(Originally posted on here 12 September 2021, moved from here on 17 September 2021)
This is just a list I compiled based upon this site: The Great War 1914-1918. The texts that put in yellow boxes are quoted from this site. I have not created and by no means claim to create this compilation. The prime purpose for copying them here is that if that website is taken down, I would still have it here so I could personally consult them.
Apart from this site, there is also a DVD issued by a publisher. The summary of a member of the Great War Forum has all been copied and preserved here. All credits go to him.
[Updated September 20 2021]
A member of the Great War forum, Dust Jacket Collector, has happened to have a full list of the Official Histories. I have added these following entries into my table on Military Operations:
1) Military Operations in Persia 1914-1919
2) The occupation in Rhineland 1918-1929
3) The blockade of the Central Empire 1914-1918
4) The occupation of Constantinople 1918-1923
I will also add this whole series into my compilation as well: History of the Ministry of Munitions
See his list here on this website: Great War Dustjacket
A small number of volumes of this magnum opus have been digitalized and uploaded on archive.org. I have linked them in the table below.
I have tried to link any electronic file that was uploaded on archive.org in this list. There are many links that don't work anymore. As such, I don't link it here. I suggest that you should try to find volumes that are still on archive.org and download them immediately so that you don't have to worry about the unavailability of these files in future.
Dust Jacket of Volume I of the British official History of the Great War
History of the Great War Based on Official Documents (British Official History)
The British Official History, as it is usually known, was published as a series of volumes between 1923 and 1949. The formal title of the work is the “History of the Great War Based on Official Documents”. It was produced by the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence. This was a committee within the government of the United Kingdom and the British Empire between 1904 and the outbreak of the Second World War.
The British Official Histories are invaluable as a source of information for the study of a battle. Together with the account of the development of a battle (what happened and when) these volumes provide background information about the conferences between the Allied nations, Staff plans, logistical support, equipment. There are overview maps and sketch maps of the battlefield during the course of a battle, battle actions chapterized into battlefield sectors, orders of battle (lists of the units taking part), casualty statistics and appendices with a variety of relevant documents such as Operation Orders. Many of the official history volumes have been reprinted and are available to purchase. It should be possible to borrow a volume from the inter-library loan service and they are available to view at military libraries with reading room facilities, for example at the Imperial War Museum in London. During 2010 the complete set of volumes has been made available on DVD. |
Structure of the Official History of the Great War of Great Britain
|
Military Operations |
|
The volumes of the British Official History: Military
Operations are as follows: Military Operations:
France and Belgium, 1914 · Volume I: Mons, the Retreat to the Seine, the Marne and
the Aisne, August - October 1914, Brigadier-General Sir James E. Edmonds,
1922
Military Operations:
France and Belgium, 1915 · Volume I: Winter 1914-15: Battle of Neuve Chapelle:
Battles of Ypres, Brigadier-General Sir James E. Edmonds and Captain G.C.
Wynne, 1927 · Volume II: Battles of Aubers Ridge, Festubert, and Loos,
Brigadier-General Sir James E. Edmonds, 1928 Military Operations:
France and Belgium, 1916 · Volume II: 2 July 1916 to the end of the Battles of the Somme, Captain Wilfrid Miles, 1938 Military Operations:
France and Belgium, 1917 · Volume I: The German Retreat to the Hindenburg Line and
the Battles of Arras, Captain Cyril Falls, 1940 · Volume
II: Messines and third Ypres (Passchendaele), Brigadier-General Sir James E.
