BATTTLES OF WW I
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The Battle of the Somme-
When and Where the battle occured – February 1916
“General Sir Henry Rawlinson was was in charge of the main attack and his Fourth Army were expected to advance towards Bapaume. To the north of Rawlinson, General Edmund Allenby and the British Third Army were ordered to make a breakthrough with cavalry standing by to exploit the gap that was expected to appear in the German front-line. Further south, General Fayolle was to advance with the French Sixth Army towards Combles.” – http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWsomme.htm
The Battle of the Somme-
Goals of the Battle and why did it take place?? – It was a french and Brittish plan for terratorial gain, as well as to destroy German Manpower.
The third major battle of Ypres, also known as the Battle of Passchendaele, took place between July and November, 1917. General Sir Douglas Haig, the British Commander in Chief in France, was encouraged by the gains made at the offensive at Messines in June 1917. Haig was convinced that the German army was now close to collapse and once again made plans for a major offensive to obtain the necessary breakthrough.
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWpasschendaele.htm
The Battle of the somme-
Who was involved?- Germans, The French, Brittan, and Canada?
The Battle of the Somme-
Describe the conditions, experiences of soldiers, overveiw of the battle and its outome. – Cloudy, windy, Overcast and heavy rainfall.
The Battle of Passchendaele was one of the major battles of the first world war…taking place between July and November 1917..Along with the intensity of the fighting and the horrendous conditions and the heavy losses of Passchendaele, there is another reason why this campaign universally symbolises such great loss, tragedy and futility above others of the First World War.
Aviation in World War I
Dog fights erupted in the skies over the front lines – aircraft went down in flames and heroes were born. From this air-to-air combat, the need grew for better aircraft and gun armament. Aside from machineguns, air-to-air rockets were also used against balloons and airships.
The Battle of Somme
The Battle of Somme began on July 1st 1916 and ended on November 18th 1916. Taking place north of the Somme river between Arras and Albert..The goals of the Battle of Somme were to drain the German forces of reserves, and also to gain territory. The French, the British, and the Germans fought in the battle. The Battle of Somme (and every other war) had harsh conditions, often wet and muddy and the constant company of lice, and rats which fed on unburied bodies, often causing disease. The soldiers experienced shell shock and trench foot and death. The battle was a bloody life taking death trap (like war often is). Weapons used during The Battle of Somme were machine guns, tanks, pistols, rifles, gas, and bombs.
The Battle of Somme
The Battle of Ypres ( second one )
The second battle of Ypres started on April 22nd, and ended on April 24th, 1915. This is the battle that Canadians were first introduced to the toxic Chlorine Gas, The battle took near the original battlefield of Ypres, in Belgium, The Canadians for two days fought the toxic gases until reinforcements could actually arrive, The germans, after the reinforcements arrived, were then defeated.
http://canadaonline.about.com/od/ww1battles/p/ypres.htm
P.S– I hope everyone is having fun at school, I will see you all on tuesday
VIMY RIDGE -
When- April 9th-12th
Of the 170,000 men detailed for the attack on Vimy Ridge, 97,000 were from Canada.
Weaopns used- Asphyxiating(Choking) & Blistering Gas, Machine-Gun,Grenades, and Flame-Throwers.
I thoought it was interesting that someone said “It was Canada from the Atlantic to the Pacific on parade. I thought then that in those few minutes I witnessed the birth of a nation.”
Of the 10,602 Canadian casualties, there were 3,598 dead.
VIDEO- http://wwii.ca/page9.html
BATTLE OF PASSCHENDAELE
The Battle of Passchendaele, fought July 1917, is sometimes called the Third Battle of Ypres. For the soldiers who fought at Passchendaele, it was known as the ‘Battle of Mud’. Few battles encapsulate World War One better than the Battle of Passchendaele.
