Monty's Highlanders

Monty's Highlanders
Author: Patrick Delaforce
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Total Pages: 418
Release: 2007-04-16
Genre: History
ISBN: 1783460733

The 51st Highland Division was the most famous infantry division that fought with the British Army in WW2. It was the only infantry division in the armies of the British Empire that accompanied Monty from during Alamein to BerlinAfter the 1940 disaster at St Valry when many were killed or captured, the re-formed 51st were a superlative division, brilliantly inspired and led. The Highway Decorators (after their famous HD cypher) fought with consummate success through North Africa and Tunisia and from Normandy into the heart of Germany. Blooded at Alamein where they suffered over 2000 casualties they pursued the Afrika Korps via Tripoli and Tunis fighting fierce battles along the way. They lost 1,500 men helping to liberate Sicily. Back to the UK for the second front, the Highlanders battled their way through Normandy bocage, the break-out to the Seine, triumphal re-occupation of St Valry, and were the first troops to cross the Rhine, fighting on to Bremen and Bremerhaven. In the eleven months fighting in NW Europe in 1944 and 1945 the Highlanders suffered more than 9000 casualties.

The 51st (Highland) Division in the Great War

The 51st (Highland) Division in the Great War
Author: Colin Campbell
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
Total Pages: 441
Release: 2018-11-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 1526747049

Scotland provided two Territorial Force divisions at the outbreak of the First World War, in due course taking their place in the order of battle as the 51st (Highland) Division and the 52nd (Lowland) Division. 1066 and All That concluded that the war was won by the Americans, assisted by the Australians (AZTECS) and some Canadians, and 51 Highlanders. If nothing else, this ironic analysis showed that Major General George (Uncle, sometimes Daddy) Harper was a master of positive publicity and knew its value in building the Divisions image and morale. He commanded the Division from late September 1915 until shortly before the opening of the German Spring Offensive in March 1918, when he was promoted to the command of IV Corps; his name is firmly linked to the 51st.The Division arrived in France in May 1915 and took part in a limited (and unsuccessful) attack in French Flanders in June 1915, which revealed hardly surprising weaknesses in training. The next year was spent relatively quietly on the Somme and, from March 1916, the southern end of Vimy Ridge. Thereafter it fought on the Somme at High Wood and Beaumont-Hamel, at the Battle of Arras, at Third Ypres, Cambrai, faced two of the German spring offensives of 1918 and was then involved in the successful series of allied offensives that ended the war, in the Divisions case starting with an attack with the French and the Italians in the Champagne in July 1918.No history of the Division has been written since Brewshers in 1921. This book aims to cast a more objective light on its activities and to challenge its post war critics. It makes full use of official records and first hand accounts, including those provided by descendants with previously unpublished family records or illustrations. The books main purpose is to pay tribute to a generation that met hitherto unimagined horrors with fortitude, adaptability, resilience and humour and, despite the awful price in lives, broken bodies and minds, carried on until the job was done.

The History of the 51st (Highland) Division, 1914-1918

The History of the 51st (Highland) Division, 1914-1918
Author: Frederick William Bewsher
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Total Pages: 484
Release: 1921
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN:

If it were possible for the General who for three years commanded all the British Divisions in France, and was served with equal gallantry, devotion, and success by each, to admit a predilection for any of them, my affection would naturally turn to the Division that drew so many of its recruits from the same part of Scotland where my boyhood was spent and my own people lived. Those who read the pages of this book will find therein a tale of patient endeavour and glorious achievement of which I claim a good right to be as proud as any of my fellow-countrymen. The 51st Division does not need to boast of its prowess or its record. It can point to the story of its deeds, plainly and simply told, and leave the world to judge.

Churchill's Sacrifice of the Highland Division, France 1940

Churchill's Sacrifice of the Highland Division, France 1940
Author: Saul David
Publisher: Brasseys Uk Limited
Total Pages: 276
Release: 2004
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781857533781

More than a week after the last British troops had been evacuated from Dunkirk, the 51st (Highland) Division was forced to surrender. More than 10,000 men were driven into five years of captivity in prison camps. The author traces the story of the Highland Division, from its arrival in France to its final desperate stand.

