battle of arras

In late February 1917, having suffered heavy losses in the protracted battles of the previous year, the German Army on the Western Front withdrew to the Hindenburg Line. [14] The attack had been intended to be made by two French and two British infantry divisions but Frankforce comprised only about 15,000 men, after the detachment of brigades to the defence of Arras, the river to the east and into reserve. [22] To the east of Arras, the 150th Infantry Brigade attacked across the Scarpe towards Tilloy and the 13th Infantry Brigade captured a bridgehead further east, ready for the second phase of the attack by Frankforce. During the afternoon of 21 May, the attack by the 50th Division and the 1st Tank Brigade was progressing south from Arras. Two weeks after Winston Churchill took office, the Second World War already seemed as good as … The Battle of Arras (also known as the First Battle of Arras, 1–4 October 1914), was an attempt by the French Army to outflank the German Army, which was attempting to do the same thing during the "Race to the Sea", the reciprocal attempts by both sides, to exploit conditions created during the First Battle of the Aisne. For ideas to help you use these sources, take a look at our Suggested Activities. [10], Georges ordered General d'Astier de la Vigerie, commander of Zone d'Opérations Aériennes Nord of the armée de l'Air to support the British attack but sent no details of the attack front, no targets and no zero hour for the attack. First Army (Horne) VIII Corps (Hunter-Weston), entered battle 28 August 1918 25th Brigade of 8th Division. The battle also succeeded in drawing German forces away from the French attack at the Aisne. The battle of Arras lasted thirty-nine days during April and May 1917. Rommel ordered Panzer-Regiment 25 to probe towards Acq 6.2 mi (10 km) forward with two motorised infantry regiments to follow later, which left most of the division without tanks. In the confusion an exchange of fire occurred between the French SOMUA S35s and British anti-tank guns near Warlus. The attack was supposed to be mounted by two infantry divisions, comprising about 15,000 men. The Battle of Arras was a British offensive during the First World War. Beyond the first few days however, casualties rose exponentially and the battle ground to a halt. Ironside returned to Britain and ordered urgent anti-invasion measures. A unit would spend a few days in the front line, followed by periods in reserve and rest. [23], Schützen-Regiment 6 was attacked while advancing towards Agny by a British column advancing from Dainville, which knocked out several vehicles; more British tanks attacked from the north and caught the regimental convoys strung out along the road on their right flank. One of the official silent films of the Western Front made for showing in British cinemas during the war, this film's full title was The German Retreat and the Battle of Arras.Shot in April 1917, it includes scenes of devastation in Arras with shots of the ruined cathedral. an area of over 40 sq mi (100 km2). The tanks were 58 Matilda Is, thickly armoured but equipped only with a machine gun and 16 Matilda II tanks, very well armoured and carrying a 2-pounder gun and a machine-gun. The opening advances, particularly at Vimy Ridge, achieved impressive gains with a relatively low casualty rate. The Left Column troops in Agny and Beaurains were bombed and then attacked by tanks as they retreated, one party missing the road (and eventually reaching Boulogne). Rommel led the advance but returned around 4:00 p.m. when the infantry failed to arrive and at the positions of Schützen-Regiment 7 (Fusilier or Rifle Regiment), found himself under attack by tanks and infantry. The garrison in Duisans also retired after dark, in the Bren carriers of the 9th DLI, covered by the anti-tank guns of the brigade reserve in Marœuil. Halder had been willing to run the risk, because of the incapacity of the Allies to achieve a fast tempo of operations. 2nd Battle of Arras. An essential part of … The German counter-attacks were supported by Fliegerkorps VIII (Generaloberst Wolfram von Richthofen) and the French lost 32 tanks and armoured vehicles. Battle of Arras Anniversary, Arras, France. Without a halt at Montcornet on 15 May and the second halt on 21 May after the Battle of Arras, the final halt order of 24 May would have been irrelevant, because Dunkirk would have already been captured by the 10th Panzer Division. Battle of Arras In October, 1914, the French Tenth army attempted to outflank German forces on the Western Front by advancing along a line between Arras and Lens. [16][17] Martel was ordered to plan an attack to. Frieser wrote that had the panzers advanced at the same speed on 21 May as they had on 20 May, before the halt order stopped their advance for 24 hours, Boulogne and Calais would have fallen. German units crossed the Meuse without waiting for reinforcements at the Battle of Sedan. British troops were retreating and by the time the German tanks broke through, the British had escaped. 21 May 1940 Theatre: France Area: The town of Arras in Northern France, on the River Scarpe south west of Lille. Players: Britain: 6th … Falling between the better known battles of the Somme in the second half of 1916, and Passchendaele (or Third Ypres) in the second half of 1917, Arras is not as well-remembered as either of those. Over 65 million men volunteered or were conscripted to fight in mass citizen armies and an estimated 16 million soldiers and civilians were left dead and countless others physically and psychologically wounded. In 1978, Cooper wrote that the attack at Arras led to the German higher commanders to continue to attack northwards, to capture the channel ports. 