CAMPAIGN IN ARTOIS REGION
To understand properly the campaign in the Artois, it is necessary to
have at least a fair knowledge of the geography and the topography of
the territory between La Bassee and Arras.
The valley of the Scarpe is held in on the south by low hills, and on
the north by a low plateau, which descends in long ridges to the
valley of the Lys and the plains about Lens. The greatest altitude in
this section is the ridge known as Notre-Dame de Lorette, running east
and west, and containing numerous ravines. To the south of it, in a
little valley, is the town of Albain St. Nazaire. Carency is opposite
on the next ridge. Next is the Bois de Berthonval in the middle of a
wide depression. Beyond, the land ascends to Mont St. Eloi. The valley
of the Lys is to the north of the Lorette ridge. To the east the land
descends to the long, narrow valley in which is the highway between
Arras and Bethune. La Targette and Souchez are along the way. Again
the land rolls upward to the hills of Vimy with the Lens-Arras highway
beyond them.
The Teutons held a salient in this region at the beginning of May,
1915. The line which bounded this salient ran east of Loos over the
Bethune-Lens road, east of Aix-Noulette, and appeared on the Lorette
plateau considerably to the west of its tallest spur, where was
situated the Chapel of Our Lady; running out to the prow of the
salient, it took in Albain; and then proceeded to Carency; bending
closely, it ran east of the Bois de Berthonval, taking in La Targette
and the Arras-Bethune highway. That part of the German line was called
by the French the "White Works," on account of the chalk with which
the breastworks were constructed. To the southeast of it was a section
known as the Labyrinth. Ecurie was inside the line which finally ran
back east of Arras. The salient was constructed for the guarding of
Lens, which was considered the entrance to the upper valley of the
Scheldt and the lowlands in the direction of Douai and Valenciennes.
Of more importance than Lens itself was the railroad back of this
front, the capture of which would naturally be a source of great
danger to the Germans.
The French had won some ground in the region of the Lorette plateau
early in 1915. The Tenth Army in the Artois received enough additional
men to give it seven corps. More than 1,100 pieces of artillery, of
varying caliber, were taken to this region by the French. The entire
preparation for the campaign was under the personal direction of
General Foch. In the meantime the Germans, becoming aware that their
enemy was becoming more and more active, proceeded to strengthen the
front by the addition of three divisions which were known as
"divisions of assault." The men composing these additions were from
Bavaria, Saxony, and Baden. Even this reenforcement left the Teutons
outnumbered, and with less artillery than their opponents; but they
held a position which was considered more impregnable than any other
on either front. The Germans here had a chain of forts linked together
by an elaborate series of trenches, these latter so arranged that the
taking of one of the series placed its captors within the zone of fire
of several others. Moreover there was an elaborate series of
underground works, including mines and wolf pits, the latter being
covered over with a thin layer of turf and thickly studded with
stakes whose points awaited the charging French.
General Foch was ready on Sunday morning, May 9, 1915, and his
artillery began one of the heaviest bombardments in history. The 1,100
French cannon hurled 300,000 shells on the German fortifications that
day. The reverberations were deafening and terrifying. They startled
the British engaged at the Aubers Ridge. The deluge of projectiles
crashed their way through the supposedly impregnable work of
engineering that the Germans had erected, and buried their mangled
defenders in chaotic ruins. The preliminary work of the artillery was
continued for three hours, accompanied by the plaudits of the French
infantrymen. Then the infantry were sent to take the wrecks of what
had been the pride of the German engineers. They took what was still
in existence at La Targette, and the important crossroads there. They
waged a fierce fight in and around the village of Neuville St. Vaast,
which was stoutly defended by German machine guns. Here there was
house-to-house fighting. The French center, farther north, charged
over the remnants of the White Works, and went on beyond the
Arras-Bethune road. This section of the advance took more than two and
a half miles of trenches in an hour and a half. On the left the French
were unable to maintain such speed, because of the many ravines. They
took the outlying sections of Carency, and worked their way eastward,
cutting the road to Souchez. At the end of the first day the French
had to their credit three lines of German trenches on a five-mile
front, 3,000 prisoners, 10 field guns, and 50 machine guns.
