Gun Fire (Number 26), edited by A.J. Peacock

Gun Fire (Number 26), edited by A.J. Peacock

A Second Alternative Guide to the Western Front

Paperback, 144 pages. (N7762)

Gun Fire was an occasional journal produced by members of the Western Front Association, and it contained articles about aspects of the First World War. This book provides a guide to around 200 locations on the the Western Front, and is arranged in a useful A to Z format, with each entry varying in length. An entry is detailed below to provide an idea of the sorts of things included:

FONTAINE L'EVEQUE: Fontaine L'Eveque and Binche were on the extreme left ofthe French line when the invasion of Belgium was a few days old, and when Lanrezac's forces were in confusion below the Sambre. In the vicinity of Fontaine L'Eveque and Binche two divisions of the German Army had been encountered by French and British forces. The latter were conducting a reconnaissance before the BEF's front; the former consisted in part of an infantry brigade of the 3rd Corps, acting as support for Sordet's Cavalry Corps. The British and French were forced to retire, and Sordet's exhausted men crossed the Sambre. Fontaine L'Eveque is due east of Binche.

From the first inside page: There are many guides to the old Western Front of 1914-18, but I think it is true to say that most, if not all, of those in print follow (understandably) fairly well-known routes to places like Ypres, Albert, Armentieres and so on. This guide, or gazetteer, by and large ignores the places that other guides go to (though on occasion it mentions things that are overlooked in some well-known places)...

Condition of the booklet is generally good. The cover has one or two minor scuffs and blemishes, but the spine is intact, and all pages are clean, intact, unblemished and tightly bound.