80% of the martyred town of Arras was destroyed during the First World War. The Battle of Arras This theme explores a lesser-known battle of World War I: The Battle of Arras (9th April 1917 – 16th May 1917). He's often on television talking about World War I and World War II. The Battle of the Scarpe. The XIX Corps attacked again at 8:00 a.m. on 22 May but was still hampered by a "near paralysis" in the German command, Rundstedt ordering that the instructions from OKH were to be ignored and the advance on Boulogne and Calais would have to wait. The opening days of the battle saw significant gains. [31][32] In 1953, Lionel Ellis, the British official historian, quoted the 7th Panzer Division war diary, which recorded the loss of nine medium and several light tanks, 378 men killed or wounded and 173 missing; British records noted some 400 Germans taken prisoner. Army Group A (Generaloberst Gerd von Rundstedt) defeated the French at the Battle of Sedan from 12 to 15 May and crossed the Meuse. Preceded by a huge artillery barrage over five days, the joint assault by four Canadian and ten British divisions took place on Easter Monday, 9 April 1917. [33] Frankforce lost sixty of the 88 tanks in the attack. Changes made by Ironside for a more ambitious combined attack with the French, were not communicated to Franklyn, who used most of Frankforce defensively, to reinforce Arras and relieve the French Cavalry Corps to the east of the town. It was an Allied counter-attack against the flank of the German army, near the town of Arras, in north-eastern France. The Battle of Arras was a major British offensive during the First World War. The 2nd Battle of Arras. The infantry of the Right Column in Warlus were rescued, because six French tanks arrived with two armoured infantry vehicles and broke out through the German position on the Warlus–Duisans road. The British tanks were eventually stopped short of Hill 111 by fire from another artillery battery but other tanks bypassed the area on both sides. [7], King Leopold III of Belgium told Gort that he did not expect the BEF to risk itself to keep contact with the Belgian army but warned the British that if they persisted with the southern offensive, the Belgians would be overstretched and collapse. [15], The Left Column also met resistance as soon as it advanced and fought its way through Schützen-Regiment 6 at Dainville. Discover more about the Battle of Arras and a few highlights from our collection. The soldiers rehearsed their roles over and over again, practising working with the creeping barrage. The Battle of Arras featured some notable successes. The corridor was only 25 mi (40 km) wide at Arras and vulnerable to a pincer movement; The Allies could have achieved a Clausewitzian counter-encirclement and cut off the panzers on the channel coast. The previous year had been marked by the costly success of the Franco–British [12], Franklyn had support from the French Corps de Cavalerie (Lieutenant-General René Prioux) of the French First Army, which had fought at the Battle of Hannut (12–14 May) with its SOMUA S35 cavalry tanks. Arras was occupied on 27 August and a French counter-offensive began at the Battle of St. Quentin (Battle of Guise 29–30 August). ARRAS APRIL-MAY 1917. The German forces were pushing north towards the channel coast, to trap the Allied forces that had advanced east into Belgium. Synopsis In this book, Nicholls provides an account o f the 39-day long battle of Arras, which remains the most le thal and costly British offensive of WW1. Panzerjägerabteilung 42 (42nd Anti-Tank Battalion) was rushed up to the area between Agny and Beaurains, but was overrun by the British tanks. [26], In 1953, Lionel Ellis, the British official historian wrote that the attack at Arras succeeded in easing German pressure round Arras and delaying the encirclement of the BEF. The panzer divisions had moved on, only small detachments having been left in Cambrai and the marching infantry divisions were not due until later in the day. The Battle of Arras took place on 21 May 1940, during the Battle of France in the Second World War. Artillery: one gun every 10 … From 9 th April to 16 th May 1917, troops from the four corners of the British Empire attacked trenches held by the army of Imperial Germany to the east of the French city of Arras. [38], Situation on 4 June 1940 and actions since 21 May, Modern map of Arras (commune FR insee code 62041, Battle of Arras: French in blue, British in dark blue, German Army in red, SS in black, Modern map of Agny and vicinity (commune FR insee code 62004), Matilda I in France, showing the cramped driver's compartment and the hatch obstructing the turret, SS Infanterie-Regiment Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler, British Expeditionary Force order of battle (1940), The War Illustrated, 20 September 1940, p. 282 Battle of Arras, The Defence of Arras: 2nd Bn Wiltshire Regiment, A Pictorial History of the 4th and the 7th Royal Tank Regiment, Documentary on Dunkirk, with a focus on the impact of tanks at Arras, Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany, Rape during the Soviet occupation of Poland, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Arras_(1940)&oldid=1017035940, Land battles of World War II involving the United Kingdom, Battles of World War II involving Germany, Tank battles involving the United Kingdom, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 10 April 2021, at 12:27. From the largest naval battle, and the longest battle, to the most painful and infamous battle, and the battle that marked the end of mobile warfare on the Western Front, discover 10 significant battles of the First World War that took place between 1914-1918. [11] Major-General Harold Franklyn, commander of the British 5th Infantry Division was put in charge of Frankforce, improvised from his division, the 50th (Northumbrian) Motor Division (Major-General Giffard Martel) and the 74 tanks of the 1st Army Tank Brigade. Only 26 Matilda Is were still operational and both tank battalion commanders had been killed; during the evening, Franklyn ordered both columns to withdraw. 