Battle of the Somme

“ The ‘long step forward’ was achieved, the Battle of the Somme was won, by the Allied Armies working to the plans of Sir Douglas Haig and Marshal Joffre. Those plans included the provision of a separate Army on the Ancre, to hold the German forces in that area, and to make what progress they could. ”

“ Further south, the Germans captured Maricourt, and broke through the curtain of British troops, which lost contact with one another. The Ancre was crossed, and Byng's right, pivoting on Boyelles, fell back on the line Bucquoy, Albert, Bray-sur-Somme.
General Pétain issued a stirring appeal to the men:
The enemy is attacking in a supreme effort to separate us from the British, and open the road to Paris. At all cost, he must be held. Stick to the ground, stand firm, reinforcements are at hand. United, you will fling yourselves on the invader. ”

“ Had that thrust eastward towards Bapaume been successful, the Germans facing the Somme would have been taken in the rear, and the painful and costly climb up the slopes to Bapaume, which lasted throughout the summer and autumn, would have been achieved in a couple of days. Places like Pozires, well towards the goal, were indeed given as our objectives for the first day of the battle of the Somme. It began on 1 July. Since the middle of June there had been an intermittent bombardment of the German lines which grew in intensity and extent from the 24th. ”

“ A breach was made south of the Somme, but the marshes prevented development, while to the north, the offensive was held on the Ancre lines.
Putting to profit the German failure at Verdun, where the enemy masses, after appalling sacrifice of human life, gradually became blocked in a narrow sector (71⁄2 miles in width) , the Allies widened their front of attack.
After an effective "pounding" by the guns which annihilated all obstacles to a considerable depth, the assaulting waves went forward simultaneously along a 24-mile front, feeling for a weak sector where a breach could be made. ”

“ The French troops, about 10,000 in number, under the command of General Farre, were deployed from the railway (between Villers-Bretonneux and Marcelcave) to Cachy and Gentelles (on the Boves road) , and on the high ground dominating the valleys of the Somme, Luce and Avre. The Prussians, under General Manteuffel, far more numerous and better equipped with artillery than the French, debouched from the valley of the Luce and the roads from Péronne and Roye to Amiens, the battle opening on the two wings. ”

“ Continue your operations, leaving the enemy no respite, and developing the scope of your actions. It is this increasing breadth of the offensive, fed from the rear and strongly pressed in front, without limitation of objective, without consideration for the alignment and too close liaison, which will give us the greatest results with the least losses.... The armies of General Pétain are going forward again in the same manner.
At the time Mangin's Army was preparing to crush the enemy's front between the Aisne and St. Gobain, Horne's Army, on the Scarpe, attacked the salient east of Arras. ”

“ The hour of the counter-offensive was about to strike. The Allies had overcome the crisis due to the shortage of men. The British Army had been reorganized. The American forces had greatly increased in numbers. The fighting spirit of the French was higher than ever. The material strength of the Allies was satisfactory, and included large numbers of the new offensive arm: the tank, destined to relieve and support the infantry, and combat the German shock troops. ”

“ A similar liaison is ensured between the various attacking units, on the right, left and behind. Action must be co-ordinated, an essential point on which the G.H.Q. always strongly insist.
As soon as the enemy perceives the assaulting waves, every effort is made to scatter them by means of artillery barrage and machine-gun fire, asphyxiating gas, grenades and liquid fire, so that generally the storming troops cross "no man's land" through a veritable screen of fire. The enemy's fire likewise extends to the first-line trenches, to cut off the first waves from their supports. ”

“ They also often attack the enemy with their machine-guns.
[Pg 9]
BRITISH TANKS MAKE THEIR DÉBUT.
After the battle.—The massing of enemy troops for counter-attacks is signalled to the artillery, which regulates its barrages accordingly, then, working in liaison, the two services "prepare" the ground for the next attack.
These tactics were, gradually perfected on the Somme battlefields, where the Germans learned by costly experience to improve their defences.
The offensive methods acquired also greater suppleness, and the new arm—the tank—came to the relief of the infantry. ”

