Against Odds : Reflections on the Experiences of the British Army, 1914–45

Professor Graham compares the performance of the British Army in the two world wars. He identifies as a source of failure in the First World War, Sir Douglas Haig's inability to adopt appropriate operations for his chosen strategy, or suitable tactics for the operations. Montgomery usually avoided that mistake in the Second World War. Graham draws upon his own experience of combat to help the reader make a connection between the orders given to corps and their effect on small units. Front Matter....Pages i-xiv Introduction....Pages 1-10 Prologue....Pages 11-12 Front Matter....Pages 13-13 The Army Prepares....Pages 15-22 Learning the Ropes....Pages 23-29 Politicians, Commanders and Battles....Pages 30-47 Necessity Knows No Law....Pages 48-63 Conclusion to Part I....Pages 64-64 Front Matter....Pages 65-65 The Desert Campaign 1941–2....Pages 67-76 The Armour Problem....Pages 77-89 The Gazala Battle....Pages 90-105 Fighting....Pages 106-126 Front Matter....Pages 127-127 The Second Army in Normandy....Pages 129-138 The Conduct of the Normandy Campaign....Pages 139-152 Fighting Experiences: Tilly-sur-Seulles, Villers Bocage and Operation Goodwood....Pages 153-172 Battles on the Falaise Road....Pages 173-183 Montgomery’s Reputation....Pages 184-191 The End or Another Beginning?....Pages 192-207 Montgomery versus the Americans....Pages 208-222 Reflections....Pages 223-225 Back Matter....Pages 226-240 "Against Odds is a historian's critical reflections on the two wars that his father and he fought, a generation apart, as young men. He fits his own experiences between the age of 19 and 24 in campaigns in Norway, the Battle of Britain, the Western Desert and Northwest Europe, and as a prisoner of war in Italy, into a historical frame drawn from documentary records. He concludes that in both wars relatively poorly equipped British armies learned to counter their efficient German opponents by burying them under tons of high explosive. He compares Douglas Haig and Bernard Montgomery, the leading commanders in the wars."--Jacket Dominick Graham compares the performance of the British Army in the two world wars. He identifies as a source of failure in the First World War Sir Douglas Haig's inability to adopt appropriate operations for his chosen strategy, or suitable tactics for the operations. Montgomery usually avoided that mistake in the Second World War. Graham draws upon his own experience of combat to help the reader make a connection between the orders given to corps and their effect on small units.