The French Manœuvre. Liberating Montdidier.
Meanwhile, General Debeney, by a series of turning movements, brought about the fall of important sections of the German front, without frontal attacks.
Constantly extending his attacks along the Avre, the approaches to the river on the north and north-east, as far as the confluence with the Doms stream, were cleared, whilst his hold on Montdidier, from the north-east, gradually tightened.
British Cavalry near Albert. (Photo Imperial War Museum).
On August 9, the French line was advanced as far as the station of Hangest-en-Santerre, on the Albert-Rosières-Montdidier railway.
In order to force the enemy to abandon Montdidier, without a frontal attack, General Debeney began a turning movement at about 4 p.m. A secondary attack was launched in the direction of Roye, between Domelieu and Le Ployron. The station of Montdidier and Faverolles Village on the Montdidier-Roye line, were reached that evening.
Throughout the day, the French airmen bombed Roye undisturbed by the enemy's planes or air-defence guns.
By evening, the 1st Army had taken 5,000 prisoners. From Faverolles, they threatened to join up with the men who had advanced north, via Davenescourt, and to cut off the Germans in Montdidier.
The latter was evacuated in great disorder the same night and on the following morning, only a few machine-gunners being left behind to retard the French advance as long as possible.
On August 10, at noon, the French entered the ruined town, and advanced rapidly eastward, beyond Fescamps, on both sides of the road to Roye. In the evening, they reached the line Villers-les-Roye (where they joined hands with the British) and Grivillers.
On the 11th, they captured the park and village of Tilloloy. By the evening of the 12th, the 1st Army had taken 8,500 prisoners (including 181 officers), 250 guns, numerous minenwerfer, 1,600 machines-guns, and huge quantities of stores.
Photos, p. 44:
(1) Australian Sergeant examining a German Machine-gun captured by the 15th Brigade.
(2) Near Warfusée-Abancourt, August 8. Infantry of the Australian 1st Division advancing on Harbonnières, after a tank had cleaned up a line of German Machine-guns which was holding them.
(3) The Shelters of the above line of machine-guns— light constructions compared with the powerful trench organisations, yet strong enough to require tank treatment.
Photos above:
(1) Australians in German trench, with field-guns just captured (August 1918).
(2) British lorries in Villers-Bretonneux (August 17, 1918).
II.—THE BRITISH OFFENSIVE NORTH OF THE SOMME AND
THE FRENCH OFFENSIVE BETWEEN THE OISE AND AISNE.
August 18-29.
The first phase of the Battle of Picardy was ended, but a great new effort, between the Somme and the Scarpe, was being prepared.
Between the Aisne and the Oise, Mangin's Army attacked the plateaux on August 18th, advancing to the Ailette on the 23rd. (Sketch above).
The Attack between the Oise and Aisne
by the Armies of Generals Mangin
and Humbert, August 18-23.
Following up this advance, Humbert's Army continued its offensive vigorously on the 21st, conquered the northern slopes of Le Plémont, crossed the Divette, and occupied Lassigny. (Sketch above).
By their advance, these two armies threatened the right of the German XVIIIth Army, established on the Chaulnes-Roye line.
At the same time, Byng's Army attacked between the Ancre and Croisilles, whilst Rawlinson's left attacked north of the Somme. (Sketch above).
The Attack between the Somme and Scarpe
by Byng and Rawlinson, August 21-29.
At dawn, on August 21, the 4th and 6th Corps of Byng's Army attacked between Miraumont and Moyenneville.
Supported by tanks, they captured the advance defences in brilliant style.
The fighting was particularly severe around Achiet-le-Grand and Logeast Wood, where, however, the advance continued steadily. The Arras-Albert railway which was the enemy's principal line of defence, was reached, 2,000 prisoners being taken.
After this preparatory attack, the offensive was launched on August 22, along a thirty-two mile front, between Lihons and Mercatel.
South of the Somme, the Australians captured Herleville and Chuignes, with 2,000 prisoners. Rawlinson's left crossed the Ancre, took Albert, and advanced its front to the hills east of the Albert-Braye road, capturing 2,400 prisoners.
