Battle of Armentières
The battle of Armentières and Messines from October 13th to the beginning of November 1914 was part of the First World War and took place at the end of the race to the sea . The battle took place on the northern western front parallel to the First Battle of La Bassée (1914) . From an operational point of view, it was closely interwoven with the First Battle of Flanders , which was led from the north ; from October 20, the fighting was subordinated to the Battle of Ypres , did not lead to any relevant result apart from the definition of the future front and only served to tie up the opposing reserves on both sides.
prehistory
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The French, Belgian and British armed forces in Flanders did not have a single command, so the French general Ferdinand Foch was appointed commander of the Army Group North (Groupe d'armées du Nord) on October 4th. Although Foch was not officially in command of the British and Belgian forces, his supreme leadership was recognized by both allies. The important industrial and transport hub Lille was firmly in the hands of the German 6th Army from October 12th . On the same day the French had to surrender Vermelles, which was on the edge of the coal basin, to troops of the German XIV Army Corps . This forced the British troops to surrender reserves to the south in order to close a gap with the French 21st Corps (General Maistre ). The English II Corps ( Smith-Dorrien ) had arrived in Abbeville from October 8th to 9th and concentrated in the northeast around Gennes-Ivergny , Gueschart and Le Boisle to advance on Béthune . The 2nd Cavalry Division was unloaded in Saint-Pol and Hesdin on October 9 , the 1st Cavalry Division followed on the following day. The British III. Corps arrived in St. Omer on October 11th by train and advanced from October 12th to 15th behind the left flank of the II Corps in the direction of Bailleul and Armentières to the Lys sector. The II. Corps (Smith-Dorrien) should advance north of Lille and the III. Corps (Pulteney) together with the cavalry corps (Allenby) should reach a line from Armentières to Wytschaete . French troops under General Conneau were supposed to relieve the II. Corps by advancing north via Béthune to become neighbors to the English III. Corps to insert. General Pulteney ordered the III. Corps to continue the advance towards Bailleul, with the 6th Division to the right in three columns towards Vieux-Berquin and Merris and the 4th Division in two columns towards Flêtre .
March
III. Corps (General William Pulteney )
4th Division (Maj. Gen. Henry FM Wilson )
- 10th Brigade (Brigade General JAL Haldane )
- 11th Brigade (Brigade-General AG Hunter-Weston )
- 12th Brigade (Brigadier-General Frederick G. Anley )
6th Division (Major General John Lindesay Keir )
- 16th Brigade (Brigadier-General EC Ingouville-Williams )
- 17th Brigade (Brigadier-General WRB Doran )
- 18th Brigade (Brigadier-General WN Congreve )
- Reserve: Firozpur Brigade (Brigadier-General RG Egerton)
Allenby Cavalry Corps (Major General Edmund Allenby )
1st Cavalry Division, Major General Henry de B. de Lisle
- 1st Cavalry Brigade, Brigadier-General CJ Briggs
- 2nd Cavalry Brigade, Brigadier-General RL Mullens
2nd Cavalry Division, Major General Hubert de la P. Gough
- 3rd Cavalry Brigade, Brigadier General, Brigadier General John Vaughan
- 4th Cavalry Brigade, Brigadier-General CE Bingham
- 5th Cavalry Brigade, Brigadier-General Philip W. Chetwode
3rd Cavalry Division, Major-General Julian HG Byng
- 6th Cavalry Brigade, Brigadier General David GM Campbell
- 7th Cavalry Brigade, Brigadier-General Charles McM. Kavanagh
- November 23rd: 8th Cavalry Brigade, Brigadier-General Charles Bulkeley-Johnson
The headquarters of the Commander-in-Chief of the BEF under Field Marshal French arrived on October 13 from the Aisne Front in St-Omer . The I. Corps (General Haig ) was unloaded in Hazebrouck in the following days and marched to Ypres , where the British 7th Division (General Thompson Capper ) had already defended the city alongside French territorial troops. The aerial reconnaissance by the Royal Flying Corps reported of long columns of German infantry advancing from Douai to Lille and continuing on to Armentières. The commander of the cavalry corps, General Allenby , had instructions to cross the Lys between Armentières and Menin to meet the III. Corps to clear the way to the northeast and to establish contact with the 7th Division (of the IV Corps) at Ypres. The British 2nd Cavalry Division (General Gough) pushed back enemy outposts via Flêtre and Le Coq de Paille. Opposite the English line of advance operated the German Higher Cavalry Command 4 , which advanced with the 3rd and 6th as well as the Bavarian cavalry division to Bailleul .
The German XIX. Army corps under General der Infantry von Laffert had reached the Lys sector with the Saxon 40th and 24th divisions . Opposite the British 4th Division had occupied Méteren and the Mont-Noir. The German 3rd Cavalry Division saw the road to Estaires blocked, the 6th Cavalry Division advanced through Deûlémont and Radinghem to Prémesques and Fleurbaix .
The German Chief of Staff Erich von Falkenhayn ordered the units on the right wing of the 6th Army to form a line of defense from La Bassée via Armentières to Menin, because the growing shortage of artillery ammunition impaired the offensive. The Saxon XIX. Army Corps was instructed to establish the 40th Division (Lieutenant General Leo Götz von Olenhusen) north of Armentières and the 24th Division (Lieutenant General Hans Krug von Nidda ) south of it, with the first clashes with the near Le Gheer and Ploegsteert British 4th Division came. The north wing of the 6th Army was initially instructed to go into defense until the newly formed 4th Army was fully assembled in Belgium and the German north flank could be extended from Menin to the sea. Following these movements, the British 2nd Cavalry Division (General Gough) pushed the enemy back via Flêtre and Le Coq de Paille.
The British 1st Cavalry Division (Major General Beauvoir De Lisle) pushed on to Messines , and at dusk on October 13 they managed to occupy the Mont des Cats near Godewaersvelde . The cavalry advanced at 6:00 a.m. in the fog towards Lys between Houplines and Comines . A German attack threatened the left flank of the 1st Cavalry Division, which, despite considerable losses, held its position on the heights of Messines Ridge. German cavalry reached Gheluvelt and Becelaere on October 14th , where British forces (7th Division) were advancing eastward from Ypres. As the German cavalry continued their advance to the northwest, the British cavalry fought the dismounted soldiers and was stopped on the Messines - Wytschaete line . From this clash the following battles developed on both sides of Armentières and around Messines.
Battle for Armentieres
First phase
On October 13th, the English III. Corps to the German 4th Cavalry Corps under General von Hollen , which had repulsed the first English attacks in front of Méteren and Estaires and had buried itself along the basin of Méteren. The British were to attack this line of defense before German infantry advanced. An attack via La Couronne on Fontaine began at 2 p.m. and reached the Outtersteene-Méteren line by evening, losing 708 men. To the right of it, French cavalry supported the battle. Rain and fog made the aerial reconnaissance impossible on October 14th, but patrols discovered that the Germans had crossed the Lys north of Armentiere. The Lys section near Estaires was controlled by the French cavalry, but German cavalry prevented the allies from advancing further in the area 8.9 km west of Menin via Comines, where the vanguard of the German XIX. Corps had arrived. The Hollen cavalry corps had to be withdrawn from the Nieppe - Steenwerck - Sailly - Estaires line on the night of October 14th because of the threat to the northern flank . The XIX. Army Corps turned to the west, the XIII. Army corps southeast of Lille ready for a major battle. In the Warneton area , German troops had gained a foothold in Houthen and Hollebeke, and the attack succeeded without great losses. The extreme left wing of the BEF , the 7th Division, had advanced in the area 10 km south-east of Ypres and had the task of digging in at Vieux Chien on the Ypres-Menin road.
On the morning of October 15, the German troops tried to break through between Messines and the Comines Canal on the lines of the English cavalry corps. Cavalry and units of the German 26th Division marched north to occupy Menin. In view of the further advance to the east, General French ordered the Cavalry Corps Allenby on the 15th to cross the Lys until the arrival of the III. and IV. Corps to secure. In the evening of the day the English 2nd Cavalry Division secured the Lys section from Armentières to the Comines Canal. On the right wing of the English IV. Corps, the British 3rd Cavalry Division was established as far as Hollebeke, its line from the II. Bavarian Corps not yet attacked, but fired at by the German artillery. Allenby ordered the 2nd Cavalry Division to continue to attack, although General Gough had only 1,500 men and 10 cannons available on the four-mile front and although 10,000 men and 50 cannons were considered necessary to defend this section. The 6th Cavalry Brigade (Brigadier General Campbell), in cooperation with the 7th Division, had to fill a gap which threatened the left flank. The leading German units were only 3 miles away from Ypres, but did not push any further that day. General Foch sent the British IV. Corps (General Henry Rawlinson ) 8 battalions of the French XVI. Corps (General Louis Taverna) to Hollebeke and the 32nd Division to St. Eloi as reinforcement to help.
By October 15, the infantry regiments of the German 40th Division had marched south on the Lys from Warneton to Basseville and Frelinghien , the outposts had advanced as far as Pont Rouge and Le Touquet . The German XIX. Army corps was now with the entire English III. Corps in combat: - the 89th Infantry Brigade at Englos and behind La Vallee (with a division in Frelinghien); the 47th Brigade at Lomme and behind Prémesques ; the 48th and 88th Brigades at Verlinghem; One brigade each of the 26th Division in the Menin area and the newly introduced 25th Reserve Division (Major General Wolf von Helldorff) stood between Frelinghien and Menin . During the day the Allied forces tried to form a continuous line to the North Sea, whereby the 3rd Cavalry Division south of Ypres joined the 7th Division and was subordinated to the IV Corps. The infantry of the III. Corps moved up to the river Lys at Sailly , Bac St. Maur, Erquinghem and Pont de Nieppe and remained connected to the cavalry at Romarin. The Germans pushed the 3rd Cavalry Brigade out of their positions around noon. The infantry reached the line from Steenwerck to Dranoutre, in the evening Bailleul and Le Verrier were occupied and the next day the advance to the Lys began, where cavalry battles with German units delayed further actions.
The British were able to secure the Lys crossings in the late afternoon of October 16, the 4th Division occupied Armentières on October 17 and advanced through the Lys Valley on October 18. On October 18, the Germans holed up on a line of villages that ran between Lille and Armentieres from Fournes - Radinghem - La Vallee - Perenchies - Verlinghem . The 4th Cavalry Corps under von Hollen was taken from the short-term reserve near Lille to the XIII. To free the army corps in the position between Warneton and Menin. There was newly formed H. Kav. Komdo. 5 (Lieutenant General von Stetten ) with the 3rd and Bavarian Cavalry Division in the southeastern apron of Ypres, the group of Major General von Schmettow with the 6th and 9th Cavalry Division on Messines and the Richthofen group ( Guard - and 4. Cavalry Division ) advanced to La Toche-Warneton. The 4th Cavalry Corps remained deployed in the direction of Sailly .
General Pulteney wanted first to drive the enemy forces off the ridge at Perenchies; which firstly threatened his right wing and secondly he had to come into possession of Frelinghien in order to get the connection of the 4th division on both sides of the river via the passage there over the Lys. The 6th Division held the line Radingham - La Vallee - Ennetieres - Capinghem - Premesques. The 4th Division held the stretch from L'Epinette to the river at a point 400 meters south of Frelinghein, and from there to a point half a mile southeast of Le Gheer. Pulteney ordered the 6th Division to attack the line from La Vallée to Perenchies, and the 4th Division was instructed to attack Frelinghien from both sides of the river. General Keir (6th Division) sent the 18th Brigade (Brigadier General WN Congreve) at 6.30 a.m. against the villages of La Vallée - Paradis (south of Premesques) and the 17th Brigade (Brigadier General WRB Doran) against Premesques - Perenchies. The 16th Brigade (Brigadier General EC Ingouville-Williams) initially remained in reserve, but was then to be felt on the right at Hameau de Bas and Bacquart and in front of Radinghem. In the headquarters of the III. Corps it was recognized that the German troops were weaker than General Keir's division and at 11.30 the 6th Division advanced to contain the enemy on the Funquereau (a mile west of Verlinghem) - Frelinghien line. The 16th Brigade, in conjunction with the French 10th Cavalry Division (1st Cavalry Corps Conneau), was to attack Radinghem. To the left of the 16th Brigade, the 18th Brigade was assigned against Ennetieres- Capinghem . The Durham Light Infantry Regiment on the right flank established itself east of Ennetieres . The East Yorkshire Regiment on the left, however, was hampered by fire from machine guns from the left, which also prevented the Leinsters of the 17th Brigade at Prémesques from taking the Mont de Premesques south of it. At nightfall the East Yorkshire were still half a mile from Capinghem, 75 men lost and the Durham Light Regiment only 100 men.
The General Command XIII. AK handed over the positions from Warneton to Menin to the German cavalry divisions and moved into the 26th division on the left wing of the XIX. Corps new positions. General Pulteney ordered the 4th Division to take Freilingham on October 18th. At 6:30 in the morning the 10th Brigade (Brigade-General Aylmer Haldane) advanced on the right bank of the Lys near Le Gheer and on the left wing the 12th Brigade. The 10th Brigade had advanced on the right bank, the 12th Brigade ( Lt.-Col. FG Anley) occupied Ploegsteert and placed artillery on Hill 63, the mounted troops of the 4th Division reached Neuve Eglise, where they connected with the 1st Cavalry Division of the Allenby Corps. On the night of October 19, the English III. Corps fought on the line Prémesques , Ennetières and Radinghem . On the southern flank of the 18th Brigade, a battalion of the 16th Brigade had dug in east of Radinghem, while the other three battalions occupied a reserve line from Rouges Bance to Le Quesnoy , La Houssoye and Bois Blance halfway to the Bois du Grenier.
German counter-attacks with the 26th Division (1. Königlich Württembergische) (General Herzog von Urach ) began on October 19 after an hour-long bombardment from 7:00 a.m. with heavy cannons and howitzers. The German attack was intended to support the 4th Army's major offensive on both sides of Ypres on the southern flank. An attack by the German 51st Infantry Brigade (Major General von Stein) at 1:00 p.m. was repulsed, but a battalion from the English 18th Brigade had to retreat to the eastern edge of Ennetières after the German attack further north was successful. The 18th Brigade had a front of about 4.8 km with three battalions and was attacked on the right flank, where the villages of Ennetières and La Vallée merged. Another German attack was carried out at 1:00 p.m. on Ennetières and repulsed again by the English. On the far right of the 18th Brigade, five companies were spread over 1,400 meters to the seam with the 16th Brigade. At 3 p.m. the German artillery began bombing the positions of the 18th Brigade from the northeast, and in the dark three battalions of the 52nd Infantry Brigade (Major General von Teichmann ) and parts of the 25th Reserve Division were sent forward to storm the British positions. Two companies of the 125th Infantry Regiment penetrated from the west and four companies of the 122nd Infantry Regiment and a battalion of the 125th Infantry Regiment broke into Ennetières from the south, British troops were surrounded and captured. Another attack from the east caused the British infantry to retreat east of the village to the west side of the village, where they were caught by German troops advancing from La Vallée, which had fallen after 6:00 p.m. Some of the encircled troops continued fighting until 5:15 a.m. the next morning. The German infantry did not take advantage of the success and British troops on the northern flank were able to retreat to a line 1.6 km west of Prémesques between La Vallée and Chateau d'Hancardry and stabilize a new line. North of the 18th Brigade, a battalion of the 17th Brigade held a line from Epinette to Prémesques and Mont des Prémesques, which was bombed by the German artillery until 8 a.m. and then by the 24th Division of XIX. Army Corps was attacked. Prémesques fell to the Germans, who also attracted most of the reserves on the left wing of the 6th Division. After the loss of the village, a defensive flank was formed that was able to extend the defense of Mont des Prémesques, which fell at 4:30 p.m. The 6th Division lost 2,000 men, 1,119 in the 18th Brigade, but General Keir was confident that his division could hold out as the 19th Brigade and the French 1st Cavalry Corps intervened on the right flank during the day.
