Jim Smithson
Brought up in Sheffield, Jim initially saw instructing in outdoor pursuits as a career prospect but was soon persuaded otherwise and trained as a teacher, graduating in 1980 from Durham University. After an initial couple of years teaching in West Yorkshire he moved to Germany to teach in the British Forces’ schools there. Jim has always had a keen interest in military history, beginning with an appetite for war gaming as a teen and often in later years he would visit the battlefields of the First and Second World Wars as much as possible. This passion eventually led to him buying a house in France in 2007 to have a base close to areas of the Western Front and the opportunity to ‘walk the ground’ of the battles he was studying. The closure of schools in Germany in 2014 and the opportunity to retire, move to his house permanently and ‘live the dream’ could not be passed by. Now married and living mostly in England he concentrates on his work as a Trustee of the Great War Group often contributing to their flagship magazine, Salient Points. He has an appetite for primary research and the fluency to be able to do it in English, French and German resulting in a deep knowledge and understanding of the First World War from both sides of the wire. It was only natural that Jim’s first book, A Taste of Success, had as its subject, the very battlefield upon which he still has his house; having walked the ground regularly and gained a deep insight into the fighting that went on there. Now two guides to the whole war in this area complete the picture.
Books
- A Taste of Success : The First Battle of the Scarpe. The Opening Phase of the Battle of Arras 9-14 April 1917 Author
- Arras 1914-1918 A Comprehensive Guide to the Battlefield Part 1 : Arras South Author
