Combles: Somme

by Paul Reed

Combles was the largest village on the Somme in 1916 and fighting for its possession began in September 1916. Flanked by two large woods to the west - Bouleaux ('Bully') and Leuze ('Lousy') - these became the front line where men of the 56th (London) Division fought and died. The bastion of Combles finally fell to a combined English and French attack. Tanks were used here in their first action on the Western Front.

144 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2002

About the author

Born in the 1960s, Paul Reed is a leading military historian specialising in the First and Second World Wars. He is the author of seven books, including the best-selling Walking The Somme (Pen & Sword 1997), Great War Lives (Pen & Sword 2010) and Walking D-Day (Pen & Sword 2012).

Paul also works as an Historical Consultant and Contributor for Television; most recently he was consultant on Michael Palin’s Last Day of WW1, series consultant for BBC1’s My Family At War and historical consultant for BBC2’s Dan Snow’s Little Ships and BBC1’s Dig1940.

In 2011 he worked on Dig WW2 with Dan Snow and in 2012 was consultant for War Hero In My Family and is currently work on a new Channel 5 series about WW1 battlefield archaeology in Flanders.

Paul Reed can be contacted on: ww1research@hotmail.com

Principal websites are:

Battlefields of WW2: www.ww2battlefields.com
Old Front Line – Battlefields of WW1: www.battlefields1418.com
Ypres Battlefields: www.ypres-1917.com
Somme Battlefields: www.somme1916.com
Napoleonic Battles: www.napoleonic-battles.co.uk