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Sunday, May 30, 2021

 

The battle that history forgot:Battle of Poitiers



Edward the Black Prince - Leeds City Square



The effigy and tomb of The Black Prince, Canterbury, England


 

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Nouaille Maupertuis, Abbey

The abbey that was there at the time of the Battle of Poitiers, 1356, is the group of buildings in the foreground which was subsequently fortified with a wall and towers and a moat.

 

The battle that history forgot: Sharpe creator Bernard Cornwell says the little-known victory at the Battle of Poitiers more than 600 years ago was one of the greatest military triumphs in British historySavage: A 14th century illustration shows the Battle of Poitiers, between the French and the English in 1356

The Battle of Poitiers was a major battle of the Hundred Years' War between England and France. The battle occurred on 19 September 1356 near Poitiers, France. Preceded by the Battle of Crécy in 1346, and followed by the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, it was the second of the three great English victories of the war.

 

Edward, Prince of Wales (now better known as the Black Prince), the eldest son of King Edward III of England, began a great chevauchée on 8 August 1356. He conducted many scorched earth raids[3] northwards from the English base in Aquitaine, in an effort to bolster his troops in central France, as well as to raid and ravage the countryside. His forces met little resistance, burning numerous towns to the ground and living off the land, until they reached the Loire River at Tours. They were unable to take the castle or burn the town due to a heavy downpour. This delay allowed John II, King of France, to attempt to catch Edward's army. The King, who had been besieging Breteuil in Normandy arranged the bulk of his army at Chartres to the north of the besieged Tours, dismissing approximately 15,000–20,000 of his lower-quality infantry to increase the speed of his forces.Negotiations prior to the Battle of Poitiers

There were negotiations before the battle of Poitiers that are recorded in the writings of the life of Sir John Chandos. He records the final moments of a meeting of both sides in an effort to avoid the bloody conflict at Poitiers. The extraordinary narrative occurred just before that battle and reads as follows:

... The conference attended by the King of France, Sir John Chandos, and many other prominent people of the period, The King (of France), to prolong the matter and to put off the battle, assembled and brought together all the barons of both sides. Of speech there he (the King) made no stint. There came the Count of Tancarville, and, as the list says, the Archbishop of Sens (Guillaume de Melun) was there, he of Taurus, of great discretion, Charny, Bouciquaut, and Clermont; all these went there for the council of the King of France. On the other side there came gladly the Earl of Warwick, the hoary-headed (white or grey headed) Earl of Suffolk was there, and Bartholomew de Burghersh, most privy to the Prince, and Audeley and Chandos, who at that time were of great repute. There they held their parliament, and each one spoke his mind. But their counsel I cannot relate, yet I know well, in very truth, as I hear in my record, that they could not be agreed, wherefore each one of them began to depart. Then said the prophetic words of Geoffroi de Charny: 'Lords,' quoth he, 'since so it is that this treaty pleases you no more, I make offer that we fight you, a hundred against a hundred, choosing each one from his own side; and know well, whichever hundred be discomfited, all the others, know for sure, shall quit this field and let the quarrel be. I think that it will be best so, and that God will be gracious to us if the battle be avoided in which so many valiant men will be slain.[5]

photoNobles and men-at-arms who fought with the Black Prince

Jean Froissart states as follows:

Now will I name some of the principal lords and knights (men-at-arms) that were there with the prince: the earl of Warwick, the earl of Suffolk, the earl of Salisbury, the earl of Oxford, the lord Raynold Cobham, the lord Spencer, the lord James Audley, the lord Peter his brother, the lord Berkeley, the lord Basset, the lord Warin, the lord Delaware, the lord Manne, the lord Willoughby, the lord Bartholomew de Burghersh, the lord of Felton, the lord Richard of Pembroke, the lord Stephen of Cosington, the lord Bradetane and other Englishmen; and of Gascon there was the lord of Pommiers, the lord of Languiran, the captal of Buch, the lord John of Caumont, the lord de Lesparre, the lord of Rauzan, the lord of Condon, the lord of Montferrand, the lord of Landiras, the lord Soudic of Latrau and other (men-at-arms) that I cannot name; and of Hainowes the lord Eustace d'Aubrecicourt, the lord John of Ghistelles, and two other strangers, the lord Daniel Pasele and the lord Denis of Amposta, a fortress in Catalonia.[6]

Edward le Despencer, 1st Baron le Despencer also fought at Poitiers under The Black Prince.[7] Sir Thomas Felton fought not only at Poitiers but also at the Battle of Crécy.[8]

One of the chief commanders at both Crécy and Poitiers was John de Vere, Earl of Oxford, mentioned above.[9]

Another account states that John of Ghistelles perished at the Battle of Crécy.

[edit]Nobles and men-at-arms who fought with King Jean II at, or just prior to, the battle

Froissart describes, with less specificity in this passage, some of the nobles that were assembled at, or just prior to the Battle:

... the Englishmen were coasted by certain expert knights of France, who always made report to the king what the Englishmen did. Then the king came to the Haye in Touraine and his men had passed the river of Loire, some at the bridge of Orléans and some at Meung, at Saumur, at Blois, and at Tours and whereas they might: they were in number a twenty thousand men of arms beside other; there were a twenty-six dukes and earls (Counts) and more than sixscore banners, and the four sons of the king, who were but young, the duke Charles of Normandy, the lord Louis, that was from thenceforth duke of Anjou, and the lord John duke of Berry, and the lord Philip, who was after duke of Burgoyne.[10]

The French army also included a contingent of Scots commanded by Sir William Douglas.[11] Douglas fought in the King's own Battle, but when the fight seemed over Douglas was dragged by his men from the melee. Froissart states that "... the Earl Douglas of Scotland, who fought a season valiantly, but when he saw the discomfiture he departed and saved himself; for in no wise would he be taken by the Englishmen, he would rather there be slain".[12]

Others who were either killed or captured at the actual Battle were as follows: King Jean II; Prince Philip (youngest son and progenitor of the House of Valois-Burgundy), Geoffroi de Charny, carrier of theOriflamme, Peter I, Duke of Bourbon, Walter VI, Count of Brienne and Constable of France, Jean de Clermont, Marshal of France, Arnoul d'Audrehem, the Count of Eu, the Count of Marche and Ponthieu Jacques de Bourbon taken prisoner at the Battle and died 1361, the Count of Étampes, the Count of Tancarville, the Count of Dammartin, the Count of Joinville, Guillaume de Melun, Archbishop of Sens.






The Battle of Poitiers

At the beginning of the battle, the English removed their baggage train leading the French to think they were about to retreat which provoked a hasty charge by the French knights against the archers.[15] According to Froissart, the English attacked the enemy, especially the horses, with a shower of arrows. Froissart also writes that the French armour was invulnerable to the English arrows, that the arrowheads either skidded off the armour or shattered on impact. English history of the battle disputes this, as some claim that the narrow bodkin point arrows they used have been proven capable of penetrating most plate armour of that time. While tests have been done to support this with fixed pieces of flat metal, the result is inconclusive with respect to the curved armour of the period.[citation needed] Given the following actions of the archers, it seems likely Froissart was correct. The armour on the horses was weaker on the sides and back, so the archers moved to the sides of the cavalry and shot the horses in the flanks. This was a popular method of stopping a cavalry charge, as a falling horse often destroyed the cohesion of the enemy's line. The results were devastating.[16][17] The Dauphin attacked Salisbury and pressed his advance in spite of heavy shot by the English archers and complications of running into the retreatingvanguard of Clermont's force. Green suggests that the Dauphin had thousands of troops with him in this phase of the attack. He advanced to the English lines but ultimately fell back. The French were unable to penetrate the protective hedge the English were using. This phase of the attack lasted about two hours.[18]

This cavalry attack was followed by infantry attack. The Dauphin's infantry engaged in heavy fighting, but withdrew to regroup. The next wave of infantry under Orléans, seeing that the Dauphin's men were not attacking, turned back and panicked. This stranded the forces led by the King himself. This was a formidable fighting force, and the English archers were running very low on arrows; the archers joined the infantry in the fight and some of both groups mounted horses to form an improvised cavalry.

At about this time, King John sent two sons from the battlefield. His youngest son, Philip, stayed with him and fought at his side in the final phase of the battle. When the Dauphin and other sons withdrew, the duke of Orléans also withdrew. Combat was hard, but the Black Prince still had a mobile reserve hidden in the woods, which was able to circle around and attack the French in the flank and rear. The French were fearful of encirclement and attempted to flee. King John was captured with his immediate entourage only after a memorable resistance.[19]

Amongst the notable captured or killed according to Froissart were:

Pre-battle manoeuvres

Map of the Battle

File:Maneuvers prior to the battle of Poitiers 1356 map-en.svg

File:Battle of Poitiers 1356 map-en.svg

[edit]The capture of the French king

Froissart again gives us a vivid description of the capture of King Jean II and his youngest son in this passage:

" ... So many Englishmen and Gascons came to that part, that perforce they opened the king's battle, so that the Frenchmen were so mingled among their enemies that sometime there was five men upon one gentleman. There was taken the lord of Pompadour and the lord Bartholomew de Burghersh, and there was slain sir Geoffrey of Charny with the king's banner in his hands: also the lord Raynold Cobham slew the earl of Dammartin. Then there was a great press to take the king, and such as knew him cried, ' Sir, yield you, or else ye are but dead.' There was a knight of Saint Omer's, retained in wages with the king of England, called sir Denis Morbeke, who had served the Englishmen five year before, because in his youth he had forfeited the realm of France for a murder that he did at Saint-Omer's. It happened so well for him, that he was next to the king when they were about to take him: he stept forth into the press, and by strength of his body and arms he came to the French king and said in good French, 'Sir, yield you.' The king beheld the knight and said: 'To whom shall I yield me? Where is my cousin the prince of Wales? If I might see him, I would speak with him.' Denis answered and said: 'Sir, he is not here; but yield you to me and I shall bring you to him.' 'Who be you?' quoth the king. 'Sir,' quoth he, 'I am Denis of Morbeke, a knight of Artois; but I serve the king of England because I am banished from the realm of France and I have forfeited all that I had there.' Then the king gave him his right gauntlet, saying, 'I yield me to you.'"