The bombardment was continued all night by the French gunners, while
the men who had taken the trenches did their best to make such repairs
as were necessary for the protection of the victors. On the morning of
the following day, May 10, 1915, the soldiers of the republic had
forced their way into the center of the German position. North of the
plateau of Notre Dame de Lorette a feint attack was made to hold the
German reserves. When the first French line was about to dash forward
to complete their work of the day before, they suddenly received an
order to remain where they were and seek all cover possible. One of
the French aviators had seen a German counterattack getting under way
near the sugar factory at Souchez. Preparatory to the Teuton advance
the German artillery hurled hundreds of high-explosive shells on the
section where the French would have been had they not received the
order to keep under cover. To be exposed under such conditions would
have meant annihilation. Believing their plans for the counterattack
were working favorably, the Germans advanced, only to be mowed down by
the French guns. Then the French infantry charged and gained another
trench line. So eager were the younger French soldiers that some of
those who charged from the south were not content with taking the
trench which was their objective point, but dashed on into a ravine
that extended in the direction of Ablain. There they killed or made
prisoners of the Germans they found. This dash was extremely hazardous
in the face of a possible German counterattack, which luckily for the
French did not occur as the Teutons retired to Souchez in confusion
and were unable to rally for any counterattack. A summary of the day's
fighting includes the taking of all of the German trenches across the
Bethune-Loos road; the attack on the fortified chapel of Notre Dame de
Lorette, and the gaining of the trenches to the south of it, these
connecting with Ablain and Souchez; the capture of the cemetery of
Neuville St. Vaast; and the defeat of the German reserves who were
rushed in motor cars from Lens and Douai. The trenches and approaches
being too narrow and deep to allow freedom of action in using rifle
and bayonet, the rifle is generally slung on the man's back in
bandolier, and the fighting within the trenches is done with short
weapons, especially with hand grenades, hence the new military
expressions "bombing" and "bombing parties," as the squads are called
that are especially detailed for bomb work during the charges.
The fighting continued fiercely throughout May 11, 1915. Late in the
day the French took the lower part of the Arabs' Spur. An unsuccessful
counterattack was made that night from the Spur of the White Way. But
the French were harried by the artillery in Angres and the machine
guns in Ablain, and their discomforts were added to by the work of
the bursting shells which opened the graves of soldiers who had been
slain in previous months.
Carency, surrounded on the east, south and west, and wrecked by the
20,000 shells which had been fired upon it, surrendered on the
afternoon of May 12, 1915. The Germans captured there made a total of
more than 5,000 prisoners taken by the French. Notre Dame de Lorette
with its chapel and fort was also taken this same day, as was Ablain
which was in flames when it was surrendered. Thus all of the highland
to the west of Souchez was held by the French except a few fortins on
eastern ridges.
[Illustration: The Battles in Artois.]
A north wind and a heavy rain added to the discomforts of the soldiers
on May 13, 1915. But physical discomforts were not all that made for
more or less unhappiness. The Germans had little reason to be happy;
but the French had the edge taken from their elation, because of their
victory, by the fact that it seemed as if it must be won again before
it would be of use to them. According to the rules of the war game the
German line had been broken and the French had made for themselves a
right of way; but there were many instances in this war where the
rules were not followed; and this was one of the exceptions. It is
true the German line had been smashed, but it had not fallen back.
Instead the remnants of the line had collected themselves in the
series of independent redoubts which had seemingly been prepared for
just such an emergency. They were so situated that it was well-nigh
impossible to destroy them at long range; but it was impossible to
make any forward movement which would not be enfiladed by them. Hence
it became necessary for the French, if they were to be really
victorious, to reduce each separate redoubt. The most prominent of
these were the sugar factory at Souchez, the cemetery at Ablain, the
White Road on a spur of the Lorette, the eastern portion of Neuville
St. Vaast, and the Labyrinth. The last named was so called because it
was an elaborate system of trenches and redoubts in an angle between
two roads. The White Road surrendered on May 21, 1915. Ablain was
taken on May 29, 1915. The Souchez sugar factory fell on May 31,
1915. Neuville St. Vaast was captured on June 8, 1915. The Labyrinth,
however, remained under German control. Part of it was fifty feet
below the surface of the earth, much of the fighting there being
carried on in underground galleries and by means of mines. It finally
was entirely in the hands of the French on June 19, 1915, after being
taken to a considerable extent foot by foot. The last of the fighting
there was in what was known as the Eulenburg Passage, where the entire
161st German Regiment, consisting of 4,000 men, were slain and a
Bavarian regiment suffered a heavy loss in killed and wounded. The
French took 1,000 prisoners; and only 2,000 of their own men were
unable to answer roll call after the fight, of whom many were only
slightly wounded.
In concluding the account of the battle of the Artois it may be
admitted that the French had won what has been called a brilliant
victory, but it had not been a complete success. They had made an end
of the German salient; and only the last defense of Lens remained. How
much they had reduced the pressure on Russia is problematical; but
there is little doubt they had prevented the Germans from continuing
the offensive on the Ypres front. They estimated the German loss at
60,000; and, by a peculiar coincidence, the Crown Prince of Bavaria,
whose armies they fought, estimated the French loss at the same
figure--60,000. It is known they lost many men in the hand-to-hand
struggles; but their great forward movement was so well protected by
their artillery that the French loss there was comparatively slight.
Some idea can be gained from the fact that one French division killed
2,600 of their enemy and captured 3,000 prisoners with a loss of only
250 slain and 1,250 wounded. But the greatest gain to the French was
probably the fact that the battle of the Artois had proved to the
soldiers of the republic that their artillery was the equal of the
German, which had been the arm in which the Teutons excelled. It also
proved that the Germans could not intrench themselves in any manner
that was impregnable to the French; for they had taken the Labyrinth,
a most complicated series of military engineering feats which were
supposed to be able to withstand any assault. And lastly, and perhaps
of most importance to the French, the belief in the superiority of the
German soldier, as a result of 1870 was shattered in the mind of the
Frenchman.