German Army on the Somme: 1914-1916

by Jack Sheldon

By drawing on a very large number of German sources, many of them previously unpublished, Jack Sheldon throws new light on a familiar story. In an account filled with graphic descriptions of life and death in the trenches, the author demonstrates that the dreadful losses of 1st July were a direct consequence of meticulous German planning and preparation. Although the Battle of the Somme was frequently a close-run affair, poor Allied co-ordination and persistence in attacking weakly on narrow fronts played into the hands of the German commanders, who were able to rush forward reserves, maintain the overall integrity of their defenses and so continue a successful delaying battle until the onset of winter ultimately neutralized the considerable Allied superiority in men and material.

Genres: World War I, History, Military Fiction, Military History, Nonfiction, Germany, German Literature

432 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2005

About the author

Educated at Inverness Royal Academy, the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and the Universities of Lancaster and Westminster, Jack Sheldon completed a thirty-five year career as a member of the Queen’s Lancashire Regiment.

In 1982 he graduated from the German General Staff course at the Führungsakademie, Hamburg and went on to fill international staff appointments and to command an infantry training battalion. His final post before retirement in 2003 was as Military Attaché Berlin.

Reviews

[Stuart Cole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent account of the German experience of The Somme Campaign, providing not only the immediacy of the fighting through first-hand accounts of the soldiers involved, but also lucid summaries of the progress of the battles for particular strongpoints. Sheldon also produces a telling and honest conclusion, which indicts the sophistry of the current ‘orthodoxy’ of certain historians that the Campaign was ultimately the source of the Allied victory in the Great War: ‘...the Allies set out to break through on the Somme and never succeeded. They attempted to smash the German army and destroy its morale. They failed completely in the first objective and it was the French, not the German, army that mutinied the following year.’

[Robert Hausladen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A different view of the battle of the Somme. Primarily composed of the accounts of German soldiers from their own experiences it often felt like I had been there.

Most accounts I had read previously stress the enormous losses suffered by the allies. This looks at the Germans on the receiving end.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many accounts from soldiers involved. Somewhat tedious to read them all, or at least too many at one time. But they offer insight into how vast the trench system was, how terrifying the conditions were, how chaotic and deadly and senseless the small individual battles of the very large struggles were.

['Aussie Rick' · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall a fascinating account of the Somme as told by the other side – from the German perspective. The book is mainly first-hand accounts from officers and men of the German Army that fought and died on the Somme in 1916. The book can be a bit remorseless in the constant accounts of mud, blood, filth, non-stop shelling and death but then again that was what the Somme was in 1916. I did find it interesting to read about what the Germans thought and did during the Allied offensive in 1916 and strange to say I’ve never stopped to think of the German missing when I’ve read books from the Allied perspective. This book made me stop and realise that these men suffered just as badly as the Allied troops.