 

Jean II, the Good, being captured.

As Edward, the Black Prince, wrote shortly afterward in a letter to the people of London:

"It was agreed that we should take our way, flanking them, in such a manner that if they wished for battle or to draw towards us, in a place not very much to our disadvantage, we should be the first ... the enemy was discomfited, and the king was taken, and his son; and a great number of other great people were both taken and slain[.]"[21]

See also Ransom of King John II of France.

[edit]Aftermath in France

Jean de Venette, a Carmelite friar and medieval chronicler vividly describes the chaos in France which he states he himself witnessed, after the time of this Battle.[22] He states:

...From that time on all went wrong with the Kingdom and the state was undone. Thieves and robbers rose up everywhere in the land. The nobles despised and hated all others and took no thought for the mutual usefulness and profit of lord and men. They subjected and despoiled the peasants and the men of the villages. In no wise did they defend their country from enemies. Rather did they trample it underfoot, robbing and pillaging the peasants' goods.At dawn on September 19, 1356, an English army found itself trapped and facing battle outside the city of Poitiers in central France. The soldiers were so short of water they had given their horses wine to drink just to keep the beasts alive. Even drunken horses were better than dead ones.

There was a river close by, but it was impossible to carry enough water for 6,000 men and thousands of horses up the steep hill to the position where the English were trapped. The enemy, the army of France, was almost twice as strong. But that would not stop the English force from fighting its way to one of the greatest victories in our military history.

It has always seemed strange to me that we remember the Battle of Crecy and we celebrate the Battle of Agincourt, but most people seem to have forgotten Poitiers — the other great victory in the Hundred Years War — yet it was just as remarkable a triumph. In some ways, even more so.

Savage: A 14th century illustration shows the Battle of Poitiers, between the French and the English in 1356

Savage: A 14th century illustration shows the Battle of Poitiers, between the French and the English in 1356

At Agincourt, the English were outnumbered at least five to one, but the fighting at Poitiers was much harder. For the French nobles were desperate to drive their hated foe from the land and back across the Channel after years of bloody conquest.

Their king, Jean II, was a little more circumspect, for he could remember the crushing defeat the English had inflicted at Crecy in northern France ten years earlier. On that occasion, a 16-year-old Edward of Woodstock, the Prince of Wales — son of Edward III — had made a name for himself.

 

Since then, the French had tended to avoid battle because they feared the deadly accuracy of the English longbowmen. So they shut themselves behind stone walls in castles and fortified towns. The English response was to mount raids known as chevauchees.

The army advanced slowly across the countryside; killing, pillaging, raping. In 1355, the prince had led one such assault across southern France, from the English base at Bordeaux to the Mediterranean and back. They had captured castles and towns, burned villages, and taken vast amounts of plunder in a relentless expedition.

Highlighting: We ought to remember Poitiers, says Bernard Cornwell, creator of Captain Richard Sharpe

Such a chevauchee achieved three things: it enriched the invaders, it weakened the enemy’s economy and so reduced the amount he could tax his subjects, and finally, it might, just might, tempt the enemy to come out of their castles and face the English in open battle.

That is what happened in 1356 when the Prince of Wales, by then an accomplished commander in his mid-20s, struck north out of Gascony, which was English territory, and aimed his rapacious army at the heartland of France, a dagger thrust towards Paris.

The plan was to join up with another English army coming out of Normandy, but that plan failed when violent weather forced the prince to retreat back to Gascony. The French king assembled his army and followed.

The English were travel-weary, the French were fresh. The English were weighed down by wagonloads of plunder, and so King Jean II’s army slowly overtook the prince’s army until, on September 17, the two armies were so close that a battle seemed unavoidable.

The prince, knowing the French were close, had taken refuge on a high, wooded ridge close to the village of Nouaille. It was a strong position.

An enemy wanting to attack him would need to come uphill through tangling vineyards and, more importantly, the English had massed behind a thick hedge, which represented a fearsome obstacle for any attacker.

The prince — who came to be known long after his death as the Black Prince — may have taken up a strong position, but the evidence still suggests he would have preferred to avoid battle because of his inferior numbers.

But the French were also wary of those devastating English longbows that unleashed ash-shafted, steel-tipped arrows with fearsome accuracy.

The French crossbowmen were no match.

At Crecy, the French had attacked on horseback and the English arrows had ripped into the stallions, causing dreadful pain, death and horror. So at Poitiers, the French resolved to fight largely on foot, because a man’s armour would be more likely to stop the arrows.

And it was on the morning of September 19 that the French king overcame his doubts and ordered an attack.

Seeking to protect his plunder, the Prince had ordered part of his army and his baggage train to cross the river and march away southwards. But the river crossing went wrong, the planned English retreat was stalled and the French soon saw the commotion in the valley. They sent horsemen to attack the English left wing, and ordered an uphill advance on the main position.

The Battle of Poitiers had begun. The Chandos Herald, the poem written about the life of the Black Prince, describes it thus: ‘Then began the shouting, and noise and clamour raised and the armies began to draw near. Then on both sides they began to shoot; there were many a creature who that day was brought to his end.’

The first French attacks were by cavalry mounted on thundering warhorses that would have made the ground shake as they thundered across the field — a terrifying sight for the line of Englishmen waiting to receive them.

The French had collected their most heavily armoured stallions, ridden by plate-armoured men, who made their charges with the intention of shattering the archers on the English wings.

For a time, it worked. The horses were hung with leather and mail, their faces guarded by plate armour, but only the fronts of the beasts were so protected.

As soon as the archers realised the animals’ flanks and rears were unarmoured, they moved to the side and shot the attackers into bloody ruin — as scores of horses collapsed under their masters in floundering terror.

English men-at-arms moved into the chaos and slaughtered fallen riders. And it was a gruesome business. Death came through horrific injuries inflicted by lead-weighted maces and battle-axes, hammers, spikes, poles and knives.

But this was no more than a setback for the French, whose main attack did not depend on the horsemen.

It was made by armoured men advancing on foot, and we know that this attack reached the prince’s line, and that there was savage hand-to-hand fighting that lasted some hours while exhausted men slashed, stabbed and wrestled for their lives.

That French attack on foot was led by the dauphin — the king’s heir — but it failed to break the disciplined English line. Eventually the king, seeing that his eldest son’s attack had not broken the enemy, ordered the dauphin to retreat to nearby Poitiers, where he would be safe from capture.

But King Jean himself was in no mood to abandon the struggle. He marched his men up the slope and through gaps in the thick hedge, where they flung themselves on to the exhausted English line.

The close fighting began again, but the English prince was a master strategist, and chose this moment to unleash a surprise attack that would turn the tide decisively in his favour. He sent about 200 horsemen around the rear of the French army — led by a Gascon lord but including some English archers. They managed to reach the enemy’s rear without being detected, and then they charged. When they slammed into the back of the king’s force of infantry, the French panicked and fled.

Hundreds of English soldiers then mounted their horses and followed, and in a nearby field — called the Champ d’Alexandre — the flower of French chivalry was cut down. It was a slaughteryard, and at its end 2,500 were dead, and half the great lords of France were among the 3,000 prisoners taken by the English, as was King Jean himself.

He was forcibly taken to London and paraded through the streets before being thrown in the Tower, to show what Englishmen had achieved near Poitiers on that September day in 1356.

The tale of the Black Prince’s victory is a magnificent story, unfairly forgotten, but worth remembering. Because there was a battle, long ago, and great deeds were done.

 

Knight of the Hundred Years War

The closest interpretation of a mid-to-late fourteenth century knight.

The surcoat shortened progressively through the second quarter of the fourteenth century to the short jupon. This style of garment was just coming into vogue at the Battle of Crecy (1346) and Poitiers (1356).

 

This is transition armor, showing the progression from mail to plate defense. To be completely accurate THEY should be wearing some type of rudimentary brigandine or coat of plates over the mail haubergon.

The articulating arm and leg armor evolved sometime by the end of the 1350s. From about 1320 to 1350 seperately attached plates continued to be added over the sleeve of the mail hauberk which shortened to a three-quarter length. It appears that in the decade between 1350 to 1360 these seperate vambraces, elbow cops, and rear-guards became rivetted together on closely articulating lames that flexed at the elbow. Leg armor followed a similar evolution.