Edmonds, 1948 · Volume
III: The Battle of Cambrai, Captain Wilfrid Miles, 1948 Military Operations:
France and Belgium, 1918 · Volume III: May-July: The German Diversion Offensives and
the First Allied Counter-Offensive, Brigadier-General Sir James E. Edmonds,
1939 · Volume
IV: 8 August-26 September: The Franco-British Offensive, Brigadier-General
Sir James E. Edmonds, 1947 · Volume
V: 26 September-11 November: The Advance to Victory, Brigadier-General Sir
James E. Edmonds and Lieutenant-Colonel R. Maxwell-Hyslop, 1947 Military Operations:
Gallipoli · Volume I, Brigadier-General C.F. Aspinall-Oglander, 1929 · Volume
II, Brigadier-General C.F. Aspinall-Oglander, 1932 Military Operations: Italy,
1915-1919, Brigadier-General Sir James E. Edmonds and H.R. Davies, 1949 Military Operations:
East Africa, 1914-1916 · Volume
I, Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Nordern, 1941 · Volume
II, unpublished Military Operations: Togoland and the
Cameroons,1914-1916, Brigadier-General F.J. Moberly, 1931 Military Operations:
Macedonia · Volume
I: From the Outbreak of War to the Spring of 1917, Captain Cyril Falls, 1933 · Volume
II: From the Spring of 1917 to the End of the War, Captain Cyril Falls, 1935 Military Operations:
Egypt and Palestine · Volume
I, Captain Cyril Falls, 1928 · Volume
II, Captain Cyril Falls Military Operations:
Mesopotamia · Volume
I: Outbreak of Hostilities, Campaign in Lower Mesopotamia, Brigadier-General
F.J. Moberly, 1923 · Volume
II: April 1916: The Attempt on Baghdad, the Battle of Ctesiphon, the Siege
and the Fall of Kut-al-Amara, Brigadier-General F.J. Moberly,1924 · Volume
III: April 1917: The Capture and Consolidation of Baghdad, Brigadier-General
F.J. Moberly, 1926 · Volume
IV: The Campaign in Upper Mesopotamia to the Armistice, Brigadier-General
F.J. Moberly, 1927 Military Operations in Persia 1914-1919 Only 500 copies are published, extremely
rare. Most copies should now belong to libraries in the UK. The occupation in
Rhineland 1918-1929 Only 100 copies are published, extremely
rare. Most copies should now belong to libraries in the UK. The blockade of the
Central Empire 1914-1918 Only
100 copies are published, extremely rare. Most copies should now belong to
libraries in the UK. The occupation of Constantinople
1918-1923 Reprinted in 2010 by Naval &Military
Press |
|
Naval Operations |
|
Five volumes by the official Royal Navy historian Sir Julian
S. Corbett (1854-1922). Sir Julian died when he was completing Volume III and
before he had agree to the corrections to this volume. The remaining works
were completed by the writer and poet Sir Henry J Newbolt (1862-1938). Naval Operations Volume
I: The events leading up to war, organization of three fleets in
Home Waters, coastal Destroyer Flotillas, opening movements on the outbreak
of war in Home Waters and the Mediterranean, the passage of the British
Expeditionary Force to France, Heligoland Bight action, operations off the
Belgian coast October 1914,. Cameroons Expedition, Far East, Battle of
Coronel and the Falklands. By Sir Julian S. Corbett, April 1920 Naval Operations Volume I: Maps Naval Operations Volume
II: Dardanelles Campaign, German raid on Yorkshsire coast December
1914, Dogger Bank action, by Sir Julian S.Corbett, November 1921 Naval Operations Volume
III: Spring 1915 to the Battle of Jutland 31 May/1 June 1916,
events in Home Waters, the Dardanelles, Salonika, Mesopotamia (to November
1915), the destruction of the Koenigsberg, the Battle of Jutland. By Sir
Julian S. Corbett, 1923 Naval Operations Volume III: Maps Naval Operations Volume
IV: From Jutland to February 1917 - Home Waters, East Africa,
Cameroons, Mesopotamia, the Baltic, Salonika campaign (January - June 1916
and January 1917), German introduction of unrestricted submarine warfare. By
Henry Newbolt. Naval Operations Volume IV: Maps Naval Operations Volume
V: Early 1917 to the end of the war, German submarine campaign in
Home Waters, the Mediterranean and off the American coast, the convoy system,
blocking Zeebrugge and Ostend. By Henry Newbolt. Naval Operations Volume V Maps Merchant
Navy · The Merchant Navy, Volume I · The Merchant Navy, Volume II · The Merchant Navy, Volume III · Seaborne Trade, Volume I · Seaborne Trade, Maps · Seaborne Trade, Volume II · Seaborne Trade, Volume III |
|
Air Operations |
|
Six volumes of The War in the Air. Volume I was written by
Walter Raleigh, who died after its completeion. H A Jones wrote the next six
volumes. Volume I: Air operations of the 1915 Gallipoli campaign; the Western
Front in 1915/1916; naval air operations. By Walter Raleigh. Volume II: Gallipoli Campaign in 1915; the Western Front from the winter
of 1914-15 to the end of the Battle of the Somme in November 1916; naval
operations in Home Waters to the end of 1916; naval air operations from
Dunkirk in 1915 and 1916 and bombing operations from Luxeuil in the latter
part of 1916. By H A Jones, 1928. Volume III by
H A Jones Volume III Maps Volume IV: Naval air operations in 1917 and early 1918, Western Front
from June 1917 (Battle of Messines) to German Spring offensives in March
1918. By H A Jones Volume V: German air attacks on Britain in 1917-1918. By H A Jones. Volume V Maps Volume VI: Events leading to the creation of the Royal Air Force
(RAF) on 1st April, supply and manpower, the RAF in Palestine 1918,