“ From the end of Rue du Collège, there is a fine view of the whole battlefield: Mesnil-St-Georges and Fontaine-sous-Montdidier to the west; Courtemanche and Framicourt to the north-west; Gratibus, Pierrepont and Contoire to the north, and Ayencourt and Monchel to the south.
The German offensive—March 27.
On March 27, the German hordes were held on the French right, but overran the plain on the left, where the lack of natural defences made resistance more difficult. The front-line there was very thin, and the Germans captured Cessier and Tilloloy. ”

“ At certain points, the cavalry, followed by the artillery and the aeroplanes, guarded or speeded up the advance. The enemy were taken completely by surprise. The troops and staffs were taken prisoners before they realized what had happened. One after another, the villages were surrounded and captured. Forging ahead of the infantry, the cavalry and tanks spread panic everywhere."
The British advanced rapidly in the direction of Rosières, along both sides of the Amiens-Chaulnes railway. ”

“ The Results of the German Offensive of March 21.
The great German attack was over. The roads to the south-west were barred, as those to the south, at Noyon, had been, and Gen. Debeney was able to address the following order to his troops:
Soldiers of the 1st Army,
You have carried out your arduous task well.
Your tenacious resistance and vigorous counter-attacks have broken the onrush of the invader, and ensured the liaison with our brave Allies, the British. The great battle has begun. At this solemn hour, the whole country is with us. The soul of the Mother-land uplifts our hearts. ”

“ That night, a strong detachment of British troops slipped into the fortified ruins of the village, held by picked machine-gunners. A fierce struggle followed in the dark. At daybreak the German garrison attempted a sortie, and succeeded in encircling the British detachments. However, a British aeroplane, which was hovering over the scene of the struggle, signalled that reinforcements were coming, and finally the Germans were encircled, and several hundreds of them taken prisoners. ”

“ The method employed was that of a sudden, violent shock, preceded by a short artillery preparation, mostly with smoke and gas shells, the aim of which was to put the men out of action, rather than to crush the defences. To this end, huge concentrations of troops were effected, in such wise that the masses of men could be thrown quickly and secretly at the presumed weak part of the Allies' front. ”

“ There are numerous soldiers' graves in the village, and also many military defence-works.
To the east of Cléry the turbid waters of the Somme spread themselves out, forming immense marshes, intersected by a labyrinth-like network of channels. The French advance was directed from this side in 1916, while on the east they were likewise blocked by the Mont-Saint-Quentin Hill, which rises nearly 200 feet above the Somme Valley, from Cléry to Péronne, and which the Germans, by powerful defences, had converted into a second "Warlencourt Ridge." ”

“ There were other enemy positions on the counter-slopes behind the ridge.
These positions took in the villages and small woods of the region, all of which, fortified during the previous two years, bristled with defence-works and machine-guns.
Some of these villages (Courcelette, Martinpuich, Longueval, Guillemont and Combles) , hidden away in hollows, were particularly deadly for the Allies; the defenders, unseen, were able to snipe the assailants as they appeared on the hill tops. The Allies had to encircle these centres of resistance before they were able to enter them. ”

“ This line formed a salient to the east of Trônes Wood—a narrow space bristling with guns. From the high ground of their second position in the north, and that of Longueval, Ginchy and Guillemont, the German firing line formed a semi-circle round this salient, which was threatened by incessant counter-attacks. While maintaining the pressure on the west, it became necessary for the Allies to widen the angle and enlarge the front, or, in other words, to obtain greater freedom of movement. ”

“ In the centre, the tanks entered Flers before noon; the troops advanced beyond the village and established themselves. On the left, Foureaux Wood, bristling with strong-points and redoubts, and on the right, Hill 154 were carried, and the Morval—Lesbœufs—Gueudecourt line reached.
In consequence of this brilliant success of the British right, the attack was extended on the left; the tanks entered Martinpuich and Courcelette. In a single day the British advanced 2 km. along a 10 km. front, and captured 4,000 prisoners. ”