Only rich knights would have such highly developed armor by the 1360s and it was usually forged in Italy. The older style of seperately attached plates probably predominated well into the 1370s to 1380s and remained the style in German kingdoms.

 

Combatants: An army of English and Gascons against the French and their allies.

Generals: The Black Prince against King John I of France.

Size of the armies: The Black Prince’s army numbered some 7,000 knights, men-at-arms and archers.

Numbers in the French army are uncertain but were probably around 35,000, although Froissart gives the size of the French army as 60,000. The French army comprised a contingent of Scots commanded by Sir William Douglas.
Uniforms, arms and equipment: Depending upon wealth and rank a mounted knight of the period wore jointed steel plate armour incorporating back and breast plates, a visored bascinet helmet and steel plated gauntlets with spikes on the back, the legs and feet protected by steel greaves and boots, called jambs. Weapons carried were a lance, shield, sword and dagger. Over the armour a knight wore a jupon or surcoat emblazoned with his arms and an ornate girdle.

The weapon of the English and Welsh archers was a six foot yew bow discharging a feathered arrow of a cloth metre. The rate of fire was up to an arrow every 5 seconds. For close quarter fighting the archers used hammers or daggers.

Winner: The English and Gascons decisively won the battle.

The Battle of Poitiers from a contemporary account
The Battle of Poitiers from a contemporary account

Account: Edward III, King of England, began the Hundred Years War, claiming the throne of France on the death of King Philip IV in 1337. The war finally ended in the middle of the 15th Century with the eviction of the English from France, other than Calais, and the formal abandonment by the English monarchs of their claims to French territory.

The war began well for Edward III with the decisive English victories at Sluys in 1340 and Creçy in 1346 and the capture of Calais in 1347. In the late 1340s the plague epidemic, called the Black Death, decimated the populations of France and England, bringing military operations to a halt; one of the plague’s victims being the French king Philip VI.

Battle of Poitiers
Battle of Poitiers

In 1355 King Edward III again planned for an invasion of France. His son, Edward the Black Prince, now an experienced soldier 26 years of age, landed at Bordeaux in Western France and led his army on a march through Southern France to Carcassonne. Unable to take the walled city, the Black Prince returned to Bordeaux. In early 1356 the Duke of Lancaster landed with a second force in Normandy and began to advance south. Edward III was engaged in fighting in Scotland.

King John of France
King John of France surrendering himself at the Battle of Poitiers

The new king of France, John I, led an army against Lancaster forcing him to withdraw towards the coast. King John then turned to attack the Black Prince, who was advancing north east towards the Loire pillaging the countryside as he went.

In early September 1356 King John reached the Loire with his large army, just as the Black Prince turned back towards Bordeaux. The French army marched hard and overtook the unsuspecting English force at Poitiers on Sunday 18th September 1356.

The local prelate, Cardinal Talleyrand de Périgord, attempted to broker terms of settlement between the two armies; but the Black Prince’s offer of handing over all the booty he had taken on his “chevauchée” and maintaining a truce for 7 years was unacceptable to King John who considered the English would have little chance against his overwhelming army, and the French demand that the Black Prince surrender himself and his army was unacceptable to the English. The two armies prepared for battle.

The English army was an experienced force; many of the archers veterans of Creçy, ten years before, and the Gascon men-at-arms commanded by Sir John Chandos, Sir James Audley and Captal de Buche, all old soldiers.

The Black Prince arranged his force in a defensive position among the hedges and orchards of the area, his front line of archers disposed behind a particularly prominent thick hedge through which the road ran at right angles.

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The effigy and tomb of The Black Prince, Canterbury, England

Edward, the Black Prince, commander of the English army at the Battle of Poitiers

King John was advised by his Scottish commander, Sir William Douglas, that the French attack should be delivered on foot, horses being particularly vulnerable to English archery, the arrows fired with a high trajectory falling on the unprotected necks and backs of the mounts. King John took this advice, his army in the main leaving its horses with the baggage and forming up on foot.

The French attack began in the early morning of Monday 19th September 1356 with a mounted charge by a forlorn hope of 300 German knights commanded by two Marshals of France; Barons Clermont and Audrehem. The force reached a gallop, closing in to charge down the road into the centre of the English position. The attack was a disaster, with those knights not shot down by the English archers dragged from their horses and killed or secured as prisoners for later ransom.

The rest of the French army now began its ponderous advance on foot, in accordance with Douglas’ advice, arrayed in three divisions; the first led by the Dauphin Charles (the son of the King), the second by the Duc D’Orleans and the third, the largest, by the King himself.

The first division reached the English line exhausted by its long march in heavy equipment, much harassed by the arrow fire of the English archers. The Black Prince’s soldiers, Gascon men-at-arms and English and Welsh archers, rushed forward to engage the French, pushing through the hedgerow and spilling round the flanks to attack the French in the rear.

After a short savage fight the Dauphin’s division broke and retreated, blundering into the division of the Duc D’Orleans marching up behind, both divisions falling back in confusion.

The Battle of Poitiers
The Battle of Poitiers
For more details on a picture and how to buy it, click on the image.

The final division of the French army, commanded by the king himself, was the strongest and best controlled. The three divisions coalesced and resumed the advance against the English, a formidable mass of walking knights and men-at-arms.

Thinking that the retreat of the first two divisions marked the end of the battle, the Black Prince had ordered a force of knights commanded by the Gascon, Captal de Buche, to mount and pursue the French. Chandos urged the Prince to launch this mounted force on the main body of the French army. The Black Prince seized on Chandos’ idea and ordered all the knights and men-at-arms to mount for the charge. The horses were ordered up from the rear; in the meantime Captal de Buch’s men, already mounted, were ordered to advance around the French flank to the right.

As the French army toiled up to the hedgerow the English force broke through the hedge and struck the French like a thunderbolt, the impetus of the charge taking the mounted knights and men-at-arms right into the French line. Simultaneously Captal de Buch’s Gascons charged in on the French flank. The English and Welsh archers left their bows and ran forward to join the fight, brandishing their daggers and fighting hammers.

The French army broke up, many leaving the field, while the more stalwart knights fought hard in isolated groups. A mass of fugitives made for Poitiers pursued by the mounted Gascons to be slaughtered outside the closed city gates.

King John found himself alone with his 14 years old younger son Philip fighting an overwhelming force of Gascons and English. Eventually the king agreed to surrender.

The battle won, the English army gave itself up to pillaging the vanquished French knights and the lavish French camp.

Casualties: In his dispatch to King Edward III, his father, the Black Prince stated that the French dead amounted to 3,000 while only 40 of his troops had been killed. It is likely that the English casualties were higher. Among the French prisoners were King John, his son Philip, 17 great lords, 13 counts, 5 viscounts and a hundred other knights of significance.

Follow-up: On the night of the battle the Black Prince entertained the King of France and his son to dinner and the next day the English army resumed its march to Bordeaux.

The effect of the defeat on France and the loss of the King to captivity was devastating, leaving the country in the hands of the Dauphin Charles, escaped from the ruins of his division at Poitiers. Charles faced immediate revolts across the kingdom as he attempted to raise money to continue the war and ransom his father.

The release of King John proved difficult to negotiate as Edward III sought to extract more and more onerous terms from the French. Meanwhile the war continued to the misery of the wretched inhabitants of France.

King John was released in November 1361 against other hostages. Due to the default of one of those hostages John returned to London and died there in 1364.

Regimental anecdotes and traditions:

  • King John actually surrendered to a French knight, Sir Denis de Morbeque, who took him to the Prince of Wales with the Earl of Warwick.
  • Poitiers was the second great battle won by the English yew bow, although in this case it was the threat of the arrow barrage that caused the French to launch the ill-judged advance on foot thereby exposing them to the English/Gascon mounted charge that won the battle.

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Edward Plantagenet: The Black Prince

Edward, Prince of Wales (15 June 1330 – 8 June 1376) was called Edward of Woodstock in his early life, after his birthplace, and has, more recently, been popularly known as The Black Prince. He was the eldest son of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault, and father to King Richard II of England. Edward, an exceptional military leader and popular during his life, died one year before his father and thus never ruled as king (becoming the first English Prince of Wales to suffer that fate). The throne passed instead to his son Richard, a minor, upon the death of Edward III.
Early life