Trans-Jordan, Syria, Persia, Mesopotamia, russian Azerbaijan, Macedonia,
Italy. Actions in India throughout the war, naval aircraft co-operation in
1918 in Home Waters and the Mediterranean, Allied offensives on the Western
Front in 1918. By H A Jones Volume VII: Appendices |
|
Medical History of the
War |
|
The medical history of the First World
War was written by the Colonel-Commandant of the Royal Army Medical Corps
(RAMC) Major General Sir William Grant Macpherson KCMG, CB (1858 - October
1927). Medical
Services: Casualties and Medical Statistics Medical
Services: General History, Volume I, Medical services in the United Kingdom,
British garrisons overseas, military operations in Tsingtau, Togoland, the
Camaroons and South-West Africa, by Major General Sir William Grant
Macpherson KCMG, CB and Major T J Mitchell. Medical
Services: General History, Volume II, Operations in France and Belgium
1914-1915 Medical
Services: General History, Volume III, Western Front 1916-1918, Italy, Egypt
and Palestine, by Major General Sir William Grant Macpherson KCMG, CB Medical
Services: General History, Volume IV, Gallipoli Campaign 1915, Macedonia,
Mesopotamia (Iraq), Persia (Iran), Aden, Russia, ambulance transport by Major
General Sir William Grant Macpherson KCMG, CB and Major T J Mitchell. Diseases
of the War, Volume I Diseases
of the War, Volume II Hygiene
of the War, Volume I Hygiene
of the War, Volume II Pathology Surgery
of the War, Volume I Surgery
of the War, Volume II Veterinary Services |
For this reason, the Naval&Military Press has produced a DVD that include not just the entire volumes listed above, but all folded maps that were originally included in box cases. These maps were all in color, and so are those in this DVD.
Here is the link to: "Official History of the Great War" by Naval&Military Press. The price as of today, September/12/2021, is £112.50 (British Pound Sterling).
The following is a very detailed summary and exposition of a member of the Great War forum, Martin Wills:
Official History - Military Operations - Other Theatres - DVD
OFFICIAL HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR Military Operations Other Theatres. DVD-Rom. Constantinople, East Africa, Egypt & Palestine, Gallipoli, German South West Africa, Italy, Macedonia, Mesopotamia, Persia & Togoland and the Cameroons Naval & Military Press (In association with the Imperial War Museum) 2011 N & M Product Code: DVD03 (but found in the CD-ROM section of the N&M Web Pages) ISBN: 9781845749620 Format: DVD-Rom Recommended System Requirements: A PC running Windows 7, XP or Vista with 512MB RAM installed and a 4X speed DVD drive. This product is not Mac OS or Linux or Kindle compatible. Fully 64 bit compatible. Price: £225.00 (plus VAT where appropriate - £45 in the UK) – though it is available until 23rd January 2012 at a “sale” price of £180.00 (plus VAT where appropriate - £36 in the UK) Over the last 25 years perspectives on the Great War have changed radically. Revisionist perspectives have altered our traditional view; the deaths of the last veterans have meant that the war is “beyond living memory”. The rapid growth in genealogy has ensured a wider interest than ever before coupled with a growing ability to use the internet to research soldiers who served and the ease of modern travel has begun to open up theatres of war beyond France & Flanders. The campaigns of the Great War have been chronicled in the Official Histories and these have always provided a good general resource for historians and the cornerstone of many Great War libraries. The Western Front histories are available as reprints and have also appeared in digital format not least the Naval & Military Press (N & M) “Military Operations – France & Belgium” DVD complete with all maps. By contrast the “Other Theatres” are less readily available. The handsome Battery Press/IWM hardback reprints are partly out of print and otherwise not so readily available these days. Separate folding maps – provided either in map cases or in pockets with the text volumes are not generally available although they provide an extremely valuable reference resource. Those exploring the various other theatre campaigns should also bear in mind, Gallipoli apart, that the campaigns are not so well documented and hence the Official Histories are amongst the foremost sources for accounts of the campaigns Although N & M have now reprinted the text volumes with the bound-in maps reproduced in colour rather than the monochrome of the Battery Press/IWM reprints they still represent a major investment even in softback format – the softback set costing £450 and being without the folding maps but with the advantage that the bound in maps are reproduced in colour. N & M have already issued “Military Operations – France & Flanders” as a DVD complete with all maps. This has now been followed up with “Other Theatres” which to my mind is a more valuable addition to a library as it makes available texts and maps which are not so easily accessible. N&M itself has made a major contribution to the Official History series by publishing the Occupation of Constantinople volume which had previously only existed in draft form at the National Archives at Kew. The disc offers the following volumes: Italy (with folding maps) Macedonia Volume 1 Macedonia Volume 1 Map case maps Macedonia Volume 2 Macedonia Volume 2 Map