Dedicated to the One True Sovereign who was disregarded by the nations when, in 1914, men elected to fight among themselves on behalf of their own sovereignties First published in Great Britain in 2015 by PEN & SWORD MILITARY an imprint of Pen & Sword Books Ltd, 47 Church Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire. S70 2AS Copyright © William Langford & Jack Holroyd, 2015 ISBN: 978-1-47382-396-9 PDF ISBN: 978-1-47387-246-2 EPUB ISBN: 978-1-47387-245-5 PRC ISBN: 978-1-47387-244-8 The right of William Langford & Jack Holroyd to be identified as Authors of this Work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the Publisher in writing. Designed by Factionpress Printed and bound in India by Replika Press Pvt. Ltd. Pen & Sword Books Ltd incorporates the imprints of Pen & Sword Aviation, Pen & Sword Maritime, Pen & Sword Military, Pen & Sword Select, Pen & Sword Military Classics, Leo Cooper, Wharncliffe Local History. For a complete list of Pen & Sword titles please contact: PEN & SWORD BOOKS LIMITED 47 Church Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 2AS, England. E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.pen-and-sword.co.uk Contents Introduction Chapter One Losses and Gains – Fighting at Sea Chapter Two Middle East and the Gallipoli Failure Chapter Three The Battle of Neuve Chapelle Chapter Four The Second Battle of Ypres – Hill 60 – Gas Chapter Five Zeppelin Attack – Incentives to Join The Colours Chapter Six The New Army – The Armaments Chapter Seven The Battle of Loos The Taylor Picture Library In 2002 publisher Charles Hewitt acquired the photographic archive of military collector and medals dealer, Peter N. Taylor of Barnsley, and in so doing instantly obtained thousands of potographs of both the First and Second World Wars. With this book, The Great War Illustrated 1915, a selection of over 1,000 images is displayed on its pages; an identification number has been given to the individual illustrations so that they may be ordered by authors, book designers, picture researchers and television and film programme makers. The images are all corrected and brought to the required specification and generous size requested by printers of books and magazines. The colour section has been produced by graphic designer Jon Wilkinson. Peter Taylor has been dealing in medals and militaria for over twenty- five years, throughout which time he has had the foresight to buy up collections and albums of photographs, many of which were first generation press-release prints with an officially sanctioned caption on the back. In the eighties and nineties photographs of the Great War could be picked up for a few pence; now at arms fairs they may fetch up to £50 a print. One hundred-year-old press release photographs may have incurred damage over time, such as the sample reproduced here of the hospital ship Braemar Castle preparing to leave Salonika. Present-day technology can bring about satisfactory restoration results that render an image suitable for reproduction. The example shown was heavily scratched, blistered, creased and faded out. A version of the same subject is shown below after it has been being worked on. The Braemar Castle served in a variety of roles: as a cross-channel troop transport for the British Expeditionary Force in 1914; a troop transport in the Gallipoli campaign in 1915; and a hospital ship from 1915 onward. It was as a hospital ship in November 1916 that she struck a mine in the Aegean Sea, but was repaired. The attached picture label on the back reads: ANOTHER HUN OUTRAGE ON THE RED CROSS There is no atrocity too vile for the Huns to encompass, no outrage on Humanity’s laws too fragrant to perpetrate. Close upon the sinking of the Britannic hospital ship comes news that another stately liner, the Braemar Castle, bearing the sacred symbol of the Red Cross, has been ‘mined or torpedoed’ in the Aegean Sea. That all aboard, including homeward-bound wounded, are reported saved is a mercy that does not lesson the brutality of the crime. These photographs show the Braemar Castle ready to leave Salonica. FRENCH OFFICIAL WAR PHOTOGRAPH Chapter One: Losses and Gains – Fighting at Sea, 1915 15GW003 The German armoured cruiser SMS Blücher was sunk in spectacular fashion on 24 January 1915 at the Battle of Dogger Bank. 15GW005 British ‘bluejackets’ loading a torpedo into its launching tube aboard a Royal Navy cruiser. The year 1915 began with a shocking bang for the Royal Navy: it was in the early hours of the morning, 1 January, when a torpedo struck HMS Formidable, a pre-dreadnaught battleship. Part of the 5th Battle Squadron carrying out gunnery exercises off Portland, she was supported by the light cruisers Topaze and Diamond. Submarine activity had been reported in the area. Formidable was steaming at the rear of the squadron when a torpedo from U-24 struck the port side. The captain, Noel Loxley, gave the order to abandon ship. At about 03:05, Formidable was struck by a second torpedo on the starboard side. The two light cruisers came alongside and managed to pick up eighty men in the deteriorating weather. At 04:45 she rolled over onto men in the water and sank quickly. Captain Loxley remained on the bridge overseeing the evacuation of the ship. Loss of life was 35