Edward was born on 15 June 1330 at Woodstock Palace in Oxfordshire. Edward was created Earl of Chester in 1333, Duke of Cornwall in 1337 (the first creation of an English duke) and finally invested as Prince of Wales in 1343. In England Edward served as a symbolic regent for periods in 1339, 1340, and 1342 while Edward III was on campaign. He was expected to attend all council meetings, and he performed the negotiations with the papacy about the war in 1337.
Edward had been raised with his cousin Joan, "The Fair Maid of Kent."[1] Edward gained Innocent VI's papal permission and absolution for this marriage to a blood-relative (as had Edward III when marrying Philippa of Hainaut, being her second cousin) and married Joan in 10 October 1361 at Windsor Castle, prompting some controversy, mainly because of Joan's chequered marital history and the fact that marriage to an Englishwoman wasted an opportunity to form an alliance with a foreign power.
When in England, Edward's chief residence was at Wallingford Castle in Berkshire (now Oxfordshire).
He served as the king's representative in Aquitaine, where he and Joan kept a court which was considered among the most brilliant of the time. It was the resort of exiled kings, like James of Mallorca and Pedro of Castile.
Pedro, thrust from his throne by his illegitimate brother, Henry of Trastámara, offered Edward the lordship of Biscay in 1367, in return for the Black Prince's aid in recovering his throne. Edward was successful in the Battle of Nájera in which he soundly defeated the combined French and Spanish forces led by Bertrand du Guesclin.
During this period, he fathered two sons: Edward (27 January 1365 – 1372), who died at the age of 6; and Richard, born in 1367 and often called Richard of Bordeaux for his place of birth, who would later rule as Richard II of England. He had at least two illegitimate sons, both born before his marriage: Sir Roger Clarendon and Sir John Sounder.[2]
The Black Prince returned to England in January 1371 and died a few years later after a long wasting illness that may have been cancer.
Edward lived in a century of decline for the knightly ideal of chivalry. The formation of the Order of the Garter, an English royal order of which Edward was a founding member, signified a shift towards patriotism and away from the crusader mentality that characterized England in the previous two centuries. Edward's stance in this evolution is seemingly somewhat divided. Edward displayed obedience to typical chivalric obligations through his pious contributions to Canterbury Cathedral throughout his life.
On one hand, after capturing John the Good, king of France, and his youngest son at Poitiers, he treated them with great respect, at one point giving John leave to return home, and reportedly praying with John at Canterbury Cathedral. Notably, he also allowed a day for preparations before the Battle of Poitiers so that the two sides could discuss the coming battle with one another, and so that the Cardinal of Perigord could plead for peace. Though not agreeing with knightly charges on the battlefield, he also was devoted to tournament jousting.
On the other hand, his chivalric tendencies were overridden by pragmatism on many occasions. The Black Prince's repeated use of the chevauchée strategy (burning and pillaging towns and farms) was not in keeping with contemporary notions of chivalry, but it was quite effective in accomplishing the goals of his campaigns and weakening the unity and economy of France. On the battlefield, pragmatism over chivalry is also demonstrated via the massed use of infantry strongholds, dismounted men at arms, longbowmen, and flank attacks (a revolutionary practice in such a chivalric age). Moreover, he was exceptionally harsh toward and contemptuous of lower classes in society, as indicated by the heavy taxes he levied as Prince of Aquitaine and by the massacres he perpetrated at Limoges and Caen. Edward's behaviour was typical of an increasing number of English knights and nobles during the late Middle Ages who paid less and less attention to the high ideal of chivalry, which would soon influence other countries.
The 1345 Flanders Campaign on the Northern Front, which was of little significance and ended after three weeks when one of Edward's allies was murdered.
The Crécy Campaign on the Northern Front, which crippled the French army for 10 years, allowing the siege of Calais to occur with little conventional resistance before the plague set in. Even when France's army did recover, the forces they deployed were about a quarter of that deployed at Crecy (as shown at Poitiers). Normandy came virtually under English control, but a decision was made to focus on northern France, leaving Normandy under the control of England's vassal allies instead.
The Siege of Calais on the Northern Front, during which the inhabitants suffered worst and were reduced to eating dogs and rats.[3] The siege gave the English personal and vassal control over northern France before the temporary peace due to the Black Death.
The Calais counter-offensive on the Northern Front, after which Calais remained in English hands.
Les Espagnols sur Mer or the Battle of Winchelsea on the English Channel Front, which was a Pyrrhic victory of little significance beyond preventing Spanish raids on Essex.
The Great Raid of 1355 on the Aquitaine–Languedoc Front, which crippled southern France economically, and provoked resentment of the French throne among French peasantry. The raid also 'cushioned' the area for conquest, opened up alliances with neighbours in Aquitaine of which that with Charles the Bad of Navarre is most notable, and caused many regions to move towards autonomy from France, as France was not as united as England.
The Aquitaine Conquests on the Aquitaine Front, which brought much firmer control in Aquitaine, much land for resources and many people to fight for Edward.







The Poitiers Campaign on the Aquitaine-Loire Front, which crippled the French Army for the next 13 years, causing the anarchy and chaos which would inevitably cause the Treaty of Bretigney to be signed in 1360. Following this campaign, there was no French Army leader, there were challenges towards Charles the Wise, and more aristocrats were killed at Crécy and Poitiers than those lost to the Black Death.
The Reims Campaign, following which peace was finally achieved with the Treaty of Bretigny. But, on the same terms, England was left with about a third of France rather than a little under half which they would have received through the Treaty of London. This is due to the failure to take Reims which led to the need for a safe passage out of France. As a result, a lesser treaty was agreed to and Edward III was obliged to drop his claims to the French throne. France was still forced to pay a huge ransom of around four times France's gross annual domestic product for John the Good. The ransom paid was, however, a little short of that demanded by the English, and John the Good was not returned to the French. Thus, this campaign yielded mixed results, but was mostly positive for Edward. One must also remember Edward III never actually dropped his claim to the throne, and that about half of France was controlled by the English anyway through many vassals.
The Najera Campaign on the Castilian Front, during which Pedro the Cruel was temporarily saved from a coup, thus confirming Castilian Spanish dedication to the Prince's cause. Later, however, Pedro was murdered. As a result of Pedro's murder, the money the prince put into the war effort became pointless, and Edward was effectively bankrupt. This forced heavy taxes to be levied in Aquitaine to relieve Edward's financial troubles, leading to a vicious cycle of resentment in Aquitaine and vicious repression of this resentment by Edward. Charles the Wise, king of France, was able to take advantage of the resentment against Edward in Aquitaine. However, the prince temporarily became the Lord of Biscay.










The Siege of Limoges in 1370 on the Aquitaine Front, after which the Black Prince was obliged to leave his post for his sickness and financial issues, but also because of the cruelty of the siege, which saw the massacre of some 3,000 residents according to the chronicler Froissart. Without the Prince, the English war effort against Charles the Wise and Bertrand Du Guesclin was doomed. The Prince's brother John of Gaunt was not interested with the war in France, being more interested in the war of succession in Spain.
King Edward III and the prince sail from Sandwich with 400 ships, carrying 4,000 men at arms and 10,000 archers for France, but after six weeks of bad weather and being blown off course they are driven back to England.
He requested to be buried in the crypt of Canterbury Cathedral rather than next to the shrine, and a chapel was prepared there as a chantry for him and his wife Joan (this is now the French Protestant Chapel, and contains ceiling bosses of her face and of their coats of arms). However, this was overruled after his death and he was buried on the south side of the shrine of Thomas Becket behind the quire. His tomb consists of a bronze effigy beneath a tester depicting the Holy Trinity, with his heraldic achievements hung over the tester. The achievements have now been replaced by replicas, though the originals can still be seen nearby, and the tester was restored in 2006.
Although Edward is almost always now called the "Black Prince", there is no record of this name being used during his lifetime. He was instead known as Edward of Woodstock, after his place of birth. The "Black Prince" sobriquet "is first found in writing in Richard Grafton's "Chronicle of England" (1568). [4] Its origin is uncertain; it is usually considered to be derived from an ornate black cuirass presented to the young prince by Edward III at the Battle of Crécy.
In fact, this nickname comes more than probably from his "shield of peace", his coat of arms used during tournaments, which is represented around his effigy at Canterbury. This coat of arms is black with three white ostrich feathers.
It is possible that the name was first coined by French chroniclers in reference to the ruinous military defeats he had inflicted on France or his cruelty in these. Also possible is the idea that Edward garnered the nickname from his explosive temper; the legendary Angevin temper being associated with his family's line since Geoffrey d'Anjou.





 

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CASTLE OF CAEN

   

Wednesday, May 26, 2021














The First World War, Cecile Rhodes and Conspiracy Facts


More than 9 million soldiers died as a result of the First World War, a deadly conflict that paved the way for revolutions and major political upheaval in the 20th century. 
Images of victory and pride have been circulated widely since the fighting ended in 1918, but lesser known are the pictures which show how troops and civilians lived their everyday lives while the bloodshed unfolded. 





