Loos: Hill 70: French Flanders
5/5
()
About this ebook
Andrew Rawson
ANDREW RAWSON is a freelance writer who has written several books, covering campaigns from the Napoleonic Wars, World War I and World War II, including the 'British Army Handbook, 1914–1918', 'Vietnam War Handbook' and 'The Third Reich 1919–1939' for The History Press.
Read more from Andrew Rawson
Crossing the Rhine: Remagen Bridge: 9th Armoured Infantry Division Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe 1914 Campaign Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Loos: Hohenzollen: French Flanders Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAuschwitz: The Nazi Solution Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Walcheren: Operation Infatuate Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCherbourg Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPoland's Struggle: Before, During and After the Second World War Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Treachery and Retribution: England's Dukes, Marquesses & Earls, 1066–1707 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Passchendaele Campaign, 1917 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe 1915 Campaign Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Showcasing the Third Reich: The Nuremberg Rallies: The Nuremberg Rallies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Third Reich 1919–1939: The Nazis' Rise to Power Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBalkan Struggles: A Century of Civil War, Invasion, Communism and Genocide Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Cambrai Campaign, 1917 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Somme Campaign Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Vietnam War Handbook: US Armed Forces in Vietnam Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Baghdad Operators: Ex Special Forces in Iraq Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Final Advance, September to November 1918 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Battle of the Bulge 1944-45 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIn Pursuit of Hitler: A Battlefield Guide to the Seventh (US) Army Drive Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Clash of Thrones: The Power-Crazed Medieval Kings, Popes and Emperors of Europe Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Battle Story: Iwo Jima 1945 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Loos
Related ebooks
Ypres 1914: Messines Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ypres 1914: The Menin Road Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Battle of Neuve Chapelle Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bourlon Wood: Hindenburg Line Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Flers & Gueudecourt: Somme Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMessines Ridge: Ypres Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Advance to Victory, 1918: Somme Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLa Boiseslle: Ovillers/Contalmaison Somme Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The St. Mihiel Offensive: 12 to 16 September 1918 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBattleground Europe: A Guide to Battlefields in France & Flanders Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMonchy le Preux: Arras Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Battle of the Lys, 1918: South: Objective Hazebrouck Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBazentin Ridge: Somme Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSanctuary Wood & Hooge: Ypres Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Somme 1916: Touring the French Sector Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBoesinghe Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAisne 1918 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDelville Wood: Somme Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPozieres Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Flesquieres–Hindenburg Line Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Passchendaele Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Battle of the Lys, 1918: Givenchy and the River Law Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBeaucourt: Somme Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRetreat of I Corps 1914 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Battle for Vimy Ridge, 1917 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Serre: Somme Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Germans at Thiepval Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe French on the Somme: From Serre to the River Somme: August 1914 – 30 June 1916: Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMontauban: Somme Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWalking Verdun: A Guide to the Battlefield Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Wars & Military For You
Resistance: The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Happiest Man on Earth: The Beautiful Life of an Auschwitz Survivor Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Sun Tzu's The Art of War: Bilingual Edition Complete Chinese and English Text Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hitler's Monsters: A Supernatural History of the Third Reich Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Art of War: The Definitive Interpretation of Sun Tzu's Classic Book of Strategy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Masters of the Air: America's Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The God Delusion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5They Thought They Were Free: The Germans, 1933–45 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The History of the Peloponnesian War: With linked Table of Contents Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Kingdom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Killing the SS: The Hunt for the Worst War Criminals in History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rise of the Fourth Reich: The Secret Societies That Threaten to Take Over America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Making of the Atomic Bomb Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Wager Disaster: Mayem, Mutiny and Murder in the South Seas Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of War & Other Classics of Eastern Philosophy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Faithful Spy: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Plot to Kill Hitler Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Daily Creativity Journal Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dr. Seuss Goes to War: The World War II Editorial Cartoons of Theodor Seuss Geisel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shogun: The Life of Tokugawa Ieyasu Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBand of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Loos
1 rating0 reviews
Book preview
Loos - Andrew Rawson
Chapter One
PLANNING THE OFFENSIVE
The Battle of Loos was not an isolated assault, it was in fact one of three attacks designed to drive the Germans out of France. Preparations for an autumn offensive were well under way even before the Second Battle of Artois had drawn to a close. General Joffre proposed to throw the entire weight of his reserves against two points in the German line. It was an optimistic plan which, if successful, would push the invaders from French soil. In the Champagne region an attack driving northwards would advance towards the Ardennes. Meanwhile, a renewal of the offensive in the Artois Region would hopefully de-stabilise the Germans south of Lens. The convergent advances would then threaten the flanks of the pronounced salient astride the River Somme and River Aisne, forcing the Germans to retire across the Belgian border.
