The Preliminary Bombardment Of The British Empire On The German Empire In The Battle of The Somme
The Battle of the Somme, also known as The Somme Offensive, was a battle fought in the First World War by the allied forces headed by the British Empire in support of France against the German Empire on an approximate 30 kilometer front near the upper reaches of the Somme river in France. The Somme Offensive is attributed as starting on July 1st 1916 with an infantry attack and concluding on November 18th 1916 for a total of 141 days ending in an inconclusive stalemate leading to a war of attrition between both empires. Before the infantry attack on July 1st the Allied forces conducted an artillery bombardment designed to reduce the German defenses
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Haig settled late on a plan with a five day artillery barrage leading to an infantry attack on June 29th. The artillery barrage was designed for the first two days to reduce the Germans wire defenses to create freedom of maneuver for the infantry across the no man's land. The last three days of the barrage would be used to reduce trenches, emplacements, strong points, and artillery pieces, as well as fire smoke and gas canisters to confuse the German forces about their intentions. Even with over 1,500 artillery pieces at his disposal this would not be enough to make enough of an effect on German defenses. Haig tasked his artillery to too many areas on the front wires and in-depth along the 30 kilometer trench system. After the five day artillery bombardment a majority of wire was intact and many trenches and emplacements were still usable and manned. The plan would have had better results if Haig would have focused on the wire obstacles for the infantry attack and not try to remove all the trenches, emplacements and strong points by artillery. By the end of the fifth day the Allied forces were close to being out of artillery
The offensive was planned on a strict time table, as Haig did not trust those who were considered volunteer soldiers. This quote demonstrates Haig’s disdain towards those who did not have significant military training, ““He tended to disdain and to suspect the motives of people who could not properly govern themselves.” (Johnson). As a result of his dislike towards the volunteer army he designed the offensive so
This was to be a joint operation between British, French and American forces. Though it was not the actual boundaries, the Meuse River and the Argonne Forrest restricted much of the U.S. 1st Army’s maneuverability between them. This area was comprised of a very dense and thick vegetation with few roads for heavy equipment and supplies to flow forth once the offensive began; therefore this was to be used to the Allied Powers advantage. The Germans would be attacked all along the front from British, French, and American forces simultaneously.
Ferdinand Foch a French commander wanted to order the Fourth Army to launch an immediate strike on this point to push the Germans to Somme. Haig put the point that the German position was far too strong to spearhead and proper preparations would have to be planned in order to be applied to defeat this new German position. The old Somme battlefield was unsuited to armoured vehicle warfare, no this would require a heavy artillery bombardment to destroy the wire; the only problem is it would be a while before they could get the artillery to the front line. Haig’s master plan was to launch a new offensive north using the British Third Army and 100 tanks to take on the German Seventeenth Army. Foch had agreed but he withdrew the French First Army, it would launch its own offensive on the same day as this renewed British
The planning of the attack was a long hard thinking process to go through. The Americans used tons of tack ticks to keep it a secret and to sneak up on the Germans. They loaded up almost 160,000 soldiers in 5,000 ships and began to make their way to France early morning on June 6th. They had about 2 million tons of supplies including guns, ammunition and grenades. They also had 11,000 planes, 50,000 Vehicles coming over on ships called LST’s. Then they started to plan where they were going to set up around France to start the attack. They were planning the attack on Germany because they wanted north of France. They were also trying to get the
The first American artillery round in World War I was on October 23, 1917. This demonstrates the start of the use of artillery from the American perspective. Trench warfare seemed to have settled down; General John J. Pershing insisted that American troops were to be trained in open warfare. By the time American troops began to appear on the battlefield in significant numbers, the general did this in order for the American troops to have skills in open warfare allowing for artillery to be moved closer in order to attack the infantry thus the war had become more mobile. In 1918, American troops joined in at Chateau-Thierry to halt General Erich Ludendorff's offensive. Counterattacking under a heavy artillery barrage, they cleared the Germans in 2 weeks. This demonstrates the power artillery had during the war not only on the side of the Allies but also on the German side as well. On July 4, allied artillery laid down a devastating barrage for an hour before the enemy's guns attacked. The enemy fell back and a massive Allied attack was launched. Approximately 3,010 guns of 26 calibers and 46 models poured 74 types of ammunition into the salient in the 4 hours and 45 minutes prior to the attack. A total of about 900,000 rounds of ammunition
The attack came early in the morning against the weakest of the allied line. The allied line was spread out through an 80 miles of the forest. When the Germans attacked they created a “bulge” around the the forest pushing through the defensive line. Lieutenant General George S. Patton helped the allied defense by positioning the third army to Bastogne. The weather conditions during the battle was foggy and cold, it was one of the coldest winters when the attack occurred.
