The range of the German 80-mile gun.
The range of the German 80-mile gun.
Owing to the German methods of advancing in dense masses their losses had been terrific. The British identified fifty German divisions that had been hurled into the sea of fire made by the Allied artillery, machine guns, and rifles. The British losses were considerable, but principally in prisoners. They also lost a number of guns, but very few pieces of artillery were captured by the Germans after the first day of the offensive.
The hardest fighting on March 25, 1918, was around Bapaume. The British artillery on the heights west of the town broke up every attack which the Germans launched. Later in the day the British were forced to withdraw to the west, leaving the town in enemy hands. On the following day the Germans renewed their attacks, but by afternoon these had ceased, and the British took advantage of the comparative calm to retire in good order to their old positions behind the Ancre which they held in July, 1916, when the battle of the Somme began.
The Germans began their attacks on the Allied front south of the Somme early in the morning of March 26, 1918, and about 10.30 had captured Roye. West of this place and Noyon the British, French, and American troops held the enemy in check. Fresh German divisions brought forward pressed the attack all along the Somme. The assaults around Chaulnes and on the front northward from there to Bray were especially violent. The German troops displayed a reckless bravery in these attacks and were heavily punished. Their losses were so considerable that reenforcements were brought up from all parts of the western front. It was established by the British that more than seventy divisions (about 840,000) men were engaged.
The net results to the Germans during the seven days' fighting may be briefly summed up as follows: They had won back most of the line they lost when retreating from the Somme line of 1916 on the fifty-mile front between the Oise and the Scarpe and this stretch of territory is from twenty to twenty-five miles wide along about forty miles of front. Though the Germans had failed to gain all their objectives and the offensive had not proved as successful as they hoped for, the Allies were not disposed to minimize the seriousness of the situation. They foundcomfort in the fact that in the seven days' fighting the British who had borne the brunt of the blows had lost in killed, wounded, and missing not more than 100,000 men while the German losses were nearly 600,000. It was also believed that at least one half of the remaining German troops had reached such a point of exhaustion that they could no longer do effective fighting. At the close of the seven days' struggle the battle line took in Fenchy, Boyelles, Hebuterne, Albert, Chapilly, Bray-sur-Somme, Avre, and Noyon.
After an all-day battle north and south of the Somme, with Arras as the chief center, the British forces beat off the Germans, inflicting heavy losses. The attack on this new sector, delivered on a wide front north and south of the river Scarpe, was opened with an intense bombardment, and under cover of smoke clouds. The Germans were unable to break or even bend the British front and they lost a large number in killed and prisoners. South of the Somme, the British, subjected to fierce assaults, maintained their positions throughout the day, but the Germans brought forward fresh troops, and by sheer weight of numbers forced the British about nightfall to fall back on Chapilly. North of the Somme the British maintained their line intact.
On the same day the French made substantial gains on the front from Lassigny to Noyon, advancing their line about ten kilometers (6.21 miles) to a depth of about a mile and a quarter. During the entire morning the Germans pressed vigorous assaults in the region of Montdidier in attempts to enlarge their gains west and south of the town. The French troops in spirited counterattacks drove the Germans out of the village of Courtemanche, Mesnil-St. Georges, and Assainvillers, and proceeded to occupy these places solidly.
On the following day fresh German troops were thrown against the French Army maintaining the junction between the French and British lines. The French made a determined stand, but the German pressure forced them to retire toward the west. The Germans broke through at Montdidier and occupied that place. In order to keep in touch with the British the Frenchwere pushing northward to relieve part of the line of their ally which had been thrown back. At the same time the Germans made a demonstration at the point where the British and French lines joined. Employing large forces, they were able to make a breach in the British line, but the French sent forward cavalry and infantry into the gap and closed it.
The salient which the Germans had now been pushing westward since the beginning of the offensive was now forty miles long at its farthest point, from Vimy Ridge, three miles south of Arras, to two miles south of Lassigny. Its greatest width was thirty miles, from the old line west of La Fère westward to Montdidier, the junction of the new western and southern fronts. On the north the territory was flanked by a semicircular ridge lying north and northeast of Arras, beginning with Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, six miles southwest of Lens, and ending at the much-fought-over Vimy Ridge.
The base of the German salient ran from Montdidier east and a little south, by way of Noyon, and linked up with the old line between St. Gobain and Anizy-le-Château, nine miles west of Laon, a distance of thirty-two miles in all. Just as the northern extremity of the German salient was flanked by the Arras ridges, so the southern extremity of thirty-two miles was flanked in the east by the watershed of the Oise and the Aisne, and eastward from the valley of the Oise, where it is joined by the ridge lying parallel to the Chiry-Lassigny highway.
The Allies holding the ridges north and south of the German salient were in a favorable position, and it seemed unlikely that the Germans would attempt to push farther westward without trying to capture the high approaches on their flanks.
It was known to the Allies through their aerial observers that the German armies, reenforced by new divisions that had been brought from Russia, were massing for another powerful attack.
On March 28, 1918, strong German forces drove back the British line south of the Somme to a line running west of Hamel, Marcelcave, and Demuin in the direction of Amiens. On the same date the Germans launched a terrific drive in the Scarpe sector with the purpose of capturing Arras and Vimy Ridge.Six German divisions were flung against the British positions, while four were held in reserve, but they failed to break through. To the south between Boiry and Serre eleven divisions attacked the British positions, but were forced back.
On the same date, in the Montdidier region, the French under Pétain not only held their ground but made gains. In the course of the evening and part of the night the Germans made violent attacks in the endeavor to eject the French from the villages of Courtemanche, Mesnil-St. Georges, and Assainvillers, which were won the day before, but in every instance were driven back with heavy losses. The French followed up their success by driving the enemy out of Monchel, which they occupied.
