The war on the Western Front had become one of attrition as 1917 drew to a close. The French Army was exhausted, having borne the brunt of the Allied effort and the trauma of Verdun. The British were beginning to suffer manpower shortages by early 1918,...
Pages tagged with "Western Front"
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The daily routine of front line service varied from the mundane to the dramatic. A typical day would begin with 'stand to arms' at dawn, with all men manning the front line trench. Weapons would be cleaned, a tot of rum and breakfast consumed. Day...
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The trench warfare of the Western Front encouraged the development of new weaponry to break the stalemate; poison gas was one such development. The first significant gas attack occurred at Ypres in April 1915, when the Germans released clouds of...
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On a damp misty morning, British and Allied troops were met with a huge concentration of German artillery, gas, smoke and infantry. That day, 21 March 1918, heralded the start of Operation 'Michael', the first of the German Spring Offensives. It was...
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Within weeks of the outbreak of war it became clear that the manpower of a small professional British Army was insufficient for a major global conflict. In a wave of patriotic fervour, thousands of men volunteered for service in Kitchener’s New Armies....
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The opening months of the First World War caused profound shock due to the huge casualties caused by modern weapons. Losses on all fronts for the year 1914 topped five million, with a million men killed. This was a scale of violence unknown in any...
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A joint operation between British and French forces, the Battle of the Somme was intended to achieve a decisive victory over the Germans on the Western Front after 18 months of trench deadlock. For many in Britain, the resulting 1916 battle remains the...
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The Battle of Verdun, fought between the Germans and the French throughout most of 1916, was arguably the most influential battle of the Great War and had enormous consequences on subsequent Allied strategies. The battle began in February 1916 with...
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During the autumn and winter of 1914, much of the front line in France and Flanders had turned into a muddy morass. The intensity of the fighting declined as men struggled to maintain their trenches and keep dry, and the first Christmas of the war was...
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After surviving the German Spring Offensives, Allied forces launched a counter-punch of their own. From the summer of 1918 onwards, the Allies were constantly on the advance. Through the harsh experiences of the past the Allies had developed advanced...
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