1.
Battle of Passchendaele
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The Battle of Passchendaele was a major campaign of the First World War, fought by the Allies against the German Empire. Passchendaele lay on the last ridge east of Ypres,5 miles from a junction at Roulers. The next stage of the Allied plan was an advance to Thourout–Couckelaere, to close the German-controlled railway running through Roulers, further operations and a British supporting attack along the Belgian coast from Nieuwpoort, combined with Operation Hush, were to have reached Bruges and then the Dutch frontier. The campaign ended in November, when the Canadian Corps captured Passchendaele, apart from attacks in December. In 1918, the Battle of the Lys and the Fifth Battle of Ypres were fought before the Allies occupied the Belgian coast, a campaign in Flanders was controversial in 1917 and has remained so. The British Prime Minister, David Lloyd George, opposed the offensive, field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, commanding the British Expeditionary Force, did not receive approval for the Flanders operation from the War Cabinet until 25 July. Belgian independence had been recognised in the Treaty of London which created a sovereign, the German invasion of Belgium on 4 August 1914, in violation of Article VII of the treaty, was the reason given by the British government for declaring war on Germany. British military operations in Belgium began with the arrival of the British Expeditionary Force at Mons on 22 August. On 10 October, Lieutenant-General Erich von Falkenhayn, the Chief of the German General Staff, ordered an attack towards Dunkirk and Calais, followed by a turn south to gain a decisive victory. On 16 October, the Belgians and some French reinforcements began the defence of western Belgium, when the offensive failed, Falkenhayn ordered the capture of Ypres to gain a local advantage. By 18 November, the First Battle of Ypres ended in failure, large British offensive operations in Flanders were not possible in 1915, due to the consequent lack of resources. The Germans conducted their own Flanders offensive at the Second Battle of Ypres, Sir Douglas Haig succeeded Sir John French as Commander-in-Chief of the BEF on 19 December 1915. A week after his appointment, Haig met Vice-Admiral Sir Reginald Bacon, Haig preferred an advance from Ypres, to bypass the flooded area around the Yser and the coast, before a coastal attack was attempted, to clear the coast to the Dutch border. Other operations were begun by the British to regain territory or to evict the Germans from ground overlooking their positions, engagements took place on 12 February at Boesinghe and on 14 February at Hooge and Sanctuary Wood. There were actions from 14–15 February and 1–4 March at The Bluff,27 March –16 April at the St. Eloi Craters, in January 1917, the Second Army held the line in Flanders from Laventie to Boesinghe with eleven divisions and up to two in reserve. There was much trench mortaring, mining and raiding by both sides and from January to May, the Second Army had 20,000 casualties. In May, reinforcements began moving to Flanders from the south, in January 1916, General Herbert Plumer, the Second Army commander, began to plan offensives against Messines Ridge, Lille and Houthulst Forest. General Henry Rawlinson was also ordered to plan an attack from the Ypres Salient on 4 February, planning continued but the Battle of Verdun, at meetings in November 1916, Haig, the French commander-in-chief Joseph Joffre and the other Allies met at Chantilly
2.
World War I
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World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history and it was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and paved the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved. The war drew in all the worlds great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances, the Allies versus the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. These alliances were reorganised and expanded as more nations entered the war, Italy, Japan, the trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia. Within weeks, the powers were at war and the conflict soon spread around the world. On 25 July Russia began mobilisation and on 28 July, the Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia, Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia to demobilise, and when this was refused, declared war on Russia on 1 August. Germany then invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, after the German march on Paris was halted, what became known as the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, with a trench line that changed little until 1917. On the Eastern Front, the Russian army was successful against the Austro-Hungarians, in November 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Sinai. In 1915, Italy joined the Allies and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, Romania joined the Allies in 1916, after a stunning German offensive along the Western Front in the spring of 1918, the Allies rallied and drove back the Germans in a series of successful offensives. By the end of the war or soon after, the German Empire, Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, national borders were redrawn, with several independent nations restored or created, and Germanys colonies were parceled out among the victors. During the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the Big Four imposed their terms in a series of treaties, the League of Nations was formed with the aim of preventing any repetition of such a conflict. This effort failed, and economic depression, renewed nationalism, weakened successor states, and feelings of humiliation eventually contributed to World War II. From the time of its start until the approach of World War II, at the time, it was also sometimes called the war to end war or the war to end all wars due to its then-unparalleled scale and devastation. In Canada, Macleans magazine in October 1914 wrote, Some wars name themselves, during the interwar period, the war was most often called the World War and the Great War in English-speaking countries. Will become the first world war in the sense of the word. These began in 1815, with the Holy Alliance between Prussia, Russia, and Austria, when Germany was united in 1871, Prussia became part of the new German nation. Soon after, in October 1873, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors between the monarchs of Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany
3.
West Flanders
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West Flanders is the most western province of the Flemish Region, also named Flanders, in Belgium. It borders on the Netherlands, the Flemish province of East Flanders and the Walloon province of Hainaut in Belgium, on France, other important cities are Kortrijk in the south and Ostend on the coast, Roeselare and Ypres. The province has an area of 3,125 km² which is divided into eight administrative districts containing 64 municipalities, the North Sea coast of Belgium, an important tourism destination, lies in West Flanders. A tram line runs the length of the coast, from De Panne on the French border to Knokke-Heist on the Dutch border, West Flanders consists of the North Sea coast, followed by a very flat polder landscape. Only in the south are some hills, with the Kemmelberg being the highest point in the province. The Leie and IJzer are the main rivers, West Flanders is the only Belgian province that borders both France and The Netherlands. In the north of the province, most industry is concentrated in and around the cities of Bruges, both cities also have important seaports, the port of Bruges-Zeebrugge and the port of Ostend. The south is known for its industry, with companies such as Beaulieu. The region around Kortrijk is called the Dallas of Belgium for its entrepreneurship, tourism is also an important industry in West Flanders. Major touristic attractions include the Belgian coast, the center of Bruges, and Flanders Fields. The region has a distinct dialect of Dutch called West Flemish. This distinctive dialect is a part of the sense of identity of the inhabitants of the region. The city of Bruges has one playing at the highest level of football in Belgium. With Cercle Brugge it also has one playing in the Belgian First Division B. Other cities with teams playing at the highest level are Kortrijk, Ostend, the teams Knack Randstad Roeselare and Prefaxis Menen play in the highest volleyball league. Knack Randstad Roeselare also plays in the CEV Champions League, the European Championsleague, BC Oostende is a basketball team which plays in the major basketball league of Belgium. The Province of West Flanders is divided into 4 judicial arrondissements, municipalities that have city status have a behind their name. Official website of the Province of West Flanders
4.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
5.
British Empire
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The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It originated with the possessions and trading posts established by England between the late 16th and early 18th centuries. At its height, it was the largest empire in history and, for over a century, was the foremost global power. By 1913, the British Empire held sway over 412 million people, 23% of the population at the time. As a result, its political, legal, linguistic and cultural legacy is widespread, during the Age of Discovery in the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal and Spain pioneered European exploration of the globe, and in the process established large overseas empires. Envious of the great wealth these empires generated, England, France, the independence of the Thirteen Colonies in North America in 1783 after the American War of Independence caused Britain to lose some of its oldest and most populous colonies. British attention soon turned towards Asia, Africa, and the Pacific, after the defeat of France in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, Britain emerged as the principal naval and imperial power of the 19th century. In the early 19th century, the Industrial Revolution began to transform Britain, the British Empire expanded to include India, large parts of Africa and many other territories throughout the world. In Britain, political attitudes favoured free trade and laissez-faire policies, during the 19th Century, Britains population increased at a dramatic rate, accompanied by rapid urbanisation, which caused significant social and economic stresses. To seek new markets and sources of raw materials, the Conservative Party under Benjamin Disraeli launched a period of imperialist expansion in Egypt, South Africa, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand became self-governing dominions. By the start of the 20th century, Germany and the United States had begun to challenge Britains economic lead, subsequent military and economic tensions between Britain and Germany were major causes of the First World War, during which Britain relied heavily upon its empire. The conflict placed enormous strain on the military, financial and manpower resources of Britain, although the British Empire achieved its largest territorial extent immediately after World War I, Britain was no longer the worlds pre-eminent industrial or military power. In the Second World War, Britains colonies in Southeast Asia were occupied by Imperial Japan, despite the final victory of Britain and its allies, the damage to British prestige helped to accelerate the decline of the empire. India, Britains most valuable and populous possession, achieved independence as part of a larger movement in which Britain granted independence to most territories of the empire. The transfer of Hong Kong to China in 1997 marked for many the end of the British Empire, fourteen overseas territories remain under British sovereignty. After independence, many former British colonies joined the Commonwealth of Nations, the United Kingdom is now one of 16 Commonwealth nations, a grouping known informally as the Commonwealth realms, that share a monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. The foundations of the British Empire were laid when England and Scotland were separate kingdoms. In 1496, King Henry VII of England, following the successes of Spain and Portugal in overseas exploration, Cabot led another voyage to the Americas the following year but nothing was ever heard of his ships again
6.
Australia
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Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It is the worlds sixth-largest country by total area, the neighbouring countries are Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and East Timor to the north, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to the north-east, and New Zealand to the south-east. Australias capital is Canberra, and its largest urban area is Sydney, for about 50,000 years before the first British settlement in the late 18th century, Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians, who spoke languages classifiable into roughly 250 groups. The population grew steadily in subsequent decades, and by the 1850s most of the continent had been explored, on 1 January 1901, the six colonies federated, forming the Commonwealth of Australia. Australia has since maintained a liberal democratic political system that functions as a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy comprising six states. The population of 24 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard, Australia has the worlds 13th-largest economy and ninth-highest per capita income. With the second-highest human development index globally, the country highly in quality of life, health, education, economic freedom. The name Australia is derived from the Latin Terra Australis a name used for putative lands in the southern hemisphere since ancient times, the Dutch adjectival form Australische was used in a Dutch book in Batavia in 1638, to refer to the newly discovered lands to the south. On 12 December 1817, Macquarie recommended to the Colonial Office that it be formally adopted, in 1824, the Admiralty agreed that the continent should be known officially as Australia. The first official published use of the term Australia came with the 1830 publication of The Australia Directory and these first inhabitants may have been ancestors of modern Indigenous Australians. The Torres Strait Islanders, ethnically Melanesian, were originally horticulturists, the northern coasts and waters of Australia were visited sporadically by fishermen from Maritime Southeast Asia. The first recorded European sighting of the Australian mainland, and the first recorded European landfall on the Australian continent, are attributed to the Dutch. The first ship and crew to chart the Australian coast and meet with Aboriginal people was the Duyfken captained by Dutch navigator, Willem Janszoon. He sighted the coast of Cape York Peninsula in early 1606, the Dutch charted the whole of the western and northern coastlines and named the island continent New Holland during the 17th century, but made no attempt at settlement. William Dampier, an English explorer and privateer, landed on the north-west coast of New Holland in 1688, in 1770, James Cook sailed along and mapped the east coast, which he named New South Wales and claimed for Great Britain. The first settlement led to the foundation of Sydney, and the exploration, a British settlement was established in Van Diemens Land, now known as Tasmania, in 1803, and it became a separate colony in 1825. The United Kingdom formally claimed the part of Western Australia in 1828. Separate colonies were carved from parts of New South Wales, South Australia in 1836, Victoria in 1851, the Northern Territory was founded in 1911 when it was excised from South Australia
7.
Military history of Australia during World War I
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In Australia, the outbreak of World War I was greeted with considerable enthusiasm. At the same time another force, initially consisting of 20,000 men. In early 1915, however, it was decided to out a amphibious landing on the Gallipoli peninsula with the goal of opening up a second front. The force was evacuated from the peninsula in December 1915 and returned to Egypt, in early 1916 it was decided that the infantry divisions would be sent to France, where they took part in many of the major battles fought on the Western Front. Most of the light horse units remained in the Middle East until the end of the war, carrying out operations against the Turks in Egypt. Small numbers of Australians served in other theatres of war, while the main focus of the Australian militarys effort was the ground war, air and naval forces were also committed. By the end of the war, Australians were far more circumspect, the nations involvement cost more than 60,000 Australian lives and many more were left unable to work as a result of their injuries. The impact of the war was felt in other areas as well. Financially it was costly, while the effect on the social and political landscape was considerable. When Prime Minister Andrew Fishers Labor Party came to power in September 1914, he reiterated Cooks statement saying, Australia would. rally to the Mother Country. To help and defend her to our last man and our last shilling, within days, plans for an Australian expeditionary force were completed by Brigadier General William Throsby Bridges and his staff officer, Major Cyril Brudenell Bingham White. White proposed a force of 18,000 men and this proposal was approved by Prime Minister Cook but he increased the offer to the British to 20,000 men to serve in any destination desired by the Home Government. On 6 August 1914, London cabled its acceptance of the force, recruiting offices opened on 10 August 1914 and by the end of 1914,52,561 volunteers had been accepted, although strict physical fitness guidelines were put in place. In 1884, Germany had colonised the eastern part of New Guinea. By the outbreak of the war, the Germans had been using the colony as a radio base. As a consequence, Britain required the wireless installations to be destroyed, shortly after the outbreak of war—following a request by the British government on 6 August 1914—the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force began forming. The objectives of the force were the German stations at Yap in the Caroline Islands, Nauru and at Rabaul, the task force sailed from Sydney on 19 August 1914, and hove to off Port Moresby where they waited for their escorts to arrive. While they were at Port Moresby, Holmes decided to disembark the Queensland militia soldiers due to concerns about their preparedness for action
8.
