World War I (1914-1918)
Battle of Guillemont
The Battle of Guillemont (3–6 September 1916) was an attack by the Fourth Army on the village of Guillemont. The village is on the D 20 running east to Combles and the D 64 south-west to Montauban. Longueval and Delville Wood lie to the north-west and Ginchy to the north-east. The village was on the right flank of the British sector, near the boundary with the French
French Third Republic was the system of government adopted in France from 4 September 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed during the Franco-Prussian War, until 10 July 1940, after the Fall of France during World War II led to the formation of the Vichy government. During the 19th and 20th centuries, the French colonial empire was the second largest colonial empire in the world only behind the British Empire. Sixth Army.
The Fourth Army had advanced close to Guillemont during the Battle of Bazentin Ridge (14–17 July) and the capture of the village was the culmination of British attacks which began on 22/23 July. The attacks were intended to advance the right flank of the Fourth Army and eliminate a salient further north at Delville Wood. German
The German Empire, also referred to as Imperial Germany, the Second Reich, as well as simply Germany, was the period of the German Reich from the unification of Germany in 1871 until the November Revolution in 1918, when the German Reich changed its form of government from a monarchy to a republic. During its 47 years of existence, the German Empire became the industrial, technological, and scientific giant of Europe. defences ringed the wood and had observation over the French Sixth Army area to the south, towards the Somme river.
Preparatory to a general attack intended for mid-September, from the Somme north to Courcelette (beyond the Albert–Bapaume road), the French Sixth Army, the Fourth Army and Reserve Army conducted numerous attacks, to capture the rest of the German second line and to gain observation over the German third line. The German defences around Guillemont were based on the remaining parts of the second line and numerous fortified villages and farms northwards from Hem, Maurepas and Combles, to Falfemont Farm, Guillemont, Ginchy, Delville Wood and High Wood, which commanded the ground in between.
Numerous attempts were made by Joseph Joffre, Sir Douglas Haig, Ferdinand Foch and the army commanders Henry Rawlinson and Émile Fayolle to co-ordinate joint attacks, which failed due to the recovery of the German 2nd Army from the disorganisation caused by the defeats in early July, disagreements over tactics by Haig and Joffre in July and August and organisational constraints, caused by congestion behind the front, roads and tracks obliterated by Anglo-French artillery-fire becoming swamps when it rained and increasing German artillery-fire on targets behind the front line. Inexperience, unreliable machinery, guns, ammunition and an unpredictable flow of supplies from Britain
The British Empire, was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. At its height it was the largest empire in history and, for over a century, was the foremost global power. By the start of the 20th century, Germany and the United States had begun to challenge Britain's economic lead. , reduced the effectiveness of the British armies. Difficulty in co-ordinating attacks by the Allied armies and the large number of piecemeal attacks resorted to by the British, have been criticised as costly failures and evidence of muddle and incompetence by Haig and Rawlinson. The French Sixth and Tenth armies had similar difficulties and severe strain had been put on the German 2nd and 1st armies, forcing them into a similar piecemeal defence.
Wilfrid Miles noted in the History of the Great War
World War I, also known as the First World War, or the Great War, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilized in one of the largest wars in history. The war drew in all the world's economic great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Allies versus the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. View World War I » (the British official history, 1938), that the defence of Guillemont was judged by some observers to be the best performance of the war by the German army on the Western Front. A pause at the end of August in Anglo-French attacks, to organise bigger combined attacks and postponements for bad weather, coincided with the largest counter-attack yet by the German army in the battle. Joffre, Foch and Haig abandoned attempts to organise large combined attacks, in favour of sequenced army attacks and the capture of the German defences from Cléry north of the Somme to Guillemont from 3–6 September, brought the French Sixth and British Fourth armies onto ground which overlooked the German third position. Rain, congestion and relief of tired divisions, then forced a pause in French attacks until 12 September. In the Battle of Ginchy (9 September) the Fourth Army captured the village, ready to begin the Battle of Flers–Courcelette, (15–22 September).
