Provides a detailed, strategic account of VC actions, complemented by maps, photographs, and biographies.

In the past, while visiting the First World War battlefields, the author often wondered where the various Victoria Cross actions took place. He resolved to find out. In 1988, in the midst of his army career, research for this book commenced and over the years numerous sources have been consulted.

Victoria Crosses on the Western Front – The Final Advance in Picardy is designed for the battlefield visitor as much as the armchair reader. A thorough account of each VC action is set within the wider strategic and tactical context. Detailed sketch maps show the area today, together with the battle-lines and movements of the combatants. It will allow visitors to stand upon the spot, or very close to, where each VC was won. Photographs of the battle sites richly illustrate the accounts. There is also a comprehensive biography for each recipient, covering every aspect of their lives warts and all parents and siblings, education, civilian employment, military career, wife and children, death and burial/commemoration. A host of other information, much of it published for the first time, reveals some fascinating characters, with numerous links to many famous people and events.

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Master Maps
• Abbreviations
• Introduction
• Battle of the Selle (Master Maps 1 & 2)
  • 473.Sgt Horace Curtis, 2 Royal Dublin Fusiliers, 18 October 1918, Bazuel, near Le Cateau, France
  • 474.Pte Alfred Wilkinson, 1/5 Manchester, 20 October 1918, Marou, France
  • 475.Sgt John Daykins, 2/4 York and Lancaster, 20 October 1918, Solesmes, France
  • 477.Pte Francis Miles, 1/5 Gloucestershire, 23 October 1918, Bois-l’Évêque, Landrecies, France
  • 478.Lt Col Harry Greenwood, 9 King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, 23–24 October 1918, Ovillers, France
  • 479.Lt Frederick Hedges, Bedfordshire att’d 6 Northamptonshire, 24 October 1918, Bousies, France
  • 480.Lt William Bissett, 1/6 Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, 25 October 1918, East of Maing, France
• Battle of Valenciennes (Master Map 1)
  • 483.Sgt Hugh Cairns, 46 Battalion (South Saskatchewan), CEF, 1 November 1918, Valenciennes, France
• Preparatory Operations for the Battle of the Sambre (Master Map 2)
  • 484.Sgt James Clarke, 15 Lancashire Fusiliers, 2 November 1918, Happegarbes, France
• Battle of the Sambre and Subsequent Operations (Master Maps 2 & 3)
  • 485.Maj George Findlay, 409 Field Company RE, 4 November 1918, Sambre-Oise Canal south of Catillon, France
  • 486.Lt Col Dudley Johnson, South Wales Borderers att’d 2 Royal Sussex, 4 November 1918, Sambre-Oise Canal south of Catillon, France Victoria Crosses on the Western Front – The Final Advance in Picardy
  • 487.2Lt James Kirk, 10 att’d 2 Manchester, 4 November 1918, Sambre-Oise Canal north of Ors, France
  • 488.Maj Arnold Waters, 218 Field Company RE, 4 November 1918, Sambre-Oise Canal north of Ors, France
  • 489.Spr Adam Archibald, 218 Field Company RE, 4 November 1918, Sambre-Oise Canal north of Ors, France
  • 490.Lt Col James Marshall, Irish Guards att’d 16 Lancashire Fusiliers, 4 November 1918, Sambre-Oise Canal north of Ors, France
  • 491.LCpl William Amey, 1/8 Royal Warwickshire, 4 November 1918, Landrecies, France
  • 492.Maj Brett Cloutman, 59 Field Company RE, 6 November 1918, Pont-sur-Sambre, France
• Reflections
• Sources
• Useful Information