To the north of Montdidier Franco-British troops continued to hold the Germans on the Avre River and in front of Neuville, Mezières, Marcelcave, and Hamel.
It was evident that the great German offensive was losing force. The fighting was still intense at some points, but no operations were attempted on such a colossal scale as marked the fighting in the first week of the battle. At many places along the front of attack the Germans were being driven back and at others French and British were holding their positions firmly. Artillery battles had now taken the place of infantry fighting to a great extent, a sure sign that the German armies were in an exhausted condition and needed time to re-form and recuperate. As the Germans had been unable to drag much artillery with them during their advance the French had the advantage.
On March 28, 1918, the news that General Ferdinand Foch, chief of the French General Staff had been made generalissimo of all the Allied forces in the western theater of war was received with general satisfaction by the Allied nations. The Allies had long suffered from lack of coordination, while the Germans had not only profited by their own united direction, but were also advantaged by the frequently unrelated efforts of their enemies. General Foch, who was born in 1851, began mastering the strategy of war in 1870. He had studied German mentality. He counted on their repeating in future conflicts the maneuversthat had succeeded, and also expected them to make some of the old mistakes. Foch led the Ninth French Army at the Battle of the Marne, where, according to some military critics, he won first honors. In the spring of 1915 he led his army in the offensive between Armentières and Arras. After these operations he was surpassed in public opinion of the French army chiefs by Generals Pétain and Nivelle, whose wonderful leadership before Verdun made them famous throughout the world. When General Pétain succeeded Nivelle in May, 1917, as commander in chief in the field, General Foch took his place as chief of staff in Paris. President Wilson, who had been urging unify of command ever since the inter-Ally war conference at Paris in the winter of 1917, was among the first to congratulate General Foch on his appointment as generalissimo of all the Allied forces on the western front.
THE SECOND PHASE OF THE GREAT GERMAN OFFENSIVE
The full force of the great German offensive having spent itself, though fighting still continued, it may be of great interest to consider how far the Germans succeeded in carrying out their carefully laid plans.
It was evident that their main purpose was not to capture Paris or reach the Channel ports, though these objectives were considered, but to destroy either the French or the British army. The British being the most powerful of the Allies' armies, owing to conditions that developed after the offensive started, was made the object of the Germans' most determined destructive efforts. They planned to strike a mighty blow along the Oise between St. Quentin and La Fère, at the junction of the French and British troops. Their purpose was to break through at this point regardless of the cost. This accomplished, they would push on up the Oise valley, and by throwing large forcesacross the British right turn it and roll it up. To accomplish this it would be also necessary to destroy the British salient at Cambrai, for unless this was done an advance down the Somme would have left the whole German flank exposed to attack from the north.
The first German attack was launched against the Cambrai salient from the north and the east, and was successful as the British were driven back.
In this preliminary assault the Germans employed some ninety divisions or over 750,000 men on a front of about fifty miles. This was the heaviest concentration of men to the mile that had so far been used in campaigns on the western front. Against these forces the British had only about 5,000 men to the mile or less than a third of the number the Germans had in action. Having disposed of the Cambrai salient the Germans had opened the way for the real attack south which was made in the angle between the Oise Canal and the Somme. The assault was carried out with great masses of men in close formation, and the Allies' lines were overwhelmed in the first rush. But the British and French made an orderly if hurried retreat and their front remained unbroken. The Allies made the Germans pay heavily for every gain, fighting on steadily from point to point. The British during the retreat still clung to the southern bank of the Oise, but were finally forced across the river at Noyon which fell to the Germans.
Meanwhile in the north the British were slowly falling back on the old battle field of the Somme. It was wisely decided by the British High Command to retire rather than bring forward the strong armies they held in reserve back of the lines. The use of these armies would eliminate the possibility of a great counterattack. Having reached the old battle field and after the Ancre valley was passed, the British ceased to retreat and established themselves strongly on the west bank of the river.
South of the town of Albert the Germans made more important gains. They had reached and passed the Allies' old line as it existed before the fighting on the Somme. But in the last days of March they made little progress as their artillery hadnot kept pace with the forward rush and until the guns arrived no important advance could be made.
The French had halted behind the Avre River, an excellent position, for there were wide marsh belts lining either bank of the stream. Before the French ceased to retreat the Germans had pushed their advance westward and encircled Montdidier, producing by doing this a salient in their lines with the town as the apex. One German flank extended eastward through Lassigny to the Oise and the other along the Avre and behind it. This salient marked almost the extreme limit of the German push.
North of the Somme and south of Arras the German advance was checked, because the British held such strong positions on Vimy Ridge and the heights of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette. The Germans could not push on north of the river before they had reduced these strong and commanding positions. To clear the way they made a determined attack with 90,000 men on a small front of not more than five miles east of Arras. After an intense artillery fire that lasted all day the Germans repeatedly attacked, but met with repulse. They gained a few hundred yards at several points, but the British line remained practically intact.
The net results of the German offensive showed that they had overrun considerable territory and were some miles nearer Paris. But they had not succeeded in crushing either the French or the British armies, and the real question in the war was the destruction of forces. Territorial gains were only of value as far as they contributed to that end. There was not the least doubt that the Germans had lost a far greater number of men than the Allies and that they could not continue for long a campaign on such a costly scale. Unless they found some other way out they were heading straight for defeat even if they should succeed in overrunning the greater part of France.
A remarkable group of British and French leaders photographed on the British front in 1918. King George is the center. At the king's right (left of picture) are Marechal Foch, General Debeney, and General Rawlinson. At the king's left (right of picture) are Field Marshal Haig, General Pétain, and General Fayolle.
A remarkable group of British and French leaders photographed on the British front in 1918. King George is the center. At the king's right (left of picture) are Marechal Foch, General Debeney, and General Rawlinson. At the king's left (right of picture) are Field Marshal Haig, General Pétain, and General Fayolle.