New Zealand
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New Zealand /njuːˈziːlənd/ is an island nation in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The country geographically comprises two main landmasses—the North Island, or Te Ika-a-Māui, and the South Island, or Te Waipounamu—and around 600 smaller islands. New Zealand is situated some 1,500 kilometres east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and roughly 1,000 kilometres south of the Pacific island areas of New Caledonia, Fiji, because of its remoteness, it was one of the last lands to be settled by humans. During its long period of isolation, New Zealand developed a distinct biodiversity of animal, fungal, the countrys varied topography and its sharp mountain peaks, such as the Southern Alps, owe much to the tectonic uplift of land and volcanic eruptions. New Zealands capital city is Wellington, while its most populous city is Auckland, sometime between 1250 and 1300 CE, Polynesians settled in the islands that later were named New Zealand and developed a distinctive Māori culture. In 1642, Dutch explorer Abel Tasman became the first European to sight New Zealand, in 1840, representatives of Britain and Māori chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi, which declared British sovereignty over the islands. In 1841, New Zealand became a colony within the British Empire, today, the majority of New Zealands population of 4.7 million is of European descent, the indigenous Māori are the largest minority, followed by Asians and Pacific Islanders. Reflecting this, New Zealands culture is derived from Māori and early British settlers. The official languages are English, Māori and New Zealand Sign Language, New Zealand is a developed country and ranks highly in international comparisons of national performance, such as health, education, economic freedom and quality of life. Since the 1980s, New Zealand has transformed from an agrarian, Queen Elizabeth II is the countrys head of state and is represented by a governor-general. In addition, New Zealand is organised into 11 regional councils and 67 territorial authorities for local government purposes, the Realm of New Zealand also includes Tokelau, the Cook Islands and Niue, and the Ross Dependency, which is New Zealands territorial claim in Antarctica. New Zealand is a member of the United Nations, Commonwealth of Nations, ANZUS, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Pacific Islands Forum, and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. Dutch explorer Abel Tasman sighted New Zealand in 1642 and called it Staten Landt, in 1645, Dutch cartographers renamed the land Nova Zeelandia after the Dutch province of Zeeland. British explorer James Cook subsequently anglicised the name to New Zealand, Aotearoa is the current Māori name for New Zealand. It is unknown whether Māori had a name for the country before the arrival of Europeans. Māori had several names for the two main islands, including Te Ika-a-Māui for the North Island and Te Waipounamu or Te Waka o Aoraki for the South Island. Early European maps labelled the islands North, Middle and South, in 1830, maps began to use North and South to distinguish the two largest islands and by 1907, this was the accepted norm. The New Zealand Geographic Board discovered in 2009 that the names of the North Island and South Island had never been formalised and this set the names as North Island or Te Ika-a-Māui, and South Island or Te Waipounamu
9.
Dominion of New Zealand
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The Dominion of New Zealand was the historical successor to the Colony of New Zealand. It was a monarchy with a high level of self-government within the British Empire. New Zealand became a separate British Crown colony in 1841 and received responsible government with the Constitution Act in 1852. New Zealand chose not to part in Australian Federation and became the Dominion of New Zealand on 26 September 1907, Dominion Day. Dominion status was a mark of the political independence that had evolved over half a century through responsible government. Just under one million lived in New Zealand in 1907 and cities such as Auckland. The Dominion of New Zealand allowed the British government to shape its foreign policy, the 1923 and 1926 Imperial Conferences decided that New Zealand should be allowed to negotiate their own political treaties and the first commercial treaty was ratified in 1928 with Japan. When the Second World War broke out in 1939 the New Zealand government made its own decision to enter the war, in the post-war period, the term ‘Dominion’ has fallen into disuse. Full independence was granted with the Statute of Westminster in 1931, after much debate over lexicon, the term ‘Dominion’ was decided upon. Dominion status was anticipated to be a house between colonial status and full independence. The adoption of the designation of ‘Dominion’ would, raise the status of New Zealand stated Prime Minister Sir Joseph Ward, Ward also had regional imperial ambitions. He hoped the new designation would remind the world that New Zealand was not part of Australia and it would dignify New Zealand, a country he thought was the natural centre for the government of the South Pacific. A royal proclamation granting New Zealand the designation of ‘Dominion’ was issued on 9 September 1907, on 26 September the Prime Minister, Sir Joseph Ward, read the proclamation from the steps of Parliament, Edward R. & I. And We hereby give Our Commands to all Public Departments accordingly, given at Our Court at Buckingham Palace, this ninth day of September, in the year of Our Lord one thousand nine hundred and seven, and in the seventh year of Our Reign. God save the King Letters patent were issued to confirm New Zealands change in status, declaring that, there shall be a Governor and Commander-in-Chief in and over Our Dominion of New Zealand. Control over defence, constitutional amendments, and foreign affairs remained with the British government until the Statute of Westminster was adopted in 1947, Ward had thought that New Zealanders would be much gratified with the new title. However, Dominion status was received with limited enthusiasm and indifference from the general public, the shift from colony to Dominion was viewed as a change of name only. The general public were unable to discern any practical difference, Dominion status was symbolic and recognised the countrys shift to self-governance, but this change had been accomplished with the first responsible government in the 1850s
10.
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was established as a sovereign state on 1 January 1801 by the Acts of Union 1800, which merged the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland. The growing desire for an Irish Republic led to the Irish War of Independence, Northern Ireland remained part of the United Kingdom, and the state was consequently renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Britain financed the European coalition that defeated France in 1815 in the Napoleonic Wars, the British Empire thereby became the foremost world power for the next century. The Crimean War with Russia and the Boer wars were relatively small operations in a largely peaceful century, rapid industrialisation that began in the decades prior to the states formation continued up until the mid-19th century. A devastating famine, exacerbated by government inaction in the century, led to demographic collapse in much of Ireland. It was an era of economic modernization and growth of industry, trade and finance. Outward migration was heavy to the colonies and to the United States. Britain also built up a large British Empire in Africa and Asia, India, by far the most important possession, saw a short-lived revolt in 1857. In foreign policy Britain favoured free trade, which enabled its financiers and merchants to operate successfully in many otherwise independent countries, as in South America. Britain formed no permanent military alliances until the early 20th century, when it began to cooperate with Japan, France and Russia, and moved closer to the United States. A brief period of limited independence for Ireland came to an end following the Irish Rebellion of 1798, the British governments fear of an independent Ireland siding against them with the French resulted in the decision to unite the two countries. This was brought about by legislation in the parliaments of both kingdoms and came into effect on 1 January 1801, however, King George III was bitterly opposed to any such Emancipation and succeeded in defeating his governments attempts to introduce it. When the Treaty of Amiens ended the war, Britain agreed to return most of the territories it had seized, in May 1803, war was declared again. In 1806, Napoleon issued the series of Berlin Decrees, which brought into effect the Continental System and this policy aimed to eliminate the threat from the British by closing French-controlled territory to foreign trade. Frances population and agricultural capacity far outstripped that of the British Isles, Napoleon expected that cutting Britain off from the European mainland would end its economic hegemony. The Spanish uprising in 1808 at last permitted Britain to gain a foothold on the Continent, after Napoleons surrender and exile to the island of Elba, peace appeared to have returned. The Allies united and the armies of Wellington and Blucher defeated Napoleon once, simultaneous with the Napoleonic Wars, trade disputes, arming hostile Indians and British impressment of American sailors led to the War of 1812 with the United States. The war was little noticed in Britain, which could devote few resources to the conflict until the fall of Napoleon in 1814, American frigates inflicted a series of defeats on the Royal Navy, which was short on manpower due to the conflict in Europe
11.
German Empire
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The German Empire was the historical German nation state that existed from the unification of Germany in 1871 to the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1918, when Germany became a federal republic. The German Empire consisted of 26 constituent territories, with most being ruled by royal families and this included four kingdoms, six grand duchies, five duchies, seven principalities, three free Hanseatic cities, and one imperial territory. Although Prussia became one of kingdoms in the new realm, it contained most of its population and territory. Its influence also helped define modern German culture, after 1850, the states of Germany had rapidly become industrialized, with particular strengths in coal, iron, chemicals, and railways. In 1871, it had a population of 41 million people, and by 1913, a heavily rural collection of states in 1815, now united Germany became predominantly urban. During its 47 years of existence, the German Empire operated as an industrial, technological, Germany became a great power, boasting a rapidly growing rail network, the worlds strongest army, and a fast-growing industrial base. In less than a decade, its navy became second only to Britains Royal Navy, after the removal of Chancellor Otto von Bismarck by Wilhelm II, the Empire embarked on a bellicose new course that ultimately led to World War I. When the great crisis of 1914 arrived, the German Empire had two allies, Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Italy, however, left the once the First World War started in August 1914. In the First World War, German plans to capture Paris quickly in autumn 1914 failed, the Allied naval blockade caused severe shortages of food. Germany was repeatedly forced to send troops to bolster Austria and Turkey on other fronts, however, Germany had great success on the Eastern Front, it occupied large Eastern territories following the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. German declaration of unrestricted submarine warfare in early 1917 was designed to strangle the British, it failed, but the declaration—along with the Zimmermann Telegram—did bring the United States into the war. Meanwhile, German civilians and soldiers had become war-weary and radicalised by the Russian Revolution and this failed, and by October the armies were in retreat, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire had collapsed, Bulgaria had surrendered and the German people had lost faith in their political system. The Empire collapsed in the November 1918 Revolution as the Emperor and all the ruling monarchs abdicated, and a republic took over. The German Confederation had been created by an act of the Congress of Vienna on 8 June 1815 as a result of the Napoleonic Wars, German nationalism rapidly shifted from its liberal and democratic character in 1848, called Pan-Germanism, to Prussian prime minister Otto von Bismarcks pragmatic Realpolitik. He envisioned a conservative, Prussian-dominated Germany, the war resulted in the Confederation being partially replaced by a North German Confederation in 1867, comprising the 22 states north of the Main. The new constitution and the title Emperor came into effect on 1 January 1871, during the Siege of Paris on 18 January 1871, William accepted to be proclaimed Emperor in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles. The second German Constitution was adopted by the Reichstag on 14 April 1871 and proclaimed by the Emperor on 16 April, the political system remained the same. The empire had a parliament called the Reichstag, which was elected by universal male suffrage, however, the original constituencies drawn in 1871 were never redrawn to reflect the growth of urban areas
12.
Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig
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Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig, KT, GCB, OM, GCVO, KCIE, ADC was a senior officer of the British Army. During the First World War he commanded the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front from late 1915 until the end of the war and he was nicknamed Butcher Haig for the two million British casualties endured under his command. The Canadian War Museum comments, His epic but costly offensives at the Somme and Passchendaele have become synonymous with the carnage. Haig was born in a house on Charlotte Square, Edinburgh but technically it was addressed as 19 Hope Street and he was not an aristocrat by birth, or landed gentry. His father John Haig—an irascible alcoholic—was middle class, and as head of the familys successful Haig & Haig whisky distillery had an income of £10,000 per year and his mother was from a gentry family fallen on straitened circumstances. Rachels cousin, Violet Veitch, was mother of the playwright, Haigs education began in 1869 as a boarder at Mr Batesons School in Clifton Bank, St Andrews. Later in 1869, he switched to Edinburgh Collegiate School, and then in 1871 to Orwell House, both of Haigs parents died by the time he was eighteen. After a tour of the United States with his brother, Haig attended university, studying Political Economy, Ancient History and French Literature at Brasenose College, Oxford and he devoted much of his time to socialising – he was a member of the Bullingdon Club – and equestrian sports. He was one of the best young horsemen at Oxford and quickly found his way into the University polo team and he was commissioned as a lieutenant into the 7th Hussars on 7 February 1885. Haig played polo for England on a tour of the United States and he would remain a polo enthusiast all his life, serving as Chairman of the Hurlingham Polo Committee from its reorganization in May 1914 until 1922. He would also be President of the Army Polo Committee and founder of the Indian Polo Association and he then saw overseas service in India, where he was appointed the regiments adjutant in 1888. He was something of a disciplinarian, but also impressed his superiors by his skill at sorting out paperwork and he was promoted to captain on 23 January 1891. Haig left India in November 1892 to prepare for the exam for the Staff College, Camberley. Although he was placed in the top 28 candidates he was not awarded a place as he had failed the compulsory mathematics paper. He concealed this failure for the rest of his life and later recommended dropping the mathematics paper as a requirement. Haigs colour blindness would not have been an issue if he had passed the mathematics paper. Fraser was one of those who had lobbied for Haig to enter the Staff College, and he was nominated in late 1894. While waiting to take up his place, he travelled to Germany to report on cavalry manoeuvres there, the careers of French and Haig were to be entwined for the next twenty-five years, and Haig helped French write the cavalry drillbook, published 1896
13.
Herbert Plumer, 1st Viscount Plumer
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Field Marshal Herbert Charles Onslow Plumer, 1st Viscount Plumer, GCB, GCMG, GCVO, GBE was a senior British Army officer of the First World War. He joined his regiment in India and became adjutant of his battalion on 29 April 1879, promoted to captain on 29 May 1882, he accompanied his battalion to the Sudan in 1884 as part of the Nile Expedition. Plumer was present at the battle of El Teb in February 1884 and the battle of Tamai in March 1884 and he spent from 1886 to 1887 attending the Staff College, Camberley, before being appointed Deputy-Assistant Adjutant-General in Jersey on 7 May 1890. He became deputy assistant adjutant-general at Aldershot with promotion to lieutenant colonel on 8 May 1897. He was promoted to colonel on 29 November 1900 and was given command of a mixed force which captured General Christiaan de Wets wagon train at Hamelfontein in February 1901. Plumer arrived back in the United Kingdom in April 1902, few officers have rendered better service. Promoted to major general on 22 August 1902, he was appointed Commander of the 4th Brigade within I Army Corps later the same year and he became General Officer Commanding 10th Division within IV Army Corps and General Officer Commanding Eastern District in December 1903. He became Quartermaster-General to the Forces in February 1904, General Officer Commanding 7th Division in April 1906, promoted to lieutenant general on 4 November 1908, he went on to be General Officer Commanding-in-Chief for Northern Command in November 1911. Plumer was sent to France in February 1915 and given command of V Corps which he led at the Second Battle of Ypres in April 1915. He took command of the Second Army in May 1915 and, having promoted to full general on 11 June 1915. The battle started with the explosion of a series of mines placed by the Royal Engineers tunnelling companies beneath German lines. The detonation created 19 large craters and was described as the loudest explosion in human history, after the mines were fired, Plumers soldiers left their trenches and advanced 3,000 yards. In November 1917 Plumer was given command of the British Expeditionary Force sent to the Italian Front after the disaster at Caporetto. Early in 1918, Plumer was sought by Lloyd George for the position of Chief of the Imperial General Staff as a replacement for William Robertson, Plumer instead commanded Second Army during the final stages of the war, during the German Spring Offensive and the Allied Hundred Days Offensive. Plumer became General Officer Commanding-in-Chief the British Army of the Rhine in December 1918 and he was promoted to field marshal on 31 July 1919 and was created Baron Plumer of Messines and of Bilton on 18 October 1919. In October 1925 he became High Commissioner of the British Mandate for Palestine and he resisted Arab pressure to reverse commitments made by the British in the Balfour Declaration and dealt firmly with both the Zionists and the Arab Nationalists. On 24 July 1927 he conducted the ceremony for the Menin Gate memorial at Ypres in Belgium. Plumer was created Viscount Plumer for his long and distinguished services on 3 June 1929
14.
Hubert Gough
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General Sir Hubert de la Poer Gough GCB, GCMG, KCVO was a senior officer in the British Army in the First World War. A favourite of the British Commander-in-Chief, Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, he experienced a rise through the ranks during the war. The name of Gough probably derives from the Welsh word coch, before leaving England Goughs ancestors were clerics and clerks in Wiltshire, and the family settled in Ireland in the early 17th century, not as planters but in clerical positions. By the nineteenth century they were an Anglo-Irish family of the landed gentry settled at Gurteen, County Waterford, Gough described himself as Irish by blood and upbringing. Gough was the eldest son of General Sir Charles J. S. Gough, VC, GCB, a nephew of General Sir Hugh H. Gough, VC, and a brother of Brigadier General Sir John Edmund Gough, VC. The Goughs are the family to have won the Victoria Cross. Goughs mother was brought up as a Roman Catholic, although her mother was a Protestant, Gough was born in London on 12 August 1870. Goughs mother returned to India when he was ten, leaving the boys at a boarding school, Gough attended Eton College, and according to his autobiography Soldiering On he was terrible at Latin. But he was good at such as football and rugby. After leaving Eton, Gough gained entrance to the Royal Military Academy and he was gazetted into the 16th Lancers as a second lieutenant on 5 March 1889. Many of his horses were provided for him by other officers, Gough was promoted to lieutenant on 23 July 1890, and his regiment sailed for Bombay in September 1890, travelling by train to Lucknow. During the winter of 1893–94 he briefly acted in command of a squadron while other officers were on leave and he was promoted captain on 22 December 1894 at the relatively early age of 24. He served with the Tirah Field Force 1897–98 and he was posted to the Northwest Frontier, initially to the garrison holding the entrance to the Khyber Pass at Jamrud. His patron Colonel Neville Chamberlain managed to obtain for him a posting as assistant commissariat officer in Major-General Alfred Gaselees brigade, Gough returned to England in June 1898, and sat the Staff College exam in August. He was hospitalised with malaria in the autumn, then married Margaret Louisa Nora Lewes on 22 December 1898 and he married at an unusually early age for a serving officer. Gough started at Staff College, Camberley on 9 January 1899, instead he was ordered on special service to South Africa on 25 October 1899, steaming from Southampton on 28 October and reaching Cape Town on 15 November. He was deployed to Natal, and was ordered by Colonel Ian Hamilton to act as instructor to one of the Rifle Associations. Gough then served as ADC to Lord Dundonald, who was commanding mounted troops in Natal, in January 1900 he was promoted to brigade intelligence officer, a role which required a great deal of scouting
15.
Erich Ludendorff
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Erich Friedrich Wilhelm Ludendorff was a German general, the victor of the Battle of Liège and the Battle of Tannenberg. From August 1916, his appointment as Quartermaster general made him the leader of the German war efforts during World War I until his resignation in October 1918, from 1924 to 1928 he represented the German Völkisch Freedom Party in the German Parliament. Consistently pursuing a military line of thought, Ludendorff developed, after the war. In this work, he argued that the physical and moral forces of the nation should be mobilized, because, according to him. Ludendorff was a recipient of the Grand Cross of the Iron Cross, Ludendorff was born on 9 April 1865 in Kruszewnia near Posen, Province of Posen, Kingdom of Prussia, the third of six children of August Wilhelm Ludendorff. His father was descended from Pomeranian merchants who had achieved the status of Junker, the Prussian epiphet of lower nobility, and he held a commission in the reserve cavalry. Through Dziembowskis wife Johanna Wilhelmine von Unruh, Erich was a descendant of the Counts of Dönhoff, the Dukes of Legnica and Brzeg. He had a stable and comfortable childhood, growing up on their family farm. Erich received his schooling from his maternal aunt and had a gift for mathematics. He passed the exam for the Cadet School at Plön with distinction. Ludendorffs education continued at the Hauptkadettenschule at Groß-Lichterfelde near Berlin through 1882, the old sinner, as he liked to hear himself called. Married the daughter of a factory owner, Margarethe née Schmidt. They met in a rainstorm when he offered his umbrella and she divorced to marry him, bringing three stepsons and a stepdaughter. Their marriage pleased both families and he was devoted to his stepchildren, in 1885, Ludendorff was commissioned as a subaltern into the 57th Infantry Regiment, then at Wesel. His service reports reveal the highest praise, with frequent commendations, in 1893, he entered the War Academy, where the commandant, General Meckel, recommended him to the General Staff, to which he was appointed in 1894. He rose rapidly and was a staff officer at the headquarters of V Corps from 1902 to 1904. Next he joined the Great General Staff in Berlin, which was commanded by Alfred von Schlieffen, Ludendorff directed the Second or Mobilization Section from 1904–13. Soon he was joined by Max Bauer, a brilliant artillery officer, by 1911, Ludendorff was a full colonel
16.
Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria
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Rupprecht or Rupert, Crown Prince of Bavaria was the last Bavarian Crown Prince. His full title was His Royal Highness Rupprecht Maria Luitpold Ferdinand, Crown Prince of Bavaria, Duke of Bavaria, of Franconia and in Swabia, during the first half of the First World War he commanded the German Sixth Army on the Western front. From August 1916 he commanded Army Group Rupprecht of Bavaria, which occupied the sector of the front opposite the British Expeditionary Force. Rupprecht was born in Munich, the eldest of the thirteen children of Ludwig III, the last King of Bavaria, and of Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria-Este and he was a member of the lineage of both Louis XIV of France and William the Conqueror. As a direct descendant of Henrietta of England, daughter of Charles I of England and his early education from the age of seven was conducted by Freiherr Rolf Kreusser, an Anglo-Bavarian. In his youth, he spent much of his time at Schloss Leutstetten, Starnberg, and at the villa near Lindau, Lake Constance. Apart from his studies and his training in riding and dancing, at school he was also obliged to learn a trade. Rupprechts grandfather, Luitpold, became de facto ruler of Bavaria when King Ludwig II, Rupprechts own position changed somewhat through these events as it became clear that he was likely to succeed to the Bavarian throne one day. After graduating from school, he entered Bavarian Armys Infanterie-Leibregiment as a Second Lieutenant. He interrupted his career to study at the universities of Munich. His early journeys were made with his Adjutant, Otto von Stetten, later he was accompanied by his first wife. At the age of 31, Rupprecht married his kinswoman Duchess Marie Gabrielle in Bavaria, in 1900 he became the 1, 128th Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece in Austria. In 1906, Rupprecht was made commander of the Bavarian I Army Corps, with the rank of lieutenant general of the infantry, in 1912, Luitpold was succeeded in the position of Prinzregent by his son Ludwig. On 5 November 1913, Ludwig was made king by vote of the Bavarian Senate and this decision also made Rupprecht the crown prince of Bavaria. He commanded the German Sixth Army at the outbreak of World War I in Lorraine, while part of the German army was participating in the Schlieffen plan, the Crown Prince led his troops on to the Battle of Lorraine. Rupprechts army gave way to the French attack in August 1914, in the Battle of Lorraine, Rupprecht failed to break through the French lines. He was later in command of the 6th Army in Northern France, only a few days after the battle, his oldest son Luitpold died of polio in Munich. During the spring of 1915, Rupprecht sent an answer to von Bissing, to the Kingdom of Prussia Rupprecht suggested other areas of northern France, Walloon Belgium with Liege and Namur, and the salient of the Netherlands round Maastricht
17.
