Loos 1915

The Battle of Loos was Britain’s largest offensive of 1915 and a costly attempt to break the German line in support of a wider French strategy. Corrigan reconstructs the planning, the first British use of poison gas, the commitment of newly raised divisions and the initial breakthroughs that could not be fully exploited. The account follows the fighting from the opening bombardment through the confused assaults and mounting casualties.

Loos is presented as a stage in the British Army’s difficult adaptation to industrialised trench warfare. Corrigan examines shortages of artillery and ammunition, command arrangements, communications and the performance of inexperienced formations, while also tracing the battle’s role in the removal of Sir John French and the rise of Douglas Haig to command the British Expeditionary Force.