'An army of brigadiers' : British brigade commanders at the Battle of Arras 1917
Infantry brigades have been described as the âbuilding blocksâ of the British army. Despite this, their role and that of their commanding brigadier-generals have been labelled as being concerned primarily with the provision of âtraining and administrationâ. The conventional criteria used to evaluate the performance of brigades and their commanders, however, has been their battlefield performance. This study challenges these orthodoxies. The Battle of Arras 1917 was the first offensive action which provided the British army with an opportunity to implement the lessons derived from its experience drawn from the Battle of the Somme. A cohort of one hundred and sixteen brigadier-generals commanded cavalry and infantry brigades involved in the battle. Collectively they are the subject of analysis. Five of these brigadier-generals, their battalion commanders and principal staff officers, are the subject of case studies over the period mid-October 1916 until mid-May 1917. These studies reveal a number of threads, in addition to battlefield performance, that are argued to be essential elements in understanding the role and functions of brigadier-generals. Their most significant contribution was to ensure,
Harvey, Trevor Gordon
D501 World War I ; DA Great Britain
'An army of brigadiers' : British brigade commanders at the Battle of Arras 1917. Infantry brigades have been described as the âbuilding blocksâ of the British army. Despite this, their role and that of their commanding brigadier-generals have been labelled as being concerned primarily with the provision of âtraining and administrationâ. The conventional criteria used to evaluate the performance of brigades and their commanders, however, has been their battlefield performance. This study challenges these orthodoxies. The Battle of Arras 1917 was the first offensive action which provided the British army with an opportunity to implement the lessons derived from its experience drawn from the Battle of the Somme. A cohort of one hundred and sixteen brigadier-generals commanded cavalry and infantry brigades involved in the battle. Collectively they are the subject of analysis. Five of these brigadier-generals, their battalion commanders and principal staff officers, are the subject of case studies over the period mid-October 1916 until mid-May 1917. These studies reveal a number of threads, in addition to battlefield performance, that are argued to be essential elements in understanding the role and functions of brigadier-generals. Their most significant contribution was to ensure,
army british commander battle infantry describe build block british_army despite role command label concerned primarily provision train administration conventional criterion_use evaluate performance commander however battlefield performance study challenge orthodoxy battle first offensive action provide british_army opportunity implement lesson derive experience drawn battle cohort command cavalry infantry involve battle collectively subject analysis commander principal staff officer subject case_study period study reveal_number thread addition battlefield performance argue essential_element role_function significant ensure