THE WESTERN FRONT

THE SECOND BATTLE OF ARTOIS:  MAY – JUNE 1915

Including THE BATTLE OF FESTUBERT:  MAY 1915

Acknowledgements

Vimy Ridge: thediscoverblog.com Notre Dame de Lorette: en.wikipedia.org, artist unknown. Map: owlcation.com Labyrinth: artist’s impression, artist unknown, The London Illustrated News, June 1915. Aubers Ridge: by South African artist Jason Askew, armynavyairforce.co.uk. Festubert: ww1battlefields.co.uk. Notre Dame de Lorette: Mo Sandford, Writer and Photo Artist

    The Second Battle of Artois, a continuation of the Allied spring offensive of 1915 (and seen as its most important element), was a French plan aimed – as in earlier attempts – at breaking through the German defences north of Arras and capturing the commanding height of Vimy Ridge. This was over four miles long, rising to 480ft in the east, and in German hands since October 1914. The French Chief of Staff, Joseph Joffre, undaunted by the costly failures suffered by the French and British over the last six months (the Two Battles of Ypres, the First Battles of Artois and Champagne, and the Battle of Neuve Chapelle), was confident that this commanding height could be taken, and that this would permit an advance across the Douai plain, cutting the vital German supply lines between Arras and Reims. And, in addition, much of the land lost in the opening phase of the war – the so-called German “salient” in north-west France – could be recovered. And his decision at that time was strengthened by the fact that the Germans had just sent eight divisions from Artois to assist in the defence of the Eastern Front. The manpower available to him would be twice as large as the enemy he faced. It was an opportunity not to be missed.

     To assist in this campaign, the British were assigned the task of attacking Aubers Ridge, another German-held escarpment near the town of Fusterbert, some twenty miles to the north. Conducted at the same time as the French attack, this additional, diversionary assault was intended to tie up large numbers of German troops, and prevent any reinforcements being sent to stop the French from seizing Vimy Ridge – the major obstacle in the way of a rapid advance. Unfortunately, as in previous attacks, Joffre’s plan to “get things moving”, came very close to a complete disaster.

    After a six-day bombardment by more than a thousand artillery pieces, the French 10th Army opened its attack on the 9th May (see map below). In the northern sector of the battlefield, the advancing troops were met with fierce artillery and machine gun fire – the Germans having vastly improved their defences – but some progress was made. Despitexheavy casualties, they reached the escarpment of Mont de Lorette (close to Vimy Ridge), in a matter of hours, and three days later had inched their way up its northern slope to reach the Church (or what was left of it!) on the summit of the hill (see pic). However, it took another ten days of savage, unrelenting fighting before the ridge was fully captured, together with the villages of Ablain-Saint-Nazaire, Nouvelle St. Vaast and, after ferocious close combat, Clarency.

     In the central sector the infantry, including a detachment of Legionnaires, moved forward more quickly, mainly because the artillery bombardment had managed to cut through much of the barbed wire defences. The infantry, advancing more than two miles, surprised the Germans by the speed of their approach and quickly overran their forward trenches. Then shockxtroops of the 1st Moroccan Division attacked Vimy Ridge itself, and had reached one of the lower slopes by late afternoon. It was an amazing achievement, but not destined to bear fruit. Joffre immediately sent in reinforcements to stabilize the hold on the summit and then seize the entire ridge, but they had been stationed well back from the front line – to avoid German artillery – and took too long to get where they were needed. In the meantime, the Germans had received reinforcements overnight (partly due to the failure of the British on Aubers Ridge), and early the next day counter-attacked, driving the Moroccans off the height with the loss of about half their number. Throughout the operation, French artillery had proved too weak to destroy enemy fortifications and, on the battlefield itself, their grenades and machine guns had proved inferior to those of the Germans. The village of Souchez, seen by Joffre as a vital “stepping stone” in the conquest of the ridge, was captured later in the year, but Vimy Ridge was to remain in German hands until taken (famously) by the Canadians in April,1917.

    In the southernxsector of the battle, the area known as “the Labyrinth” (see map above), was attacked on the first day of the assault, but it was not conquered until the 17th June following an artillery bombardment of 300,000 shells. Situated south between Arras and Vimy, and spreading across both sides of the Arras-Lens road, it was a vast maze of trenches, underground tunnels, pill boxes, and concrete dugouts, all defended by masses of barbed wire and scores of machine-gun posts. It came to be regarded as the most elaborate defence system of the war. Its eventual capture (and that of Neuville St. Vaast), was doubtless a triumph for the French army, but it was achieved with an enormous loss of life. And it provided, too, ample evidence of the improved quality of the German defences across the whole of this region following the battle of Neuve Chapelle in March, a factor that greatly contributed to the successful defence of their lines, often against heavy odds.

