1914 to 1916

 

Perhaps 'Rearguard then Retreat' may have been more appropriate as a title  - Jerry Murland sets out to examine the smaller actions of the retreat by the BEF in 1914.

The final title in my modest acquisition program arrived a couple of days ago and so, barring a good uniform reference for the Great War, the 1914 section of the library is complete. By no stretch of the imagination can half a dozen titles be described as comprehensive coverage of a period (especially one so well written about as early 1914 on the Western Front) but it will suffice for my purposes. I may add the odd Osprey title but that should be it for the time being.

The latest title is Retreat and Rearguard - The BEF's actiona from Mons to the Marne by Jerry Murland (ISBN 978 1 84884 391 2) and published by Pen and Sword. The author has made a point of detailing the smaller actions fought during the retreat which is valuable material for the gamer - especially one like myself who routinely enjoys lopsided actions on the tabletop! I am looking forward to reading this and am confident it will give me plenty of information and inspiration for any number of rearguard type actions.

N Gauge plans are slowly being finalised in respect of this period and I will post once I have settled on what is happening.

Moving forward a couple of years and to the cold and grey North Sea I have finally made a start on the last batch of capital ships for the Jutland project. The first batch will be the British battle cruisers of the Invncible and Indefatigable classes. Five of these were at Jutland but I have all six - H.M.A.S. Australia will be featured (obviously not at Jutland) and she will be accompanying the two light cruisers I have and the half a dozen destroyers. These are with a long term 'hunt the German raiding group' idea in mind.

I hope to have these finished over the weekend and will be sure to post pictures once they are ready.