An Unappreciated Field of Endeavour: Logistics and the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front 1914-1918 (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781913118297)

An Unappreciated Field of Endeavour illuminates how prewar dynamics constrained BEF logistics, showing how commercial assets, railways, and mercantile marine shaped mobilization, planning, and operations on the Western Front.

An Unappreciated Field of Endeavour explains how prewar strategic, economic, political and defense dynamics constrained military logistic resilience but influenced the plans to rely upon commercial assets to support military and naval operations, before examining the role of the commercial railways and mercantile marine in the planning, preparation and execution of Defense mobilization and movement in the United Kingdom during Transition To War in 1914. The role of British railways in playing a defining part in a critical moment of European history is explored in depth as are the technical processes and managerial interfaces that enabled them.

Rarely studied, logistic planning, resources and execution played a crucial role in the preparations for the Battle of the Somme. These important aspects are analyzed to highlight a developing capability, the military 'learning curve' of which, is of at least equal significance to those in the operational and tactical environments. The influence of the BEF's Wheeled Motor Transport (WMT) component upon the operational art on the Western Front is reviewed, including its impact upon the deployment and employment of armor, infantry, artillery and aviation. These were all affected by the expanding use of WMT, creating a requirement to improve its efficiency and effectiveness. Logistics were fundamental to the use of tanks in the Great War, an aspect comprehensively examined, to assess how transportation in particular, constrained the development of operational deployments. An Unappreciated Field of Endeavour also analyses how, in 1918, the BEF's logisticians were able to generate the capability to sustain All-Arms mobile three dimensional combat operations in a chemical warfare environment, whilst maintaining the momentum of the advance, having focused mainly upon supporting siege warfare for the previous four years.

Logistics however, do not swim alone in the military pond. At the operational level, the role of logistics is to develop, sustain and regenerate combat power to ensure that the tempo and effectiveness of the operations maintain momentum. Equally, logistics places constraints on strategy and tactics. On the Western Front, the BEF's enormous logistic capability was not an end in itself but a vital means to achieve the military aim, an observation as valid today as it was in 1918. Great War military logistics, not generally perceived to be racy, has, for far too long, held its light behind a bushel, its practitioners, from General to Private, long gone and the experiences they had and lessons they learnt, lying in dusty volumes in archives and libraries. An Unappreciated Field of Endeavour brings their important work to life, while assessing the significant aspects and identifying relevant lessons for military logistics in the 21st Century.

Author: Clem Maginniss
ISBN-10: 1913118290
ISBN-13: 9781913118297
Publisher: Helion & Company
Language: English
Published: 08/09/2020
Pages: 402
Format: Paperback
Weight: 2.00lbs
Size: 9.40h x 6.70w x 0.80d