Stephen Bull, German Soldier versus British Soldier (Osprey, 2024)
By November 1917, German prospects of winning the Great War appeared to be slipping away. They were running out of time at home on the economic front and on the Western Front, where the endless attrition of trench warfare had ground down the German armies. Moreover, the imminent arrival of the American army in France threatened an unstoppable overload that promised certain defeat. Action was needed and, preferably, a knockout blow. New tactical thinking and an influx of troops from the Eastern Front, provided the opportunity for a Spring offensive that would drive a wedge between the French and British armies and push the British out of the war. The subject of this new Osprey book is the soldiers who would fight the battles that would decide the fate of that offensive and that of Germany.
Bull opens with the strategic situation and general plan for the German offensive before turning to the origins and recruitment of both armies. That includes some potted regimental histories, focusing on units that would be heavily involved in the battles Bull describes later in the book, though this isn’t clear at this point – some foreshadowing by the author might have helped here. Bull gets back on track with a discussion of tactics and training where we learn the methods of the troops fighting the battles in the narrative section to follow – here we learn about stormtrooper tactics and defensive zones, for example. Bull continues to set the stage with a survey of morale, motivation, and logistics. On the important question of German morale entering 1918, Bull concludes that it was high. British morale fluctuated during the war, but it too was high going into the new year, and, perhaps crucially, the British held a logistical advantage over the Germans.
The second section of Bull’s book is a narrative account of three engagements in 1918: Manchester Hill in March, Rifle Wood in April, and The Selle in October. For each battle, Bull establishes the background, including terrain, preparation, and deployment. He then narrates the battles; the general flow of events with details of individual actions and heroism and the ‘butcher’s bill’ for each battle. Bull briefly analyses the outcomes. The picture that Bull draws is one of intense and often chaotic and desperate combat with the focus very much on the soldiers and what they endured. In his concluding analysis, Bull argues that even with the ‘new’ tactics used in 1918, the cost of attacking still proved expensive, much to Ludendorff’s surprise and chagrin when his strategic plan broke down. As for the British, Bull notes that they had been on a ’learning curve’ throughout the war and deployed tactics gleaned from the French and Germans, so that by 1918, their tactics were convergent with the Germans. He also argues against the notion that the British fielded a genuine conscript army, which might surprise some readers. Bull finishes by highlighting the continuation of tactics developed in 1918, particularly small unit tactics, some of which still apply in today’s warfare.
I think the purpose of Osprey books in these eighty pages or so survey formats is to satisfy an itch for readers who want a general survey, while pointing the way for those who want to read more into the subject. Stephen Bull succeeds on both counts. He covers the fighting on the ground in 1918, noting the developments throughout the war that led to tactical continuity and changes. In a sometimes uneven text, however, Bull lingers perhaps too long on pre-1918 background, squeezing the narrative sections, which he writes very well. Nevertheless, Bull packs enough into his book, including some controversial arguments, that you find yourself checking through his bibliography for further reading. All in all, this is an entertaining and informative work, well supported by Osprey’s usual high quality artwork and photograph selection. Students of World War I and military history will enjoy it.