None Bolder

None Bolder
Author: Richard Doherty
Publisher: Spellmount, Limited Publishers
Total Pages: 344
Release: 2006
Genre: History
ISBN:

"One of the most famous infantry divisions of the Second World War was the 51st (Highland) Division, a Scottish Territorial Army formation that first saw service in the Great War. Composed of battalions of Highland infantry regiments - Black Watch, Seaforth Highlanders, Gordon Highlanders, Cameron Highlanders and Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders - the Division deployed to France with the British Expeditionary Force in 1939, later serving in Egypt, North Africa, France and on the Rhine." "At all times the Division was known for its esprit de corps which touched not only its Highland soldiers but the many non-Scots who serviced in its ranks; its machine-gun battalion was from The Middlesex Regiment while its reconnaissance regiment, after 1942, was 2nd Derby Yeomanry. All who served in its ranks wore the HD flash with pride, a pride that was justified by the Division's outstanding record during the war. This book will tell the story of the Division through official records, personal accounts and memories and previously published material."--BOOK JACKET.

Gordon Highlanders in the First World War

Gordon Highlanders in the First World War
Author: Cyril Falls
Publisher:
Total Pages: 294
Release: 2014-05
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781783311057

A hitherto rare unit history of one of Scotland's most renowned regiments in the Great War, written by one of the conflict's most distinguished historians, Cyril Falls. The Gordons were heavily engaged in most battles on the western front - including the Somme, Arras and the Ypres salient - and in the Italian theatre. Includes 21 sketch maps.

St Valéry and Its Aftermath

St Valéry and Its Aftermath
Author: Stewart Mitchell
Publisher: Pen & Sword Military
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2017
Genre: Escaped prisoners of war
ISBN: 9781473886582

During the German May 1940 offensive, the 51st (Highland) Division, including the 1st and 5th Battalions Gordon Highlanders, became separated from the British Expeditionary Force. After a heroic stand at St Valery-en-Caux the Division surrendered when fog thwarted efforts to evacuate them. Within days, scores of Gordons had escaped and were on the run through Nazi-occupied France. Many reached Britain after feats of great courage and tenacity, including recapture and imprisonment often in atrocious conditions in France, Spain or North Africa. Those imprisoned in Eastern Europe were forced to work in coal and salt mines, quarries, factories and farms. Some died through unsafe conditions or the brutality of their captors. Others escaped, on occasion fighting with distinction alongside Resistance forces. Many had to endure the brutal 1945 winter march away from the advancing Allies before their eventual liberation. This superbly researched book contains many inspiring stories that deserve and merit reading.

History of the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders 7th Battalion from El Alamein to Germany

History of the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders 7th Battalion from El Alamein to Germany
Author: Captain Ian C Cameron
Publisher:
Total Pages: 290
Release: 2015-07-28
Genre:
ISBN: 9781781519653

This History of one of the best-known Scottish regiments in the British Army covers the role of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in the latter part of the Second World War. The Regiment formed part of the famous 51st Highland Division with the British Expeditionary Force in 1940 and suffered grievous casualties before escaping through the port of Le Havre. It remained in the 51st Highland Division for the rest of the war, taking part in the North African campaign, including the Battle of El Alamein in 1942, and the invasion and liberation of Sicily in 1943, before returning to take part in the many hard-fought battles following the 1944 D-day Normandy Landings and through to the Baltic. Well-illustrated with photographs and many maps, this is a fine record of a proud unit.

Fighting the People's War

Fighting the People's War
Author: Jonathan Fennell
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 967
Release: 2019-01-24
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1107030951

Jonathan Fennell captures for the first time the true wartime experience of the ordinary soldiers from across the empire who made up the British and Commonwealth armies. He analyses why the great battles were won and lost and how the men that fought went on to change the world.