Huge losses
Dead soldier of the Wiltshire Regiment, near St Quentin, March 1918.
NAM 2000-07-19-84
On 26 March, in exchange for reinforcements, Haig agreed to the appointment of France’s Marshal Foch as supreme commander on the Western Front. Although the Germans had advanced as much as 64 kilometres (40 miles), by 5 April their advance began to run out of steam and they were held east of Amiens. Total British losses were 178,000 men. The French who became engaged as the battle developed lost 77,000 and the Germans 240,000.
‘Despite his hordes we have held the Bosche all night inflicting huge losses. God only knows whether we shall continue to do so for men are no object to the Huns while our line is thinning hourly.
Up to midnight we still hold, having smashed every Bosche attempt. His losses at this point are extraordinary. Resumption of Hun massed attacks causes us to withdraw through Mézières. He makes great efforts to thrust us back. But he is unsuccessful. Twice the Battalion attack and recapture Mézières but cannot hold it. The Huns are paying very dearly for their gain.’
Diary entry for the night of 27-28 March 1918 by Regimental Quartermaster Sergeant James Littler, 12th Battalion, The King’s Royal Rifle Corps. NAM 2001-10-4-5
Offensives held
Wounded men of the 4th Worcestershire Regiment are carried to a farm house during the offensive on the Lys, March 1918. NAM 1997-12-75-102
On 9 April the Germans tried again with a smaller offensive south of Ypres, which captured the Messines ridge and much of the Passchendaele salient. Once again the German attack lost momentum. Although they tested the French with a series of offensives further south between 27 May and 17 July, the Germans had shot their bolt. German morale began to crumble and on 18 July the French launched a counter-attack on the Marne, forcing the Germans back. Germany’s attempt to break through had exhausted its army and the initiative passed back to the Allies.
Allies gather strength
1st Battalion, The Duke of Cambridge's Own (The Middlesex Regiment), resting near Cassel, 1918. NAM 1992-08-130
Foch began plans for an Allied counter-attack. This was to begin with a series of attacks designed to eliminate the salients created by the German offensive in preparation for a final campaign in 1919. Major General John Pershing’s American Expeditionary Force was now present in France and ready for action. The British Army had also been reinforced by large numbers of troops from the Middle East and Italy. The reinforcements that had previously been held back in Britain were also released.
The location chosen for the first Allied counter-stroke was the salient at Amiens on the Somme. The German defences here were relatively weak, having been subjected to continual raiding by the Australians. The landscape was also ideal for the mass deployment of tanks.
Attack at Amiens
British soldiers treating wounded German prisoners, 1918. NAM 1999-11-70-36
On 8 August 1918 General Rawlinson’s Fourth Army, spearheaded by the Australian and the Canadian Corps, launched the attack at Amiens. Rawlinson used over 2,000 guns, 450 tanks and 1,900 aeroplanes to support the attack by 13 divisions. Through careful preparations, the Allies achieved complete surprise.
Their tanks broke through the German lines and sowed panic in the rear. The battle illustrated that the British had perfected how to combine infantry, artillery, tanks and aircraft in a co-coordinated attack.