“ With the capture of Pozières it might be said that the second phase of the Battle of the Somme was concluded. The Allied forces were well established on the line to which the second main "push" which began July 14, 1916, was directed. ”

“ A single line of heights only now separated the British Army from Bapaume, 6 km. distant from Le Sars. This line consisted chiefly of Warlencourt Ridge, which dominates the country all round, and which had been turned by the Germans into an apparently impregnable fortress.
Although the bad weather and the mud now forced the Allies to suspend their offensive, sharp fighting continued. From December to the end of January the British raided the enemy's trenches unceasingly. ”

“ On the 24th, after a bombardment with high explosive and gas shells, lasting the whole of the previous night, they threw four divisions (50,000 men) , supported by five tanks each fitted with three guns and a central turret, against the Fouilloy-Cachy front, barely three miles wide. From 7 to 10 a.m., the attacking waves went forward unceasingly in the morning mists. At about 11 a.m., the British had to give way, under an intensely fierce onslaught, and the Germans entered Villers from the north and south. ”

“ By March 31, ninety enemy divisions had been engaged, twenty-five of which had to be withdrawn on account of excessive casualties, some of them (e. g. the 45th Reserve, certain units of the 2nd Guards and 5th Infantry) having lost 50% of their effective strength. The casualties of the 6th, 195th, 4th, and 119th divisions attained 75%. At the very lowest estimation, the Germans lost at least 250,000 men. ”

“ At 12.30 a.m., on September 25, the Canadians attacked the castle and southern part of the village, one of the strongholds of the fortress. After fierce fighting, which lasted two hours, they captured the defence-works, being helped by the tanks which, crushing everything before them, destroyed the nests of machine-guns hidden on all sides. ”

“ Counter-attacking at the point of the salient in the Allied lines at Delville Wood, they succeeded in slipping through, but they were held in front of Longueval.
On the 20th and 23rd, the Allies delivered a general attack. The British 4th Army was now confronted by the enemy in force all along the line. However, the village of Pozières, one of the strong-points of Thiepval Plateau, to the west, was carried by the Australians on July 25. The French advanced their lines as far as the ravine, in which runs the light railway from Combles to Cléry. ”

“ In the evening and throughout the night they vainly attempted to enlarge their gains to the west. The Franco-British troops repulsed all assaults and prevented the enemy debouching from the village, which the French soon afterwards recaptured in a dashing counter-attack. On April 4, the Germans attempted to turn Hangard from the south and attacked Hill 104. After getting to within 50 yards of it, they were checked at the foot of the hill, and fell back in disorder. They then attempted to slip in along the ravines, but the Allied artillery drove them back with very heavy losses. ”

“ On the morning of the 23rd, the remnants of the British 3rd and 18th Corps were thrown back across the Crozat Canal, among the French divisions which were taking part in the battle between the Somme and Oise, and with which they were assimilated.
Further north, his divisions heavily depleted, and reinforcements coming up only slowly, General Gough abandoned the strong Somme-Tortille line, and continued his retreat westward, towards his reserves in the old battlefield of 1916. ”

“ The French and German trenches ran along the western outskirts of the village and were protected by very powerful defence-works, difficult to approach in the open. Recourse was, therefore, to mines.
The Somme offensive put an end to these sanguinary engagements, which had brought about no great change in the French or German positions. Fay, completely razed, was carried on July 1.
Among the ruins, the road turns at right-angles to the left (leave the Estrées road to the right) . 3 km. beyond Fay, Assevillers, built on a hill and entirely destroyed, is reached. ”

“ Having reached their objective, the assaulting troops must hold their ground. Sentries are posted, while the rest of the men consolidate the position in view of the inevitable counter-attack, which is generally not long in coming.
Under bombardment, the levelled trenches have to be remade, the shell-holes organised and flanked with machine-guns, and communications with the rear ensured for the bringing up of stores and, if necessary, reinforcements. ”