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).
[Illustration: GERMAN LONG-RANGE GUN CAPTURED BY THE AUSTRALIANS AT
PROYART.]
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
[Illustration: _Photo Imperial War Museum._]
PHOTOS, p. 48:
[Illustration: (1) _The 2nd German line near Albert, occupied by the
British._]
[Illustration: (2) _The Railway Station at Albert, a few minutes after
the German retreat._]
[Illustration: (3) _Railway destroyed by the British artillery, during
the advance on Bapaume._]
PHOTO ABOVE:
[Illustration: _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._
[Illustration]
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.
[Illustration]
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.
[Illustration]
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.
[Illustration: 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.
[Illustration: _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.
[Illustration: _Ginchy (between Bapaume and Péronne) bombarded by the
British (July 11, 1916)._]
[Illustration: _Ginchy, ten days later (July 21, 1916)._]
[Illustration: _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."
[Illustration: 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._]
[Illustration: PÉRONNE IN 1918. THE GRANDE PLACE. CAPTURED GERMAN GUNS.
_Taken from the Guide_: THE FIRST BATTLE OF THE SOMME.]
[Illustration: 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.="
[Illustration: FROM AMIENS TO COMPIÈGNE
Lunch at Montdidier.
_The roads to be followed are shown by heavy lines. Detailed sketch
maps are incorporated in the text._]
AMIENS TO COMPIÈGNE
_See route-map, p. 57._
From Amiens to Villers-Bretonneux
=via Longueau, Gentelles and Cachy=.
_Leave Amiens by Exit V_ (Michelin Tourist Guide) (_Rue Jules-Barni,
Chaussée Périgord and N. 35_). _Cross the railway twice (l.c.) or if
preferred, take the road on the right under the railway._ =Longueau=
_is soon reached._
The road from Amiens to the crossing over the river Avre, before
reaching Longueau, follows the left bank of the Somme. Market-gardens
famous for their fertility and known locally as "_hortillonnages_"
lie in the valley, especially around Camon. Formerly, the river-side
_seigneurs_ above Amiens, met once a year for wild swan-shooting in the
valley of the Somme. The custom died out in the 18th century, poaching
having by then exterminated the swans.
[Illustration]
It was at Longueau that the Roman roads from Amiens to Rheims and
to St. Quentin crossed the river Avre. Gallo-Roman tombstones were
discovered in 1848, while excavating near the first bridge at Longueau.
In 1590, the Leaguers held the village to ransom, and the Spaniards
burnt it in 1636.
_Beyond Longueau, leave the Montdidier road on the right, and keep
straight along the road to Roye for 4½ kms. Take the second road on
the left, to_ =Gentelles=. Gun emplacements, shelters and trenches are
met with on both sides of the road. Gentelles Wood is on the right.
(_See sketch-map, p. 59_).
_Pass through Gentelles village_, entirely destroyed. _1½ kms.
beyond Gentelles stands_ a partly destroyed monument to the memory of
the French who fell in the Franco-German War of 1870 (_photo below_).
[Illustration: MONUMENT TO THE FRENCH DEAD OF 1870, AT ENTRANCE TO
CACHY.]
_Leave the monument on the right, and enter_ =Cachy= (completely
ruined).
[Illustration: RUINS OF CACHY CHURCH.]
_At the fork beyond Cachy, take the middle road, between the Woods
of Aquenne and Abbé, in which are_ trenches, wire entanglements
and shelters. _Coming out into the main road from Amiens to
Villers-Bretonneux_ (G.C. 201), _take same on the right. (See
sketch-map, p. 62)._
[Illustration]
_After passing over the railway_, =Villers-Bretonneux= _is reached_.
[Illustration: VILLERS-BRETONNEUX.--RUINS OF THE VILLAGE AND CHURCH.]
[Illustration: VILLERS-BRETONNEUX. THE CHURCH, IN MAY 1918.]