Strategic Developments
On 1 July, the Anglo-French offensive had captured the first German defensive line, from Foucaucourt on the south bank to the vicinity of the Albert–Bapaume road, north of the Somme. The German 2nd Army abandoned the second line on the south bank in the XVII Corps area, to occupy a shorter line behind it close to Péronne, despite the policy of an unyielding defence. The Chief of Staff Generalmajor Grünert, was sacked by Falkenhayn that night and replaced by Colonel von Loßberg. Next day General von Below issued a secret order, that ground must be held at all costs, defensive positions were to be recovered by counter-attacks and that all commanders must make it clear that "The enemy must be made to pick his way forward over corpses". Over the next ten days, fifteen fresh divisions were sent to the Somme front, the first being split up as they arrived and used piecemeal to fill gaps at the most vulnerable points, which led to many losses in the reinforcing units. The 2nd Army lost 40,187 casualties in the first ten days, compared to 25,989 men in the first ten days at Verdun. On 17 July, Falkenhayn reorganised the twenty German divisions engaged on the Somme, by re-establishing the 1st Army under the command of Below, north of the Somme and appointing Lieutenant-General Max von Gallwitz to the command of the 2nd Army south of the river, combining both armies in armeegruppe Gallwitz-Somme. On 17 July, Below issued another secret order, noting that unauthorised withdrawals were still being made and threatened to Court-martial commanders who did not fight to the last man. By the end of July, despite the discipline and sacrifice of the German troops, more ground had been lost and Gallwitz issued an order on 30 July, stating that the decisive battle of the war was being fought on the Somme and that no more ground should be given up, regardless of losses. In August, the Germans retained far more ground than in July, at a cost of c. 80,000 casualties.
On 6 July, Joffre had visited Fayolle and discussed bringing the cavalry close to the front to exploit success and on 8 July Foch, commander of Groupe d'armées du Nord (GAN: Northern Army Group), ordered Fayolle to reinforce the success of the corps south of the Somme for an attack on 20 July, while defending on the north of the river. After the British victory on 14 July, Joffre directed Foch to co-ordinate broad-front attacks with the British, who were making the main Allied effort, to force the Germans to spread their artillery-fire and infantry over a wider front. Foch ordered the attack to be extended to the north of the river, although the transfer of artillery had put the main weight of the attack on the south side. After the success of the Battle of Bazentin Ridge 14–22 July, British Expeditionary Force (BEF) General Headquarters (GHQ) received intelligence reports of "demoralisation and confusion" among the German defenders but a recovery was noted within three days, particularly due to improvements in the flow of supplies to the German front line.
By the end of July, there was no expectation of a rapid German collapse, as the defenders north of the Somme had been relieved by three times as many fresh divisions and the Fourth Army was ordered to prepare for a German counter-attack. Intelligence reports showed very high German casualties and that one of the fresh German divisions had previously lost 104 percent of its infantry strength at Verdun. Below's order for unyielding defence was captured in late July, which indicated that German tactics were making attrition a feasible Allied objective. The destruction of British Intelligence networks in northern France and Belgium
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country as it exists today was established following the 1830 Belgian Revolution. Belgium has also been the battleground of European powers, earning the moniker the "Battlefield of Europe", a reputation reinforced in the 20th century by both world wars. restricted BEF Intelligence to gleaning documents from the battlefield and prisoner interrogation, causing an underestimation of the number of German divisions available for the Somme front. On 2 August, Haig issued a directive stating that Falkenhayn could continue to replace troops on the Somme and a German collapse was not expected, forecasting a "wearing-out" battle until September. Anglo-French Intelligence estimates of German casualties ranged from 130,000–175,000 losses in July.
After another relief of German divisions in mid-August, reports of "despondency" among prisoners, an estimate that the British had engaged 23 of the 41 German divisions which had fought on the Somme, which were worn out after 4 1⁄2 days, yet kept in the line for twenty days; news of German peace feelers and mounting domestic unrest, raised Allied optimism again. At the end of August, the Rumanian declaration of war and the sacking of Falkenhayn, led to hopes that his replacement by Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg as Chief of the General Staff and General Erich Ludendorff as First Quartermaster General would lead to more emphasis on the eastern front, easing the task of the Allied armies in France and Belgium. The Allied advances in early September and the publication of German casualty lists for July (which showed that seven of the twelve German divisions on the Somme opposite the British had lost more than 50 percent of their infantry) encouraged Haig and Joffre to persist with the offensive. Bavarian units in the area around Guillemont, were believed to have maintained high morale but suffered many casualties and had few reserves available.