Friedrich Sixt von Armin
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Friedrich Bertram Sixt von Armin was a German general who participated in the Franco-Prussian War and the First World War. In the latter he participated in battles on the Western Front, including the Battles of Passchendaele. Armin was born in Wetzlar, an exclave of the Rhine Province, after leaving school in 1870, he joined the 4th Grenadier Guards Regiment as a cadet and was seriously wounded in the Franco-Prussian War at the Battle of Gravelotte. He was awarded the Iron Cross, Second Class and promoted to lieutenant and he subsequently served as adjutant of the regiment and also held other positions on the regimental staff. In 1900, Armin was promoted to Oberst and given command of the 55th Infantry Regiment, the following year, he was appointed Chief of Staff of the Gardekorps. He was promoted to general in 1903 and to lieutenant general in 1906. Following a period of service at headquarters in 1908, Armin was appointed commander of the 13th Division. In 1911, he succeeded Paul von Hindenburg as commanding officer of the IV Corps in Magdeburg and in 1913 and he married on the 11 June 1882 Klara Pauline Auguste von Voigts-Rhetz. She was the daughter of Prussian general Julius von Voigts-Rhetz, the son Hans-Heinrich also had a military career. As Lieutenant general he became a prisoner of war in 1942, for his handling of combat operations on the Western Front, particularly at Arras and on the Somme, he was awarded the Pour le Mérite in 1916. The following year he was appointed commander of the 4th Army, during his time as commander, the 4th Army withstood several significant assaults from British and Commonwealth forces, notably the Third Battle of Ypres. For his performance as commander, Armin was awarded the Order of the Black Eagle, Armin was still in command of the 4th Army during the Spring Offensive of 1918. On 25 April, his troops captured the Kemmelberg, although they were forced to retreat to the Antwerp-Maas defensive line. With the signing of the Armistice on 11 November, Armin took command of Army Group A and returned with it to Germany, after the war, Armin lived in Magdeburg, Province of Saxony, where he was a popular speaker and made frequent appearances at public events. When he died in 1936, he was buried with military honors. Jörn Winkelvoß, Magdeburger Biographisches Lexikon, Magdeburg 2002, ISBN 3-933046-49-1 Armin, Friedrich Sixt von
18.
Battle of Messines (1917)
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The Nivelle Offensive in April and May had failed to achieve its more ambitious aims, led to the demoralisation of French troops and the dislocation of the Anglo-French strategy for 1917. The offensive at Messines forced the Germans to move reserves to Flanders from the Arras and Aisne fronts, the 4th Army divisions of Gruppe Wijtschate held the ridge, which were later reinforced by a division from Gruppe Ypern. The battle began with the detonation of a series of mines beneath German lines and this was followed by a creeping barrage 700 yards deep, covering the British troops as they secured the ridge, with support from tanks, cavalry patrols and aircraft. The effectiveness of the British mines, barrages and bombardments was improved by advances in artillery survey, flash-spotting, British attacks from 8–14 June advanced the front line beyond the former German Sehnen line. The Battle of Messines was a prelude to the much larger Third Battle of Ypres campaign, in January 1916, General Sir Herbert Plumer recommended to Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig the capture of Messines Ridge before an operation to capture the Gheluvelt plateau further north. The Flanders campaign was postponed because of the Battle of Verdun in 1916, Haig intended to force the Germans to move troops away from the French armies on the Aisne front, where demoralisation amid the failure of the Nivelle Offensive had led to mutinies. The British would gain observation of the slope of Menin Ridge at the west end of the Gheluvelt plateau. The front line around Ypres had changed little since the end of the Second Battle of Ypres. The British held the city, while the Germans held the ground of the Messines–Wytschaete Ridge to the south, the lower ridges to the east. The Ypres front was a salient bulging into the German lines but was overlooked by German artillery observers on the higher ground, the British had little ground observation of the German rear areas and valleys east of the ridges. Gradients varied from negligible, to 1,60 at Hooge and 1,33 at Zonnebeke, underneath the soil was London clay, sand and silt. The area was considered by the British to be drier than Loos, Givenchy, the Second Army devised a centralised artillery plan of great sophistication, following the practice established at the Battle of Arras in April 1917. The use of survey, gun calibration, weather data. Target-finding became systematic, with the use of new sound-ranging equipment, better organisation of flash-spotting, Second Army counter-battery artillery bombardments increased from twelve in the week ending 19 April, to 438 in the last ten days before the attack. A survey of captured ground after the found that 90 percent of the German artillery positions had been plotted. The 2nd Field Survey Company also assisted the mining companies by establishing the positions of objectives within the German lines, using intersection and a special series of aerial photographs. The company surveyed advanced artillery positions, so that moving forward to them once the battle had begun could begin firing as soon as they arrived at the positions. The British had begun an offensive against the German-held Wijtschate salient in 1916
19.
Battle of Pilckem Ridge
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The Battle of Pilckem Ridge,31 July –2 August 1917, was the opening attack of the Third Battle of Ypres in the First World War. On 31 July, the Anglo-French armies captured Pilckem Ridge and areas either side, after several weeks of changeable weather, heavy rain fell during the afternoon of 31 July. British observers in the XIX Corps area in the centre, lost sight of the troops that had advanced to the objective at the green line. The weather changed just as German regiments from specialist counter-attack Eingreif divisions intervened, for the next few days, both sides made local attacks to improve their positions, much hampered by the wet weather. A local British attack on the Gheluvelt Plateau was postponed because of the weather until 10 August, Operations in Flanders, Belgium had been desired by the British Cabinet, Admiralty and War Office since 1914. Douglas Haig succeeded John French as Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force on 19 December 1915, in January 1916, Haig ordered General Henry Rawlinson to plan an attack in the Ypres Salient. The Prime Minister David Lloyd George, sought to limit British casualties, British and French artillery would be transferred to Italy to add weight to the offensive. This suggestion was opposed by the French and Italian delegations and the British General Staff, the Nivelle plan was welcomed by the British, despite many in the Cabinet and War Office being sceptical, because a French attack would mean a lesser burden falling on the British. Haig was ordered to co-operate with Nivelle but secured French agreement that in the event the offensive failed, on 9 April, British and Empire forces undertook a preliminary attack at the Battle of Arras and the Nivelle Offensive began on 16 April. While the French recuperated, offensive action on the Western Front could only come from the BEF. It was not until June 1917 that the principle of a Flanders campaign was approved by the British Cabinet and more grudgingly by the Prime Minister, against his preference for an Italian campaign. Haig ordered General Herbert Plumer, the commander of the Second Army which occupied the Ypres Salient, Plumer believed that a force of 35 divisions and 5,000 guns would be necessary, which was far greater than the amount of artillery in the BEF. Haig also asked for an assessment from Colonel Macmullen on the General Headquarters staff, the tanks would have to detour north of Bellewaarde lake to Westhoek then wheel right at the German Albrecht Stellung. In between the German defence positions lay the Belgian villages of Zonnebeke and Passchendaele, Plumer produced a second revision of his plan, Messines Ridge and the west end of the Gheluvelt Plateau would be attacked first and then Pilckem Ridge a short while later. The Fourth Army commander, General Henry Rawlinson proposed a plan to take Messines Ridge, then the Gheluvelt Plateau, on 14 February after discussions with Rawlinson, Plumer and Haig, Macmullen submitted a memorandum which became the GHQ1917 plan. On 7 May, Haig set the timetable for the attack on Messines Ridge. A week after the Battle of Messines Ridge, Haig informed his commanders that his objectives were to wear down the German army, secure the Belgian coast. The armies were to capture Passchendaele Ridge and advance on Roulers and Thourout, to cut the railway supplying the German garrisons holding the Western Front north of Ypres and the Belgian coast
20.
Battle of Langemarck (1917)
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The Battle of Langemarck from 16–18 August 1917, was the second Allied general attack of the Third Battle of Ypres, during the First World War. The battle took place near Ypres in Belgian Flanders, on the Western Front against the German 4th Army, the French France had a big success on the northern flank and the main British gain of ground occurred near Langemark, adjacent to the French. The Allied attack succeeded from Langemarck to Drie Grachten but early advances in the south on the Gheluvelt Plateau, were forced back by powerful German counter-attacks. Both sides were hampered by rain, which had an effect on the British and French. The ground dried in early September, as the British rebuilt roads and tracks for supply, transferred more artillery from the further south. The British shifted the main offensive effort southwards, which led to the three big British successes on the Gheluvelt Plateau on 20,26 September and 4 October, mort Homme and Hill 304 were recaptured and 10,000 prisoners taken. The German army was not able to counter-attack the French, because the Eingreif divisions had been sent to Flanders, fighting at Verdun continued into September, adding to the pressure on the German army. The Battle of Hill 70, on the outskirts of Lens on the British First Army front, was fought by the Canadian Corps, the attack was costly but inflicted great losses on five German divisions and pinned down troops reserved for reliefs of tired divisions on the Flanders front. The British strategy of forcing the German army to defend the Ypres salient, to protect the Belgian coast, the French and Russian armies could make local attacks at Verdun and during the Kerensky Offensive but still needed time to recuperate and were vulnerable to large German attacks. The British offensive at Ypres drew German divisions away from the French and Russian armies, in Belgium, the Fifth Army had managed to advance little further towards Passchendaele since 31 July, due to the tenacity of the German defence and the unusually wet weather. At the Battle of Messines Ridge, the ridge had been captured down to the Oosttaverne line, ground conditions during the Battles of Ypres campaign were poor, as the surface had been bombarded, fought over and partially flooded, at times severely so. Shelling had destroyed drainage canals in the area and unseasonable heavy rain in August, turned some parts into morasses of mud, supply troops walked to the front on duck boards laid across the mud, often carrying loads of up to 45 kilograms. It was possible for soldiers to slip off the path into the craters, trees were reduced to blasted trunks, the branches and leaves torn away. Bodies of men buried earlier were uncovered by the rain and shelling, the ground was powdery to a depth of 9 metres and when wet, had the consistency of porridge. The ground dried quickly, except where water was held in shell-holes, brigadier-General J. H. Davidson intervened again on 1 August, with a memorandum urging caution on Haig and Gough. Two more divisions were sent to II Corps as a reinforcement and it was discovered that on many of the targets, the shell dispersion covered hundreds of yards, as did wire-cutting bombardments. The preliminary operation intended for 2 August, was delayed by rain until 10 August, the 20th Division had been in XIV Corps reserve, for the opening attack on 31 July and replaced the 38th Division on 5 August. British artillery was engaged in bombardments of the German positions opposite
21.
Battle of the Menin Road Ridge
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The Battle of the Menin Road Ridge, sometimes called Battle of the Menin Road, was the third British general attack of the Third Battle of Ypres in the First World War. The battle took place from 20–25 September 1917, in the Ypres Salient in Flanders on the Western Front, in early September, optimism increased among German commanders that the Flanders offensive had been defeated and several divisions and air units were transferred elsewhere. Drier weather and extensive repairs made it much easier for the British to move vast amounts of supplies forward from the original front line. German defences on the Gheluvelt Plateau, which had retained or quickly recaptured in July and August were lost. The Kerensky Offensive by Russia in July had accelerated the disintegration of the Russian Army and these defensive successes had been costly and by mid-August, German satisfaction at their defensive achievements was accompanied by concern at the extent of casualties. The rain, constant bombardments and British air attacks had put great strain on the German defence between British attacks. II Corps had been ordered to capture the rest of the line on 2 August. Principal responsibility for the offensive was transferred to General Plumer on 25 August, the Second Army boundary was shifted north into the area vacated by II Corps on the Gheluvelt plateau. Haig put more emphasis on the fringe of the plateau. Plumer issued an order on 1 September, which defined the Second Army area of operations as Broodseinde. Few German concrete pill-boxes and machine gun nests had been destroyed during earlier preparatory bombardments and attempts at precision bombardment between attacks had also failed, Plumers tactical refinements sought to undermine the German defence by making a shallower penetration and then fighting the principal battle against German counter-attack divisions. More infantry was provided for the stages of the advance, to defeat German counter-attacks. During a lull in early September, both tried to improve their positions, on 1 September, a determined German attack at Inverness Copse was repulsed. Further north in the XIX Corps area, a battalion of the 61st Division rushed Hill 35 but only took a small area, next day, the division attacked Aisne Farm and was repulsed but the neighbouring 58th Division took Spot Farm. On 5 September, the 61st Division tried again at night, took a German outpost on Hill 35, an attack from south of Hill 35 by the 42nd Division with the 125th Brigade and part of the 127th Brigade, took place on 6 September. For several days, practice barrages were conducted and a reconnaissance by a small party probed to within 25 yd of Beck House. During the night, the Germans sent up flares and rockets, disclosing their barrage line. The British barrage schedule required four rounds per-gun-per-minute but the gunners fired up to ten, the 125th Brigade attacked Iberian, Borry and Beck House farms, captured Beck House, then small-arms fire from Hill 35 stopped the rest of the attack, which was a costly failure
22.