On the front of the 4th Division (Major General HFM Wilson) in the north, a German bombardment of heavy artillery began at 8:00 a.m. on Armentières, which resulted in the headquarters of the III. Corps had to be moved back to Bailleul. The 4th Division had to continue its attack on Frélinghien in order to achieve better communication via the Lys and the 10th Brigade, which was attacked at dawn. To the left of this, the 12th Brigade was attacked from midday in front of the wood of Ploegsteert near Le Gheer. When it got dark, German infantry fought their way within 500 meters of the British line and dug themselves into it. During the afternoon Pulteney had ordered the 4th Division to hold their positions and in the evening to give the support requested by Lieutenant General E. Allenby in the north of Messines. The German attacks led the enemy to heavy losses, so the XIII. Corps begin to move reinforcements to Fromelles on October 19 .
Second phase
On October 20th, the German 6th Army attacked the whole front from Roclincourt to Armentières . The offensive on October 21 between La Bassée and St. Yves by the XIV., VII. And XIII. AK against the British 6th Division made little progress, and the attack of the XIX. AK against the British 4th Division did not gain any ground, but it prevented the withdrawal of English reserves to Ypres. The trenches of the III. Corps were bombed from early morning, especially in the Frélinghien area. At 5:15 a.m., the Germans attacked the 12th Brigade in Le Gheer and overran the defense of a battalion on the left flank, which then had to retreat about 370 meters. The loss of Le Gheer caused unrest and flanked the English cavalry corps north to St. Yves. After the retaking of Le Gheer on the evening of October 20, General French gave the III. Corps gave orders to hold positions, which was easy for the 4th Division as German artillery fire, snipers, and minor attacks were mainly limited to the 6th Division until October 29th.
The German XIII. Army Corps had regrouped south and attacked the 19th Brigade at Radinghem on October 21. On October 21, the command area on the southern flank of the English III. Corps expanded, whereby the positions of the 19th Brigade were taken over by Fromelles, whereby a German intrusion between the II. And III. Corps at Le Maisnil following the 3rd Division could be eliminated. A British counterattack, scheduled shortly after 9:00 a.m., was able to regain all of the trenches lost the day before, with the exception of Le Touquet. Two battalions of the 11th Brigade and two companies of the 12th Brigade were sent north to strengthen the cavalry corps on Hill 63 and to occupy the northwestern part of the Ploegsteert forest to protect the northern flank. At around 11:00 am, the German artillery began bombing Le Maisnil as part of a new attack on the II Corps in the south. In the afternoon, the village was attacked until dark, pushing the defenders of Le Maisnil back about 1,100 meters and bringing in 300 prisoners. The English 19th Brigade was pushed back to La Boutillerie by midnight, where they could dig themselves in again. The German infantry regiments 122 and 125 of the 26th Division did not seem to notice the British withdrawal immediately, having previously strayed too far south in the storming of La Vallée. The concern of General French at headquarters about the defenses of the cavalry corps led to the fact that the III. Corps was asked to surrender two companies and part of its own pioneer platoon to Messines. The 12th Brigade also extended its left wing from the Lys near Warnave to the approach of the forest of Ploegsteert and the 11th Brigade took over defensive positions in the forest, whereby the line of the cavalry corps could be shortened by 1.6 km. The central section of the English 6th Division was attacked in vain by the 122 Reserve Infantry Regiment of the German 25th Reserve Division. Fresh German infantry unloaded from trains on the line La Vallée - Armentières could be held down with machine gun fire and the opposing field artillery driven out of Ennetières.
From October 22nd further attacks of the German XIX followed. and XIII. Army Corps with the 48th Reserve Division as reserve, especially against the front of the 16th Brigade, which was defending a south-facing promontory at Le Quesnoi, 4.8 km southeast of Armentières. At dawn on October 23, the German troops used the morning fog to infiltrate the British positions. It was only after close combat with heavy losses that the British could restore the situation, with the 10th Brigade extending their front south to La Chapelle-d'Armentières. The 10th Brigade freed parts of the 12th Brigade, which could be transferred to the reserve, and on October 24th also replaced the 17th Brigade of the 6th Division as far as the Rue du Bois, thereby dissolving the front of the 4th Division 13 kilometers has been extended. On October 23, the French were driven out of Fromelles, with the right flank of the III. Corps - the Indian Jullundur Brigade of the Lahore Division was disclosed. The French 1st Cavalry Corps returned to the reserves of the Foch Army Group.
On October 24th the 6th Army undertook a new attack from the La Bassée Canal to the Lys, but was in front of the front of the III. Corps dismissed, only break-ins occurred in the 16th Brigade. The fighting lasted all day and around midnight the commanders of the 16th and 18th Brigades agreed to the retreat of the 16th Brigade to about 460 meters into the second reserve line, which had already been pulled by Touquet to the Flamengrie farm. Shortly after midnight on 24./25. Another German attack began on October 25th, and on the night of October 25th to October 26th the British 16th Brigade withdrew in the dark; they had lost 585 men in two days.
Until October 26th, the positions of III. Corps exposed to German artillery bombardment and sniper fire, but no infantry attacks. The 6th Division used the respite to dig deeper, build communication trenches and prepare reserves for local counter-attacks. After another large artillery bombardment on October 27, the 16th and 18th Brigades were able to repel all German attacks. A strong German attack was carried out at dawn on October 28 on a battalion of the 18th Brigade, which was holding a prominent point east of the La Bassée - Armentières railway line near the Rue du Bois, by infiltrating the enemy line through destroyed buildings . The divisions of the German XIII. Army Corps and Infantry Regiments 107 and 179 of the XIX. Army corps overran a British battalion, but were themselves attacked and pushed back. On October 29th at 2:00 a.m. the English 19th Brigade south of La Boutillerie was attacked, which initially resulted in the loss of part of the front trenches, but was then regained when the reserves intervened.
On the English side there were only a few reserves left in the Armentieres area at the end of October, including the Firozpur Brigade (from the Indian 3rd ( Lahore ) Division), some battalions came from other divisions. The 6th Division organized all reserves on October 30th to bring them to the 4th Division north of the Lys and to strengthen the cavalry corps. On the north bank of the Lys, after the fire from the artillery, a German attack took place at dawn against the front of the 11th Brigade, where a battalion was distributed at the heights of Le Gheer as far as the Douve River. There were no through trenches there and the isolated bases had no communication link. The 134th Infantry Regiment of the German 40th Division began to overrun the battalion until a counterattack pushed the Germans back. The Germans withdrew before their own counterattack could be launched.
At the beginning of November the German artillery fire and local attacks continued south of the Lys and the English cavalry corps could be ousted from Messines, whereby the northern flank of the III. Corps was disclosed at a time when the III. Corps had to defend a 19 km long front with heavily exhausted units. General Pulteney reported to BEF headquarters that the 4th Division could not withstand another major attack. The French then sent two battalions north of the II Corps and gave the corps permission to withdraw on a reserve line from Fleurbaix to Nieppe and Neuve Eglise if necessary. The daily ration of artillery ammunition was doubled from forty rounds per day for every 18 pounder to twenty per day for every 4.5 inch howitzer, enabling the 4th and 6th Divisions to maintain their front line to be able to.
