1.ª edição.
Obra de fôlego, no original, em inglês. Importante contributo para a história da Grande Guerra pela pena de Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930), conhecido escritor e médico escocês, criador do célebre personagem policial Sherlock Holmes.
No que concerne à participação portuguesa, o autor tece rasgados elogios ao comportamento do C.E.P. no campo de batalha, e consagra dois capítulos à Batalha de La Lys - a maior tragédia militar pátria dos tempos modernos.
Livro ilustrado com inúmeros mapas no texto, em página inteira, e em separado, com folhas desdobráveis (11) contendo diagramas, mapas e croquis das posições, movimentações no terreno e batalhas travadas pelas forças em contenda ao longo da Primeira Guerra Mundial.
Capítulos dedicados à Batalha do Lys:
- The Battle of the Lys : April 9-12, 1918 (com mapa desdobrável): - The Flanders fronte - Great German onslaugth - Disaster of the Portuguese - Splendid stand at Givenchy of the 55th Division - Hard fight of the 40th Division - Loss of the Lys - Desperate resistance of the 50th Division - 34th Division is drawn into the Battle - Attack in the north upon the 9th, 19th and 25th Divisions - British retreat - General survey of the situation.
- The Battle of the Lys : April 13-May 8, 1918: Desperate situation - Sir Douglas Haig's "win or die" message - Epic of the 4th Guards Brigade at Hazebrouck - Arrival of 1th Australian Division - Splendid services of 33th Division - Loss of Armentières, Bailleul, and Neuve Eglise - The 1th Division at Givenchy - Fall of Kemmel - Batlle of Ridge Wood - Great loss of ground - Equilibrium.
"Two Corps were involved in the attack, the Fifteeth (De Lisle) in the Armentières region, and the Eleventh (Haking) in the region of Givenchy. The latter had two divisions in the line, Jeudwine's 55th West Lancashire Territorials defending the village and adjacent lines, while the Portuguese 2nd Division (Da Costa) covered the sector upon their left. The depleted 50th Division (Jackson) was in immediate reserve. On the left of the Portuguese was Ponsonby's 40th Division wich had lost five thousand men in the Somme battle only a fortnight before, and now found itself plunged once more into one of the fiercest engagements of the war, where it was exposed again to very heavy losses.
The main force of the German attack fell upon the Portuguese line, and it was of such strength that no blame can be attached to inexperience troops who gave way before so terrific a blow, wich would have been formidable to any soldiers in the world. The division held the line from 2000 yards south of Richebourg l'Avoué to the east of Picantin, a frontage of 9350 yards, or more than half of the total front to the assault. The division had all three brigades in the line, and even so was very extended to meet a serious assault. The 3rd Brigade from the 1st Portuguese Division was in immediate suport. The 5thd Brigade was on the right, covering Le Touret, the 6th in the middle, and the 4th on the left, covering Lavantie. Behind the whole position lay the curve of the River Lys, a sluggish stream wich moves slowly through this desolate plain, the Golgotha where so many men have died, Indians, French, British, and German, since the first months of the war. In all that huge flat canalised space it was only at Givenchy that some small ridge showed above the dreary expanse.
The Portuguese had been in the line for some months, but had never experienced anything to approach the severity of the shattering bombardement wich poured upon them from four in the morning. When an hour or two later the storming columns of the German infantry loomed through the thick curtain of mist, the survivors were in no conditions to stand such an attack. All telephone and telegraph wires had been cut within the first half hour, and it was impossible to direct any protective barrage. The artillery in the rear, both British and Portuguese, had beem much weakened by a concentration of gas-shells extending as far as Merville, so that the infantry were left with insufficient suport. The gunners stood to their work like men, and groups of them continued to fire their guns after the infantry had left them exposed. These brave men were killed or captured by the enemy, and their batteries were taken. In the rear the roads had been so shattereed by the Germans fire that it was impossible to get a tractor or lorry up to the heavy guns, and there was no way of removing them. All observers agree that the crews of the heavy guns did excelenttly well. The whole front had fallen in, however, and in spite of scattered groups of infantry who showed the tradicional Portuguese courage - that courage wich had caused the great Duke to place them amongst his best soldiers - the position was in the hands of the enemy."
(Excerto de The Battle of the Lys : April 9-12, 1918)
Encadernação do editor em tela com ferros gravados a seco e a ouro na lombada.
Exemplar em bom estado de conservação. Apresenta desgaste no topo da lombada.
Invulgar.
Com interesse histórico e militar.
Indisponível
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