Map 1. The Western Front, showing Loos in relation to Ypres and Arras.
At the beginning of June General Joffre put a two-point suggestion to Field Marshal Sir John French. In order to build up an army for the Champagne offensive the British would take over the Somme region. He also wanted the British to attack alongside the French, striking the German line north of Lens. At first the proposal was accepted and First Army's commander, General Haig, was asked to prepare a plan for such an attack. A few days later Haig replied that in his opinion the Loos front was not suitable for offensive operations. The area consisted of open fields dotted with fortified villages and would be ideal defensive terrain. Instead General Haig advised that the British should strike north of the canal, as they had done in the spring.
Towards the end of June the respective general staffs and representatives from the munitions industry were in conference at Boulogne discussing plans for the following year. Their conclusions did not agree with General Joffre's plans for an autumn offensive. The spring campaign had proved that attacks on a narrow frontage could easily be contained by a small number of troops. What was needed was a broad front, up to fifteen miles wide, to enable a break though to succeed. The British would not have sufficient numbers to contribute to such an offensive until the following spring. It was also noted that only the shells of heavy calibre guns were capable of preparing the ground for the infantry, and neither army had sufficient numbers for a wide front. The spring offensives had also proved that the need for shells, in particular heavy calibre ammunition, far outstripped the current capacity of the combined munitions industries.
Although the Boulogne conference advised waiting until the following spring before taking the offensive, General Joffre was adamant that the Germans must be driven from French soil at the first opportunity. At the St Omer conference on 11 July he proposed taking the offensive at the end of August, by which time the British would have taken over the Somme front. General Joffre wanted assurances that the British would strike a simultaneous blow. However, Field Marshal French was this time more reserved in what he would offer. If the French Army broke through to the south of Lens, his Army would strike the weakened German line north of the city.
With the situation stalemated, Joffre waited until the end of July when he again asked for full co-operation from his ally at the Frevént conference. His efforts were in vain, neither general would change their views and for the next three weeks the two exchanged letters. Eventually, General Joffre, determined to press on with his plans, decided to adopt a different approach: diplomacy. On 16 August he welcomed Lord Kitchener to his headquarters for a discussion. Although there is no record of the meeting, when Kitchener visited Field Marshal French three days later it was obvious that a ‘deal’ had been struck. In the belief that the United Kingdom was the junior partner, he had agreed to support Joffre's plans. The following year, with the BEF swelled by the New Armies, the British would be able to argue its case on more equal terms.
There is no doubt that Kitchener would have been influenced by the global situation, for the Allies had suffered a string of set-backs throughout the summer. The attempt to knock Turkey out of the war, by invading the Dardenelles peninsula, had resulted in deadlock. Italy's first attempt to strike at the Austro-Hugarian Empire had also failed miserably. Meanwhile, in the east, the Central Powers had launched the Brest-Litovsk offensive, driving the Russians back in disarray. Kitchener was well aware that offensive action was needed on the Western Front to provide support and encouragement to their eastern ally. Lord Kitchener instructed Field Marshal French to co-operate fully with General Joffre, ordering him ‘to take the offensive and act vigorously’. To make up for the shortfall in artillery, gas would be used to surprise the Germans. As August drew to a close, plans were being drawn up and before long men and equipment began flooding into the Bethune area.
Map 2. Schematic map of First Army's battlefield.
GHQ neither wanted the attack, nor was it on their chosen ground. However, to prove to the Germans that the Allies were united, the British Army had to act. In Kitchener's own words;
…we must act with all energy and do our utmost to help France in their offensive, even though by doing so we may suffer heavy losses
The date was originally set for 8 September, but delays in preparing the Champagne sector for action forced a postponement until the