Source A is written by Haig on 30 June 1916, the day before the attack started. General Haig informs us on the men and the pre battle efforts. This source includes some bias as it was a first person account from Haig’s and we know that Haig’s tries to always hide the truth. This sources credibility and truthfulness is questioned as we know that general Haig had never personally visited the front line and that the barbed wire and never been cut. Also it is hard to believe that the men where in “splendid spirits” and “so instructed and informed of the nature of the operation” as the men were not told of the reality of the battle and that they would be wounded or killed before they could jump over the trench.
The Somme: The Darkest Hour on the Western Front by Peter Hart is a narrative describing the battle at the Somme. It begins with a description of the war before for the action and the preparations that took place to prepare for this battle. It progresses quickly then to the opening day, with its goal of breaking through the German lines. The author then discusses the numerous battles that occurred over this four and a half months long battle until the stalemate ending. The author then offers an assessment of this brutal and futile military encounter; one of the bloodiest and deadliest battles of all time.
General Patton's role was to rescue American troops from the Nazis, and defeat Hitler's plans to surprise attack the allies in the west. Their roles were very different from each other, for the fact that Hitler wanted to gain power and allies, whereas America was trying to protect its people from Hitler’s power and the corruption of the Nations. Even though Hitler's Generals and Commanders had advised against the attack, Hitler still wanted it to progress forward. The Allies missed several early warning signs of an offensive, A bad phone connection helped lead to catastrophe for one U.S. Division, German troops used stolen U.S. Army uniforms to wreak havoc behind Allied lines, U.S. troops mounted a famous defense of the town of Bastogne, It marked the first time the U.S. Army desegregated during WWII, Weather patterns played a major role in the battle’s outcome, and Fuel shortages helped doom the German offensive (Evan Andrews).
In 1916, the battle of the Somme began, intending to end the war for the allies. It pitted an unexperienced British army, against a professional German one. It was also, however significant in many ways. Two of the main areas where the battle of the Somme was significant were in its military value, and the reactions it caused, on the home front.
Hitler’s Watch on the Rheine offensive depended on his three armies, the Fifth Panzer Army in the north, the Sixth Panzer Army in the center and the 7th Army in the south. The German War Machine included 400,000 troops, 1,400 tanks, 2,600 artillery pieces and 1,000 aircraft in comparison to the thin American line consisting of four American Infantry Divisions and one Armored Division totally 83,000 men and 400 tanks (Farrell 37). Despite an overwhelming Wehrmacht (German Army) and their extensive knowledge of terrain and an elaborate plan to infiltrate Allied lines through the use of espionage,
Only to find the artillery was unsuccessful in destroying or even remotely neutralizing the German defenses of barbed wire and concrete bunkers. Leaving the Germans, the advantage of still having the high ground and all their protections. Once the Calvary steps off for their attack, they were left with no option but to fight uphill against the fortified Germans due to their prideful Commanding Officer. The attack resulted in heavy casualties for the British and French, with the British receiving 58,00 causalities and minimum causalities received by the Germans. Making this attack the worst day in history of the British
Haig expected a breakthrough of up to seven miles from the start line. Rawlinson believed they would take a “bite” into the German trenches to be followed by more little bites to gain territory. Both generals were proven wrong on their expectations, but Rawlinson’s was the more realistic objective. The artillery plan was that the field guns would destroy the German barbed wire in front of the trenches and the heavy guns were to attack the enemy’s artillery and trenches. The artillery was to be the key to the offensive.
As General Sir John Monash later recalled “There was no flying and no photographing, no definite information of the German re-dispositions, no effective bombardment, and no opportunity of replenishing our ammunition dump”. For the Australians this meant more bloody battles and terrible losses.
On August 7 allied forces begonia moving from their positions, Canadian and British from Canen, moving south and the Americans from Avranches, moving north. German leadership realized that their army was being encircled and that the only route of egress was through the towns of Chambois and Argentan. The German forces fought hard to keep this gap open and evade encirclement, if they could not maintain a possible escape route the only choice would be to fight and die. General Bradley, after studying the map and movements of ground troops noticed a gap that would allow German forces to elude the allied advance. In order to close the gap General Bradley need to act swiftly to prevent the German army form escaping the pocket, he issued orders to General Patton; “strong elements of Patton’s Third Army turned north at Le Mans and moved aggressively toward the city of Alençon, they could link up with the Canadians and British, who were attacking south toward Falaise. This would block all the roads out of Normandy and trap Army Group B”. If General Bradley’s plan would work he saw it as “ a once-in-a-century opportunity