     After the failure of the French to capture Vimy Ridge, there followed several weeks of close quarter fighting amid the widespread remains of the old German front line. On one occasion during this time, the Moroccans did manage to fight their way back to Vimy Ridge but, again, they were soundly repulsed. And this intense fighting only served to add to the cost of the operation. French casualties were estimated at 102,500, compared with 80,000 for the Germans. The French did recover a small amount of land within the German salient (about 16 square kilometres), but it was of little comfort given the large measure of success that had been anticipated from this particular campaign.

    Unfortunatelyxfor the Allies, the B.E.F attack fared no better. With the British Second Army still involved in the Second Battle of Ypres, the British First Army, under the command of General Haig (see map above), was required to fufil the commitment made to the French – the capture of Aubers Ridge. The attack was launched on May 9th after a brief bombardment of 40 minutes, confined to British 3-pounders and trench mortars because heavy artillery was in short supply. It was brought to a halt within the space of 1,000 yards. The opening bombardment had failed to blow up or cut through the barbed wire defences. As a result wave after wave of infantry, suddenly brought to a standstill, provided an easy target for persistent and accurate machine-gun fire and field artillery. Those who survived took shelter in the many shell holes and, come nightfall, made their way back to their lines, leaving behind around 11,000 dead or wounded. The following day British artillery was unable to target the German’s forward positions for fear of killing the wounded left on the battlefield. It was clearly an unmitigated disaster for the British Army, and within a short time Haig was obliged to recognize the futility of further attacks. It was on the strength of this decision that two German divisions were sent south to reinforce the defence of Vimy Ridge, the very measure the British action had intended to prevent!

    Norxwas the B.E.F’s second thrust – an assault upon the village of Festubert (see map above) – an operation worth the cost, though it would seem that the German need for reinforcements did reduce some pressure on the French front. The first British night attack of the war, it opened on the 15th May after 60 hours of bombardment by 400 guns. Again, this barrage failed to make the necessary impact upon the German defences, and the advance of the British infantry was confined to little more than a mile over a three mile front. At one point Indian forces did manage to seize the German front line trenches, but losses were heavy and a counter attack forced them back. Nonetheless, at this point, the Germans felt it necessary to strengthen their defences by withdrawing along a 3,000 yard front to a position behind la Quinque Rue, the road leading to Festubert. This encouraged a new offensive, and, ten days later, Canadian troops eventually captured the village in a ferocious encounter (May 25th), seen by many as a new extreme of savagery on the Western Front. For an advance of just two miles the British had suffered 16,648 casualties, more than three times the number suffered by their opponents.

     The attacks on Vimy Ridge and Aubers Ridge failed in their objectives and must be seen as costly and futile failures. However, Joffre and Foch, the French commander in the field, remained convinced that the battle for Vimy Ridge, in particular, had come close to being an outstanding victory, and could be seen as an auspicious “turning point”. Had more artillery been available, they argued, and had the forces in reserve been held within striking distance, then the Germans would have been thrown off their commanding height, and French troops would have flooded across Douai Plain. Others took a more pessimistic - and perhaps more realistic - view. Given the shape of the new battlefield, they saw the evolving conflict as one of attrition and, at this stage, a conflict of attrition without an end in sight.

     Incidentally, throughout these battles, all commanders complained about the lack of shells, especially for the heavy guns, and they proved justified in so doing. Under the new conditions of warfare, there was a great deal of reliance upon artillery in all its forms, and this had led to an increasing shortage of shells in all calibres. By now, both the French and the British were having to take measures to increase the production … and quickly. In Britain the situation became known as the Shell Crisis, and this played a part in bringing down the Liberal Government in May 1915. Under a coalition, the Liberal politician, Lloyd George, was appointed Minister of Munitions, a recognition, if one were needed, that the whole economy of a nation needed to be geared up to cope with the burden of a total war. ......

    ...... After thexFrench / British offensive, French troops set up a small cemetery near Ablain-Saint-Nazaire on the site where a chapel to Our Lady of Lorette stood before the war. In June 1922, this site was chosen for the final resting place of those French and Colonial troops who had fallen on the Western Front in Artois, Flanders, Yser and on the Belgian coast. The Cemetery of Notre Dame de Lorette contains the remains of twenty thousand bodies which were identified and given an individual grave. In addition, the remains of 22,000 unknown soldiers are held in ossuaries. Today, it is the largest French military cemetery in the world and contains 40,057 casualties.

     As we shall see, the Third Battle of Artois – part of a wider offensive that included the Second Battle of Champagne and the British attack and failure at Loos – only served to add to the list of Allied casualties. It was said, that lessons had been learnt by the Allied commanders, but they were certainly not put into practice. Attempts to break the deadlock were understandable in many respects, but they did not prove workable. The battle lines were deeply drawn, and the slaughter was to continue. It was, indeed, a war of attrition, and with worse to come.

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