On the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the Great War , the Moscow House of Photography has prepared a large-scale international project called 'The War That Ended Peace' that brings together a collaboration of images from the world’s leading museums, alongside public and private archives.
The stunning photographs depict the war through the eyes of those who fought on all sides of the conflict. It includes prisoners of wars staring through the barbed wire fences of German camps, wounded soldiers with limbs amputated walking through Poland, and families attending private funerals of the fallen in France.
The grainy pictures also capture soldiers, wearing their gasmasks, waiting patiently in the trenches, while others are seen running through a cloud of smoke.
epa04298301 A handout picture provided by the Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow (MAMM) press service in Moscow, Russia on 04 July 2014, shows an old photograph entitled 'Prisoners of the British Army. 1918' by an unknown identity, from a private collection from France. MAMM is presenting multimedia project 'The War That Ended Peace' organized together with major international museums, state archives and private collectors of Russia, France and Italy to mark the 100th anniversary of the First World War. The exhibition runs from 04 July to 19 October 2014.  EPA/PRIVATE COLLECTION, FRANCE / HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY IN CONNECTION TO THE REPORTING ON THE STORY= HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES 
Unity: A picture titled 'Prisoners of the British Army', taken in 1918, was taken from a private collection in France. It forms part of 'The War That Ended Peace' project
epa04298316 An undated handout picture provided by the Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow (MAMM) press service in Moscow, Russia on 04 July 2014, shows an old photograph entitled 'Nurse of the French Red Cross helps to an indigent. Germany, 1914-1918' by an unknown identity, from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Library (DR). MAMM is presenting multimedia project 'The War That Ended Peace' organized together with major international museums, state archives and private collectors of Russia, France and Italy to mark the 100th anniversary of the First World War. The exhibition runs from 04 July to 19 October 2014.  EPA/ICRC LIBRARY (DR) / HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY IN CONNECTION TO THE REPORTING ON THE STORY HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES 
Care: A picture provided by Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow (MAMM) shows an old photograph showing a nurse of the French Red Cross helping an indigent
Walking wounded: This picture shows troops involved in an exchange of German and Austrian prisoners of war in Sweden 
Walking wounded: This picture shows troops involved in an exchange of German and Austrian prisoners of war in Sweden 
Trapped: This grainy photo shows a prisoner looking through the barbed fire fence at the St Felix German Prisoners camp in Aisne, northern France 
Trapped: This grainy photo shows a prisoner looking through the barbed fire fence at the St Felix German Prisoners camp in Aisne, northern France 
Infantry: A group of soldiers wearing H.P gas marks having taken a trench, fire at the retreating enemy 
Infantry: A group of soldiers wearing H.P gas marks having taken a trench, fire at the retreating enemy 
Behind the screen: Troops wearing gas masks and helmets emerge from the smoke created by a gas attack 
Behind the screen: Troops wearing gas masks and helmets emerge from the smoke created by a gas attack
A Senegalese soldier cleans his rifle in France. At the outbreak of war in 1914, many of the soldiers moved from active duty in Northern Africa to be stationed in Europe 
A Senegalese soldier cleans his rifle in France. At the outbreak of war in 1914, many of the soldiers moved from active duty in Northern Africa to be stationed in Europe
Trail of destruction: This image, taken in 1917, shows debris inside a 'ruined church'. It is believed to have been located in France 
Trail of destruction: This image, taken in 1917, shows debris inside a 'ruined church'. It is believed to have been located in France 
epa04298306 A handout picture provided by the Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow (MAMM) press service in Moscow, Russia on 04 July 2014, shows an old photograph entitled 'Infantry of the 1st Brigade Polish Legions enters Kowel, 1915' by an unknown identity, from a collection of the Polish Army Museum in Warsaw. MAMM is presenting multimedia project 'The War That Ended Peace' organized together with major international museums, state archives and private collectors of Russia, France and Italy to mark the 100th anniversary of the First World War. The exhibition runs from 04 July to 19 October 2014.  EPA/POLISH ARMY MUSEUM / HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY IN CONNECTION TO THE REPORTING ON THE STORY HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES 
March: The Infantry of the 1st Brigade Polish Legions enters Kowel in 1915.The image was donated by the Polish Army Museum in Warsaw
Inside the camp: A guard stands in the shadows at Holzminden prisoner of war camp in Lower Saxony, Germany 
Inside the camp: A guard stands in the shadows at Holzminden prisoner of war camp in Lower Saxony, Germany 
Guard: Soldiers stand outside the entrance of the Citadelle de Verdun in Meuse, France.The doorway leads to nearly three miles of tunnels 
Guard: Soldiers stand outside the entrance of the Citadelle de Verdun in Meuse, France.The doorway leads to nearly three miles of tunnels 
Armoury: This picture shows shells neatly lined up in a French workshop in 1916. Tanks were developed during the Great War to combat the stalemate of trench warfare 
Armoury: This picture shows shells neatly lined up in a French workshop in 1916. Tanks were developed during the Great War to combat the stalemate of trench warfare
Convenience store: Russian soldiers stand outhside a shop which sells 'spiritueux et liqueurs' (spirits and liquor) on the Place des Marches in Reims, France 
Convenience store: Russian soldiers stand outhside a shop which sells 'spiritueux et liqueurs' (spirits and liquor) on the Place des Marches in Reims, France 




epa04298297 A handout picture provided by the Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow (MAMM) press service in Moscow, Russia on 04 July 2014, shows an old photograph entitled 'Tsarskoe Selo Palace: Imperator Nicholas II inspecting the Belgian Volunteers' Corps and receiving explanations  from the Corps' Chief, Major Colon before sending them on the Galicia front line. Early January 1916' by an unknown identity, from the Collection of the Royal Museum of Army and Military History in Brussels, Belgium. MAMM is presenting multimedia project 'The War That Ended Peace' organized together with major international museums, state archives and private collectors of Russia, France and Italy to mark the 100th anniversary of the First World War. The exhibition runs from 04 July to 19 October 2014.  EPA/FOUNDATION FOR PRESERVATION OF THE RUSSIAN HERITAGE IN THE EU EDITORIAL USE ONLY IN CONNECTION TO THE REPORTING ON THE STORY HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES 
The last emperor: Tsar Nicholas II (pictured on the left in the papakha ) inspects Belgian volunteers before sending them onto the Gallicia front line
Nourishment: A soldier on leaves sits down to enjoy a well-deserved meal at the Gare de l'Est military canteen in Paris in 1917 
Nourishment: A soldier on leaves sits down to enjoy a well-deserved meal at the Gare de l'Est military canteen in Paris in 1917 
The fallen: An image entitled 'Narwa military burial' shows a group of mourners surrounding a cross in a cemetery 
The fallen: An image entitled 'Narwa military burial' shows a group of mourners surrounding a cross in a cemetery 
epa04298308 A handout picture provided by the Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow (MAMM) press service in Moscow, Russia on 04 July 2014 shows an old photograph entitled 'British and Russian officers of the RNAS Armoured Car Squadron in Galicia prior to the Russian offensive of July 1917' by an unknown identity, from a collection of the Imperial War Museums in London, Britain. MAMM is presenting multimedia project 'The War That Ended Peace' organized together with major international museums, state archives and private collectors of Russia, France and Italy to mark the 100th anniversary of the First World War. The exhibition runs from 04 July to 19 October 2014.  EPA/IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUMS / HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY IN CONNECTION TO THE REPORTING ON THE STORY HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES 
Sitting together: A group of British and Russian officers of the RNAS Armoured Car Squadron in Galicia relax in a field prior to the Russian offensive of July 1917
On the ground: A female worker carefully paints the wing of an SE5A aircraft at the Austin Motor Company factory in Birmingham in 1918 
On the ground: A female worker carefully paints the wing of an SE5A aircraft at the Austin Motor Company factory in Birmingham in 1918 
When the war began, Europe's armies had an understanding of warfare that put the use of cavalry in high regard. Soon, however, the deadly terrain that evolved around trench warfare rendered cavalry attacks nearly useless on the Western Front. But the need for constant resupply, movement of new heavy weaponry, and the transport of troops demanded horse power on a massive scale -- automobiles, tractors, and trucks were relatively new inventions and somewhat rare. British and French forces imported horses from colonies and allies around the world, a near-constant flow of hundreds of thousands of animals across the oceans, headed for war. One estimate places the number of horses killed during the four years of warfare at nearly 8 million. Other animals proved their usefulness as well: Dogs became messengers, sentries, rescuers, and small beasts of burden. Pigeons acted as messenger carriers, and even (experimentally) as aerial reconnaissance platforms. Mules and camels were drafted into use in various war theatres, and many soldiers brought along mascots to help boost morale. Only a couple of decades later, at the onset of World War II, most military tasks assigned to animals were done by machines, and warfare would never again rely so heavily on animal power.

1
A single soldier on his horse, during a cavalry patrol in World War I. At the start of the war every major army had a substantial cavalry, and they performed well at first. However, the development of barbed wire, machine guns and trench warfare soon made attacks from horseback far more costly and ineffective on the Western Front. Cavalry units did prove useful throughout the war in other theatres though, including the Eastern Front, and the Middle East. (National Library of Scotland)
 
2
Gas attack on the West Front, near St. Quentin 1918 -- a German messenger dog loosed by his handler. Dogs were used throughout the war as sentries, scouts, rescuers, messengers, and more. (Brett Butterworth#
 
3
German soldiers pose near a horse mounted with a purpose-built frame, used to accommodate a captured Russian Maxim M1910 machine gun complete with its wheeled mount and ammunition box. (Brett Butterworth#
 
4
Bandages retrieved from the kit of a British Dog, ca. 1915. (Library of Congress) #
 
5
A pigeon with a small camera attached. The trained birds were used experimentally by German citizen Julius Neubronner, before and during the war years, capturing aerial images when a timer mechanism clicked the shutter. (Deutsches Bundesarchiv) #
 
6
Unloading a mule in Alexandria, Egypt, in 1915. The escalating warfare drove Britain and France to import horses and mules from overseas by the hundreds of thousands. Vulnerable transport ships were frequent targets of the German Navy, sending thousands of animals to the bottom of the sea. (Bibliotheque nationale de France) #