In the last two days of March the Germans resumed heavy fighting in the region between the Somme and the Avre and southward to Montdidier. Six villages around Montdidier werewrested from the French—Ayencourt and Le Monchel south of the town, Mesnil-St. Georges, Cantigny, Aubevillers and Grivesnes. On the following evening the French recaptured Ayencourt and Le Monchel, a hundred prisoners, and fourteen machine guns.
On the Oise front German detachments, consisting of a battalion of storming troops, having succeeded in crossing the river at Chauny, attempted to establish a bridgehead on the left bank. The French launched a swift and vigorously pressed counterattack, with the result that the German battalion was completely annihilated, or taken prisoners.
Between Montdidier and Moreuil there was stiff fighting during the last two days of March. The Germans repeatedly attacked almost without ceasing. Moreuil, captured by them, was retaken by the French, again taken by the Germans, and finally carried in a brilliant bayonet charge by British and French troops. Between Moreuil and Lassigny the German check was complete. The French also advanced as far as the vicinity of Canny-sur-Matz. A division of picked French troops after a hot fight in which they took over 700 prisoners captured Plemon and held it firmly against repeated attempts made by the enemy to oust them.
On the British front the Germans were especially active. Attacks followed one another at different points unceasingly during March 30-31, 1918. All these assaults were costly and failed. The Germans' determined efforts were unsuccessful elsewhere, for they lost considerable ground near Feuchy, four miles east of Arras; and near Serre, seven miles north of Albert, the British made a notable advance, capturing 230 prisoners and forty machine guns. South of the Somme, by successful counterattacks, the British regained possession of the village of Demuin. There was heavy fighting in the sector to the south of the main highway leading from Péronne to Amiens, which proved costly to the Germans and brought no adequate returns.
At the close of the month it was the opinion of the French and British High Command that the offensive for the present was checked. The Germans were making strenuous efforts torush forward their heavy artillery, and a formidable attack might be expected with all the reserves available, but the Allies viewed the future with confidence. At the same time they looked for a long struggle which might develop into such a contest as was fought at Verdun and the first battle of the Somme.
April 1, 1918, showed a slackening in the German pressure. There was brisk, and at times, violent fighting between the Germans and Allies around Moreuil and Hangard. Attacks and counterattacks followed each other in rapid succession, which resulted in the British gaining some ground. If it was the purpose of the Germans to make a drive on Amiens, this sector was of special importance, for it lay east of the city between the Somme and the Avre. What encouraged the Allies' High Command to believe that Amiens was the objective was the massing of great numbers of German troops in this area and in the district around Albert. In expectation of a heavy blow in these regions the Allies brought into the battle front as rapidly as possible a great number of guns. The Germans too were making artillery preparations, but their guns were arriving slowly and not in considerable numbers. All day long on April 1, 1918, they launched local attacks near Albert, but were unable to make any impression on the iron wall of British resistance.
On the same day the First German Guard Division, which had been severely punished by the French at Grivesnes, returned to the assault, but received such a warm reception that they were forced to seek shelter in their positions, leaving the French masters of the situation.
The British were active on the first of the month, carrying out some successful actions. German positions in a wood along the Luce River were stormed and after sharp fighting the enemy was forced to withdraw, leaving the field strewn with dead. The Germans shelled the wood after it was occupied by the British, and then organized two counterattacks with the purpose of retaking it. Both attacks were caught in the British artillery barrage and shattered. South of Hangard the British improved their position and smashed two German counterattacks which essayed to restore the situation.
Early in the morning of April 4, 1918, the Germans launched a new offensive. Amiens was evidently the objective toward which their forces moved from three directions. One attack was made from the northeast from the general direction of Albert, a second from the east along the line of the Amiens-Resières railroad, and the third along the Avre River where the French held the line. The Germans employed fifteen divisions against the French and fourteen divisions against the British, or nearly 350,000 men, attacking the Allies on a sixteen-mile front. All day long and through the night the French were assaulted with extreme violence. The Germans seemed determined to break through at whatever cost, their immediate aim being the Amiens-Paris railway. Despite their efforts, ten times repeated, the Germans, at the cost of heavy sacrifices, only succeeded in gaining a few hundred yards of territory, and occupied the villages of Mailly-Raineval and Morisel, while the French still controlled the heights in the neighborhood. Grivesnes was subjected to the fiercest attacks, but the French troops held it securely, and broke down every assault that was made by the enemy. The Germans were so badly battered in the fighting that raged all day and night in this region that they did not resume the offensive on the following day, and General Pétain took advantage of the lull to launch successful counterattacks, gaining ground notably in the region of Mailly-Raineval (south of Moreuil) and Cantigny.
The northern and western outskirts of Cantigny, which was captured by the Germans a few days before, were now in French hands.
While the French were stubbornly holding their own against superior numbers, the British front south of the Somme was the scene of heavy fighting. The battle raged all day and far into the night and the British were forced back to new positions east of Villers-Bretonneux, nine miles east of Amiens. North and south of Albert their lines were heavily attacked along a front of about 9,000 yards between Aveluy and Dernancourt. All that the Germans gained in the fighting in this region was a foothold on a small triangular bit of territory just southwest ofAlbert, which brought the attacking troops close to the Albert-Amiens railway.
The net results of the Germans during the two days' fighting were a decided check and a very costly one.
On April 5, 1918, German forces engaged in massed attacks against the British lines just east of Corbie on the Somme. South of Hangard Wood the British were pushed back a short distance, but elsewhere the Germans achieved only costly failures.