Tactical Developments
A vast increase in British war production had been achieved in 1916 but the flow of equipment and ammunition caused transport problems in France, particularly on the Chemins de Fer du Nord (Nord) railways, which had become overloaded by the increase in the size of the BEF, the large number ammunition trains from the Channel ports to the Somme front and the need to move unprecedented numbers of casualties after 1 July. Congestion of the railways began to affect operations in July and rainy periods made delivery of ammunition from railheads to gun-positions much harder, when 550 lorry-loads were being delivered even on quiet days. Shortages of heavy howitzer ammunition in mid-July were made worse in areas under German observation and harassing-fire, as more German artillery arrived on the Somme front.
After 1 July, work began on extensions of the railway main line behind the Somme front towards Maricourt and the metre-gauge line from Albert to Bray, was extended to Fricourt and Montauban by 14 July. Anglo-French conferences on railway policy on 15 and 18 June settled administrative questions on railway building, addition of extensions to lines and the building of all-weather connecting roads. Operation of the extensions proved difficult, due to the number of soldiers, lorries, wagons and guns criss-crossing the rear of the battlefront and road closures due to accidents and German bombardment, which made the delivery of supplies unpredictable.
From 1–11 July, the XIII Corps artillery (357 guns), received 77 guns to replace 65 which were out of action due to defects and lack of spare parts; the supply of ammunition was adequate but much of it was of poor quality, fuzes from heavy howitzer shells falling out in flight. On 31 July, Rawlinson concentrated the artillery of XIII Corps on the right flank against Guillemont and then a line from Leuze Wood to Ginchy, with assistance from the XV Corps artillery. On 3 August, the British armies received a directive from Haig, which laid down the methods to be adopted to capture all of the Morval–Thiepval ridge, as it was clear that the German defence had become more formidable.
Methodical preparation of small attacks, with immediate consolidation was required and great economy of men and equipment necessary, to conduct another general attack in mid-September. The French XX Corps, was to be assisted by the capture of Falfemont Farm, Leuze Wood, Guillemont and Ginchy. Rawlinson altered the XIII Corps boundary, to concentrate it against Guillemont and the 55th and 2nd divisions sapped forward, to reduce the width of no man's land, which brought the British front line to Arrow Head Copse and about half-way from Trônes Wood to Guillemont.
The two German armies on the Somme made corps headquarters permanent geographical entities, with divisions temporarily attached, before relief by fresh formations. On the south bank, Gruppe von Quast was formed from the XVII Reserve Corps. Eventually the area north of the Somme to the Ancre was held by Gruppe Gossler (VI Reserve Corps) from the Somme to Hardecourt, Sixt von Armin (IV Corps) from Hardecourt to Pozières on the Albert–Bapaume road and Gruppe von Stein (XIV Reserve Corps) from Pozières, across the Ancre to Gommecourt. On 2 July, Loßberg surveyed the battlefield near Péronne, then began to arrange defensive positions like those used in the Second Battle of Champagne in September 1915. Front-line positions were to be thinly held, maintained regardless of loss and recaptured by Gegenstösse (immediate counter-attacks). If immediate counter-attacks failed, Gegenangriffe (organised counter-attacks) were to be made.
Loßberg ordered a new telephone line to be built, parallel to the front line out of artillery range, with branches to forward headquarters, ordered artillery headquarters to move close to infantry division headquarters to improve liaison and moved artillery observation posts back from the front line, to positions which overlooked it. Lack of reserves was the chief difficulty of the defence and Loßberg urged Falkenhayn to end the Battle of Verdun to supply reinforcements; for as long as German attacks continued at Verdun, troops, supplies and equipment arrived on the Somme intermittently, forcing piecemeal reinforcement of weak spots by battalions and companies, rather than complete units from a settled echelon of reserves, which caused irreplaceable losses in divisions kept in the line for too long.