7
Sergeant Stubby was the most decorated war dog of World War I and the only dog to be promoted to sergeant through combat. The Boston Bull Terrier started out as the mascot of the 102nd Infantry, 26th Yankee Division, and ended up becoming a full-fledged combat dog. Brought up to the front lines, he was injured in a gas attack early on, which gave him a sensitivity to gas that later allowed him to warn his soldiers of incoming gas attacks by running and barking. He helped find wounded soldiers, even captured a German spy who was trying to map allied trenches. Stubby was the first dog ever given rank in the United States Armed Forces, and was highly decorated for his participation in seventeen engagements, and being wounded twice. (Wikimedia Commons) #

8
Members of the Royal Scots Greys cavalry regiment rest their horses by the side of the road, in France. (National Library of Scotland) #
 
9
At Kemmel, West Flanders, Belgium. The effect of enemy artillery fire upon German ambulances, in May of 1918.(National Archive/Official German Photograph of WWI) #

10
Red Crescent Hospital at Hafir Aujah, 1916. (Library of Congress) #
 
11
A corporal, probably on the staff of the 2nd Australian general hospital, holds a koala, a pet or mascot in Cairo, in 1915.(Australian War Memorial) #

12
Turkish cavalry exercises on the Saloniki front, Turkey, March of 1917. (National Archives) #

13
A messenger dog with a spool attached to a harness for laying out new electric line in September of 1917.(National Archive/Official German Photograph of WWI) #

14
An Indian elephant, from the Hamburg Zoo, used by Germans in Valenciennes, France to help move tree trunks in 1915. As the war dragged on, beasts of burden became scarce in Germany, and some circus and zoo animals were requisitioned for army use.(Nationaal Archief) #
 
15
German officers in an automobile on the road with a convoy of wagons; soldiers walk along side the road. (Library of Congress) #
 
16
"These homing pigeons are doing much to save the lives of our boys in France. They act as efficient messengers and dispatch bearers not only from division to division and from the trenches to the rear but also are used by our aviators to report back the results of their observation." (WWI Signal Corps Photograph Collection) #

17
Belgian Army pigeons. Homing pigeon stations were set up behind the front lines, the pigeons themselves sent forward, to return later with messages tied to their legs. (Library of Congress) #

18
Two soldiers with motorbikes, each with a wicker basket strapped to his back. A third man is putting a pigeon in one of the baskets. In the background there are two mobile pigeon lofts and a number of tents. The soldier in the middle has the grenade badge of the Royal Engineers over the chevrons which show he is a sergeant. (National Library of Scotland) #

19
A message is attached to a carrier pigeon by British troops on the Western Front, 1917. One of France's homing pigeons, named Cher Ami, was awarded the French "Croix de Guerre with Palm" for heroic service delivering 12 important messages during the Battle of Verdun. (Bibliotheque nationale de France) #

20
A draft horse hitched to a post, its partner just killed by shrapnel, 1916. (Bibliotheque nationale de France) #

21
The feline mascot of the light cruiser HMAS Encounter, peering from the muzzle of a 6-inch gun. (Australian War Memorial) #

22
General Kamio, Commander-in-Chief of the Japanese Army at the formal entry of Tsing-Tau, December, 1914. The use of horses was vital to armies around the world during World War I. (Paul Thompson/New York Times) #

23
Belgian refugees leaving Brussels, their belongings in a wagon pulled by a dog, 1914. (Bibliotheque nationale de France) #

24
Australian Camel Corps going into action at Sharia near Beersheba, in December of 1917. The Colonel and many of these men were killed an hour or so afterward. (Australian official photographs/State Library of New South Wales) #
 
25
On the Western Front, a dead German artilleryman and several draft horses, ca. 1918. Exact figures are hard to come by, but an estimated 8 million horses died during the four years of war. (Library of Congress) #
 
26
A soldier and his horse in gas masks, ca. 1918. (Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library) #
 
27
German Red Cross Dogs head to the front. (Library of Congress) #

28
An episode in Walachia, Romania. (Der Weltkrieg im Bild/Upper Austrian Federal State Library) #

29
Belgian chasseurs pass through the town of Daynze, Belgium, on the way from Ghent to meet the German invasion.(Library of Congress/Underwood & Underwood, War of the Nations, New York Times) #
 
30
The breakthrough west of St. Quentin, Aisne, France. Artillery drawn by horses advances through captured British positions on March 26, 1918. (National Archive/Official German Photograph of WWI) #
 
31
Western Front, shells carried on horseback, 1916. (Bibliotheque nationale de France) #

32
Camels line a huge watering station, Asluj, Palestinian campaign, 1916. (Library of Congress) #

33
A British Mark V tank passes by a dead horse in the road in Peronne, France in 1918. (Nationaal Archief) #
 
34
A dog-handler reads a message brought by a messenger dog, who had just swum across a canal in France, during World War I.(National Library of Scotland) #
 
35
Horses requisitioned for the war effort in Paris, France, ca. 1915. Farmers and families on the home front endured great hardship when their best horses were taken for use in the war. (Library of Congress) #
 
36
In Belgium, after the Battle of Haelen, a surviving horse is used in the removal of dead horses killed in the conflict, 1914.(Bibliotheque nationale de France) #

37
A dog trained to search for wounded soldiers while under fire, 1915. (Bibliotheue nationale de France) #
 
38
Algerian cavalry attached to the French Army, escorting a group of German prisoners taken in fighting in the west of Belgium.(Library of Congress/Underwood & Underwood, War of the Nations, New York Times) #

39
A Russian cossack, in firing position, behind his horse, 1915. (Bibliotheque nationale de France) #
 
40
Serbian artillery in action on the Salonika front in December of 1917. (Nationaal Archief) #

41
A horse strapped and being lowered into position to be operated on for a gunshot wound by 1st LT Burgett. Le Valdahon, Doubs, France. (CC BY Otis Historical Archives) #
 
42
6th Australian light-horse regiment, marching in Sheikh Jarrah, on the way to Mount Scopus, Jerusalem, in 1918.(Library of Congress) #

43
French cavalry horses swim across a river in northern France. (Underwood & Underwood) #

44
Dead horses and a broken cart on Menin Road, troops in the distance, Ypres sector, Belgium, in 1917. Horses meant power and agility, hauling weaponry, equipment, and personnel, and were targeted by enemy troops to weaken the other side -- or were captured to be put in use by a different army. (National Library of New Zealand) #

45
War animals carrying war animals -- at a carrier pigeon communication school at Namur, Belgium, a dispatch dog fitted with a pigeon basket for transporting carrier pigeons to the front line. (National Archives/Official German Photograph)




Cecil Rhodes, Alfred Milner and The Society of the Elect

The authors of The Hidden History, The Secret Origins of the First World War claim that it was Great Britain that started World War One, and not Germany.  It is a convincing story.  The authors George Docherty and James MacGregor call their book a conspiracy fact.

The story begins in the late 1800s.  The British Empire ruled the seas.  In 1870 a young Cecil John Rhodes migrated to a British colony in southern Africa.  After failing at farming he set out in pursuit of diamonds, which had been discovered in a region of Southern Africa.  With the financial backing of Nathan Mayer Rothschild, the young Rhodes monopolized the diamond trade.  He became fantastically wealthy and founded the De Beers diamond company.  In 1889 Rhodes was granted a royal charter for the British South Africa Company to colonize an area later named Rhodesia.

In 1895 gold was discovered in the Transvaal Republic controlled by Dutch settlers, known as Boers.  Rhodes teamed up with Sir Alfred Milner, who was the British commissioner for Southern Africa.  Together with a small group of wealthy British elites they instigate the Boer War in order to grab the gold for themselves.

Rhodes and Milner went on to form a secret society.  As Rhodes had written earlier:

”Why should we not form a secret society with but one object the furtherance of the British Empire, and the bringing of the whole uncivilised world under British rule, for the recovery of the United States, for the making of the Anglo-Saxon race but one Empire.”

Rhodes’ ambition was to control all of the world’s wealth, for the benefit of the British Empire.  He believed in the supremacy of the Anglo-Saxon race, and he believed that the British Empire should rule the world.  After Rhode’s early death in 1902, Alfred Milner became the leader of the secret society.  Milner was so admired by Rhodes that he is quoted as having said:

“If Milner says peace, I say peace.  If Milner says war, I say war.  Whatever Milner says, I say ditto.”   

Conspiracy Facts

The authors of the “Hidden History” uncovered many World War 1 documents, which lay the blame for WW1 on Rhodes’s secret society.  Authors George Docherty and James MacGregor built on the work of Georgetown University Professor Carroll Quigley’s book The Anglo-American Establishment.  Quigley wrote:

“One wintery afternoon in February 1891, three men were engaged in an earnest conversation in London.  From that conversation were to flow consequences of the greatest import to the British Empire and the world as a whole.  For these men were organizing a secret society that was, for more than fifty years, to be one of the most important forces in the formulation of British imperialism and foreign policy.”

“The three men thus engaged were already well known in England.  The leader was Cecil Rhodes, fabulously wealth empire builder and the most important person in South Africa.  The second was William T. Stead, the most famous, and probably the most sensational , journalist of the day.  The third was Reginald Baliol Brett, later known as Lord Esher, friend and confidant to Queen Victoria, and later to be the most influential advisor to King Edward Vll, and King George V.”

