A Brilliant Little Victory is a history of the 48th (South Midland) Division during the First World War, including its successful defense of a critical position on the Asiago Plateau in Italy in June 1918. A Brilliant Little Victory charts the history of the South Midland division from its creation in 1908 as a result of the Haldane Reforms to its initial deployment to the Western Front in March 1915. This includes its introduction to the trenches at Ploegsteert in Belgium, its bloody contribution to the Battle of the Somme, where it helped to capture the strategically important village of Pozieres in July 1916, and the part it played in the pursuit of the German army to the Hindenburg Line the following Spring. The role of the South Midlanders' in the Battle of Passchendale in the late summer and autumn of 1917 is explained. The division then shifted to Italy, where it was part of the Franco-British force sent to reinforce the Italian army after the Caporetto disaster. A Brilliant Little Victory's title refers to the division's successful defense of an important position on the Asiago Plateau, high above the Lombardy Plain, on 15 June 1918, when it helped to stop the Austrian attackers from breaking through into the rear of the main Italian position on the Piave River, with potentially disastrous results. Despite fighting an effective defensive action, according to his own operational plan, stopping the Austrians in their tracks and pushing them back across No-Man's Land to their starting point within 24 hours, described by one officer as '...a brilliant little victory...', the Divisional Commander, Major General Sir Robert Fanshawe, was sacked and sent home a few days later, much to the dismay of his officers and men. In seeking to understand what lay behind the shock removal of an apparently successful commander, A Brilliant Little Victory provides a detailed analysis of the battle and looks at the factors that may have contributed to the sacking before offering a view about whether or not it was justified, taking account of the standards of the time. AUTHOR: Proud Ulsterman Derek Plews was a journalist before joining the Civil Service in 1985. He has worked for several Government departments and was Press Secretary to Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott and Defence Secretary, Geoff Hoon. An army reservist, Plews left the civil service in 2006 to deploy to Afghanistan in a military role. He subsequently completed tours of duty in Iraq before taking up various appointments in the Ministry of Defence. Retiring in 2020 he now divides his time between conducting historical research, visiting First World War battlefields, and volunteering as a trustee of the Bucks Military Museum Trust. c 10 b/w illustrations, 5-10 b/w photos, 2-3 colour photos, 1-2 tables, c 10 maps