Formerly a country village, the cotton-spinning industry later
transformed it into a small town. The war has left it in ruins. (_See
p. 61._)
[Illustration: VILLERS-BRETONNEUX. CHURCH IN NOV. 1918.]
[Illustration: STREET IN VILLERS-BRETONNEUX AFTER RECAPTURE OF THE
VILLAGE.]
From Villers-Bretonneux to Moreuil,
via Demuin, Hill 104, Mézières and Villers-aux-Érables.
_Leave Villers-Bretonneux by the road to Demuin, on the right_ (G.C.
23).
_See route-map, p. 62._
_From Hill 98, 1 km. beyond the railway, near the junction with the
road leading to Cachy, and close to a Franco-British cemetery, there
is_ an extensive view of the battlefield around Villers-Bretonneux.
[Illustration: FRANCO-BRITISH CEMETERY NEAR HILL 98. _In the
background_: VILLERS-BRETONNEUX.]
[Illustration]
The Battle of 1870.
It was around Villers-Bretonneux that on November 27, 1870, part of
the battle known as the "Battle of Amiens", was fought between the
Prussians and the French Army of the North.
The French troops, about 10,000 in number, under the command of General
Farre, were deployed from the railway (between Villers-Bretonneux and
Marcelcave) to Cachy and Gentelles (on the Boves road), and on the
high ground dominating the valleys of the Somme, Luce and Avre. The
Prussians, under General Manteuffel, far more numerous and better
equipped with artillery than the French, debouched from the valley of
the Luce and the roads from Péronne and Roye to Amiens, the battle
opening on the two wings.
The enemy partly took Cachy and approached Gentelles, but were driven
back towards the river Luce, after the brilliant capture of Domart Wood
by the French. Cachy, partly abandoned by the French after desperate
resistance and heavy losses, was afterwards cleared of the enemy with
great dash.
Unfortunately the French line from Cachy to Villers-Bretonneux was
too weakly held to stay the Prussians, who got the upper hand in the
afternoon and forced the French back. To the enemy's forty guns the
French could only oppose sixteen (four batteries), and they were,
moreover, short of ammunition.
A Prussian battery, which had succeeded in taking up a position near
Cachy, enfiladed the French line. In Villers-Bretonneux, detachments
of French Marines fought a violent engagement in the streets, giving
ground only step-by-step. The enemy sustained heavy losses and were
unable seriously to hamper the French withdrawal towards Corbie and
Amiens.
A monument was erected at Villers-Bretonneux, south of the railway, to
the memory of the French soldiers who fell in this battle.
Fierce fighting took place in 1918 around the monument, which was
completely destroyed.
[Illustration: GERMAN PRISONERS ENTERING VILLERS-BRETONNEUX. (_August
1918._)]
The Battles of 1918.
Prolonged and violent engagements were fought from March to August,
1918, in the vicinity of Villers-Bretonneux, for the possession
of Amiens. The battlefield consisted of a plateau occupied, from
north-east to south-west, by Villers-Bretonneux, Abbé Wood, Cachy and
Gentelles. This plateau was the last dominating position in front of
Amiens. From Villers-Bretonneux, situated on the main road from St.
Quentin to Amiens, and ten miles from the latter, the ground slopes
gradually down towards the great Picardian City and the confluence of
the rivers Avre and Somme.
[Illustration: FRANCO-BRITISH CEMETERY AT "CRUCIFIX CORNER" ON THE
VILLERS-BRETONNEUX-DEMUIN ROAD.]
From March 28 onwards, this plateau was held by Australian divisions,
the famous Anzacs, who covered themselves with glory there by staying
the Germans. At the beginning of April, the latter attempted to
outflank Villers from the north and south, with but little success.
On the 24th, after a bombardment with high explosive and gas shells,
lasting the whole of the previous night, they threw four divisions
(50,000 men), supported by five tanks each fitted with three guns and
a central turret, against the Fouilloy-Cachy front, barely three miles
wide. From 7 to 10 a.m., the attacking waves went forward unceasingly
in the morning mists. At about 11 a.m., the British had to give way,
under an intensely fierce onslaught, and the Germans entered Villers
from the north and south.