26 August – 3 September, 1918: the Second Battles of Arras, 1918. For his part in the French victory at Verdun, General Robert Nivelle was promoted to Commander-in-Chief of the French Army. The advanced guard suffered many casualties, retreated to Warlus and German tanks counter-attacked Warlus and Duisans. The preliminary bombardment at the Battle of Arras saw German positions pulverised by more than 2.5 million shells, about 1 million more than at the Somme. [20] I Gruppe Sturzkampfgeschwader 77 is known to have bombed infantry positions north of Arras. On 19 May, after receiving reinforcements, the 4e DCr attacked again and was repulsed with the loss of 80 of 155 of its vehicles, much of the loss being caused by the aircraft of Fliegerkorps VIII, which attacked French units as they massed to attack the flanks of German units. The French Army launched an attack a few days later near the River Aisne. The German attacks were repulsed but managed to cut the road between the villages and the Right Column was unable to advance further. [21] The tanks kept going and then reached Wailly, where they met troops of the Totenkopf Division. When the British tanks broke through the German anti-tank screen, the infantry stood their ground, encouraged by Rommel, even after the British tanks had rolled over their anti-tank guns. An anti-tank gun was knocked out, British soldiers were killed and several French tanks hit before the mistake was discovered. Most of the BEF and the French First Army were still 62 mi (100 km) from the coast but despite delays, British troops were sent from England to Boulogne and Calais just in time to forestall the XIX Corps panzer divisions on 22 May. Frankforce had moved to the vicinity of Vimy, north of Arras to reinforce the Allied garrison at Arras, for a counter-attack to the south, to cut German communications in the vicinity. Marœuil was being bombarded when 50th (Northumbrian) Motor Division began the advance. It was ultimately executed by The attack was a failure but had a disproportionate effect on Hitler and Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW, German armed forces high command). direction sign, To Advanced Cage.Pulpit Crater. At the beginning of 1917, the British and French were still searching for a way to achieve a strategic breakthrough on the Western Front. Franklyn had detached a brigade each from the 5th Infantry Division and the 50th Motor Division, which had only two instead of the usual three brigades each. By noon, three of the four divisions had taken their objectives. During the evening, the French force, with about six SOMUAs, engaged Panzer-Regiment 25 south of Duisans. [37], The battle honour Defence of Arras was awarded to the British units involved in the counter-attack. Paul Reed is a military historian, battlefield photographer, and author. Episode 27: By spring 1917, the heavy casualties of the previous year were putting the German Army under considerable strain. The French attack reached the fringe of Cambrai only to be stopped by the Luftwaffe and forced to retreat. [18], An advance by the 3e DLM, to screen the right flank of the British force was also poorly prepared with insufficient liaison, the French not being told of the timing and direction of the British attack. The Battle of Arras German survivors were only available too, via the slow international postal service of the early eighties. The opening Battle of Vimy and the First Battle of the Scarpe are very encouraging, but once again the offensive – often known as the Battle of Arras – bogs down into an attritional slog. Phase: the Battle of the Scarpe, 26 – 30 August 1918. The daily routine of front line service varied from the mundane to the dramatic. Model kit and finished models from Italeri, the traditional manufacturer of fine miniatures, have been delighting model makers worldwide for over 50 years. Battle of Arras began at 0530 hours on 9 April. The Allies made some early gains and panicked a number of German units but after an advance of up to 6.2 mi (10 km), they were forced to withdraw after dark to avoid encirclement. Fighting went on all afternoon between Mercatel and Tilloy, where the tanks ran into a line of anti-aircraft guns and artillery, including 88 mm Flak guns and many of the tanks were knocked out. At OKW the panic was worse and Hitler contacted Army Group A on 22 May, to order that all mobile units were to operate either side of Arras and infantry units were to operate to the east. [29], Rommel also used wireless to order another gun line quickly to be set up with artillery and several 88 mm FlaK 36 anti-aircraft guns much further back, which knocked out 24 tanks in a few minutes on the flat ground between Mercatel and Tilloy. On the southern flank of the 7th Panzer Division, the Totenkopf Division was attacked and some SS troops fled in panic. This was to be the only large scale attack mounted by the BEF during the campaign. The Battle of Arras was part of the wider Nivelle Offensive, a plan masterminded by French General Robert Nivelle, which aimed to break the deadlock on the Western Front in 1917. Ironside met Billotte, finding him apparently incapable of taking action. 'Just out of the trenches near Arras. The preliminary bombardment lasted several weeks and mines laid in tunnels dug beneath the ridge were detonated just before the attack. [30], Rommel noted in his diary that his division had lost 89 men killed, 116 wounded and 173 men missing and captured, as many as the first four days of operations, which included the Meuse crossing, although 90 of the missing returned to their units. Going... 25 cm Minenwerfer (Heavy Trench Mortar, early short pattern). In early 1917, Nivelle presented his plan for a huge offensive that he claimed would defeat the German Army in a matter of days. 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