Action of 25 September 1917
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The Action of 25 September 1917 was a German methodical counter-attack which took place during the Third Battle of Ypres on the Western Front during the First World War. On the British X Corps front at the south-east side of the Gheluvelt Plateau, two regiments of the German 50th Reserve Division attacked either side of the Reutelbeek stream, on a 1, 800-yard front. The Gegenangriff was supported by aircraft and 44 field and 20 heavy batteries of artillery, the German infantry managed to advance for about 100 yd near the Menin road on the southern flank and 600 yd on the northern flank beyond the Reutelbeek, close to Black Watch Corner. Return-fire from the 33rd Division south of Polygon Wood and the 15th Australian Brigade of the 5th Australian Division along the edge of the wood. General Herbert Plumer, the commander of the Second Army, ordered the attack scheduled for 26 September to go ahead, the 98th Brigade was to advance and cover the right flank of the 5th Australian Division and the 100th Brigade to the south was to re-capture the lost ground. The depleted 98th Brigade was delayed and only managed to reach Black Watch Corner,1,000 yd short of its objectives. Reinforcements moved forward into the 5th Australian Division area to the north and attacked south-westwards at noon, the attack succeeded by 2,00 p. m. against massed machine-gun fire and later in the afternoon, the 100th Brigade re-took the lost ground north of the Menin road. Casualties in the 33rd Division were so great that it was relieved on 27 September by the 23rd Division, the French attack at Verdun inflicted a defeat on the German 5th Army similar in extent to the defeat of the 4th Army in the Battle of Messines in June. The Germans were not able to mount big counter-attacks because their Eingreif divisions had been transferred to Flanders. France was running short of men and at the end of September, the French Minister of War had been told that another defeat could provoke more mutinies, British GHQ in France feared the possibility that the French might be forced into a separate peace. The 4th Army had spread strong points and pillboxes in the areas between its defensive lines and made rapid counter-attacks with local reserves and Eingreif divisions, against Allied penetrations. Plumer issued an order on 1 September, which defined the Second Army area of operations as Broodseinde. Few German concrete pill-boxes and machine gun nests had been destroyed during earlier preparatory bombardments and attempts at precision bombardment before attacks had also failed, Plumer made tactical refinements to defeat the German defence, by making a shallower penetration and then fighting the principal battle against German Eingreif divisions. After the big defeat at the Battle of the Menin Road Ridge on 20 September, during August, each German front-line division had kept two regiments in the front position, with all six of their battalions and the third regiment was held further back in reserve. The front battalions had needed to be relieved much more frequently than expected, due to constant British bombardments, periods in the line were exhausting and battalions had been sent where needed, dispersing units and disorganising their command structures. The three battalions of regiment were to move forward, successively to engage British battalions, which leap-frogged through those of the previous stage of an attack. The Eingreif divisions were to deliver a Gegenangriff later in the day, more infantry raids were to be conducted, to induce the British to reinforce the front line and make a denser target for the German artillery. Improvements in artillery observation in the zone were also ordered
23.
Battle of Polygon Wood
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Much of the woodland had been destroyed by the huge quantity of shellfire from both sides since 16 July and the area had changed hands several times. General Herbert Plumer continued the series of British general attacks with limited objectives, preparations were then made swiftly to defeat German counter-attacks, by mopping-up and consolidating the captured ground with defences in depth. The attack inflicted a blow on the German 4th Army, causing many losses, capturing a significant portion of the Flandern I Stellung. German defensive arrangements were changed hastily after the battle to try to counter British offensive superiority, the German defence had nonetheless recovered some of the lost ground in the middle of the attack front and restricted the British advance on the Gheluvelt plateau further south. The unseasonal rains stopped, the ground began to dry and the cessation of British attacks misled the Germans, British preparations for the next step began immediately and both sides studied the effect of the battle and the implications it had for their dispositions. On 21 September, Haig instructed the Fifth and Second Armies to make the next step across the Gheluvelt Plateau, I ANZAC Corps would conduct the main advance of about 1,200 yards, to complete the occupation of Polygon Wood and the south end of Zonnebeke village. The Second Army altered its corps frontages soon after the attack of 20 September so that each attacking division could be concentrated on a 1,000 yards front. Roads and light railways were built behind the new front line to allow artillery and ammunition to be moved forward, beginning on 20 September, as before Menin Road, bombardment and counter-battery fire began immediately, with practice barrages fired daily as a minimum. Artillery from VIII and IX Corps in the south acted to threaten attacks on Zandvoorde, the huge amounts of shellfire from both sides had cut up the ground and destroyed roads. New road circuits were built to carry forward, especially artillery ammunition. Some ground was captured by the Germans and part of it was recaptured by 33rd Division. Plumer ordered that the flank guard protecting the I Anzac Corps on 26 September be formed by 98th Brigade of 33rd Division while 100th Brigade recaptured the lost ground. The methods based on the Second Army Note of 31 August, had proved themselves on 20 September and were to be repeated, increased emphasis was placed on Lewis-guns, rifle-fire and rifle-grenades. Hand-grenades were given less emphasis in favour of more rifle training, the proportion of smoke ammunition for rifle grenades and Stokes mortars was increased, to blind the occupants of German pillboxes as they were being surrounded. All units were required to plan a defence against counter-attack, using the repulse of German infantry as an opportunity to follow up. X Corps was to advance to create a defensive flank on the right, attacking with the 33rd, a brigade of the 58th Division, was to attack up Gravenstafel spur towards Aviatik Farm. The relief of V Corps by II Anzac Corps, to bring the ridge as far north as Passchendaele into the Second Army area was delayed, as the 1st, Tower Hamlets spur overlooked the ground south towards Zandvoorde. The upper valleys of the Reutelbeek and Polygonebeek further north commanded the German counter-attack assembly areas in the low ground north of the Menin road, in between the German defence positions lay the Belgian villages of Zonnebeke and Passchendaele
24.
Battle of Poelcappelle
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Only the supporting attack in the north achieved a substantial advance. On the main front the German defences withstood the limited amount of artillery fire managed by the British after the attack of 4 October. The ground along the ridges had been severely damaged by shelling and rapidly deteriorated in the rains. Dreadful ground conditions had more effect on the British, who needed to move large amounts of artillery, the battle was a defensive success for the German army, although costly to both sides. The weather and ground conditions put severe strain on all the involved and led to many wounded being stranded on the battlefield. At Verdun on 20 August, the French had achieved a substantial success, there was no German counter-stroke or counter-offensive as the local Eingreif divisions had been sent to Flanders. On 28 September, Haig met General Hubert Gough and General Herbert Plumer to explain his intentions, the following step would be a deeper advance, with provision made for exploitation. Haig wanted reserve formations of infantry, artillery, cavalry and tanks to be ready to extend a successful attack, Gough and Plumer thought that this would probably take two more steps at three-day intervals and then another four days to repair roads over the captured ground. If the infantry brigades conducting the attack reported a big success. The divisions in reserve would be ready by the following morning to advance beyond the reserve brigades. In the early morning of 4 October, news arrived at British Headquarters of the success of the attack. Brigadier-General Charteris, Chief Intelligence Officer at General Headquarters, was sent from Haigs Advanced HQ to the Second Army HQ to discuss a possible exploitation. German artillery fire was heavy and the Flandern II and Flandern III Stellungen behind the attack front could be occupied by the fresh German divisions. An attack on these lines would need close artillery support. As the magnitude of the victory became apparent, Plumer had second thoughts, on the Fifth Army front, an attempt to get further forward was ordered by Gough and then cancelled, after a local German counter-attack was reported to have pushed the 4th Division off 19 Metre Hill. Rain fell again on 4 October, continued on 5 and 6 October then became a downpour on 7 October, on 7 October Haig cancelled the exploitation attack to the second objectives, intended for the afternoon of 9 October. The rain stopped that night and the ground began to dry on 8 October, from 4–9 October, over 30 millimetres of rain fell, in a month when average rainfall was 75 millimetres. Extension of the roads behind I and II Anzac Corps, proved impossible during the rain which began on 4 October
25.
First Battle of Passchendaele
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The First Battle of Passchendaele took place on 12 October 1917, in the Ypres Salient of the Western Front, west of Passchendaele village. The attack was part of the Third Battle of Ypres in the First World War, the British had planned to capture the ridges south and east of the city of Ypres as part of a strategy decided by the Allies at conferences in November 1916 and May 1917. Passchendaele lay on the last ridge east of Ypres,5 miles from a junction at Roulers. During the battle, misleading information and delays in communication left Herbert Plumer, the attackers had managed to advance towards the village but most of the captured ground had been lost to German counter-attacks during the afternoon. Instead of an advance of 1,500 yards to complete the capture of Passchendaele, the real position of the front line was discovered by air reconnaissance but the information arrived too late, to make more than minor changes to the plan. The British offensive was postponed until the improved and communications behind the front were restored. Two German divisions intended for Italy were diverted to Flanders, to replace extraordinarily high losses, the battle had been a German defensive success but was costly for both sides. In July 1917, Field Marshal Douglas Haig began the Third Battle of Ypres campaign, at the Battle of Messines the far side of the Messines Ridge had been captured down to the Oosttaverne Line and a substantial success gained in the subsequent Battle of Pilckem Ridge. At the Battle of Langemarck there was an advance of 1,500 yards around Langemarck village by XIV Corps. The main offensive was switched to the British Second Army under command of General Herbert Plumer, pauses on successive objective lines would become longer and attacks would be protected by a bigger, deeper multi-layered creeping barrage. The British infantry would be in communication with its artillery and have more local support from the Royal Flying Corps. Beyond the creeper, four heavy artillery counter-battery double groups, with 222 guns and howitzers, covered a 7, 000-yard front, ready to engage German guns with gas and high-explosive shell. The German high command had made several changes against the refined British attacking methods, in the lower ground west of the Passchendaele Ridge, three months of constant shelling had blocked the watercourses that normally provided drainage. On the night of 4 October, it began to rain, much of the battlefield again became a quagmire, making movement extremely difficult. On 7 October, this attack had been cancelled by Haig, because of the rain. Encouraged by the unusually high German losses during the Battle of Broodseinde and reports of lowered German morale, Haig sought quickly to renew the Allied offensive and secure Passchendaele Ridge. The Battle of Poelcappelle began on 9 October and was costly to both sides, most of the ground captured opposite Passchendaele was lost later in the day to German counter-attacks. News of this German defensive success was slow in reaching the higher British commanders, because the collapse of communications during an attack was exacerbated by the rain
26.
Second Battle of Passchendaele
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The Second Battle of Passchendaele was the culminating attack during the Third Battle of Ypres of the First World War. The battle took place in the Ypres Salient area of the Western Front, in and around the Belgian village of Passchendaele, the Canadian Corps relieved the exhausted II Anzac Corps, continuing the advance started with the First Battle of Passchendaele and ultimately capturing the village. Beyond gaining favourable observation positions, the battle was intended to gain drier winter positions on higher ground, the assault position was directly south of the inter-army boundary between the British Fifth and Second Armies. As a result, the Canadian Corps was to attack with support of formations from the British Fifth Army to the north, the offensive was executed in a series of attacks each with limited objectives, delivered at intervals of three or more days. The execution dates of the phases were tentatively given as 26 October,30 October and 6 November with a smaller action on 10 November. The attacks captured the German-held high ground along the Passchendaele–Westrozebeke ridge, on 20 November, Haig ended the battle, except for local attacks to gain better defensive positions. In July 1917, British Field Marshal Douglas Haig launched a series of offensives and this was an attempt to break down the resistance of the German Fourth Army and advance out of the Ypres Salient. Initial successes had been achieved at the Battle of Messines and subsequent Battle of Pilckem Ridge, torrential rain in August interrupted the tempo of the British advance and led to little progress at the Battle of Langemarck. In view of the failure of the British Fifth Army to make headway in August, Haig decided to transfer more offensive weight towards the south-east. The main command was therefore switched from General Hubert Goughs Fifth Army to the British Second Army under command of General Herbert Plumer, Plumer planned a series of more limited attacks, taking advantage of recent experience, rather than Goughs attempts at a more optimistic semi-open warfare version. Less ambitious infantry advances at the Battle of Menin Road, Battle of Polygon Wood, Battle of Broodseinde and Battle of Gravenstafel Ridge produced a 4, 000-yard advance in two weeks. The German attempts at resisting the advances led to losses on their part, especially at Broodseinde. In the low ground west of the Passchendaele Ridge, three months of constant shelling had blocked the watercourses that normally provided drainage, the four divisions of the Canadian Corps were transferred from the Lens sector to the Ypres Salient to capture Passchendaele. Interestingly, it was virtually the same front as had been occupied by the 1st Canadian Division back in April 1915, the Canadian Corps operation was to be executed in a series of three attacks, each with limited objectives, delivered at intervals of three or more days. However, Haig was anxious to avoid any delays, particularly given that he wished to assist the French attack on Mailmaison. Currie and the British Second Army commander, Herbert Plumer, re-examined the situation, the dates for the subsequent phases were tentatively given as 30 October and 6 November. Extensive preparations were needed before any advance could be made, a number of problems were found with the artillery and positions transferred from the Australians. Of the 250 heavy howitzers that existed on paper, only 227 could be found, of the 30618 pounder field guns, less than half were in action
27.
Ypres Salient
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The Ypres Salient is the area around Ypres in Belgium which was the scene of some of the biggest battles in World War I. Ypres lies at the junction of the Ypres–Comines Canal and the Ieperlee, the high point of the ridge is at Wytschaete,7,000 yd from Ypres, while at Hollebeke the ridge is 4,000 yd distant and recedes to 7,000 yd at Polygon Wood. Wytschaete is about 150 ft above the plain, on the Ypres–Menin road at Hooge, the rises are slight apart from the vicinity of Zonnebeke, which has a 1,33 gradient. From Hooge and to the east, the slope is 1,60 and near Hollebeke, it is 1,75, the heights are subtle but have the character of a saucer lip around Ypres. The main ridge has spurs sloping east and one is particularly noticeable at Wytschaete, which runs 2 mi south-east to Messines, with a slope to the east. Further south is the valley of the Douve river, Ploegsteert Wood. West of Messines Ridge is the parallel Wulverghem Spur, the Oosttaverne Spur, the general aspect south of Ypres is of low ridges and dips, gradually flattening to the north into a featureless plain. In 1914, Ypres had 2,354 houses and 16,700 inhabitants inside medieval earth ramparts, faced with brick, possession of the higher ground to the south and east of the city, gives ample scope for ground observation, enfilade fire and converging artillery-fire. An occupier also has the advantage of artillery deployments and the movement of reinforcements, the ridge had woods from Wytschaete to Zonnebeke, giving good cover, some being of notable size like Polygon Wood and those later named Battle Wood, Shrewsbury Forest and Sanctuary Wood. The woods usually had undergrowth, but the fields in gaps between the woods were 800–1,000 yd wide and devoid of cover, roads in this area were usually unpaved, except for the main ones from Ypres, with occasional villages and houses. The lowland west of the ridge was a mixture of meadow and fields, with high hedgerows dotted with trees, cut by streams and ditches emptying into the canals. The Ypres–Comines Canal is about 18 ft wide and the Yperlee about 36 ft, a salient in military terms is a battlefield feature that projects into an opponents territory. The salient is surrounded on three sides, making the occupying the salient vulnerable. The battles saved Ypres and the corner of Belgium around Veurne from German occupation, the few rises or hills became the objectives of the Second Battle of Ypres in 1915, which saw the first use of gas and the almost total destruction and evacuation of Ypres. During this battle, the Allied units were forced to back from Zonnebeke. This line was to define the Ypres Salient for over two years, during which Hooge lay in one of the eastern-most sectors of the salient and was much contested. This situation changed little despite British tunnelling prior to the Battle of Messines in June 1917, after the Third Battle of Ypres, the Ypres Salient was left relatively quiet until the Fourth Battle of Ypres, when the German Spring Offensive threatened to overwhelm the entire area. This offensive was stopped at the point the Allies were closest to being forced to abandon the salient, by August 1918, the Fifth Battle of Ypres pushed the German forces out of the salient entirely and they did not return
28.
Hooge in World War I
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Within a 0.62 mi radius of Hooge are the sites of Château Wood, Sanctuary Wood, Railway Wood and Menin Road. There are four Commonwealth War Graves Commission war cemeteries in this area and several museums, Hill 62 and Mount Sorrel are further south, while the sites known to British and Commonwealth soldiers as Stirling Castle and Clapham Junction are further east. For much of the war, Hooge was one of the eastern-most sectors of the Ypres Salient, around the village, the opposing front lines were almost within whispering distance of each other. With its ruined village and a maze of battered and confusing trench lines, the area was regarded as an area for the infantry. Both sides saw Hooge as an important area and a key target for heavy artillery bombardment. The high point of the ridge is at Wytschaete,7,000 yd from Ypres, while at Hollebeke the ridge is 4,000 yd distant and recedes to 7,000 yd at Polygon Wood. Wytschaete is about 150 ft above the plain, on the Ypres–Menin road at Hooge, the rises are slight apart from the vicinity of Zonnebeke which has a 1,33 gradient. From Hooge and to the east, the slope is 1,60 and near Hollebeke, it is 1,75, the heights are subtle and resemble a saucer lip around the city. The main ridge has spurs sloping east and one is particularly noticeable at Wytschaete, which runs 2 mi south-east to Messines with a slope to the east. Further south is the valley of the Douve river, Ploegsteert Wood. West of Messines Ridge is the parallel Wulverghem Spur and the Oosttaverne Spur, also parallel, the general aspect south and east of Ypres is one of low ridges and dips, gradually flattening northwards beyond Passchendaele into a featureless plain. Possession of the ground to the south and east of Ypres gives ample scope for ground observation, enfilade fire. An occupier also has the advantage that artillery deployments and the movement of reinforcements, the ridge had woods from Wytschaete to Zonnebeke giving good cover, some being of notable size like Polygon Wood and those later named Battle Wood, Shrewsbury Forest and Sanctuary Wood. Roads in this area were usually unpaved, except for the ones from Ypres. The lowland west of the ridge was a mixture of meadow and fields, with high hedgerows dotted with trees, cut by streams, the main road to Ypres from Poperinge to Vlamertinge is in a defile, easily observed from the ridge. When the château was shelled by German forces on 31 October 1914, monro) were injured, as were several members of their staffs, and some British soldiers were killed and Lomax died of his wounds several months later. By the end of the battle in November 1914 the Germans had been driven back, on 21 February 1915, the Germans exploded the first mine beneath the trenches at Hooge. The British were forced to retreat from Zonnebeke, Veldhoek and the St Julien arc from 5–6 May 1915, from 24–25 May 1915, the Battle of Bellewaarde was fought in the area until the end of the German offensive
29.
Capture of Wurst Farm
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Wurst Farm was at the lower end of Gravenstafel Ridge and several British attacks in the area since 31 July had been repulsed by the Germans. XVIII Corps of the Fifth Army was to advance onto the Gravenstafel Spur, the 58th Division was to conduct the attack, between the 55th Infantry Division on the right flank and the 51st Division on the left. The 58th Division objective was 1,000 yards ahead, among German strongpoints on Wurst Farm Ridge, the right-hand brigade made a decoy attack and the left-hand brigade attacked from the left flank, concealed by mist. The feint captured Winnipeg cross-roads as the attack by three battalions one behind the other, advanced from Vancouver Farm, Keerselaere and took Hubner Farm. The two following battalions leap-frogged the leading battalion and turned right, half-way up the spur to reach Wurst Farm, the British took 301 prisoners and fifty machine-guns, then established outposts to the left, overlooking the Stroombeek valley. Late in the afternoon, a counter-attack by the 234th Division to recover the Wilhelm Line on the XVIII Corps front was routed, on 26 September, the 58th Division advanced further up the ridge. The German 4th Army operation order for the battle at Ypres had been issued on 27 June. In between the German defence positions lay the villages of Zonnebeke and Passchendaele, the German defences had been arranged as a forward zone, main battle zone and rearward battle zone. The front position, forward zone and much of the Albrechtstellung had fallen since the Battle of Pilckem Ridge, the German defence scheme was based on a rigid defence of the front system and forward zone supported by counter-attacks from the Eingreif divisions. A small number of nests and permanent garrisons were kept separate from the counter-attack organisation. German infantry equipment had been improved by the issue of thirty-six MG08/15 machine-guns per regiment, in September 1917, the Wilhelmstellung section along Wurst Farm Ridge, the lower western slope of Gravenstafel Ridge, was still in German hands, despite the British attacks in July and August. At the top of the spur looking down on the valley of the Lekkerboterbeek, were Vancouver Farm, farther back towards Gravenstafel was the Tirpitz Redoubt and north-east of Winnipeg was the Wurst Farm fortification, north of the farm the ground dipped towards the Stroombeek. The British intended to overcome the German defence by making a shallower penetration, new infantry formations were devised to counter the German irregular pillbox zones and the impossibility of maintaining lines and waves of infantry on ground full of flooded shell-craters. Waves were replaced by a line of skirmishers leading small columns. The rifle, rather than hand-grenades, was made the infantry weapon. Draw net barrages, where field guns began a barrage 1,500 yards behind the German front line then crept towards it, were fired several times before the attack began. More infantry was provided for the stages of the advance, to defeat German counter-attacks after advancing no more than 1,500 yards. The Fifth Army made several attacks in September, most of which failed
30.
Mystery of Celtic Wood
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Official Army reports of the action state that investigations have failed to account for the fate of 37 men of the 10th Battalion. German records contain no mention of the attack, which led to speculation that the men were massacred and buried in a mass grave, visitors to the site today are still given this explanation by guides. Rumours persist that the men had walked into a mist. Some investigators attribute the lack of record of the missing to confusion, mis-reporting, the 10th Battalion of the 1st Australian Division were known as the Terrible 10th, a name given for the fighting spirit displayed in the trenches of the Western Front. Two of its members had been awarded the Victoria Cross and during the Gallipoli Campaign, the 10th Battalion of the 1st Australian Division had to raid Celtic Wood. The plan was for the 10th to charge the woods, blow up German dugouts, on the northern flank of the 10th Battalion, the 2nd Australian Division would mount a large attack to protect the flank of the main British advance on its northern flank. At 5,20 a. m. on 9 October, British war correspondents and Australian newspapers reported the attack on Celtic Wood as a victory. Although the attack failed, the Germans pulled back a week later, one man said only seven made it back to the Australian lines while another said the number was 14. Official army records list 37 of the 85 involved in the attack as missing, the main party was seen to enter Celtic Wood and were never seen again. Extensive investigations since that time have failed to account for the fate of LT Scotts party. A total of 37 soldiers are not accounted for. This is the greatest mystery for the AIF in WW1, the Australian war correspondent Charles Bean wrote. the operation ended disastrously. The missing were never heard of again and their names were not in any list of prisoners received during the war. The Graves Commission found no trace of their bodies after it, German military records contained no mention of the attack, leading some historians to speculate that they were massacred by German troops and buried in a secret mass grave. At least six books have been published attempting to explain the mystery, many professional historians misread Wilder-Neligans report to mean that only 14 soldiers of the 85 were accounted for and the fate of the 71 missing men was widely debated. In fact, the number of missing included bodies not recovered and it is unknown how many returned wounded but the ambiguous official records did imply a total of 48 unwounded, wounded and known killed in action leaving only 37 actually unaccounted for. As well as the speculation regarding the fate of the 37 missing, the incident is known as the greatest mystery of Australias Great War. The terrain to be crossed consisted of tree stumps, bomb craters metres wide and due to rain over the preceding days
31.
Mines in the Battle of Messines (1917)
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The mines were detonated at the start of the Battle of Messines, creating 19 large craters. The joint explosion of the mines at Messines ranks among the largest non-nuclear explosions of all time, the Battle of Messines marked the zenith of mine warfare. On 10 August 1917, the Royal Engineers fired the last British deep mine of the war, at Givenchy-en-Gohelle near Arras. As part of allied operations in the Ypres Salient, British mining against the German-held salient at Wijtschate near Messines had begun in spring 1915, with diggings 4. 6–6.1 metres below the surface. The concept of a mining offensive was devised in September 1915 by the Engineer-in-Chief of the BEF, Brigadier George Fowke. Fowke had been inspired by the thinking of Major John Norton-Griffiths, a civil engineer, Fowke had wanted galleries about 960 metres long, as far as Grand Bois and Bon Fermier Cabaret on the fringe of Messines but the longest tunnel was a 660 metres gallery to Kruisstraat. The scheme devised by Fowke was formally approved on 6 January 1916, although Fowke and his deputy, by January 1916, several deep mine shafts, marked as deep wells and six tunnels had thus been started. Sub-surface conditions were complex and separate ground water tables made mining difficult. To overcome the difficulties, two military geologists assisted the miners from March 1916, including Edgeworth David, who planned the system of mines. German tunnellers came within metres of several British mine chambers and, well before the Battle of Messines, found La Petite Douve Farm mine. On 27 August 1916, the Germans set a camouflet, which killed four men and wrecked the chamber for 120 metres, the mine had been charged, the British diverted the attention of German miners from their deepest galleries by making many minor attacks in the upper levels. The BEF miners eventually completed a line of mines under Messines Ridge that were charged with 454 tonnes of ammonal. A group of four mines was placed under the German strongpoint Birdcage at Le Pelerin, the mine at Spanbroekmolen was set 27 metres below ground, at the end of a gallery 520 metres long. When detonated on 7 June 1917, the blast of the mine at Spanbroekmolen formed the Lone Tree Crater with a diameter of 76 metres and a depth of 12 metres. )The mine at Ontario Farm did not produce a crater but left a shallow indentation in the soft clay, after wet sand flowed back into the crater. Birdcage 1–4 on the southern flank in the II Anzac Corps area, were not required because the Germans made a local retirement before 7 June. Peckham 2 was abandoned due to a collapse and the mine at La Petite Douve Farm was abandoned after the German camouflet blast of 27/28 August 1916. The evening before the attack, Harington, the Second Army Chief of Staff, remarked to the press, Gentlemen, we may not make history tomorrow, a voluntary retirement would avoid the calamity experienced by the defenders at the Battle of Vimy Ridge on 9 April. Kuhl proposed a retirement to the Sehnen Line, halfway back from the Second Line along the ridge or all the way back to the Third Line, the artillery commander of Gruppe Wijtschate said that the German guns were well-organised and could overcome British artillery
32.
Operation Hush
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Several plans were considered in 1915 and 1916, then shelved due to operations elsewhere. Operation Hush was intended to begin when the offensive at Ypres had advanced to Roulers and Thourout, linked by advances by the French. Operation Strandfest was a German spoiling attack, conducted on 10 July by Marinekorps-Flandern, the Germans used mustard gas for the first time, supported by a mass of heavy artillery, which captured part of the bridgehead over the Yser and annihilated two British battalions. After several postponements, Operation Hush was cancelled on 14 October 1917, in April 1918, the Dover Patrol raided Zeebrugge, to sink block ships in the canal entrance to trap U-Boats, which closed the canal for a short time. From September–October 1918, the Belgian coast was occupied by the Allies, the German occupation of the Belgian coast in 1914 caused the Admiralty swiftly to advocate their removal. On 26 October 1914 the First Lord, Winston Churchill wrote to Sir John French, eventually the plan was cancelled by the British government in favour of the Gallipoli Campaign. In early 1916 the idea of an attack was revived. Haig appointed Lieutenant-General Aylmer Hunter-Weston, who had commanded the 29th Division and then VIII Corps at Gallipoli, an offensive from Ypres and the landing operation in support of it, superseded an offensive on the coast. Bacon proposed to land 9,000 men from six monitors and 100 trawlers in Ostend harbour, with decoys towards Zeebrugge, Hunter-Weston rejected the plan because it was an attack on too narrow a front. Ostend harbour was in range of German heavy guns and the exits from the harbour were easy to block, Bacon began work on a new plan for a beach landing near Middelkirke, which incorporated Hunter-Westons recommendations and Haigs desire for tanks be incorporated into the landings. To land troops swiftly, retaining the benefit from surprise, Bacon designed flat-bottomed craft which could land on beaches, the pontoons were 550 feet long and 32 feet wide, specially built and lashed between pairs of monitors. Men, guns, wagons, ambulances, box-cars, motor-cars, hand-carts, bicycles, Stokes mortar carts and side-cars, the Belgian architect who designed the wall was a refugee in France and supplied his drawings. Night landings were also practised, with wire stretched between buoys to guide the pontoons to within 100 yards of their landing place, when the air observer had ranged the guns, the balloon observer took over again. The new method economised on aircrew and had the advantage of telephone communication between the ground and the balloon, since aircraft wireless could only transmit, Air co-operation with Royal Engineer sound ranging was also practised. A line of microphones were connected to a station further back. The offensive patrol front was from Stuyvekenskerke to Oost and Dunkirk Bains, RNAS aircraft conducted night-bombing in the area Dixmude, Thourout, Ghent, Retranchement and Nieuport Bains. The 9th Wing acted as a reserve on the Flanders front. A permanent roadway crossed lock gates east of Nieuport and another bridge named Crowder was built later near Nieuport, in the centre of the front was a 2, 000-yard stretch, with no crossing over the Yser and no mans land was 65–80 yards wide
33.
Western Front tactics, 1917
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The armies encountered growing manpower shortages, caused by the need to replace the losses of 1916 and by the competing demands for labour by civilian industry and agriculture. The German army attempted to avoid the high losses of 1916 by withdrawing to new deeper. Defence in depth was intended to nullify the growing strength of the Allies, particularly in artillery. Hindenburg and Ludendorff replaced Chief of the General Staff Erich von Falkenhayn at the end of August 1916 during the most serious crisis of the war. On 2 September the new leadership ordered a strict defensive at Verdun, Hindenburg and Ludendorff had already announced a reconnaissance on 6 September for a new, shorter line behind the Noyon salient. On 15 September a defensive strategy was announced except for Rumania and Generalfeldmarschall Rupprecht was instructed to prepare a new line, the new line across the base of the Noyon salient would be about 30 miles shorter and was to be completed in three months. Work began on 23 September, two trench lines about 200 yards apart were dug as an outpost line and a line of resistance on a reverse slope. Concrete machine-gun nests and Mebu shelters were built either side of the main line, with a maximum of 21 divisions expected to be available by March 1917, a decisive success was considered impossible. The new commanders, who known as the Third OHL, had spent two years in command of Ober Ost, the German section of the Eastern Front. Hindenburg and Ludendorff had demanded reinforcements from Falkenhayn to fight a campaign against Russia. Falkenhayn held that military victory against Russia was impossible and that the Western Front was the main theatre of the war. On 8 September, Hindenburg and Ludendorff held a conference at Cambrai with the chiefs of staff of the armies of the Westheer as part of a tour of inspection of the Western Front. Both men were dismayed at the nature of warfare that they found, in such contrast to the conditions on the Eastern Front. The Battle of Verdun and the Battle of the Somme had been extraordinarily costly, the battle had required the use of 29 divisions and by September, a division-a-day had to be withdrawn and replaced by a fresh one. From July to August the Westheer had fired the equivalent of 587 trainloads of field gun shells, for the receipt of only 470 from Germany, the most difficult factor in the battle is the enemys superiority in munitions. This allows their artillery, which is supported by aircraft, to level our trenches. The destruction of our positions is so thorough that our foremost line merely consists of occupied shell-holes and it was known in Germany that the British had introduced conscription on 27 January 1916 and that despite the huge losses on the Somme, there would be no shortage of reinforcements. At the end of August, German military intelligence calculated that of the 58 British divisions in France,18 were fresh
34.
The Menin Road (painting)
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The Menin Road is a large oil painting by Paul Nash completed in 1919 that depicts a First World War battlefield. Nash was commissioned by the British War Memorials Committee to paint a scene for the proposed national Hall of Remembrance. The painting is considered one of the most iconic images of the First World War and is held by the Imperial War Museum, in September 1914, the British government set up a propaganda department at Wellington House to influence domestic and overseas opinion. In 1916 Wellington House established a section to distribute films and publications such as War Pictorial, in 1916, Max Aitken had established the Canadian War Records Office, aiming to create an artistic and photographic record of the activities of Canadian forces. In February 1918, Aitken was made head of the new British Ministry of Information, the BWMC which began recruiting artists to compile a record of the war in France and at home. Paul Nash had spent the spring of 1917 in the Ypres Salient, along with Christopher Nevinson, Nash made a special study of the experience of the Third Battle of Ypres. In April 1918, Nash was commissioned by the British War Memorials Committee to paint a scene, for the proposed, national Hall of Remembrance. Nash originally intended to call the painting A Flanders Battlefield but he decided to name it The Menin Road. From late October to November 1917, Nash made some fifty drawings of the front, visiting Hill 60, Gheluvelt, Inverness Copse, Zillebeke, Nash had come under shellfire when travelling along the route and had the quick reactions of his driver to thank for his survival. He considered Tower Hamlets to be perhaps the most dreaded and disastrous locality of any area in any of the theatres of War. Nash started painting the canvas, which was almost 60 square feet, at Tubbs Farm near Chalfont St Peter in Buckinghamshire. He shared the space with his brother, John Nash, who was working on Over the Top, the room was so small that to view the canvas in full, Nash had to climb out the window. Two soldiers at the centre of the attempt to follow the, almost, unrecognisable road. Nash composed the picture in three broad strips, the foreground is filled with shell craters and debris, which block access to the road in the middle of the picture. The only possible path, to the side of one of the mud pools, is blocked by a fallen board. Across the centre of the picture, shell holes punch into the road at intervals, while debris further breaks up the road. Nash came to consider this painting to be his finest work, in 1997, the art historian Paul Gough wrote that The Menin Road had captured the inspiration and revulsion of the area. Modernist spatial distortion merged with a colour scheme echoing Flemish tapestry, showing the anachronisms of that phantasmagoric land, Battle of Pilckem Ridge Paul Nashs Work - Imperial War Museum
35.
Western Front (World War I)
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The Western Front or Western Theater was the main theatre of war during World War I. Following the outbreak of war in August 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by invading Luxembourg and Belgium, the tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne. Following the Race to the Sea, both sides dug in along a line of fortified trenches, stretching from the North Sea to the Swiss frontier with France. This line remained unchanged for most of the war. Between 1915 and 1917 there were several major offensives along this front, the attacks employed massive artillery bombardments and massed infantry advances. However, a combination of entrenchments, machine gun emplacements, barbed wire, as a result, no significant advances were made. In an effort to break the deadlock, this front saw the introduction of new technology, including poison gas, aircraft. But it was only after the adoption of improved tactics that some degree of mobility was restored, the German Armys Spring Offensive of 1918 was made possible by the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk that marked the end of the conflict on the Eastern Front. In spite of the stagnant nature of this front, this theatre would prove decisive. The terms of peace were agreed upon with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, belgiums neutrality was guaranteed by Britain under the 1839 Treaty of London, this caused Britain to join the war at the expiration of its ultimatum at 11 pm GMT on 4 August. Armies under German generals Alexander von Kluck and Karl von Bülow attacked Belgium on 4 August 1914, Luxembourg had been occupied without opposition on 2 August. The first battle in Belgium was the Siege of Liège, which lasted from 5–16 August, Liège was well fortified and surprised the German Army under von Bülow with its level of resistance. German heavy artillery was able to demolish the main forts within a few days. Following the fall of Liège, most of the Belgian field army retreated to Antwerp, leaving the garrison of Namur isolated, with the Belgian capital, Brussels, although the German army bypassed Antwerp, it remained a threat to their flank. Another siege followed at Namur, lasting from about 20–23 August, for their part, the French had five armies deployed on their borders. The pre-war French offensive plan, Plan XVII, was intended to capture Alsace-Lorraine following the outbreak of hostilities, on 7 August the VII Corps attacked Alsace with its objectives being to capture Mulhouse and Colmar. The main offensive was launched on 14 August with 1st and 2nd Armies attacking toward Sarrebourg-Morhange in Lorraine, in keeping with the Schlieffen Plan, the Germans withdrew slowly while inflicting severe losses upon the French. The French advanced the 3rd and 4th Armies toward the Saar River and attempted to capture Saarburg, attacking Briey and Neufchateau, before being driven back
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German invasion of Belgium
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The German invasion of Belgium was a military campaign which began on 4 August 1914. Earlier, on 24 July, the Belgian government had announced that if war came it would uphold its historic neutrality, the Belgian government mobilised its armed forces on 31 July and a state of heightened alert was proclaimed in Germany. On 2 August, the German government sent an ultimatum to Belgium, demanding passage through the country, two days later, the Belgian Government refused the demands and the British Government guaranteed military support to Belgium. The German government declared war on Belgium on 4 August, troops crossed the border, the government abandoned the capital, Brussels, on 17 August and after fighting on the Gete river, the Belgian field army withdrew westwards, to the National Redoubt at Antwerp on 19 August. Brussels was occupied the day and Namur was besieged on 21 August. After the battles of Mons and Charleroi, the bulk of the German armies marched south into France, leaving small forces to garrison Brussels, the III Reserve Corps advanced to the fortified zone around Antwerp and a division of the IV Reserve Corps took over in Brussels. German troop withdrawals to reinforce the armies in France were postponed, to repulse a Belgian sortie from 9–13 September. While the French armies and the BEF began the Great Retreat into France, on 27 August, a squadron of the Royal Naval Air Service flew to Ostend, to fly air reconnaissance sorties between Bruges, Ghent and Ypres. British marines landed in France on 19/20 September and began scouting unoccupied Belgium in motor cars, on 2 October, the Marine Brigade of the Royal Naval Division was moved to Antwerp, followed by the rest of the division on 6 October. Despite minor British reinforcement, the siege of Antwerp ended when its defensive ring of forts was destroyed by German super-heavy artillery, the city was abandoned on 9 October and Allied forces withdrew to West Flanders. Military operations in Belgium also moved westwards as the Belgian army withdrew from Antwerp to the close to the border with France. By November 1914, most of Belgium was under German occupation, a German military administration was established on 26 August 1914, to rule Belgium through the pre-war Belgian administrative system, overseen by a small group of German officers and officials. The German occupation was maintained until late 1918, the 1839 Treaty of London recognized Belgium as an independent and neutral state. The Agadir Crisis of 1911 left the Belgian government in little doubt as to the risk of a European war, in September 1911, a government meeting concluded that Belgium must be prepared to resist a German invasion, to avoid accusations of collusion by the British and French governments. Britain, France and the Netherlands were also to continue to be treated as potential enemies, in 1913 and 1914, the Germans made inquires to the Belgian military attaché in Berlin, about the passage of German military forces through Belgium. If invaded, Belgium would need help but would not treat foreign powers as allies or form objectives beyond the maintenance of Belgian independence. Neutrality forced the Belgian government into a strategy of independence, based on a rearmament programme begun in 1909. The Belgian plan was to have three army corps, to reduce the advantage of the German armies over the French