The Boer War was a long and costly war for Britain.  It marked the beginning of the decline of the British Empire.  Rhodes established his secret society of elites to reverse the decline.  He named it The Society of the Elect.

By the turn of the 20th century, Germany was a rising power.  It was outpacing Great Britain in industry, finance, science, technology, commerce and culture.  Germany was acquiring colonies and expanding its navy.  The Society of the Elect characterized every German advancement as an act of aggression.  They conspired to start a war that would crush Germany, so that the British Empire would remain supreme.

Circles Within Circles

The Society of the Elect was organized as circles within circles.  The inner circle was Cecil Rhodes, Alfred Milner, W. T. Stead, The Viscount Esher, the Marquess Salsbury, Lord Rosebery, and Nathaniel Rothschild.  King Edward VII was a central member, and after his death in 1910, King George V was too.  According to “Hidden History”:

“Stead was there to influence public opinion, and Esher acted as the voice of the King.  Salisbury and Rosebery provided the political networks, while Rothschild represented the international money power.  Milner was the master manipulator, the iron-willed, assertive intellectual who offered that one essential factor:  strong leadership.”

The Society of the Elect had an outer circle, which they named the “Association of Helpers”.  The Helpers were like-minded elites.  They were royalty, imperialists, financiers, greedy profiteers, war mongers, and egotistical and corrupt politicians.  The Helpers were willingly manipulated, often unknowingly, by the inner circle.

Some recruits to the Helpers were Jan Christian Smuts, Arthur Balfour, Edward Grey, Richard Haldane, H. H. Asquith, Lord Roberts, David Lloyd George, Sir Edward Carson, Frederick Sleigh Roberts, Alfred Harmsworth, and Winston Churchill.

During WW1 Churchill was among the most ruthless imperialists and warmongers.  He is quoted as having said:

“I think a curse should rest on me, because I love this war. I know it’s smashing and shattering the lives of thousands every moment— and yet I can’t help it— I enjoy every second of it.”

The Propaganda Machine

The Boer War was an important prelude to World War 1.  It started off badly in 1899.  It was unpopular at home, and a drain on the British Empire.  In 1902 it ended badly too, with the ethnic cleansing and genocide of Boers.

Tens-of-thousands of men, women and children died of disease and starvation in British concentration camps.  This would prove to be an important event in the early development of propaganda.

It was the British who began perfecting propaganda to promote the Boer War and to cover up its ugly aftermath.  Newspapers had become an affordable mass medium of influence.  The Society of the Elect had Helpers who owned the newspapers and published war propaganda eagerly.  Rhodes had written of his planned secret society that it “should inspire and even own portions of the press for the press rules the mind of the people”.

Winston Churchill was a self-promoting war correspondent who went to South Africa during the Boer War.  He returned home as a self-aggrandizing hero.  His wild story of being captured by the Boers, and his harrowing escape made him a national celebrity.  In 1900 he was elected to Parliament, and remained there until his death in 1964.

Even as a declining empire, the British navy was supreme in the early 20th century.  The British naval policy was to keep its navy as large as the next two naval powers combined.  When Kaiser Wilhelm II started expanding Germany’s navy the British propaganda called it “German aggression” and interfering with “freedom of the seas”.  Yet, Kaiser Wilhelm’s policy was to keep his navy at less than two-thirds the size of the British navy. The German threat to the British Empire was invented propaganda, and the hype of a German invasion was ludicrous Germanophobia to frighten the public.

The Triple Entente       

The Society of the Elect made ententes with France and Russia for a war on Germany.  The alliances were secret, unknown to the public, Parliament and most of the Cabinet.

The British had secret military “non-binding military staff conversations” with Belgium going back to 1906.  In 1911 Belgium collaborated with France and Great Britain on how to defend Belgium’s “neutrality” from a German invasion.  Both offensive and defensive alliances are a violation of neutrality.

Belgium had instituted military conscription in 1913, and began making plans for a war with Germany.  As “Hidden History” reports:

“Documents found in the Department of Foreign Affairs in Brussels shortly after the war began proved Anglo-Belgian collusion at the highest levels, including the direct involvement of the Belgian foreign secretary, had been going on for years.” 

The Society of the Elect needed ententes with France and Russia because of their large land armies and strategic locations.  The Society secretly promised Russia the prize of Constantinople and the Dardanelles, after the planned breakup of the Ottoman Empire.  Russia had long-coveted a warm-water port.  The Society promised France the return of Alsace-Lorraine, which the French had lost to Germany in 1871.  The secret triple entente planned to divvy up German overseas colonies among themselves.

Germany knew that it had two hostile empires on its borders.  The German army was confident that it could defend against either one.  But a simultaneous invasion by both Russia and France could be fatal.  A large and speedy German army was maintained for defense.  Military thinking at the time was that the best defense is a speedy offense.

In 1905 General Count van Schlieffen presented a defensive plan.  It became known as the Schlieffen Plan.  If both Russia and France attacked, then the German army would go through Belgium to attack the French from behind their lines.  After the German army quickly defeated France, the plan was to rush to the eastern front to defend against the slower moving Russians.  Time was of the essence.  One day’s delay could result in disaster.

From military intelligence and leaked information, the Society of the Elect learned of the Schlieffen plan.  A spy in the German army known only as Le vengeur (The Avenger) sold the entire Schlieffen plan to the French.  Also a general on the German staff was the brother-in-law of the King of Belgium, and he could have revealed Germany’s military secrets.

The Society of the Elect used the Schlieffen Plan to set a trap.  They had to make it appear that Germany was the aggressor.  Otherwise, the British Parliament and the public would not support a war in Europe.

Again, according to “Hidden History”, Belgian neutrality was a sham:

“Belgium was involved in secret military plans for a possible war of aggression against an unsuspecting Germany but almost a decade later would be presented as the innocent victim of German aggression.” 

The Kaiser knew that the Schlieffen plan would likely fail if the British declared war too.  The British could send its army across the English Channel to slow the German army in France, while Russia invaded from the east.  The British navy could attack and blockade Germany from the North Sea, and it could protect France’s coast.  The French navy could then be dispersed to the Mediterranean to deal with the German navy based in Pula, Austria on the Adriatic Sea.

Mobilization is an Act of War

It was understood in 1914 that the mobilization of an army was a de facto declaration of war.  If Russia and France mobilized their armies, then Germany was confronted with a fatal disaster, unless they moved quickly.  When Germany invaded Belgium, the trap was sprung.  The Society of the Elect got their planned excuse to go to war.

Here is what the “Hidden History” says about mobilization:

“The Franco-Russian Military Convention [of 1892] was very specific in declaring that the first to mobilise must be held the aggressor, and that general mobilization ‘is war’”.

The “Hidden History” documents the sequence of events that occurred after the assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand.

The Balkans had been a hotbed of conflict for years.  Serbia was aggressively seeking a “Greater Serbia” of Slavic people.  Nationalism was running high, and there was deep hostility towards Austria, for one because of its 1908 annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina from the Ottoman Empire.

Serbia reacted with jubilation at the assassination of the Archduke in Sarajevo.  Austria was outraged at the assassination of their future king.  According to “Hidden History”, Austria had solid evidence that Serbia was behind the assassination.  Austria then spent three weeks contemplating a response.  On July 23rd Austria sent Serbia a list of 10 demands, and gave them 48 hours to reply.

On July 25th Serbia’s answer was to mobilize its army, which was an act of war.  Later the same day Austria began mobilizing.  On July 28th Austria declared war on Serbia, and on July 29th Austria bombarded Belgrade.  On July 30th Kaiser Wilhelm still hoped to placate Austria and Serbia.

According to “Hidden History”, the Kaiser did not give Austria a “blank cheque” of military support, as stated in so many history books:

“It is claimed that, in a deliberate attempt to force a war on Europe, the Kaiser gave an unconditional assurance to Austria by a so-called blank cheque.  In fact, Austria-Hungary’s need to respond to Serbian aggression was endorsed by others including [publicly] Britain and the British press.  The Kaiser and his advisors supported a local solution to a local problem and made absolutely no special preparation for war.”

As “Hidden History” says, Germany showed no intention of attacking Russia.  Nor did Russia have any obligation to defend Serbia militarily.  So, the fable that the assassination of the Archduke triggered a chain reaction of opposing alliances is just that, a fable.

The only “blank cheque” to go to war was the secret entente between Britain, France and Russia.  On July 24th the Russians and the French secretly agreed to mobilize their armies.  The British soon followed.

Winston Churchill was the First Lord of the Admiralty, and on July 29th he ordered the British navy to its war station in the North Sea.  This put the British navy in position to attack and blockade Germany.  Society of the Elect member Richard Haldane gave the order to mobilize the British army.  The Society of the Elect took Great Britain to war even before the parliament authorized it.

On July 26th Russia began mobilizing.  Russia was mobilized by July 30th.  The Kaiser sent a telegram to his cousin Czar Nicholas asking him to halt mobilization.  The Kaiser waited in vain for 24 hours for an answer.  Then Kaiser Wilhelm had his ambassador in St. Petersburg ask Russia’s minister of foreign affairs to halt Russia’s mobilization.  On August 1st the Russian minister said that the Russian mobilization would continue.  Later that day Germany declared war on Russia.