Clinging to the western approaches of the village, the British,
throughout the afternoon and night of the 24th, prevented the enemy
from debouching, while their artillery fire made the position
practically untenable. Two German battalions only were able to maintain
themselves in the cellars and ruins of the houses. In the evening
of the 25th, while troops of the Moroccan Division recaptured the
monument south of the Villers railway, British units debouched from
Abbé Wood, and advancing via the ravine north of Villers, Aquenne Wood
and the station to the south, surrounded and recaptured the village
after a hand-to-hand fight lasting all night. A 3-gun tank and over 700
prisoners were taken. To the south-west, in the vicinity of Cachy and
Gentelles, the enemy check was equally severe. On the 24th, a regular
battle of tanks took place near Cachy, in which the Germans were routed
and Cachy re-occupied. The four German divisions lost the battle, and
left the ground covered with their dead.
[Illustration: Domart.
Demuin.
Gentelles Wood.
Hangard.
Hangard Wood.
PANORAMA SEEN FROM HILL 102.]
On May 2, there was again sharp fighting near the Monument, but
during the following weeks, the enemy ceased their attacks. The
Australians, by local operations, enlarged their positions north-east
of Villers-Bretonneux and between Villers and the Somme. On the night
of May 23, the enemy violently bombarded Villers, and on the 25th made
another powerful effort south of the village, but without success.
_Follow G.C. 23, which runs close to_ Hangard Wood, the trees of which
were devastated by the shells. (_See map, p. 62._)
_Descend from the plateau to_ =Demuin=, _visible at the bottom of the
valley of the Luce. There is_ a large British cemetery _on the right.
Tourists may here turn to the right as far as_ =Hangard=. (_See p. 66._)
[Illustration: HANGARD VILLAGE, IN RUINS. THE CHURCH IS ON THE RIGHT.]
[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO DEMUIN VILLAGE.]
[Illustration]
_After visiting the village_ (completely devastated), _return to
Demuin. Take the main street, then the last street of the village and
the uphill road indicated in the sketch-map above, to_ =Hill 102=,
_from which there is_ a fine view of Demuin, the valley of the Luce,
Hangard, Domart and Gentelles Wood (_photo above_).
_Return to Demuin, and take G.C. 23 to_ =Hill 104= (_See map, p. 62_).
Hill 104.
Hill 104, at the crossing of the Demuin-Moreuil road with the
Roye-Amiens road, commands the valleys of the Luce and the Avre.
Hangard and Hangard Wood, seen to the north, were the scene of furious
fighting in 1918. This vital position enabled the Germans to hold the
river Luce, which they needed to consolidate the Montdidier-Moreuil
salient, and for their advance south-east of Amiens.
As early as March 27, units of Debeney's Army, under the command of
General Mesple, were pushed south of the Luce in support of the British
who were holding the line: Le Quesnel, Beaucourt, Cayeux, Guillaucourt
and Proyart. However, on the 28th, the Germans carried Guillaucourt,
north of Cayeux, descended to the woods in the Luce Valley, and drove
back the British in the neighbourhood of Cayeux. Meanwhile, General
Mesple's detachment, in accordance with instructions, stubbornly held
their positions on the Caix-Le Quesnel plateau, although unprotected
on their left. The first battalions of the French 22nd Division were
despatched immediately on arrival to Hangard and Domart, in support of
the British. On the 29th, the Germans attacked Demuin on the Luce and
forced the Allies to abandon Mézières and to fall back on Moreuil and
the Avre.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: Amiens Road.
Gentelles Wood.
Domart.
Trench.
Cachy.
Aquenne Wood.
Hangard.
Hangard Wood.
Villers-Bretonneux.
Demuin.
Marcelcave.
Corner of Wood, South of Demuin.
PANORAMA OF THE LUCE VALLEY SEEN FROM HILL 104.]
