Third Battle of the Aisne

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Third Battle of the Aisne
Part of World War I
The Western Front, July 1918
Date 27 May – 6 June 1918 Location Aisne River near Paris, France Result German advance halted after initial gains
Combatants
France  United Kingdom  United States	German Empire
Commanders
Denis Auguste Duchene Alexander Hamilton Gordon	Erich Ludendorff Crown Prince Wilhelm
Strength
French 6th Army, British IX Corps and later 2 American Divisions*	German 1st and 7th Armies (over 20 divisions and 4000 artillery guns)
Casualties
127,000 (French- 98,000. British- 29,000.)	around 130,000

Western Front
Frontiers – Liège – Antwerp – Great Retreat – Race to the Sea – Neuve Chapelle – 2nd Ypres – 2nd Artois – Hill 70 – 3rd Artois – Loos – Verdun – Hulluch – Somme – Arras – Vimy Ridge – 2nd Aisne – Messines – Passchendaele – Cambrai – Michael – Lys – 3rd Aisne – Belleau Wood – 2nd Marne – Château-Thierry – Hamel – Hundred Days

This article is about the 1918 battle. For the 1914 battle see First Battle of the Aisne, and for the 1917 battle see Second Battle of the Aisne.

The Third Battle of the Aisne was a German offensive during World War I that focused on capturing the Chemin des Dames Ridge before the American Expeditionary Force could arrive in France. It was one of a series of desperate offensives, known as the Kaiserschlacht, launched by the Germans in the spring and summer of 1918.

Contents 1 Background 2 Battle 3 Aftermath 4 See also 5 References

[edit] Background

The massive surprise attack (named Blücher-Yorck after two Prussian generals of the Napoleonic Wars) lasted from 27 May until 6 June 1918 and was the first full-scale German offensive following the Lys Offensive in Flanders in April.

The Germans had held the Chemin des Dames Ridge from the First Battle of the Aisne in September 1914 to 1917, when General Mangin captured it during the Second Battle of the Aisne (in the Nivelle Offensive).

Operation Blücher-Yorck was planned primarily by Erich Ludendorff, who was certain that success at the Aisne would lead the German armies to within striking distance of Paris. Ludendorff, who saw the BEF as the main threat, believed that this, in turn, would cause the Allies to move forces from Flanders to help defend the French capital, allowing the Germans to continue their Flanders offensive with greater ease. Thus, the Aisne drive was to be essentially a large diversionary attack.

The defence of the Aisne area was in the hands of General Denis Auguste Duchene, commander of the French 6th army; in addition, four divisions of the British IX Corps, led by Lieutenant-General Sir Alexander Hamilton Gordon, held the Chemin des Dames Ridge; they had been posted there to rest and refit after surviving the "Michael" battle.

[edit] Battle

On the morning of 27 May 1918, the Germans began a bombardment (feuerwalze) of the Allied front lines with over 4,000 artillery pieces. The British suffered heavy losses, due to the fact that Duchene had ordered them to mass together in the front trenches, in defiance of instructions from the French Commander-in-Chief Henri-Philippe Petain. Huddled together, they made easy artillery targets.

The bombardment was followed by a poison gas drop. Once the gas had lifted the main infantry assault by 17 German Sturmtruppen divisions commenced, led by Crown Prince Wilhelm, the eldest son of Kaiser Wilhelm II.

Taken completely by surprise and with their defences spread thin, the Allies were unable to stop the attack and the German army advanced through a 40 km gap in the Allied lines. Reaching the Aisne in under six hours, the Germans smashed through eight Allied divisions on a line between Reims and Soissons, pushing the Allies back to the river Vesle and gaining an extra 15 km of territory by nightfall.

Victory seemed near for the Germans, who had captured just over 50,000 Allied soldiers and well over 800 guns by 30 May 1918. But after having advanced within 56 km of Paris on 3 June, the German armies were beset by numerous problems, including supply shortages, fatigue, lack of reserves and many casualties along with counter-attacks by and stiff resistance from newly arrived American divisions, who engaged them in the Battles of Chateau-Thierry and Belleau Wood.

On 6 June 1918, following many successful Allied counter-attacks, the German advance halted on the Marne, much as the "Michael" and "Georgette" offensives had in March and April of that year.'

[edit] Aftermath

The French had suffered over 98,000 casualties and the British around 29,000. German losses were nearly as great if not slightly heavier. Duchene was sacked by French Commander-in-Chief Henri-Philippe Petain for his poor handling of the British and French troops. The Americans had arrived and proven themselves in combat for the first time in the war.

Ludendorff, encouraged by the gains of Blücher-Yorck, would launch further offensives cumulating in the Second Battle of the Marne.

• Note: The divisions of American Expeditionary Force were double the size of those of their British and French allies or German foes (with a full strength of around 20,000 each). Due to this fact, they were sometimes referred to as Grandes Divisions (Big Divisions).

British Forces were involved in the 3rd Battle of the Aisne/ Chemin des Dames on the 27th May to 6th June 1918:(Check out the link for more information:http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=44335&hl= )

Order of Battle:

British IX Corps Sir Alexander Hamilton Gordon

8th Division: Major-General W C G Heneker

23rd Brigade: Brigadier-General W St G Grogan VC

2nd Devonshire 2nd West Yorkshire 2nd Middlesex

24th Brigade: Brigadier-General- General R Haig (wounded)

1st Worcestershire 1st Sherwood Foresters 2nd Northamptonshire

25th Brigade: Brigadier-General R H Husey (Killed In Action)

2nd East Lancashire 2nd Royal Berkshire 2nd Rifle Brigade

R F A Brigades:

XXXIII XLV

Field Coys. R E:

2 15 490

Pioneers:

22nd Durham

21st Division: Major-General D G M Campbell

62nd Brigade: Brigadier-General G H Gater

12/13th Northumberland Fusiliers 1st Lincolnshire 2nd Lincolnshire

64th Brigade: Brigadier-General H R Headlam

9th KOYLI 15th Durham

110th Brigade: Brigadier-General H R Cumming

6th Leicestershire 7th Leicestershire 8th Leicestershire

R F A Brigades:

XCIV XCV

Field Coys. R E:

97 98 126

Pioneers:

14th Northumberland Fusiliers

25th Division: Major-General Sir E G T Bainbridge

7th Brigade: Brigadier-General C J Griffin

10th Cheshire 4th South Staffordshire 1st Wiltshire

74th Brigade: Brigadier-General H M Craigie Halkett

11th Lancashire Fusiliers 3rd Worcestershire 9th Loyal North Lancashire

75th Brigade: Brigadier-General A A Kennedy

11th Cheshire 8th Border Regiment 2nd South Lancashire

R F A Brigades:

110 112

Field Coys. R E:

105 106 130

Pioneers:

6th South Wales Borderers

50th Division: Major-General H C Jackson

149th Brigade: Brigadier-General E P A Riddell (wounded)

4th Northumberland Fusilers 5th Northumberland Fusilers 6th Northumberland Fusilers

150th Brigade: Brigadier-General H C Rees (Prisoner of War)

4th East Yorkshire 4th Yorkshire 5th Yorkshire

151st Brigade: Brigadier-General C T Martin (Killed in Action)

5th Durham 6th Durham 8th Durham

R F A Brigades:

250th 251st

Field Coys. R E

7 446 447

Pioneers:

7th Durham

[edit] See also

• Chemins des Dames Ridge

[edit] References

• Evans, M. M. (2004). Battles of World War I. Select Editions. ISBN 1-84193-226-4.