Despite trifling gains here and there by the enemy, the Allies had every reason for feeling confident that the offensive would fail. In the vital sector between Montdidier and the Luce River, where the Germans were nearest to Amiens, their position was far from satisfactory, and in the north, where they must advance their lines if they wished to escape extreme danger, the situation was very bad indeed. The British were holding fast to their positions above Albert with indomitable courage, while the Germans were making a slow advance here and there at the cost of heavy sacrifice.
In the course of the fighting during April 7-8, 1918, the Germans made gains south of the Oise. Advancing toward the Ailette River they captured Pierremande and Folembray, driving the French to the western bank of the stream. The heights to the east of Coucy-le-Château were captured, and another force advancing from Verneuil-Barisis occupied the town of Verneuil.
Attacks and counterattacks continued along the British battle front. The little village of Cucquoy, near Serre, continued to be the center of the most determined German assaults. The place itself was nothing, a mere mass of ruins torn by artillery fire, but the hills around were occupied by the British, and the German advance was held up until these positions could be captured or disposed of.
On April 9, 1918, after a heavy bombardment in which over 60,000 gas shells were used, the Germans attacked British and Portuguese lines from La Bassée Canal to the neighborhood of Armentières (a distance of eleven miles).
The Portuguese in the center and the British on the flanks of the river Lys between Estaires and Bac St. Maur were forced to retire under the German pressure. Heavy fighting continued throughout the day in this sector. In the vicinity of Givenchy and Fleurbaix the British maintained their position and repulsed strong assaults. Richebourg St. Vaast and Laventie were occupied by the enemy.
In the morning of April 10, 1918, the Germans launched a new attack, with strong forces, against the British positions between the Lys River and Armentières and the Ypres-Commines Canal. The British were driven back to the line running through Wytschaete along the Messines Ridge to Ploegsteert.
South of Armentières, after a prolonged struggle, the Germans crossed the river Lys and established themselves on the left bank at a number of points east of Estaires and near Bac St. Maur. Southward from Estaires—the southern limit of the German offensive—the British continued to hold their lines. Givenchy was recaptured from the Germans, and 750 prisoners. The possession of this place was important to the Allies, as it stands on high ground, and is a gateway on the road to Béthune.
In the course of the two days' fighting in this region the Germans advanced in the center to a depth of about 5,500 yards, the British and Portuguese losing a considerable number of prisoners and guns.
In the retirement of the French forces to the line of the Ailette River two French battalions were cut off and the Germans took 2,000 prisoners. The retirement of the French was made on account of an awkward corner in the line.
The fighting during these days showed that it was the Germans' purpose to exhaust the British army. Their first plan had been to cut off the British from the French, but that failed. Now they attacked the British wherever they saw a favorable chance, hoping to destroy such large numbers that they would be unable to take the offensive.
The German advance between Ypres and Arras, March-June, 1918.
The German advance between Ypres and Arras, March-June, 1918.
During the night of April 9, 1918, the Germans made a strong assault on the French lines near Hangard-en-Santerre. The French retaliated with a counterblow that drove the enemy backin disorder. The village changed hands repeatedly, but early in the morning of April 10, 1918, the French gained possession of the place and of a cemetery near by, and established themselves strongly in the new positions.
All day long on April 11, 1918, the Germans were hurling great masses of troops against the British lines on the northern front, from La Bassée to the Ypres-Commines Canal southeast of Ypres. As the result of these heavy assaults Haig's troops were forced back north of Estaires and Steenwerck. The evacuation of Armentières followed. The German advance on the previous day between Warneton and the Lys on the north and their drive to the south of Armentières had subjected the place to attack from three sides. For the British to attempt holding the town under these conditions would have caused a useless sacrifice of troops. Armentières had no military importance, but the Messines-Wytschaete Ridge and the Passchendaele Ridge to the north of it were of great value. As long as these positions held out the British lines were safe. The Germans were confronted with the same situation that prevailed on the Somme front. The German push toward Amiens had been held up by the British possession of the Heights of Vimy and of the Notre-Dame-de-Lorette. These formed the hinge on which the whole British line swung as it moved westward. The same thing was happening in the north. The British center had given way under the fury of the German attacks, but the flanks held fast. On the north the Messines Ridge blocked the way of the German advance. For in case of a westward push both German flanks would be in great danger from this bastion which commanded the entire field of maneuver. Their front and rear as well as flanks would be subjected to destructive artillery fire from this ridge which therefore became the center of the fighting in the north.
The Germans recognizing the supreme importance of the ridge made determined and valiant efforts to capture the position. They launched one attack after another that were costly and brought no results. They entered the British lines in the village of Messines, but were promptly driven out in a brilliantcounterattack and the important positions remained in British hands.
In the area west and northwest of Armentières the British troops were forced back in the fighting that continued throughout the day on April 12, 1918. The British retired to the neighborhood of the railway south of Bailleul, where the heaviest fighting continued without respite. The Germans captured Merville and drove the British forces operating near Ploegsteert to retire to new positions in the neighborhood of Neuve Église.
In the Hangard-en-Santerre sector of the French front to the southeast of Amiens the struggle was prolonged throughout the day. The Germans attacked with large forces, but the French held their own until late in the day, when the enemy, reenforced by fresh troops in considerable numbers, gained a portion of Hangard, while the French still held on to the western part of the town. In the Noyon sector the Germans were active with their artillery, but attempted no infantry attacks. Rheims, the martyred city, was again bombarded, with the result that a number of buildings were fired, especially in the vicinity of the cathedral.
During the night of April 12-13, 1918, the Germans made a determined drive for Neuve Église, three miles southwest of Messines, and after a prolonged struggle occupied the village. The British vigorously counterattacked in the morning and drove the enemy out, capturing a battalion commander and a number of prisoners. There was hard fighting at other points on the British front, the Germans losing ground at Festubert. On the French front all enemy attacks broke down. Northwest of Orvilles-Sorel French forces broke into the German line on a front of three quarters of a mile and won a strip of territory.