But the hardest blow was struck further north by Byng's Army. Advancing beyond the principal line of defence (the Arras-Albert railway), the 4th and 6th Corps took Gomiécourt, Ervillers, Boyelles, many guns, and more than 5,000 prisoners, then pushed on towards Bapaume and Croisilles. The 6th Corps, astride the Arras-Bapaume road, marched on Bapaume, threatening to cut off the Germans who were hanging on to the Heights of Thiepval. The latter, attacked at the same time further south, fell. Bray-sur-Somme was also captured.
The battle continued from the 25th to the 29th, the enemy's resistance stiffening steadily.
Counter-attacking, the Germans defended this old battlefield of 1916, strewn with obstacles, with great desperation.
On the 29th, Bapaume fell, and the Germans retreated from the north of that town to the Somme, on the line Cléry, Combles, Frémicourt, Bullecourt, and Heudecourt.
The German Retreat, south of the Somme,
under the double menace of the British
and French Advance.
Threatened by the British to the north of the Somme, and by the French on the banks of the Oise, the Germans began their retreat in the bend of the Somme. Closely pursued by the British 4th Army and the French 1st and 3rd Armies, they withdrew to the river, from Péronne to Ham.
Chaulnes and Nesle were occupied by the Allies.
"On the same ground which had seen their stubborn defence, the British troops went up to the attack with untiring vigour and unshakeable determination, which neither the difficulty of the ground, nor the obstinate resistance of the enemy could break or diminish." (Haig).
German long-range Gun captured by the Australians at Proyart.
Photo Imperial War Museum.
PHOTOS, p. 48:
(1) The 2nd German line near Albert, occupied by the British.
(2) The Railway Station at Albert, a few minutes after the German retreat.
(3) Railway destroyed by the British artillery, during the advance on Bapaume.
Photo Imperial War Museum.
Photo above:
Albert, seen from the interior of the Church, the day the town was liberated
(Photo Imp. War Museum).
III.—THE OFFENSIVES ON THE SCARPE AND AILETTE.
August 25-September 8, 1918.
Pursuing his plan of offensive, Foch extended the field of operations. Writing to Field-Marshal Haig, he said: Continue your operations, leaving the enemy no respite, and developing the scope of your actions. It is this increasing breadth of the offensive, fed from the rear and strongly pressed in front, without limitation of objective, without consideration for the alignment and too close liaison, which will give us the greatest results with the least losses.... The armies of General Pétain are going forward again in the same manner.
At the time Mangin's Army was preparing to crush the enemy's front between the Aisne and St. Gobain, Horne's Army, on the Scarpe, attacked the salient east of Arras.
On August 25, the Canadians, astride the Scarpe, and the left of Byng's Army captured the difficult positions of Monchy-le-Preux, Guémappe and Rœux, bringing their line into contact with the redoubtable position of Quéant-Drocourt, a ramification of the Hindenburg Line.
On September 2, the Canadians attacked, progressing rapidly along the Arras-Cambrai road. Penetrating the German lines to a depth of 6 miles, they reached Buissy.
On the night of August 30, the Australians, in the centre, furiously attacked and captured the formidable bastion of Mont-St-Quentin. On September 1, they entered Péronne, after desperate fighting. To flank this attack on the north, Bouchavesnes and Frégicourt were captured.
Further south, on the Oise, Humbert's Army, in spite of the enemy's resistance, took Noyon and the high ground dominating the town. Advancing from the Ailette, towards Chauny, Mangin's left reached the outskirts of St. Gobain Forest, in the old lines of March 1918.
Outflanked on the north, towards Cambrai, and on the south along the Oise, in the direction of La Fère, and violently attacked at the same time in the centre at Péronne, the Germans retreated towards the Hindenburg positions. The British and French forces drove back the enemy rear-guards, which were unable to hold the line of the Tortille and the Canal du Nord.
On Sept. 8, the Allied front ran west of Arleux and Marquion, through Havrincourt, Épéhy and Vermand, then followed the Crozat Canal.
IV.—THE OFFENSIVES AGAINST THE OUTWORKS OF THE HINDENBURG LINE.
September 10-25.
The Germans had reached the advanced defences of their famous Hindenburg Line, consisting of the old British lines lost in March. These formidable positions protected the ramparts of the Hindenburg Line, said to be impregnable.
On September 10, the British 3rd and 4th Armies (Byng and Rawlinson) attacked between Havrincourt and Holnon.