On the 31st, they gained a footing in Hangard after prolonged efforts.
In the evening and throughout the night they vainly attempted to
enlarge their gains to the west. The Franco-British troops repulsed all
assaults and prevented the enemy debouching from the village, which the
French soon afterwards recaptured in a dashing counter-attack. On April
4, the Germans attempted to turn Hangard from the south and attacked
Hill 104. After getting to within 50 yards of it, they were checked at
the foot of the hill, and fell back in disorder. They then attempted
to slip in along the ravines, but the Allied artillery drove them back
with very heavy losses.
On the 6th and 8th, fighting was resumed in the vicinity of Hangard,
where the French 29th Division held their ground. On the 9th, Hangard
was lost and retaken, together with the cemetery situated about 200
yards east of the village. On the 11th, a fresh German attack was made
against the Hangard-Hourges front. The enemy, held before Hourges,
gained a footing in Hangard, where the fighting was desperate. On the
morning of the 12th, the Germans surrounded the château and occupied
the whole of the wood on Hill 104. A single French battalion in the
village held out against four German battalions. In the direction of
Hourges the enemy was held.
In Hangard Château, the French battalion, although surrounded since
10 a.m., was still holding out at 6.30 p.m., in spite of repeated
attacks. At nightfall, a counter-attack by one French and one British
battalions recaptured the village and castle, and drove back the enemy
to the cemetery. 127 men, 3 officers and 15 machine-guns were captured,
and 35 Allied prisoners released. On April 15, before it was relieved,
the 29th Division, which had performed prodigies of valour in its
efforts to save Hangard, made it a point of honour to clear the village
entirely before leaving. One company carried the cemetery in brilliant
style. On the 19th, a German effort against the village and wood
failed. On the 24th, the fighting was again fiercest around Hangard,
which was defended by only one battalion. A whole German division
attacked and after carrying the wood boarded the village from the
north. At the same time they attacked Hill 104 from the south, at the
foot of which they had been held on the 4th. Enfiladed by machine-guns
posted in front of Thennes, the Germans failed to reach that village,
but persisted in their efforts against Hangard. After seven furious
onslaughts, from 6.30 a.m. to 4.30 p.m., they occupied the cemetery,
in which a single company, entirely cut off from all support, held out
all that day. Units of the battalion, hard pressed from the north, east
and south, shut themselves up with their Commandant in the Château,
and made a vigorous defence. Between 3 and 5 p.m., the following
message was signalled three times: "_Surrounded in Hangard but still
holding out_". At 6 p.m. the Château was stormed, and the commandant
taken prisoner with the remaining survivors. Taking advantage of the
confusion caused by the French bombardment among his captors, he
escaped with his men and re-entered the castle, where he continued to
hold out until nightfall. He was finally captured in the course of
another attack.
[Illustration: MAISON BLANCHE.--BRITISH TANKS GOING INTO ACTION.]
In spite of their strenuous efforts, the Germans were unable to
debouch from Hangard during the night. On the 25th, the French
counter-attacked, and after crossing the Luce at various points,
re-occupied Verger hamlet, Hangard village, and part of Hangard Wood,
repulsing all German counter-attacks.
On the 26th, the 4th Regiment of the Moroccan Division completed the
clearing of the wood. Although the British attack on their right was
unsuccessful, a battalion of "Légionnaires" succeeded in outflanking
the north-eastern corner of the wood, in which they gained a footing.
They were followed soon afterwards by a second battalion supported
by British tanks which undertook the destruction of the German
machine-guns nests. Driven from the wood, the Germans bombarded it
heavily with 6in. and 8in. shells, but could not drive out the French.
Finally the Germans retreated 2 kms, two of their divisions being
thrown into disorder. One of them, which had just relieved the other,
suffered such heavy losses that it had to be sent to the rear two days
after coming into line. On the 28th, the Germans launched unsuccessful
counter-attacks against the wood, which was finally cleared by French
Infantry and British tanks. Thereafter, the enemy were unable to make
any advance in this region.