The Germans continued to bring up fresh divisions into the Messines sector, until twenty-three divisions were engaged. Neuve Église was wrested from the British during the night of April 14, 1918. Seven attacks were made on the British lines near Merville, only one of which pushed back the British line and was successful in gaining ground. The British in a dashingcounterattack drove out the Germans and reoccupied the line. Bailleul and the neighborhood were the scene of violent fighting. The Germans seemed determined to carry the place at any cost. The town, which contained many handsome buildings, was reduced to a mass of ruins. The German pressure forced the British to evacuate the town in the night of April 15, 1918, after they had been driven from the heights to the south and southeast. The British troops fell back on the east and west line north of Wulverghem and Bailleul.
On this date (April 15, 1918) the Germans made other notable gains. Attacking the British on a nine-mile front, Haig's men were driven from Wytschaete and most of the Messines Ridge positions were taken. It will be recalled that this famous ridge was captured by the British from the Germans on June 7, 1917, after elaborate mining preparations had been made and 1,000,000 pounds of high explosives were used in blowing up the heights.
Intense fighting continued all day long on April 16-17, 1918, about the Messines Ridge and the Passchendaele Ridge to the north, forcing the British to retire to their lines east of Ypres.
In the Hangard sector on the French front, where since the beginning of the offensive the Germans had been hammering away in an effort to get astride the railway connecting Amiens with Clairmont, the British carried out a highly successful operation. At daybreak on April 17-18, 1918, along a front of about five miles between Thennes and Mailly-Renneval, the French launched a dashing assault that resulted in the capture of over 600 prisoners and the seizure of some important points which the enemy occupied. The ground over which the French had to charge had been transformed by recent rains into heavy mud into which the attackers sank at times up to their knees, but they pushed on undismayed. The commanding heights on the northern flank were carried amid victorious cheers. In the center bodies of infantry penetrated Senecat Wood and cleared up the gun emplacements which defended the approaches to Castel. Pressing forward, the French infantry established themselves on the outskirts of the town and prepared for an assault on the place.
Toward the south other French units captured dominating heights and advanced toward Anchin Farm on the road between Ailly-sur-Noye and Moreuil. The French advance met with the strongest opposition from the Germans, but their efforts were ineffective and their casualties heavy.
The main purpose of the Germans in their continued pounding of the French around Hangard was to prevent reenforcements being sent north. This they failed to accomplish. The French not only fought them off and gained ground, but were able to send a considerable force to the northern front.
The fighting around Hangard, which was prolonged for days, was of the most sanguinary description. Desperate hand-to-hand fighting took place in the streets of the town and inside the houses. Hangard changed hands again and again, but was finally occupied and strongly held by the French.
The fighting continued with undiminished fury on the northern front, but the Germans made no important gains. Attacks in the Mont Kemmel region were beaten off. At Givenchy, and at other points of the front, the Germans failed to gain ground, while great numbers were slaughtered by the British machine-gun and rifle fire. It was estimated that the Germans employed 137,000 men in their furious assaults on the Allied front extending from Givenchy, eleven miles northwest to the neighborhood of St. Venant. Important reenforcements of French troops strengthened the British resistance in the north, and German masses attempting to break through lost heavily.
During the week the Germans, employing picked troops, made violent attacks on the Belgian front between Kippe and Langemarck, but were unable to gain a foot of ground. The Belgians captured 714 prisoners, a 77-millimeter gun, and 42 machine guns. Documents found on captured German officers revealed the importance attached by the Germans to the operation. They had planned to capture Merckem, Luyghem, Aschoop, and neighboring towns, and after reaching the Ypres Canal purposed to push on in the direction of Poperinghe and envelop the left of the Allies.
At the close of the week (April 20, 1918) it was evident that the German offensive had broken down, and that no more important movement would be attempted for some time. In the Givenchy-Festubert region (west of La Bassée) the British forces expelled the Germans from some advanced points which they had occupied two days before.
A determined attack made by the Germans against the French lines north of Seicheprey, in which the American troops fought with valor and distinction, is described in another part of this work.
In summing up the operations of the week, it will be noted that the fighting in the Lys region absorbed most of the German energy, and that the British defense was strained at times nearly to the breaking point. The German advance from the south was diverted by indomitable British resistance encountered at Givenchy. Armentières was evacuated to avoid an encircling movement, after which the German armies on the north and south of the place joined hands. British divisions on the north and south flanks remained firm, but the attack in the center was pushed, and after the river Lawe was crossed Merville, Merris, and Neuve Église were captured, when the advance was checked. The struggle then narrowed down to Bailleul, Nieppe Forest, and Mont Kemmel, the main objective being the capture of Hazebrouck. In the course of the week's fighting these villages changed hands a number of times, but in the end Bailleul fell and the Germans occupied Meterne, Wulverghem, and Wytschaete, and an important section of Messines Ridge. This rendered the forward line eastward of Ypres untenable, and the British retired to new positions. The fighting at every point during the week was of the most desperate character. The Germans found it difficult to exploit their first successes in any direction but the most northern and northwestern sectors, where they discovered a weak point and concentrated a powerful attack. The Allied High Command had no reason to feel discouraged, for the situation, though serious, gave ground for confidence. The net result to the Germans was a small gain in territory, but their losses in men had beenappalling. It was no longer a question of overrunning territory in France, but the destruction of man power that would count in the end.
