The British Reverses and Their Causes
By a Military Observer
Premier Lloyd George in his speech of April 9 [printed on Page [263]] compared the operations in Picardy with the battle of Cambrai. In fact, the best way to understand what happened in the initial stage of the great German drive is to remember the sequence of events in the German attacks on the positions near Cambrai in 1917. At Cambrai there was a mistaken confidence in the ability to hold the terrain, although German attacks were expected. When these German assaults came, one was a surprise, because there had been an unexpected concentration of German troops; and this attack broke through the defense to such an extent that it forced the abandonment of other positions, with losses of prisoners and guns. All these tactical elements were present at the beginning of the German drive in March, but on a much larger scale, because in this case the German assaults were made on a front of some fifty miles.
The difficult problem for the Allies, in preparing to defend their long front against the expected German offensive, was to provide against the well-known German tactics of assembling superior numbers at the place of battle. In this war the German "massed attacks" have not been so much a matter of formation as of delivering streams of troops at the chosen point of contact to overwhelm their opponents with superior numbers at that point. These German tactics were again used in the attacks, begun on March 21, against the British front from southeast of Arras as far as La Fère.
FIFTH ARMY'S DISASTER
Here were in position the 3d British Army (General Byng) in the section toward Arras, and, on the right to the south, the 5th British Army (General Gough) in the region west of St. Quentin. On March 21 there was a tremendous bombardment followed by infantry attacks all along the line, which resulted in winning many first-line positions. This was nothing more than had been expected, and provision had been made against it; but, unfortunately, as at Cambrai, the Germans had been enabled to make an unexpected concentration of superior numbers against positions of the 5th British Army.[1] The assault of this overwhelming force broke through the British lines, even to the extent of involving engineers and laborers behind the lines, as at Cambrai, with the same disastrous results. This breakdown of the defense forced a retreat from the British positions far different from the retirement that had been planned—and it brought about the withdrawal of the whole 5th Army, resulting in what the British Premier called "crippling one of our great armies."
After such a disaster, it was found necessary to abandon a great amount of terrain to maintain a junction between the two British armies. Péronne and Bapaume were soon captured by the Germans, and on March 27 the Germans reported the occupation of Albert. On the same day Roye and Noyon were taken. On the next day the Germans had pushed as far west as Pierrepont and taken possession of Montdidier. As was to be expected in such a retreat, there soon was a large toll of British guns and prisoners. On March 29 the Germans claimed 1,100 guns and 70,000 prisoners. They had also captured great quantities of material and 100 tanks.
These were heavy losses, but such losses were not the really serious element in the situation. A study of the map will show that, as the 5th Army retreated toward the west, there was left an increasingly long sector south of Noyon and curving north, west of Montdidier to the Avre River—and it was necessary that this dangerous opening should be protected by the French reserves. With extraordinary rapidity and efficiency French troops were rushed to this region, and the almost impossible task was accomplished of repairing the defense. But the drain on the French reserves had been heavy, and the necessity to use them for this purpose had neutralized a force that had been prepared for a different object against such a German drive.