Battle of Neuve Chapelle
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The Battles of Neuve Chapelle and Artois was a battle in the First World War. It was a British offensive in the Artois region and broke through at Neuve Chapelle but they were unable to exploit the advantage. The battle began on 10th March 1915. By this time, a huge influx of troops from Britain had to some extent relieved the French situation in Flanders and enabled a continuous British line stretching from Langemarck to Givenchy. The ultimate aim of the battle was to cause a rupture in the enemy lines which would then be exploited with a rush on the Aubers Ridge and possibly even Lille, a major enemy communications centre. A simultaneous French assault on the Vimy Ridge was also planned although the situation in Champagne soon led to this particular part of the operation to be postponed. This was to be the first time that aerial photography was to play a prominent part in a major battle with the entire German lines being mapped by the air.
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[edit] The battle
Despite poor weather conditions, the early stages of the battle went extremely well. The Royal Flying Corps quickly secured aerial dominance and set about bombarding German reserves and transportation en route to defend the area. By noon, Neuve Chapelle itself had been secured. It was at this point that the advance ground to a halt. Though the aerial photography had been useful to an extent, it was unable to efficiently identify the enemy's strong defensive points. Primitive communication also meant that British commanders had been unable to keep in touch with each-other and the battle thus became uncoordinated and this in turn disrupted the supply lines. On 12th March, German forces commanded by Crown Prince Rupprecht launched a counter-attack which, although unsuccessful, did at least manage to end any chance of further advancement; the campaign was officially abandoned on 13th March. 40,000 Allied troops took part during the battle and of these 11,200 (7,000 British, 4,200 Indian) failed to return. The Germans lost around the same number. In total, the British succeeded in recapturing just over 2km of lost ground.
[edit] Aftermath
After the failure of the Battle of Neuve Chapelle, the British Commander-in-Chief Field Marshal Sir John French claimed that it failed due to a lack of shells. This lead the Shell Crisis of 1915 which brought down the Liberal British government under the Premiership of H. H. Asquith. He formed a new coalition government dominated by Liberals and appointed Lloyd George as Minister of Munitions. It was a recognition that the whole economy would have to be geared for war if the Allies were to prevail on the Western Front.