THE GERMAN OFFENSIVE RENEWED—YPRES THREATENED—THE ALLIES' HEAVY LOSSES
The comparative quiet which had reigned for some days in the battle area was broken on April 23, 1918, when the Germans, using two divisions, attacked the whole British front south of the Somme, as well as the French forces on the British right. Villers-Bretonneux, the Germans' objective, stands on a ridge southeast of Amiens, an important position in reference to that place. A preliminary bombardment started at 3 o'clock in the morning and continued for nearly four hours, when their infantry advanced upon Villers-Bretonneux and the village of Cahy, from Hangard Wood, Marcelcave, and from below Warfusee. Among the German troops engaged were the Fortieth Guards Division, which had been fighting recently on this front, and the Seventy-seventh Division, fresh from Russia and in action here for the first time. At the hour the attack was launched a third German division, the Thirteenth, of Westphalian troops, fell upon the French near Castel to the south of the British forces. The Germans, after a fierce struggle, succeeded in gaining a little ground, when the French troops pivoted from the right and threw them back.
On the British front the Germans used tanks for the first time in an offensive, three of them advancing with the German infantry down the road to Cahy and Domart.
German attacks on the northern and southern sectors of this front were repulsed by the Allied troops, but the enemy made progress at Villers-Bretonneux. The fighting here continued throughout the day with unabated intensity and did not cease when the Germans captured the village in the early evening.
Their attacks broke down on the northern bank of the Somme and north of Albert. The British carried out a successful local operation northwest of Festubert, where they recaptured a post which the Germans had won on April 22.
British positions east of Robecq now came under strong enemy fire and were subjected to several strong attacks. The British line remained unbroken after every assault and the Germans were forced back, losing eighty-four men as prisoners and a number of machine guns.
In the night British and Australian troops launched several counterattacks against the positions the Germans had newly won in and around Villers-Bretonneux.
The Germans had been long enough in possession of the town and the neighborhood to set up strong defenses, and countless machine guns had been placed wherever they could do the most harm. When the British were driven out of the village after a hard fight it was late in the day and the Germans evidently thought that they would not attempt a counterattack until the following morning. But the British did not purpose to give the enemy any time to bring up fresh troops, and prepared for a night attack. They recognized the importance of Villers-Bretonneux, as it gave the enemy full observation of the British positions on both sides of the Somme Valley beyond Amiens.
The job of recapturing the village was given to the Australians who had made a brilliant record in carrying out night attacks and rarely failed of success. About midnight they set out, unpreceded by any artillery preparation, feeling their way along in the dark and relying solely on the weapons they carried with them.
The Australians broke into the village before the enemy woke up, and supported by several British battalions spent the night in clearing the Germans out of the place. The Germans were not disposed to surrender such an important observation point and put up a stiff fight, and the struggle raged for hours in the streets. Finally the British and Australians gained the upper hand and the village proper was freed of the enemy, who fellback on positions in the neighborhood. Fighting in the outskirts of the village continued in the morning. There was no gunfire even then, for the British, Germans, and Australians were so closely engaged in the struggle and so mixed up that the gunners on both sides were afraid of killing their own men.
On the western side of the village German machine gunners, cut off from their lines by the sudden counterattack, were stoutly defending themselves here and there among the remains of ruined buildings and dealt the British some shrewd blows before they could be driven out, or made prisoner. The British had escaped without severe casualties, while the German toll of dead was costly, especially in officers. In this operation the British captured between 700 and 800 prisoners.
In the Lys salient the Germans, employing large forces and aiming at Mont Kemmel, launched a succession of violent attacks from Wytschaete to Bailleul. The Allies made a brave resistance, but were compelled to fall back on prepared positions toward the Locre River.
Mont Kemmel is a hill of great tactical importance. It is almost covered with woods and stands out somewhat in front of the range of heights extending westward to the Mont des Cats, and to some extent dominating its western neighbors.
In the course of the fighting in this region (April 25-26, 1918) nine German divisions (about 120,000 men) were engaged, and the Allies, borne down by overwhelming numbers, were forced to give up the village of Kemmel, the near-by summit of Kemmel, and the village of Dranoutre to the south.
In the Somme-Avre battle area the French had been pitilessly hammered by overpowering numbers of German troops. The fighting in and around Hangard Wood was especially intense.
On April 25, 1918, the French repulsed seven assaults made on their lines north of the wood and in Hangard, which changed hands several times during the day. South of the Luce River the Germans were driven out of important positions which the French occupied and held firmly against repeated attempts made by the enemy to drive them out.
The Germans had by this time advanced to within three miles of Ypres, which was now threatened. The struggle for Voormezeele, the point at which the Germans had pushed closest to Ypres from the south, was prolonged and intense. They made a costly and futile effort to capture the wood southwest of the town on the 26th. The attack was desperately pushed, but met with disaster. Not only were their losses heavy in dead, but several hundred prisoners were taken by the Allied troops. Meanwhile the French were successful on their front from La Clytte to Locre (two miles west of Kemmel). Strong bodies of German troops under General von Arnim after four violent assaults captured Locre, but the French organized a strong counterattack and regained the village. They also won Hospice and Locrehof Farm, both strong points lying southeast of the place.
Ypres now came under heavy fire of the German guns; high explosives and gas shells rained down upon the ruins of the city for the first time in some months. Fields and villages around hitherto untouched by fire were showered with shells. The purpose was to catch the traffic on the roads and destroy soldiers' camps, but the only result was a few women and children killed.
Throughout the night of April 28, 1918, German batteries were active from the Belgian front down through Flanders to the districts about Béthune. About 6 o'clock in the morning, on the 29th, an attack was made according to the plan of General von Arnim after gaining Kemmel Hill; this was the capture of the chain of hills running westward below Ypres to Poperinghe, among them such familiar landmarks as Mont Rouge and Mont Noir. These hills, held at the time by the French, were of great tactical importance, forming the central keep, as it were, in the Allies' defense lines south of Ypres.
It was the purpose of the Germans, in case their frontal attacks against the French failed, to break the British lines on the French left between Locre and Voormezeele and on the French right near Merris and Meteren, but all their efforts failed.