Fight for Messines
On October 30th, the Württemberg 26th Division, which had been regrouped via Warneton on the southern wing of the Fabeck group ( 15th and Bavarian II AK ), attacked Messines. At 7.45 a.m. the German artillery opened fire against the section between Wambeke and St. Yves. The 51st Infantry Brigade reached the Bethleem Ferme while advancing towards Messines, to the right of which the Bavarian 3rd Division was standing at the Hoogeschur Ferme. The Fusilier Regiment No. 122 of the 52nd Infantry Brigade was able to cross the Gaapard-Wambeke road. On the right, with the support of the Guard Cavalry Division , another attack was to take place on Wytschaete in order to relieve the left wing of the Bavarian II Army Corps (Bavarian 3rd Division ). The fight continued all night, after hours of house-to-house fighting, Wytschaete was taken around 5:00 a.m. Due to the counterattack, the place and the ridge had to be given up again.
On the same morning at 10:30 am, the German 26th Division attacked Messines and were able to take half of the village by the end of the day. The front now ran right through the town. The British fought house-to-house, the 9th and 13th Brigades withdrew from Messines and made a new advance on the road to Messines around noon. The brigades employed the Bavarian 6th Reserve Division and prevented them from supporting the 26th Division in turn.
On October 31, infantry regiment No. 125 was able to penetrate the city center of Messines in house-to-house fighting. At the beginning of November the 51st Infantry Brigade fought on the Douvebach and the 11th Landwehr Brigade advanced to secure on the southern and western fronts of Messines.
The English occupied the place Wulverghem and secured their positions at Haubourdin, the battle for the heights of Messines continued. English planes were also used and attacked the ground forces and shot at advancing German columns. The German 3rd Division (Lieutenant General von Trossel) was also called in to drive the British back from Wytschaete. The French 32nd Division (General Achille Louis Bouchez) from XVI. Corps (General Grossetti ) should strengthen the British, the 39th Division (General Georges Victor Dantant) was commissioned to retake Messines. The attack of the 39th Division failed, but the 32nd Division and the remaining British were able to drive the Bavarian 6th Reserve Division out of Wytschaete. On the morning of November 1st, the Germans had secured the line at both locations, but the ridges west of the Wytschaete-Messines line were held by the French 32nd Division. The British 7th Division had only 2,380 men, was replaced by the newly arrived 8th Division and was pulled out of the line. The front in southern Flanders became quieter, the actions were limited to raids on both sides and the heavy shelling of Ypres by German artillery. The Germans made their final efforts against Ypres on November 10th. For the attack on the Kemmelberg and Wytschaete, the 3rd Division was tactically subordinated to the 26th Division on November 5th and the Urach group was established.
Summary
Since October 18, 1914, the entire Western Front was completely closed. Envelopment maneuvers of the enemy were then no longer possible, the only option to wrestle the enemy down, the only option remained to break through his defenses with frontal attacks. The attack of the French and British troops on October 31st stabilized the front near Messines for a long time, followed by a trench war of years . From October 15 to 31, the English III. Corps lost about 5,780 men in the Battle of Armentieres, of which the 4th Division 2,070 men and the 6th Division 3,750 men. Then there are the losses of the Allenby corps in the Messines area. The total German losses from La Bassée to the sea from October 13th to November 24th amounted to 123,910. Man, this includes the battles of the 4th Army off Ypres and Dixmuiden.
literature
- JE Edmonds: Military Operations France and Belgium , 1914: Antwerp, La Bassée, Armentières, Messines and Ypres October – November 1914. History of the Great War Based on Official Documents by Direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defense. 1st ed. Macmillan London 1925, p. 92 f
- Everard Wyrall: The West Yorkshire Regiment in the War 1914-1918 , Volume 1, London 1928, pp. 15-24
- Maximilian von Poseck: The German Cavalry 1914 in Belgium and France , Mittler and Son, Berlin 1922, p. 190 f.
- John French: Complete Despatches 1914-1916. Originally Published 1917, Reprint by Naval & Military Press London 2001
- Reichsarchiv: The World War 1914 to 1918: Military Operations on Land. Volume V: The autumn campaign of 1914: in the west up to trench warfare, in the east up to retreat. Mittler & Sohn, Berlin 1925