German infantry began to avoid trench lines in mid-July and occupied shell-holes, which made Allied bombardments less effective and diverted infantry into mopping-up operations. Allied attacks on limited objectives reduced the effectiveness of German defensive dispersal, positions were incessantly bombarded, trenches, barbed wire and dugouts disappearing as far back as the second line. Shell-hole positions about 20 yd (18 m) apart, containing two or three men were quickly overrun by Anglo-French infantry and prepared for defence, before a Gegenstöss could be made. Deliberate counter-attacks were planned but most were cancelled due to shortages of troops, artillery and ammunition. Attempts to connect shell-hole positions during quiet periods failed, as Allied air reconnaissance quickly directed artillery-fire onto them. Trenches were evacuated before attacks, which began the development of defended areas, in which small groups manoeuvred to deprive Allied gunners of recognisable targets, vastly inflating the amount of ammunition necessary for bombardments.
Aftermath
In 2001, Liddle wrote that beyond imposing a delay, the German policy of unyielding defence and counter-attack failed and ought to be judged on the same terms as British and French methods. Haig and Joffre were right to believe that a serious German collapse was possible until late July and a convincing alternative to attrition in the circumstances of late July – early September 1916, has not been proposed. Analysis of captured documents and prisoner interrogations, indicated the strain being imposed on the German army. Philpott criticised the weeks of costly, small, narrow-front attacks against a skilful and determined defence by the Germans, yet Gallwitz "had no better tactical method", which reduced operations to a battle of wills. In the Fourth Army area from 15 July – 4 September, 72 German counter-attacks were made against 90 British attacks, exposing German infantry to similar costly and frustrating failures. German artillery and air inferiority was a great disadvantage and led to constant losses.
Sheldon also wrote that Allied aerial dominance in August, put the Germans at a serious tactical disadvantage, that some troops began to avoid the remaining dugouts and that much of the Allied artillery was used, constantly to bombard targets deep behind German lines. Harris wrote that on the German side, conditions were worse and the British improved the accuracy of their artillery-fire, with the help of aircraft observation. At the end of August, Falkenhayn was dismissed, partly due to disagreements over his conduct of the defence of the Somme. Few writers in English have compared the British experience with that of the French Sixth Army. The large British effort on the Somme helped to preserve relations with the French, although Joffre deprecated British the piecemeal attacks of late July – early September.
Doughty wrote that the French on the Somme had failed to combine their attacks with the British and in early September attacked sequentially. Joffre ordered the French offensive to continue as long as weather allowed and in September and October, French attacks were as piecemeal as the British. Prior and Wilson analysed the British on the Somme from 15 July – 12 September, which included the fighting for Guillemont. After sixty days, thirty-two British divisions had been engaged and lost 126,000 men, the British were bogged down, having advanced 1,000–1,500 yd (910–1,370 m) on a 12,000 yd (11,000 m) front and the deeper advance at Guillemont had only occurred at the end of the period. On fifty days, an average of eight divisions were in the line but fewer than six battalions attacked and only twice did more than half of the battalions in the line attack. British assaults were constant, small and narrow-front, against which the Germans could concentrate artillery and inflict many casualties. British divisions stayed in the front line from two days to 42 days and casualties varied from 500 per day in the 5th Division, to fewer than 100 per day in the 23rd Division.
The 1st Division attacked fourteen times, yet six divisions attacked only once; single attacks were made by 164 battalions, three were made by 24 battalions and one battalion attacked six times. Some of the difference is explained by divisions having been engaged from 1–14 July but the rest is called "whim", with no pattern in the direction or frequency of attacks or the time divisions spent in the line. The large number of small uncoordinated attacks, when it was not possible to protect infantry with creeping barrages, demonstrated a failure of duty by the British commanders, inexperience in the command of large forces and the impossibility of predicting the warfare of the Western Front, partly explain British failures.