On April 28, 1918, British flyers discovered the Germans massing troops on the road between Zillebeke and Ypres. A dense fog prevailed at the time, and a surprise attack was evidently planned. This never developed, for the assembly was promptly shelled by the British gunners and dispersed. After a tremendous bombardment that shook the whole countryside the German troops again assembled in the misty dawn and were again dispersed by British guns. The fighting in this area was almost continuous throughout the following day.
Around the Scherpenberg and Mont Rouge the Germans fiercely assailed the French lines and succeeding in making a wedge for a time, captured the crossroads, but were counterattacked by General Pétain's men, who drove them out of most of the ground they had gained there.
A tremendous barrage was flung down by the German gunners from Ypres to Bailleul, and somewhat later they began the battle by launching an attack between Zillebeke Lake and Meteren. South of Ypres they crossed the Yser Canal near Voormezeele with the purpose of striking the British, while they tried to push past Locre against the French holding the three hills. As a result of the day's fighting the British lines remained intact, while General von Arnim's hosts were shattered and decimated. On the French front the Germans won a little ground, but it was unimportant in relation to the situation.
On April 29, 1918, French troops carried out a brilliant counterattack in the night, recovering ground on the slope of the Scherpenberg and advanced their line 1,500 yards astride the Dranoutre road. They alone drove the Germans out of positions around Locre and entered into full possession of the village itself.
The Germans still occupied Mont Kemmel, but their hold on the height was of little value, as the Allied artillery kept the summit smothered with shell fire, making it impossible for the enemy to maintain any considerable body of troops there.
The French and British were elated over the outcome, for the greatest effort made by the Germans in the Flanders offensive had failed. In addition to a large number of divisions in positionat the beginning of the battle the Germans had employed about thirty fresh battalions of reserves. Von Armin's great thrust had been carefully planned and his troops fought with reckless bravery if not with distinction. The French and British had defeated him with relatively smaller forces and had shown that their men were more than equal to the best German soldiers. Owing to the close fighting and frequent hand-to-hand encounters, the Franco-British capture of prisoners (over 5,000) was less than might have been expected in a struggle of such magnitude.
While the Germans up to the first of May had failed to make any farther advance on the scale of the first days of the big offensive, they were still a menace to be reckoned with. It was estimated that they had already thrown 2,000,000 men into the line, but many fresh divisions were available for further efforts. They had enough men in their depots in the interior to fill all their gaps for some time; but reconstituted divisions, as is well known, never equal in fighting quality the original formation, as a large number of slightly wounded men after recuperation is included.
As the Germans did not publish their losses, no correct estimate could be formed. Conservative opinion placed the number as over 350,000 men. The Germans had 186 divisions on the western front when the offensive began, and reenforcements brought from Russia and other fronts raised the number to 210 divisions; a German division consisting of about 12,000 men.
For some time it was a mystery to the Allies as to how the Germans succeeded in bringing forward new divisions into the battle area and so often escaping the notice of the vigilant French and British observers. This the Germans accomplished by exercising the greatest precaution and cunning.
In the first place the territory occupied by each German army corps was divided into two zones, the first of which might be under observation of the Allies' lookouts, and the other only from captive balloons which had a wide radius of view. According to German army orders, infantry occupying the first zone were forbidden on clear days to move in any greater numberthan four men together, mounted men not more than two together, and vehicles not more than two at a time, with a minimum of 300 yards between groups. In heavy, misty weather, these restrictions were relaxed and the movement of groups of forty foot soldiers, twenty cavalrymen, and ten vehicles was permitted.
In the second zone it was permissible to form groups of the size allowed in the first zone, on days of poor visibility, but there must be intervals of 500 yards. It was in this manner that the Germans' military movements were often hidden from the Allies' observers. German divisions making forced marches in the night slept in the villages during the day, and were heavily punished if they showed themselves in the streets.
No infantry operations were attempted by the Germans on May 1-2, 1918, but German gunners continued at regular intervals to bombard the Franco-British lines. General Pétain took advantage of the lull in the fighting to advance his lines between Hailles and Castel (south of the Avre), meeting with little opposition, capturing Hill 82 and the wood near by bordering on the river.
The Germans became active again on May 3, 1918, when, after a heavy artillery barrage, they attacked British positions south of Locon (on the southern flank of the Lys salient). They were easily repulsed and made no further attempt that day to renew the attack. On May 4th, 1918, British and French troops carried out a successful operation between Locre and Dranoutre, gaining ground on a half-mile front to an average depth of 500 yards and capturing a number of prisoners. The Germans were driven from three ruined farms that were perfect strongholds, and high ground was won by the Allies near Koutkot (west of Dranoutre). All these local successes were of real value, for they strengthened the Allied defenses of the approach to Scherpenberg and Mont Rouge.
May 5, 1918, was a great day for those irrepressible fighters, the Australians, who gave the Germans a bad thrashing west and southwest of Morlancourt between the Ancre and the Somme Rivers.
The Australians' attack was made on a front of 2,500 yards unheralded by any preliminary bombardment, but the British guns became active after they were on their way, keeping roads and tracks under fire to prevent the enemy from bringing up supports.
The German garrison on this front did not occupy any definite trench system, but occupied scattered rifle pits and rifle trenches just large enough to afford shelter for small groups and machine-gun crews. These hornets' nests were dangerous things to tackle, but the Australians had dealt with such conditions before and went about their work in a cool and businesslike manner. With bombs and bayonets the Germans were killed or driven out of their holes, and as they were all picked men selected for their courage and long experience in warfare they made a gallant resistance. The Australian generally fights better when he has a desperate opponent, and the struggle became intense and at close quarters. In the end the men from overseas crushed all opposition, killing over 150 Germans and taking about 200 prisoners. The success of this minor operation was of some importance, as it enabled the Allies to advance their line 500 yards.