case Maps Gallipoli Volume 1 Gallipoli Volume 1 Appendices and folded maps Gallipoli Volume 2 Gallipoli Volume 2 Appendices and folded maps Egypt & Palestine Volume 1 Part 1 Egypt & Palestine Volume 1 Part 2 Egypt & Palestine Volume 1 Map Case Maps Egypt & Palestine Volume 2 Egypt & Palestine Volume 2 Map Case Maps Mesopotamia Vol. 1 and folding maps Mesopotamia Vol. 2 and folding maps Mesopotamia Vol. 3 and folding maps Mesopotamia Vol. 4 and folding maps Operations in Persia & maps The Occupation of Constantinople German South West Africa East Africa Volume 1 (Vol. 2 was never produced – though some draft chapters apparently exist) Togoland and the Cameroons and folded maps This represents a significant number of volumes (19 text volumes plus map cases) which are brought together in electronic format and made readily available. With growing interest in the Great War beyond the Western Front this disc presents an increasingly attractive resource. Printed copies would take up a considerable amount of shelf space and on these grounds alone a single DVD has its attractions. The folded maps and map case volumes have all been referred to as a “map case” and condensed to a single “map case” for each theatre of war. All maps are provided in full colour. These alone can offer hours of fascinating study. The disc is compatible with Windows XP, Vista and 7 and works with 32 and 64 bit systems. It is not designed to be compatible with Linux or Mac operating systems but it may be possible to run the disc using Windows emulators. It is not Kindle compatible. The disc relies upon Adobe Acrobat reader – a free download - and the free “ERviewer” for viewing the map cases. Both these are included on the disc as “extras”. The single DVD comes in a standard DVD case and is very simple to load. If needed you will apparently be prompted to install “ERviewer” – though I already had it loaded. Once installed the product runs from the original disc – verified with a security agent. Whilst this may seem a little frustrating I imagine that without security protection this disc would not have been produced in the first place. During installation your anti-virus/security software may flag that it is not digitally signed but it is safe to proceed. Some users may already have “ERviewer” installed from other products and you may need to think carefully if you have different/earlier versions installed for other products from Naval & Military Press or other publishers. In use, an initial page opens up with a link to a page showing all the volumes and associated map sets. In addition there are links to “About the Maps”, an introductory essay on the maps (and other map sources) by military cartography expert Dr Peter Chausseaud which is wonderfully informative and an excellent read. Similarly there is also a link to an “About the Official Histories” which describes each volume and its background. Another link called “The Official Histories” takes you to a page that opens up and shows each volume and the associated folded map sets plus a “search all histories” option. Each individual text volume opens in Adobe Acrobat Reader which offers a simple way to read and page through each volume. The folded maps open in ERviewer which, perhaps, is slightly less intuitive for the first time user. Search Facilities In addition to opening and simply reading the selected volume it is also possible to search for text within the volumes. The Adobe Acrobat based Search Panel appears beside the text window and can be used to search either the current volume being viewed or all the volumes on the disc. A “Search all histories” option appears on the display showing all the volumes – using it will open the last viewed volume, which can come as a surprise the first time it happens. This uses the search panel with the search option set to “in the index named Search all volumes.pdx”. Searching the currently displayed volume uses the “In the current volume” option. Page numbering may also prove a minor frustration. Adobe Acrobat numbers pages from 1 onward – and this includes the cover and all pages not numbered in the main series such as bound-in map pages and roman numeral numbered pages. By way of example the index may tell you that you want page 263 but the adobe page number will not match – though it is not difficult to find. Using the search facility is another way around this issue. Search is not perfect, however, and there are some anomalies of which I will cite a couple of typical examples. Searching for 2/20th (London Regiment) finds examples in the Egypt & Palestine volumes but the instances in the Macedonian volumes are not found. Confusion between the numeral 1 and letter l also means there can be problems with units such as 1/1st etc. Whilst minor for some people these anomalies may be intensely frustrating for others! You may also find that your searches may be frustrated by differing use of spellings for places such as Greek or Serbian villages in the Macedonian volumes and places mentioned in other volumes. Those people looking for respite from the Western Front will also be interested to learn that a search for Haig brings up a mere 31 instances across all “other theatres” volumes. Kitchener manages 523! Printing via Adobe Acrobat Reader allows printing of selected (or all) pages of the text volumes – which includes the bound in