Take Two: The Darkest Year: The British Army on the Western Front, 1917

Spencer Jones, Editor

Helion & Company, 2022

Ron Drees, Reviewer

Royal Artillery Firing, 1917

[Editor's Note: For the first time in the history of Roads to the Great War, we have received, concurrently, two reviews for the same book. I thought it might be interesting for the readers, how two of our regular reviewers, Ron Drees and Peter Belmonte reacted to the same material.  Pete's review can be viewed HERE.  MH]

Nineteen seventeen, a dark year for the British Expeditionary Force, included the Russian revolutions, Caporetto, U-boat problems, rainfall that made Flanders a perpetual muddy swamp, and the Cambrai counterattack. Casualties mounting into the hundreds of thousands, particularly from the Nivelle Offensive, the Battle of Arras, and Passchendaele worsened matters.

The Darkest Year is a collection of 16 articles about major activities of the British Expeditionary Force in 1917, including the politics between British prime minister Lloyd George and the BEF commanders, junior officer training, intelligence, growing pains of the tank, and pursuit to the Hindenburg Line. Also covered are the major battles of Vimy Ridge, Arras, Bullecourt, Ypres, and the “Black Day of the British Army, the Third Battle of the Scarpe, 3 May 1917.”

The essays begin with Lloyd George's ascendency to prime minister and his difficulties in dealing with Douglas Haig, who had too much support to remove. When serious disagreements arose between Lloyd George and Sir William Robertson, Chief of the Imperial General Staff; however, it was Robertson who had to resign.

A strong point of this book is a discussion of various generals below CIC level, insight into their personalities and how combat decisions were affected. Haig was overly optimistic, so his reach exceeded the BEF’s grasp. Gough could be impetuous and overly aggressive. Birdwood was considered to lack determination. Leadership faults of others included launching attacks with too little preparation due to a lack of time and other factors, lack of training, and poor communication from superior officers who were not clear about expectations.

What the Darkest Year lacks is a final article summarizing and tying together these diverse chapters for an understanding of how all of this affected the course of the Great War. Sadly, American participation is dismissed as irrelevant. The U.S. had shipped 200,000 troops to France by the end of 1917. That is a few more men than British losses from the Second Battle of the Aisne.

There were numerous instances where attacks were poorly conceived, with top commanders sending poorly prepared troops into battle and expecting tanks to provide significant assistance despite their experimental status and the shell cratered battlefields they would have to cross. The Mark I and II tanks weighed 26 tons and were powered by 102-hp engines, so they easily “ditched” as they were unable to power through innumerable craters from British artillery. By comparison, a 2022 Toyota Prius has a 121-hp engine to move 1.6 tons.

It is always frustrating when reading military histories to learn how jealous officers made poor decisions affecting hundreds of thousands of troops, and this book is no exception. It brings together the complex factors affecting WWI battles: leadership, politics, personalities, terrain, weather, the enemy, and poor decisions which make this book a worthwhile read.

Ron Drees