Changing War The British Army, the Hundred Days Campaign and The Birth of the Royal Air Force, 1918

In 1918 the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) played a critical role in defeating the German army and thus winning the First World War. This 'Hundred Days' campaign (August to November 1918) was the greatest series of land victories in British military history. 1918 also saw the creation of the Royal Air Force, the world's first independent air service, from the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service. Until now however, histories of the First World War have tended to concentrate on the earlier battles of 1916 and 1917 and have often underplayed this vitally important period. Changing War will fill this significant gap in our knowledge by providing in-depth examinations of key aspects of the operations of the British army, the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy in the climactic year of the First World War. Written by a group of leading experts, it sheds light not only on 1918, but on the emergence of modern warfare that is seen by many as having taken place at that time.

Gary Sheffield holds the Chair of War Studies at the University of Birmingham, UK. He previously held a personal chair at King's College London, UK, and was Land Warfare Historian on the Higher Command and Staff Course at the Joint Services Command and Staff College. He has published widely on military history.

Peter Gray is RAeS Senior Research Fellow in Air Power Studies, University of Birmingham, UK.A retired senior officer of the Royal Air Force, he holds a PhD and is the author of The Leadership, Direction and Legitimacy of the RAF Bomber Offensive from Inception to 1945 (Continuum, 2012).

Introduction - Gary Sheffield and Peter Gray \ Part I: The British Expeditionary Force and its Operational Art \ 1. 'Command Culture and Complexity: Third Army during the Hundred Days, August-November 1918' - Jonathan Boff \ 2. 'War of Liberation: British Second Army and Coalition Warfare in Flanders in the Hundred Days' - Dennis Williams \ 3. 'The Empire Strikes Back: BEF Operational Logistics and Engineering during the Hundred Days Offensives, 1918' - Robert Thompson \ 4. 'After Amiens': Technology and Tactics in the British Expeditionary Force during the Advance to Victory, August - November 1918' - Bryn Hammond \ 5. 'Crossing the Sambre-Oise Canal, 4 November 1918' - Niall Barr \ Part II: The Royal Air Force in 1918 \ 6. 'The RAF and 1918' - Sebastian Cox \ 7. 'The Genesis of Modern Air Power' - David Jordan \ 8. 'The Smuts Report: Interpreting and Misinterpreting the Promise of Air Power' - Christopher Luck \ 9. 'RAF Doctrine and the Battle of Amiens: Slessor Revisited \ 10. 'Air Power and the Birth of Modern Warfare - The Contribution of Aviation Logistics' - Peter Dye \ 11. 'The Battle of Amiens and the development of British Air-Land battles, 1918-1945' - Alistair McCluskey \ Part III: The Royal Navy in 1918 \ 12. 'Bringing the World to the Western Front: The Maritime-Strategic Context of the 100 Days' - Stephen Prince \ 13. 'Friends in High Places: The Royal Navy and Air Power in 1918' - Jon Robb-Webb