Battle of Loos
British infantry advancing on Loos on September 25th
| date | September 25 to October 14, 1915 |
|---|---|
| place | At Loos-en-Gohelle , Pas-de-Calais department |
| output | British offensive stalled |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
|
Rupprecht of Bavaria |
John French |
| Troop strength | |
5 divisions on September 25th |
on September 25, 8 divisions , later 11 divisions |
| losses | |
|
25,000 dead and wounded |
50,000 dead and wounded |
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The Battle of Loos was a battle on the Western Front during World War I between British and German troops as a British contribution to the autumn battle at La Bassée and Arras . The battle was fought from September 25, 1915 to October 14, 1915 around the town of Loos (now Loos-en-Gohelle ) in France and was part of the September offensive of the Western Allies of the Entente in Artois and Champagne ( autumn battle in Champagne ) , with which the German front should be broken through before the onset of winter and the allied Russia on the eastern front should be relieved.
prehistory
The BEF was to cover the left flank of the French offensive in Artois with its offensive . Since the strong German fortifications around Loos were reinforced by various geographical conditions, the British field commanders expressed concerns about the attack, which, however, were brushed aside by the British Minister of War Lord Kitchener with the request to accept the heaviest losses if necessary. In addition to the strong German fortifications, there was a lack of adequate artillery support on the British side. However, this should be offset by the extensive use of poison gas .
Involved troops and terrain
Involved on the British side were two corps of the 1st Army under Douglas Haig , the 1st Corps (2nd, 7th and 9th Divisions) under Hubert Gough in the north and then the IV 47th Division) under Henry Rawlinson . Another corps, the XI. (21st, 24th Divisions and Guards ) under Richard Haking and the 3rd Cavalry Division were held behind it as reserves and only intervened later in the fighting.
The main burden of the fighting on the German side was carried by the IV Army Corps under Friedrich Sixt von Armin with the 7th , 8th and 123rd Divisions . Also involved were the parts of the VII Army Corps with the 14th and 117th Divisions, led by Hermann von François , south of the La Bassée Canal between La Bassée and Hulluch . Both corps belonged to the 6th Army under Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria . The numerical superiority of the British made it necessary that later neighboring, less heavily used sections of the front had to surrender parts of their troops to clean up the break-in point.
The attack area was bounded in the north by the La Bassée Canal, in the south the border was at the level of the village of Grenay . The natural boundary was formed by two cinder mountains of the coal mines ( Fosse ) located here. In the north of the attack zone, in front of Fosse 8, was the heavily fortified Hohenzollern factory , which was defended by parts of the German 117th Division under Lieutenant General Ernst Kuntze . About three kilometers behind the front on the German side and roughly in the center of the attack zone was the town of Hulluch . The aim of the British was also both the Hohenzollern work as south of Hulluch on the road to Lens lying height 70 to bring in their possession.
course
The attack began around 6:30 a.m. on the morning of September 25th when British forces, under the command of General Douglas Haig, released 140 tons of chlorine gas . It was the first use of poison gas by Allied troops in World War I. However, calm on the entire section of the front ensured that the gas hung ineffectively over the no man's land and in some cases even flowed back into the British positions. The poor workmanship of the British gas masks, which made breathing difficult and restricted visibility, meant that many soldiers took off their masks prematurely and were injured or perished by the gas.
However, thanks to a massive numerical superiority, the right wing was able to take the city of Loos on the first day and break through the first German lines. The British could not use this advantage for the time being, because the reserve divisions under John French and their artillery had been stationed too far behind the front before the attack began. The divisions, which were largely made up of fresh recruits, could only intervene in the fighting on the second day and had to take action against largely undamaged German fortifications almost entirely without artillery support. In addition, a German counterattack began, which threw the British back to their original positions by September 28. In the battles of the following days, the German troops wanted to regain the Hohenzollern Redoubt , which had previously been lost and which was still in British hands . The fortified position was retaken on October 3rd. On October 8th, the German troops tried to reclaim land along the entire length of the front line. The attack had to be stopped after heavy losses in the evening of the day. This date marks the very end of the Battle of Loos. Although the British troops made one last attempt to carry out a new offensive before the beginning of winter on October 13, this had to be abandoned due to a lack of hand grenades.
consequences
The goal of a comprehensive front breakthrough could not be fully achieved either in Loos or on the rest of the front. In addition to the incorrect positioning of the troops by Field Marshal French, the inadequate artillery support is seen as the main reason for the failure of the numerically far superior British. The soldiers had to advance to the German positions through almost undestroyed barbed wire and suffered around 20,000 dead and wounded on the first day alone.
Overall, the British casualties in the battle amounted to about 50,000 men and were therefore as high as on the other front sections of the September offensive. They were one of the reasons why French was replaced in December 1915 by Douglas Haig as Commander in Chief of the BEF.
In the Battle of Loos, the poet Charles Sorley , the playwright and actor Harold Chapin and John Kipling , the son of Rudyard Kipling and the British MP Ninian Crichton-Stuart , among others, died . Also fell Fergus Bowes-Lyon , brother of the later so-called Queen Mum Elizabeth and an uncle of the later British Queen Elizabeth II. The 20,000 names on the Loos Memorial remember the British soldiers who have no known grave.
literature
- Philip Warner: The Battle of Loos. Pen & Sword Military, Barnsley 2009, ISBN 978-1-84884-076-8 .
Web links
- The Battle of Loos, 25 September - 18 October 1915 on 1914-1918.net (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ David Stevenson: 1914-1918: The First World War. Mannheim 2010, ISBN 978-3-491-96274-3 , p. 197.
- ^ David Stevenson: 1914-1918: The First World War. Mannheim 2010, ISBN 978-3-491-96274-3 , p. 198
- ↑ Queen Elizabeth II Speaks of Her Family's Search for Uncle Killed in World War I . Article of November 7, 2015 in the ndtv.com portal , accessed on November 7, 2015.
- ↑ See article Fergus Bowes-Lyon in the English language Wikipedia.
- ↑ Loos Memorial Loos Memorial Cemetery Details Website of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission .