Ludendorff's Opinion.
In his "Memoirs", Ludendorff wrote: The battle ended on April 4. It was a brilliant feat of arms and will always be so considered in history. What the British and French had been unable to do, we accomplished in the fourth year of the war.
Strategically, we did not attain what the events of March 23, 24 and 25 justified our hoping for.
That we failed to take Amiens, which would have rendered the communications of the enemy forces astride the Somme extremely difficult, was especially disappointing.
Long distance bombardment of the railways could not be considered an equivalent.
French 6in. Battery in action at Rocquencourt.
(7 miles to the west of Montdidier).
German heavy gun at Faverolles
(2 miles east of Montdidier).
Captured on August 9, 1918, during the offensive of General Debeney's Army. (See p. 42).
Clemenceau at the G.H.Q. of a British Division in 1918.
(Photo Imperial War Museum).
A German Tank Trap. Australian and American soldiers examine the charges of explosive with
which this trap was fitted. One of them is looking through a German periscope. (July 11, 1918).
THE ALLIES' OFFENSIVES IN PICARDY.
August-September 1918.
After the German Offensive of March.
After the check of their offensive in Picardy, the Germans attempted, by means of secondary offensives, to attain those results which they had failed to obtain in the first instance.
On April 9, they attacked in Flanders, from Béthune to the north of Ypres, in the direction of the Channel Ports, but failed to take Ypres, or to reach Hazebrouck. (See the Guide: Ypres.)
On May 27, the front of the Chemin des Dames was attacked by surprise, the enemy reaching the banks of the Marne. (See the Guide: The Second Battle of the Marne).
From June 9 to 18, their efforts were turned against the salients of the Aisne and Rheims. On June 11, they captured the massif of Thiescourt, but were held before Compiègne. In front of Rheims the road was barred by the French Colonial troops. (See the Guide: Rheims.)
Lastly, seeking a prompt decision at all cost, and hypnotised by Paris, the Germans planned a still more formidable offensive: the "Friedensturm" or Peace Battle. However, the French High Command were not taken unawares. The scope and time of the offensive were known, and the Germans failed.