The Germans had recovered from the defeats in the south in July, many defensive positions were out of view of the British artillery and at times poor weather grounded British artillery observation aircraft. The salient at Delville Wood was exposed to German artillery-fire from the north and east and could only be eliminated by an advance at Guillemont, yet of seventy Fourth Army attacks, only twenty were against Guillemont. The attack of 22/23 July was "tactically dubious", despite being a broad front attack co-ordinated with the French. Zero hour was 1:30 a.m. on 23 July but two divisions made zero hour 3:40 a.m. to conform to the French, who then cancelled their attack. The co-ordinated attack planned by the French Sixth Army, Fourth and Reserve armies became uncoordinated minor attacks, at 10:00 p.m., 12:30 a.m., 1:30 a.m. and 3:40 a.m., the first serving to alert the Germans.
British artillery had good observation over the German defences at Guillemont but the German infantry dispersed into shell-holes, which nullified the effect of much of the artillery fire. British infantry reached the village several times and were then trapped by fire, from shell-hole positions on both flanks and from ahead. W. Miles the Official Historian, wrote that the attacks on 23 July and 30 July failed, because an attack from west and south-west, with no French supporting attack at Maurepas Ravine to the south, could not succeed. Philpott called hand grenades the main weapon and the side which won the bombing fight usually prevailed, which at Guillemont in August was the German, the British being "finished off with grenades and cold steel".
Prior and Wilson called Haig's instructions of 2 August, for "careful and methodical" attacks, "pushed forward without delay" so ambiguous as to be incomprehensible and Rawlinson incapable of implementing them. Sheffield wrote that criticism of Haig's directives, underestimated the difficulty in balancing tactical, operational and strategic demands; line straightening attacks were costly but were better than imposing complicated manoeuvres on the infantry. After the failure on 8 August, Haig ordered Rawlinson to plan an attack on a wide front, combined with the French. On 11 August, Haig and Joffre agreed a joint attack by the French Sixth and British Fourth armies on Maurepas and Guillemont. The attack was delayed by rain and supply difficulties, then French co-operation was cancelled again. On 18 August, the 3rd Division was "shattered" and the only success was obtained by the 24th Division, behind a creeping barrage; the British returned to smaller attacks. On 24 August, Haig criticised Rawlinson for failing to supervise planning and for attacks on narrow fronts with insufficient forces. Sheffield blamed Rawlinson who had "abdicated responsibility" and called Haig's directive a "Boy's Own" guide to command.
An attack was postponed until 3 September, when Falfemont Farm, Leuze Wood and Guillemont were captured, in an advance of 4,500 yd (4,100 m) on a 2,000 yd (1,800 m) front, which eliminated the salient at Delville Wood and exposed Ginchy to attack from the south. Harris also considered that Haig's pressure on Rawlinson led to the capture of Guillemont but criticised Haig for ignorance of the climate of the Somme region, where the weather usually broke around 25 September. Philpott doubted the existence of a "learning curve" but wrote that British methods improved, with principles devised for dealing with isolated German machine-guns, attacks in waves followed by small groups of supporting troops and consolidation of captured ground, spread through the BEF, although fresh divisions had to learn the same lessons, also evident in some French Tenth Army divisions on the south bank. Many errors were made, by over promoted and inexperienced officers, while others like Horne, Congreve and Cavan, proved themselves to be talented corps commanders.
Casualties
The 2nd Division had 4,908 casualties from 24 July – 11 August. The 3rd Division had 6,102 casualties from 14–27 July and c. approximately 1,900 more casualties from 14–20 August. From 26 August – 7 September the 5th Division lost 4,233 casualties. From 23 August – 7 September the 7th Division lost 3,800 men. The 20th Division lost 2,959 men from 22 August – 8 September. The 24th Division casualties in August were 3,537 men and the division lost c. 2,000 casualties in September. The 30th Division lost 2,777 casualties in the fighting around Guillemont. The 55th Division lost 4,126 casualties in August. From 14–31 July the German 24th Reserve Division had 5,476 casualties. British losses by the end of July were 130,000 men and French casualties reached 24,600 men by the third week of July. At the end of August British casualties were 251,000 men and French had 65,000 losses. In September French casualties on the Somme were 76,147, the most costly month of the battle. German casualties on the Somme during August were c. 80,000, substantially fewer than in July (40,187 casualties in the first ten days) and in September were c. 135,000, the worst month of the battle.
HISTORY
RESOURCES
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