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Battle of Halen
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In 1914, Halen was a small market town and a convenient river crossing of the Gete River, the town was also on the principal axis of advance of the Imperial German army. The battle was a victory for the Belgians but did little to delay the German invasion of Belgium. On 3 August the Belgian government refused a German ultimatum and the British government guaranteed military support to Belgium should Germany invade, Germany declared war on France, the British government ordered general mobilisation and Italy declared neutrality. On 4 August, the British government sent an ultimatum to Germany and declared war on Germany at midnight on 4/5 August, Belgium severed diplomatic relations with Germany and Germany declared war on Belgium. German troops crossed the Belgian frontier and attacked Liège, a week after the German invasion, German cavalry had been operating towards Hasselt and Diest, which threatened the left flank of the army on the Gete. Belgian General Headquarters chose Halen as a place to delay the advance, the Belgian Cavalry Division was sent from Sint-Truiden to Budingen and Halen, to extend the Belgian left flank. Belgian and French troops were rumoured to be between Tienen and Huy and Marwitz advanced to the north towards parties of Belgian cavalry, which had retired towards Diest. On 11 August, large bodies of German cavalry, artillery and infantry had been seen by Belgian cavalry scouts in the area from Sint-Truiden to Hasselt, Belgian headquarters therefore anticipated a German advance towards Hasselt and Diest. To block the German advance the Belgian Cavalry Division, commanded by Lieutenant-General Léon de Witte, was sent to guard the bridge over the River Gete at Halen. During an evening meeting, the Belgian general staff convinced de Witte to fight a dismounted action, General de Witte had garrisoned the Gete crossings at Diest, Halen, Geetbets and Budingen. The main road from Hasselt to Diest passed through this village, if captured, Loksbergen and Waanrode would be outflanked and the left wing of the Belgian army threatened. The German cavalry did not begin to move until 12 August due to the fatigue of the caused by the intense summer heat. The 2nd Cavalry Division of Major-General von Krane advanced through Hasselt to Spalbeek, Marwitz ordered the 4th Cavalry Division to cross the Gete and at 8,45 a. m. the 7th and 9th Jäger battalions advanced. Belgian engineers had blown the bridge over the Gete but the structure only partly collapsed, the main Belgian defence line was west of Halen, in terrain which gave only an obstructed view to the attacker. The 17th and 3rd Cavalry brigades assisted the Jäger in and south of Halen, attacks into the cornfields beyond were repulsed with many casualties, some cavalry becoming trapped by wire fences. Rode in against infantry, artillery and machine-guns, hung up on the wire, fell into a sunken road, the Jäger were also repulsed despite support from the 2nd Guards Machine-gun Detachment and dismounted cavalry sharpshooters. Towards the end of the day, Marwitz broke off the engagement, the 2nd Cavalry Division retired towards Hasselt and the 4th Cavalry Division withdrew to Alken. De Witte repulsed the German cavalry attacks by ordering the cavalry, significant casualties were inflicted upon the Germans
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Battle of Dinant
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The Battle of Dinant was an engagement fought by French and German forces in and around the Belgian town of Dinant during the First World War during the German invasion of Belgium. The French Fifth Army and the British Expeditionary Force advanced into Belgium and fought the Battle of Charleroi and Battle of Mons, from the Meuse crossings in the east, to Mons in the west. On 15 August 1914, German troops captured the Citadel of Dinant overlooking the town until it was recaptured by a French counter-attack during the afternoon, French troops spent the next few days fortifying the Meuse crossings and exchanging fire with German troops on the east bank. A German raiding-party drove into Dinant on the night of 21/22 August but the attack degenerated into a fiasco, in which Germans may have fired at each other. Rather than assume that the fire had come from the French on the west bank. The raiders ran away, with 19 dead and 117 wounded, the massacre was a systematic attack on assumed civilian resisters and was the largest German atrocity perpetrated during the invasion, which became known as The Rape of Belgium. In 1914, the town had a population of 7,000 people and was an important strategic crossing on the Meuse, where the river flows through a south–north gorge. Three roads and a path converged on the town from the east, over an escarpment and down into the town, the wooded ridge on the east bank was topped by the Napoleonic era stone Citadel of Dinant overlooking the town and the Meuse bridge, 100-metre below. In 1914 there was a ribbon of streets about 4 kilometres long on the east bank, before the battle, the Mayor of Dinant urged the population to not take part in the fighting and forbade manifestations in support of the Allies. The initial operations in the German invasion of France began with the Occupation of Luxembourg, five German infantry brigades, three cavalry divisions with horse artillery and machine-gun detachments and ten Jäger battalions crossed the Belgian border. The town of Dinant was close to the French border, between Liège and Mons on the east bank of the Meuse, on 6 August, Belgian engineers dispersed a patrol of German hussars at Anseremme and on 12 August, French infantry at Dinant destroyed a cavalry patrol. By 14 August, the French Fifth Army had occupied Dinant, on 15 August, troops of the German 3rd and 4th Cavalry divisions, five battalions of Jäger and three field artillery groups, attempted to take Dinant by coup de main. At 6,00 a. m. German cavalry guarded the flanks as the 12th Freyberg Jäger Battalion and the 13th Garde-Jäger Battalion supported by horse artillery and machine-guns, attacked the town and citadel. The Germans got a machine-gun into the citadel around 11,45 a. m. Jäger descended the stairway and advanced into the town by 1,30 p. m. The French had no artillery and were forced out of the citadel, parties of Jäger crossed the bridge in pursuit, as Germans on the high ground on the east bank and in the citadel, engaged the French at the end of the bridge with machine-gun fire. The Jäger were forced back across the Meuse and by 5,00 p. m. the French had climbed the 408 stairs to the citadel, the Germans withdrew from the town and the heights with their prisoners, towards the main body of the 3rd Army. During the battle, the French Cavalry Corps, attempted to attack the German flank on the east bank but was held up by German infantry, the French retired to the west bank having lost 1,100 casualties and occupied the bridge and houses nearby. Two battalions of the 148th Infantry Regiment in Leffe and St. Nicolas also retired to the west bank, in Dinant a civilian had been killed, one had been wounded and the hospital and houses on the east bank had been hit by shells
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Siege of Namur (1914)
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The Siege of Namur was a battle between Belgian and German forces around the fortified city of Namur during World War I. Namur was defended by a ring of fortresses, known as the Fortified Position of Namur. The French army was defeated at the Battle of Charleroi and managed to only one regiment into Namur as a reinforcement. The forts were destroyed by the bombardment, some being demolished by heavy artillery rather than the siege guns. The Anglo-French Entente had led the Belgians to perceive that the British attitude to Belgium had changed, on mobilization, the King became Commander-in-Chief and chose where the army was to concentrate. A school of thought wanted a return to a deployment in line with French theories of the offensive. Belgian plans became a compromise in which the army concentrated behind the Gete river with two divisions forward at Liège and Namur. German strategy had given priority to operations against France and a defensive posture against Russia since 1891. German planning was determined by numerical inferiority, the speed of mobilisation and concentration, frontal attacks were expected to be costly and protracted, leading to limited success, particularly after the French and Russians modernised their fortifications on the frontiers with Germany. By 1898–1899, such a manoeuvre was intended to pass swiftly through Belgium, helmuth von Moltke the Younger succeeded Schlieffen in 1906 and was less certain that the French would conform to German assumptions. 1,700,000 men which were expected to be mobilised in the Westheer. The French would either be annihilated by the manoeuvre from the north or it would create conditions for victory in the centre or in Lorraine on the common border, on the right bank were Fort de Maizeret, Fort dAndoy and Fort de Dave, all modernized. The obsolete Citadel of Namur in the town became redundant, the forts were built of non-reinforced concrete but this could only be poured in daylight, which caused weak joints between each pour. A citadel was built and covered by 3–4 metres of concrete, caserne walls which were vulnerable, had concrete of 1.5 metres thickness. The forts had a side to the rear, to allow them to be recaptured by Belgian forces counter-attacking from the rear. Barracks and support facilities were built on the side, using the rear ditch for light. Each fort had a detachment of infantry, to sortie from the fort to engage an attacker, the Battle of Liège was the first engagement in the German invasion of Belgium and the first battle of World War I. The attack on the city began on 5 August 1914 and lasted until 16 August, the Belgian field army withdrew from the Gete towards Antwerp from 18–20 August and Brussels was captured unopposed on 20 August. The siege of Liège lasted for days, rather than the two days anticipated by the Germans. 107,000 men which advanced on Namur on 16 August
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Battle of the Frontiers
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The Battle of the Frontiers was a series of battles fought along the eastern frontier of France and in southern Belgium shortly after the outbreak of World War I. The Franco-British were driven back by the Germans, who were able to invade northern France, French and British rearguard actions delayed the German advance, allowing the French time to transfer their forces to the west to defend Paris, resulting in the First Battle of the Marne. Moranville began planning for the concentration of the army and met Belgian railway officials on 29 July, on mobilization, the King became Commander-in-Chief and chose where the army was to concentrate. A school of thought wanted a return to a frontier deployment, Belgian plans became a compromise, in which the field army concentrated behind the Gete river, with two divisions further forward at Liège and Namur. The Schlieffen plan amounts to a critique of German strategy in 1914 since it clearly predicted the failure of Moltke’s underpowered invasion of France. It was his hope that the French would either be annihilated or the manoeuvre from the north would create conditions for victory in the centre or in Lorraine, on the common border. The armies were to concentrate opposite the German frontier around Épinal, Nancy and Verdun–Mezières, the French deployment was intended to be ready for a German offensive in Lorraine or through Belgium. On 1 August, the British government ordered the mobilisation of the navy, military operations began on the French frontier, Libau was bombarded by a German light cruiser SMS Augsburg and the British government guaranteed naval protection for French coasts. On 3 August, the Belgian Government refused German demands and the British Government guaranteed military support to Belgium, Germany declared war on France, the British government ordered general mobilisation and Italy declared neutrality. On 4 August, the British government sent an ultimatum to Germany and declared war at midnight on 4/5 August, Belgium severed diplomatic relations with Germany and Germany declared war on Belgium. German troops crossed the Belgian frontier and attacked Liège, on 2 August, as small parties of German soldiers crossed the French border, Messimy told Joffre that he had the freedom to order French troops across the German but not the Belgian frontier. As soon as news arrived that German troops had entered Luxembourg, operations into Belgium were forbidden, to deny the Germans a pretext until 4 August, when it was certain that German troops had already violated the Belgian border. To comply with the Franco-Russian Alliance, Joffre ordered an invasion of Alsace-Lorraine on for 14 August, on 8 August General Instruction No. On 14 August Joffre and Lanrezac met but Joffre considered that only a few German cavalry and infantry parties had crossed the Meuse, with the BEF moving to Maubeuge and Hirson a redeployment of the Fifth Army would disrupt the deployment of the other armies. On 14 August a new intelligence report showed eight German corps between Luxembourg and Liège and by the next day Joffre allowed the move of the Fifth Army north, to operate beyond the Meuse. The XI Corps was transferred to the Fourth Army and the XVIII Corps was moved from the Third Army to the Fifth Army, the VII Corps in the south was reinforced by two divisions, a cavalry division and the First Group of Reserve Divisions. The corps was renamed the Army of Alsace, to relieve the First Army of concern about Alsace during the operations in Lorraine, two corps were removed from the Second Army and became a strategic reserve. Joffre met Sir John French on 16 August and learned that the British could be ready by 24 August, Joffre also arranged for Territorial divisions to cover the area from Maubeuge to Dunkirk
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