German extended lines of communication necessitated by the nature of Blitzkrieg were ripe for counter attack. Tim Saunders’s book is an account of the major attempt to cut the German lines of communication which took place around Arras.
The counter attack was hastily put together. A serious lack of command and control leading to a lack of coordination between infantry, armour and artillery resulted in chaos and failure. The German effective response was largely due to their superior communications net and Rommel’s grip in command. Within two days the Germans out numbered the British to the point where three British infantry brigades faced four Panzer divisions.
When the author first looked at this event writing it up in any coherent fashion must have seemed a daunting task. In making sense, for the reader, of chaos and confusion he has succeeded brilliantly. All through the book there many first-hand accounts and a large number of maps and photographs. The final chapter is an up to the minute guide to the battlefield.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it highly.

Pen & Sword Military, 2018