maps/sketches. The inclusion of the maps in colour is a big plus for this issue and so many of the detailed maps and sketches are likely to be of real value in analysing a particular action as well as for exploring the terrain in the field. Printouts appear bright, clean and crisp. Maps The maps open initially as a page listing the maps in that section and you select the relevant map before opening it in ERviewer. Users of the old N&M map discs and other products will be familiar with ERviewer and how these maps are opened, read and printed. It is fairly easy to use though it has a few idiosyncrasies. A couple of features deserve further comment. The “measuring” facility uses units of “cells” and “real” distances can only be established by calibration and calculation against the scale printed at the bottom of most maps. This is not difficult but can be annoying and a little time consuming. Printing is effectively limited to the current view on screen, but this is fine for printing A4 size sections for further analysis or use in the field. Again having the maps in the original colour is a real asset. The disc is compatible with Windows versions from XP through Vista to Windows 7 and can be run on 32 and 64 bit architectures. Inevitably as a major commercial venture N&M have had to protect the information provided. This may create a sense of frustration for some users but in these times when any software product of value attracts software pirates and the like it is an unfortunate necessity for vendors wanting to protect their investment. Installation When installing following the simple instructions provided you may find that your anti-virus security may flag it as not digitally signed and hence a potential danger – this can safely be ignored. You will also be asked to accept the license agreement which is worth reading. The process may also look to install ERviewer if you do not already have it installed. Beware of any possible conflict if you have another ERviewer version installed (eg from earlier N&M discs; WFA map discs; SCS map discs etc). ERviewer and Adobe Acrobat Reader are also provided separately as an “extra” on the disc should you want to install/re-install them. Once installed the histories can only be run from the original disc and a security agent validates the disc each time it is used, creating a short delay in start-up. This can be a little frustrating with repeated use, but at least runs automatically. Cost issue The decision over whether to buy this will always be difficult and I think that many of us still prefer the printed page. If you already have a significant number of the printed volumes, or only need a few specific volumes, this may not be for you. It does offer a cost effective alternative to buying the complete set of volumes and has the benefit of providing the all maps from the map cases plus loose inserted maps, which are not otherwise readily obtainable in a complete form, in full colour. If you were to look for a single original copy of the Italy volume alone, it would cost you more than this disc costs. Paper reprints of these volumes have drifted in and out of print and often do not include loose folding maps and have not generally reproduced maps in colour. At the present time N & M also offer each title as a softback volume with bound-in maps in colour, but the larger folded maps are not available. The complete set costs a (discounted) £450 and you may find occasional further sale discounts. It is still possible to source most of the handsome hardbound IWM/Battery Press reprints which remain an attractive option, particularly for individual titles, though the maps are not provided in colour. With the exception of Gallipoli these campaigns are not otherwise extensively documented and the Official Histories remain as core documentation, reference and reading. For many the reproduction of the maps will be a key attraction as little mapping is available elsewhere outside principal archives. Another big plus in many cases will be the saving of considerable amount of shelf space! Personally I can heartily commend the Official Histories for the other theatres in any format. This DVD in particular provides an attractive, compact and searchable format and is as complete as you could wish for with the inclusion of the larger folded maps. If you already have the earlier “France & Belgium” volume, you will probably want to add this companion volume to your library. If you are simply looking to add one or two volumes of these official histories to your library, printed copies may well remain a better option, but for many the complete set plus the larger maps – all in colour will be the deciding factor in buying this set. Further Sources If you want to explore mapping and trench maps any further I would recommend two further acquisitions: 1) The Western Front Association Gallipoli Map DVD 2) The Salonika Campaign Society Salonika Map DVD For detailed mapping of the other theatres beyond Salonika and Gallipoli you will need to resort to archives such as the Imperial War Museum and National Archives and Dr Peter Chausseaud indicates in his mapping essay where these can be found within the National Archives. (Copied and pasted on September/12/2021) (Thank you very much for your detailed exposition, Martin Wills) |
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