At this time, in the course of the offensive, the Germans introduced, as a new form of "frightfulness," a sneezing powder, that was fired by high explosive shells. The sneezing powder sifts down through the gas masks and causes sneezing when the wearer is forced to take off his mask and receives the full effect of the lethal gases which the Germans had spread abroad.
Preparations were now under way for a new offensive. It was known to the Allies that Ludendorff had already massed 70 divisions and that reenforcements of men and guns were daily brought into the fighting area. The Germans now sought for a basis for a new drive, feeling their way by making thrusts here and there on the Allies' front. On May 8, 1918, they made a drive at the British lines in the battle area north of Kemmel in the Lys salient, penetrating trenches between La Clytie and Voormezeele. About 25,000 German troops took part in this attack. In the night General Haig's men came back in force and drove them out, but the Germans contested the field again andagain during the following day. They won a little ground here and there, but were eventually thrown back and the British remained in sole possession of the terrain.
North of Albert the Germans captured a small but important strip of trenches on high ground. Their temporary success was dearly won, for they suffered terrible slaughter from the rifle and machine-gun fire which poured into their ranks as they advanced up the slopes. By a brilliant counterassault the Germans were driven out of the position won before they could organize the defenses. East of Bouzincourt, where the British occupied positions on high ground, the enemy followed much the same tactics, but they were unable to gain even temporary foothold in the British defenses. The graycoats advanced, shouting in English "retire," in the hopes of confusing the British. The response of the defenders was such a fierce fire that the Germans acted on their cry and fell back in disorganized masses, leaving hosts of dead on the field.
Along the greater part of the front military operations were now confined to small enterprises. The Allies assumed a waiting attitude expecting that the enemy would show his hand. The Germans had brought a large number of divisions into the line facing Amiens, indicating an offensive in that direction. The attempts to "feel out" the Allies' strength had received so many setbacks that they hesitated to begin any new operation on a large scale.
Days passed and still the Germans failed to start a great offensive. It was a period officially called "quiet," though on many parts of the front the guns were active, and raids and minor operations were carried out every day and night. There was continued fighting between French and Germans for the possession of Mont Kemmel, which changed hands again and again. Its value lay in the fact that the hill dominates considerable territory, and for that reason was long a thorn in the flesh of the ambitious Germans.
The anticipated German offensive so long delayed was begun on May 27, 1918. At 1 a. m. a terrific bombardment in which gas shells predominated was opened along a forty-mile frontbetween Noyon and Rheims. The hurricane of fire continued undiminished for three hours when the Germans launched an assault with about 325,000 men against the Franco-British lines.
The German objective was the famous plateau, the Chemin-des-Dames, a long, bare ridge whose widest part is on the west and narrowest above Craonne. It was against this narrowest point on the ridge that was held by a British division that the main blow was aimed. The German forces, which far exceeded in numbers the defenders of the ridge, included some of the specially trained units that had fought in Von Hutier's army in March, two divisions of the Prussian Guards, and other crack formations. Having gained the ridge at a heavy cost, the Germans pressed on westward. The Allies retreated toward the Aisne, inflicting, as they fell back, heavy losses on the Germans, who drove forward great masses of troops over their dead comrades' bodies. The Germans pushed on over an eighteen-mile front in pursuit of the Allies and crossed the river.
North of the Aisne the Germans carried by storm a number of towns and drove a wedge southward from the Aisne to Fismes on the River Vesle, which the Germans crossed at several points. In the sector northwest of Rheims the British troops were forced back toward Berry-au-Bac and across the Aisne-Marne Canal. As a result of the first day's fighting the Germans advanced 10 miles and claimed the capture of 15,000 prisoners.
On the second day of the offensive the Germans continued their attacks on the French troops on the right wing of the Aisne offensive, and forced them to evacuate Soissons except for the western outskirts. German forces of the center were now in possession of the territory between the Aisne and Vesle Rivers, and a considerable area to the south of the last-named stream, having extended their advance in this region four miles.
The fighting continued unabated all day on May 30, 1918, in the Aisne-Vesle area between Soissons and Rheims. The German flanks near these two cities being firmly held by the French, the Germans were throwing their entire strength southward evidently with the intention of establishing themselves on the Marne.This would enable them to direct their main efforts westward, counting on the river to protect their flank. On the whole southern front the fighting was of the most violent character, and it was here that the Allies had to give most ground. Fère-en-Tardenois, four or five miles south of the farthest point of the German advance on the 29th, was occupied by the Germans. They also captured Vezilly to the eastward. In the Rheims sector the crown prince's forces occupied the northern parts of La Neuvillette and Betheny, a mile nearer to Rheims on the northwest and northeast.
The most serious blow to the Allies in the German advance was not the loss of 35,000 men which the Germans claimed as prisoners, for that was a comparatively small number in an offensive of such magnitude, but the loss of artillery and stores which was enormous. The depth of the German advance had carried their lines beyond the positions of even the heaviest guns of the Allies. It is a slow process to move great cannon, as tractors are required, and so in the swift onrush, many were captured with ammunition dumps containing great stores of shells.
On May 31, 1918, the Germans extended their effort on the right as far as the Oise by heavy attacks in the region of the Ailette. The French were driven back, fighting, on positions to the north of the line of Blerancourt-Epagny. In the region of Soissons, and farther south, the German assault was shattered by the brilliant fighting of the French, who maintained their position on the western outskirts of the town, and along the road to Château-Thierry. In the center the Germans were advancing north of the Marne and gained positions south of Fère-en-Tardenois. This forward movement of about eight miles, which the Germans had carried out in the space of twenty-four hours against strong opposition, was indeed a notable military achievement. They also forced the withdrawal of French lines northwest of Soissons toward Noyon, thus linking up the Aisne operations with those on the Picardy front.