The 4th Army took Vermand, the western outskirts of Holnon Woods, and gained a footing in Épéhy and Jeancourt. On the 13th, after desperate fighting, it captured the woods and village of Holnon.
The 3rd Army crossed the Canal du Nord, south of the Bapaume-Cambrai road, turned the positions from Havrincourt to Gouzeaucourt, and captured the greater part of them, the enemy resisting desperately.
The same day (Sept. 12), the American 1st Army captured the whole of the St. Mihiel Salient, with 15,000 prisoners and 200 guns. (See the Guide: The Battle of St. Mihiel.)
On the 18th, a general attack was launched by the British 3rd and 4th Armies, in liaison with the French 1st Army. All the enemy's positions between Gouzeaucourt and Holnon were captured, with 10,000 prisoners and 150 guns.
To the south, Debeney's Army took over the front of Humbert's Army—transferred to the sector of the 10th Army—the latter, due to the shortening of the front, being sent to Lorraine, for a new offensive.
Debeney's Army, extending south of the Oise, attacked, and after capturing Dallon Spur, Castres and Essigny-le-Grand, reached the valley of the Oise, from Vendeuil to La Fère.
Peace after strife. Life in the ruins.
Méharicourt, between Chaulnes and Caix, in 1919.
Disorganized and exhausted, their ranks depleted, the enemy were now incapable of attempting a counter-offensive.
To avoid this continuous, exhaustive battle, the Germans sought refuge in positions which they believed to be impregnable, and where they hoped to rest, reorganize and reconstitute their reserves.
This was an imperious necessity, as from July 15 to September 25, 163 of their divisions had been engaged, 75 of them two or three times.
On September 26, despite a reduction of 120 miles in the length of the front, they were forced to maintain practically the same number of divisions in line as on July 15, owing to their decreased effective strength and fighting value.
Moreover, to keep these forces effective, ten divisions had to be dissolved, and the battalions of fifty others reduced from four to three companies. Large numbers of men were called up from the works, in order to husband their last resources—the 1920 recruits.
Everywhere, the Allied armies were in contact with the Hindenburg Line, ready for the grand assault against the formidable positions from which the enemy had set out on March 21 for Paris and victory.
The above photograph represents an assemblage of the maps on which the Staff of the French 20th Corps traced the front from day to day.
By bringing out the two lines of July 15 and November 2 (exactly reproduced), and by adding a few unimportant touches inside and the spike of the helmet, one of the Staff draughtsmen obtained this curious figure of Germania on her knees.
With the help of the inset sketch-map, it is easy to trace the salients of Ypres, Arras, Montdidier, Château-Thierry (crossed by the Vesle), Rheims, Verdun, and St. Mihiel.
In six weeks, by repeated, inter-related attacks, vigorously executed without respite, the Allies had flattened out the salient from St. Quentin to beyond Montdidier and Albert, produced by the German push.
The end was near. To avoid a military disaster without precedent in the world's history, the enemy soon afterwards sued for an armistice and peace.
Ginchy (between Bapaume and Péronne) bombarded by the British (July 11, 1916).
Ginchy, ten days later (July 21, 1916).
Ginchy, two days before its capture by the British (Sept. 7, 1916).
Illustrating the progressive destruction of a village by artillery.
Taken from the Michelin Guide: "The First Battle of the Somme."
Modern war Weapons.
A heavy trench-mortar of the 3rd Australian Medium Trench-Mortar Battery in action
at Ville-sur-Ancre, on May 29, 1918, when the German front line was only 400 yards
beyond this farm-house.
Péronne in 1918. The Grande Place.
Captured German Guns.
Taken from the Guide: The First Battle of the Somme.
Amiens, during the German Offensives of 1918.
(1) Fire at the Saint-Frères Works, April 23, 1918. (2) Platforms at the Gare du Nord, May, 1918. (3) One of the Warehouses at the Goods Station. (4) One of the buildings at the Saint-Frères Works. (5) The Rue de la Hotoie. (6) The Rue des Jacobins and the Passage du Commerce connecting it with the Rue des Trois Cailloux.
To visit AMIENS,
centre of the itineraries for Bapaume and Péronne ("The First Battle of the Somme") and Montdidier and Compiègne ("The Second Battle of the Somme"), see the MICHELIN Illustrated Guide:
"AMIENS, before and during the War."