Kaiser Wilhelm II Tried to Avoid War

According to “Hidden History”, Kaiser Wilhelm II did everything he could to avoid war.  The Kaiser did not threaten to attack or declare war on France.  He repeatedly asked his British cousin King George V if he could guarantee French neutrality.  He pledged that if France would remain neutral, then Germany would not attack it.

King George V never gave a straight answer.  Instead he deceived his cousin, telling him that Britain would stay out of a “ruinous” war.  It was a stall for time that Germany did not have.  Belgium began mobilizing on July 31st.  When the Kaiser could wait no longer he mobilized the German army on August 1, 1914.  Germany was the last country to mobilize.

On August 1st the German ambassador to London, Prince Karl Max Lichnowsky, met with Sir Edward Grey.  While speaking with Lichnowsky, Grey allegedly offered that if Germany pledged not to attack France, then England would remain neutral and guarantee France’s “passivity”.  Kaiser Wilhelm II accepted immediately; only to be told later by King George that “there must be some misunderstanding”.  Lichnowsky then advised that if Great Britain would remain neutral, Germany would respect Belgium neutrality.  Sir Edward Grey replied that he could not give this assurance since “England must have its hands free”.  It had all been a stall for time, which Germany did not have.

Babies On Bayonets

On August 2nd the Kaiser asked Belgium for “permission“ to pass his army through.  On August 3rd Belgium declined, and Germany declared war on France.  On August 4th Germany invaded Belgium.  The Germans were met with stiff resistance from Belgium’s 234,000-man army.

The British propaganda machine went to work.  They feigned outrage at the violation of Belgium neutrality.  There were horrifying stories in the press about German atrocities, executions, rapes, and “babies on bayonets”.  The British propaganda machine called it “The Rape of Belgium”.

The British dredged up the 1839 Treaty of London.  It supposedly obligated the British to defend Belgium’s neutrality.  To “protect” Belgium, the British sent an expeditionary force to France on August 9th, as was secretly planned since 1906 and 1911 with French and Belgium military planners.

The public was told that defending Belgium was a matter of honor for the British.  The propaganda was that there would be a domino effect if the British Empire failed to act.  Supposedly, Germany planned to conquer all of Europe; even the world.  None of it was true, and Belgium neutrality was a sham.

On August 4th King George declared war on Germany.  The British parliament did not vote on the war until August 6th, and then it was to fund the war.  The Society of the Elect got their war.  Instead of reversing the decline of the British Empire though, the Great War accelerated it.  The British came out of the war exhausted and deeply in debt to the U.S.  They would have to cut spending, and reduce the size of their navy.  The British Empire would never rule the seas again.


The two-wheeled Blitzkrieg: Fascinating photographs show how Nazi motorcyclists saddled up to ride to war (and some of the other weird motorbikes which have made it to the battlefield)
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The Spitfires of the Battle of Britain and Russian T-34 tanks which fought in Kursk are often seen as the most influential machines of the Second World War.
But pictures unearthed for a new book show just how central motorbikes were to the Nazi war effort as Hitler unleashed Blitzkrieg on the continent.
The Nazis used motorbikes as a key part of their fast-moving attacks which tore through Holland, Poland and Czechoslovakia at the start of the war.
The newly-discovered pictures show the iconic German motorbike and sidecars which have since appeared in scores of war films, as well as the stunts pulled by riders as they attempted to show off their skills.
A new book studying  motorbikes during the Second World War features a number of stunning photos of Nazi soldiers performing stunts, including these National Socialist Motor Corps (NSKK) riders showing off before the Hitler Youth
A new book studying motorbikes during the Second World War features a number of stunning photos of Nazi soldiers performing stunts, including these National Socialist Motor Corps (NSKK) riders showing off before the Hitler Youth
The book documents some of the kit which has since appeared in scores of war films, including these leather trenchcoats
The book documents some of the kit which has since appeared in scores of war films, including these leather trenchcoats
The allure of the motorbike in occupied lands is shown in this photo of a French woman sitting in a German sidecar
The allure of the motorbike in occupied lands is shown in this photo of a French woman sitting in a German sidecar
Hundreds of riders from Hitler's NSKK corp (pictured in Bavaria) used the BMWs being rolled off production lines in Germany
Hundreds of riders from Hitler's NSKK corp (pictured in Bavaria) used the BMWs being rolled off production lines in Germany
The importance of bikes to the war and the enthusiasm they fostered among the public is shown here in a photo of Hitler with German motorcycle racer and former land speed record holder Ernst Jakob Henne
The importance of bikes to the war and the enthusiasm they fostered among the public is shown here in a photo of Hitler with German motorcycle racer and former land speed record holder Ernst Jakob Henne
The motorbikes were put to use for propaganda on the home front, with displays before large crowds used to boost morale
The motorbikes were put to use for propaganda on the home front, with displays before large crowds used to boost morale
The motorbikes were put to use for propaganda on the home front, with displays before large crowds used to boost morale
A German motorcyclist jumps through a sheet of newspaper before crowds in a display before the war started in June 1938
A German motorcyclist jumps through a sheet of newspaper before crowds in a display before the war started in June 1938
The book also shows other attempts at creating a military bike, such as the French bid to combine the motorbike and the tank in this LeHaitre prototype from 1939
The book also shows other attempts at creating a military bike, such as the French bid to combine the motorbike and the tank in this LeHaitre prototype from 1939
As well as forming part of the attack, motorbikes were widely used by Hitler's forces to carry out patrols in occupied countries and carry messages to and from Berlin.
Paul Garson, author of the book Two-Wheeled Blitzkrieg, said: 'Motorcycles have been going to war as long as there have been motorcycles around to go to war.
'They were recruited for the battlefield thanks to their merits of speed, manoeuvrability and adaptability as a weapons platform – not to mention their cost effectiveness when compared to other mechanized implements of modern warfare.'
Mr Garson uncovered the story of one rider who loved his motorbike so much he offered to buy it from the army at the end of the war.
Motorcycle corp riders in infamous Nazi helmets joke around with a pram during a manoeuver by the group during the war
Motorcycle corp riders in infamous Nazi helmets joke around with a pram during a manoeuver by the group during the war
Motorbikes and sidecars were popular among Nazi high command as they were quick to fix and agile in the battlefield
Motorbikes and sidecars were popular among Nazi high command as they were quick to fix and agile in the battlefield
The book sets out how the German army developed motorbikes for warfare starting from the First World War
The book sets out how the German army developed motorbikes for warfare starting from the First World War
The BMW bikes used by the Wehrmacht suited the 'Blitzkrieg' style of rapid-advance attack favoured by Nazi high command
The BMW bikes used by the Wehrmacht suited the 'Blitzkrieg' style of rapid-advance attack favoured by Nazi high command
The lifestyle of the motorbike rider was used to attract youngsters to the Nazi cause at home and in occupied countries
The lifestyle of the motorbike rider was used to attract youngsters to the Nazi cause at home and in occupied countries
The lifestyle of the motorbike rider was used to attract youngsters to the Nazi cause at home and in occupied countries
This photo of troops moving through France in 1940 shows the advantages of bikes over other forms of transport
This photo of troops moving through France in 1940 shows the advantages of bikes over other forms of transport
A Luftwaffe corporal stands by an army trooper and a young boy aboard a civilian DKV Luxus 200 before the war in the 1930s
A Luftwaffe corporal stands by an army trooper and a young boy aboard a civilian DKV Luxus 200 before the war in the 1930s
The bikes were so successful in the German attack on the Soviet Union that Stalin himself ordered his factories to start producing bikes copying the BMW design used by the Germans.
In the later stages of the war, the US also significantly increased motorbike production, with over 90,000 being produced during the war.
The pictures unearthed by Mr Garson's research also show pre-war motorbikes used by the military.
He added: 'Motorcycles were first introduced into the German military arsenal in 1904 when fourteen NSU machines appeared during the Imperial Manoeuvres,' Paul said.
'By 1911, with the addition of sidecars that could carry additional men, weapons and material, some five-thousand-four-hundred machines joined the German army during the First World War of 1914–18.'
Two-Wheeled Blitzkrieg is published by Amberley Publishing. 
The pictures show some of the bizarre attempts nations made to utilise bikes for war, including this British photo from 1889
The pictures show some of the bizarre attempts nations made to utilise bikes for war, including this British photo from 1889
A French soldier in the 1920s uses a machine gun mounted on the back of a bike during a practice exercise
A French soldier in the 1920s uses a machine gun mounted on the back of a bike during a practice exercise

rapid-fire guns, aerial bombardment, armored vehicle attacks, and chemical weapon deployments were commonplace. Any romantic notion of warfare was bluntly shoved aside by the advent of chlorine gas, massive explosive shells that could have been fired from more than 20 miles away, and machine guns that spat out bullets like firehoses. Each side did its best to build on existing technology, or invent new methods, hoping to gain any advantage over the enemy. Massive listening devices gave them ears in the sky, armored vehicles made them impervious to small arms fire, tanks could (most of the time) cruise right over barbed wire and trenches, telephones and heliographs let them speak across vast distances, and airplanes gave them new platforms to rain death on each other from above. New scientific work resulted in more lethal explosives, new tactics made old offensive methods obsolete, and mass-produced killing machines made soldiers both more powerful and more vulnerable.