#nivelle offensive

[pedroam-bang]

Battlefield 1: They Shall Not Pass (2016)

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What the wire looks like after it’s been “broken” by a prepatory barrage.

Half-section of the 31st French Infantry Regiment on the crest of the Bois des Buttes during reconstruction of the attack on the hill of 16 April 1917.

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French soldiers at the Chemin des Dames, where the hopeless Nivelle Offensive led to widespread mutinies in May 1917.

[today-in-wwi]

The Nivelle Offensive

An advance German machine gun position preparing to fire on French infantry.

April 16 1917, Berry--For days, the French artillery had been pounding the German lines along the Aisne.  With one artillery piece for every 20 feet of front, a third of them heavy guns, the French, from Nivelle down, believed there would be no way that the Germans could withstand the barrage.  However, due to poor artillery spotting, German defense-in-depth, and extensive underground construction along the Chemin des Dames, most of the German positions beyond the first line were intact when the barrage halted at 5:58 AM on April 16.

The French infantry began to advance two minutes later, with the barrage resuming ahead of them.  The first minutes of the offensive went well, largely because the Germans had already all but abandoned their first line.  Despite this, the French had difficulty physically advancing over the ground, still strewn with barbed wire and torn to pieces by the artillery assault.  Pounding rain (and occasional snow) did not help, nor did the fact that their packs were overburdened with multiple days’ worth of provisions that Nivelle thought necessary for the subsequent advance beyond the German trenches and the reach of French supply lines.  Soon, the barrage, advancing at 30-40 yards a minute, outstripped the French infantry, subjecting them to uninterrupted German machine gun fire.

On the Chemin des Dames, the Germans often came out of their underground caves and bunkers after the French had advanced overhead, attacking them from behind.  While this had also occurred at Vimy Ridge, here, in conjunction with German counterattacks from their third line, quickly threw the French into disarray.  Local retreats were countermanded, and more reserves continued to pour in on the original timetable, when the first attacks had largely not yet succeeded.  Only the French supremacy in artillery prevented these masses of clogged infantry from being excellent targets for the Germans.  Further attacks were ordered, but generally went worse than those in the morning, on many occasions being bombarded by their own confused infantry.  General Mangin’s Senegalese corps suffered over 60% casualties, earning him the nickname of “broyeur de noir” (literally “black crusher,” also idiomatically “pessimist”).

The battle was to be the first use of French tanks in battle.  However, due to mechanical and logistical difficulties, they could not be deployed until the early afternoon.  Much lighter than the British tanks, the French tanks were easily taken out by German artillery, with many simply exploding into fireballs.  Those that survived intact often became stuck in mud or fell into enemy trenches, not being long enough to bridge them themselves.  In the one instance where they did reach their objective, they had outstripped their infantry (who were understandably reluctant to follow these exploding machines) and wandered aimlessly in the woods for some hours.

By the end of the day, after extensive German counterattacks, the French had advanced no further than a few hundred yards, and had not taken any significant portions of the German second line.  Casualties were more than ten times what had been expected.

Today in 1916: Internal Security Dramatically Increased in Russian 12th Army Today in 1915: Turkish Torpedo Boat Attack on Transport Ship Fails; 51 Die in Panic

Stay tuned for a bonus edition later tonight.

Sources include: E.L. Spears, Prelude to Victory; John Keegan, The First World War.

[grandeguerra100]

Accadde oggi nella Grande Guerra Il fallimento dell'Offensiva Nivelle: "La battaglia iniziata alle 06:00 del mattino, alle 07:00 era già persa. Quindici minuti dopo che le onde d'assalto si erano avventurate attraverso l'enorme altopiano dell'Aisne, nulla si sentiva tranne la voce balbuziente delle mitragliatrici e un unico grido proveniente da migliaia di petti angosciati - 'le mitragliatrici non sono state distrutte'. La vittoria che avevamo considerato già nostra stava per trasformarsi in una sconfitta sanguinosa". Jean Ybarnégaray, 249° Fanteria*. Nella foto, un soldato francese tra le rovine di La Ville-Aux-Bois-les-Pontavert, 8 Maggio 1917. ENGLISH - On this day in a World War 1 The failure of the Nivelle Offensive "The battle began at 6:00 a.m. By 7:00 a.m. it was lost. Fifteen minutes after the assault waves set out across the huge Aisne plateau, nothing could be heard but the stuttering of machine guns and a single cry escaping thousands of anguished breasts - 'the machine guns haven't been destroyed'. The victory we though was in the bag was going to be a bloody reverse". Jean Ybarnégaray, 249th Infantry*. In the picture, a French soldier in the ruins of La Ville-Aux-Bois-les-Pontavert, 8 May 1917. © IWM (Q 78264) * "Breaking Point of the French Army: The Nivelle Offensive of 1917" by David Murphy Published by Pen and Sword Books http://ift.tt/2nSahD7

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French Schneider CA1 tanks on their way to the station to be entrained for the offensive in the neighbourhood of Rheims, April 1917.

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A battery of French Schneider 155 mm artillery guns flooded and continuing to fire near Rheims, May 1917.

That is a cool looking shield. 

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A French Schneider 155 mm gun flooded and continuing to fire near Rheims, May 1917.