The attack at Passchendaele was Sir Douglas Haig’s attempt to break through Flanders. Haig had thought about a similar attack in 1916, but the Battle of the Somme occupied his time in that year. However, one year later, Haig felt able to launch such an attack. His main aim was a breakthrough to the coast of Belgium so that German submarine pens could be destroyed. Admiral Jellicoe had already advised both Haig and the British government that the loss of shipping (primarily merchant) could not be sustained and that Britain would face severe problems in 1918, if such losses continued. Haig’s plan, to sweep through Flanders to the coast, did not receive support from Britain’s Prime Minister, David Lloyd George, but as the Allies had no other credible plan, he gave his agreement for Haig to carry out his plan.
Haig also had another reason for going ahead with his plan. He believed, incorrectly as it turned out, that the morale of the German army was very low – especially after the success of the Allies at the Battle of Messines. He believed that the Allies could tap into this lack of morale and roll through Flanders without too much trouble.
On July 18th 1917, a heavy artillery barrage was launched at the German lines. This lasted for ten days. Three thousand artillery guns fired over four million shells. Therefore, the German army in the area fully expected a major Allied attack – so any vague hope of surprise was lost, as was true in any attack that started with a major artillery bombardment.
The infantry attack started on July 31st. The main assault was led by Sir Hubert Gough’s Fifth Army. To their left were units from the French First Army led by Anthoine and to Gough’s right was the Second Army led by the victor of Messines, Sir Herbert Plumer.
The Germans, as happened at the Somme, were fully prepared and the Allied attack, launched across a eleven mile front, made only small gains. Then in the early days of August, the area was saturated with the heaviest rain the region had seen in thirty years. The area in Flanders became effectively a swamp. Tanks, sent forward to help the infantry, simply got stuck. Infantry soldiers found movement very difficult. The impact of the artillery bombardment had destroyed the drainage systems of the region which greatly added to the problem. The shell craters made by the Allied shelling filled with water and did not allow advancing men the opportunity to hide in them. The fields through which men should have gone became impassable.
Haig blamed the lack of progress not on the abnormal weather and the conditions it caused, but on Gough. Haig moved Gough and his men to a front further north and put Plumer in charge of the battle. Plumer used different tactics to Gough. He wanted small gains that could be permanently held as opposed to Gough’s apparent desire for one major sweeping movement that would bring success. As a result, Plumer fought a series of small battles within Flanders – the Battle of Menin Road Bridge, the Battle of Polygon Wood and the Battle of Broodseinde. These were fought between September and October 1917. These gave British forces the advantage in the territory to the east of Ypres. Haig became convinced that German morale was on the verge of collapsing and ordered that the offensive be continued to Passchendaele Ridge.
Between October 9th and October 12th, two battles were fought – Poelcappelle and the First Battle of Passchendaele. By now, those German soldiers who had been fighting on the Eastern Front had been moved to the Western Front – and they had been specifically moved to Passchendaele Ridge to bolster the German forces there. The Germans used mustard gas to assist them and the attempted Allied breakthrough to Passchendaele Ridge failed to materialise. However, Haig would not concede that the attack had not succeeded. In late October three further Allied attacks were made on Passchendaele Ridge. On November 6th, 1917, Passchendaele village was taken and Haig used this success as the reason for calling off the attack.
However, the Third Battle of Ypres or Passchendaele had been a very costly battle. For the sake of a few kilometres, the British had lost 310,000 men and the Germans 260,000. Haig was heavily criticised for the attack and for failing to modify his plans as the attack clearly was not going to be a success. There were some who rallied to Haig’s defence. They argued that:
Haig could not have known that the weather would have played such a major part in the battle.
The input of the newly arrived German troops from the Eastern Front was not part of Haig’s planning and nor could it have been.
The dangers of German submarine activity had to be eliminated whatever the risk.
A British success would have gone someway to improving the morale of the French army that had mutinied in that year – an ally supporting an ally.
Haig argued that any German loss of men was of greater importance than British loss as the Allies could sustain more losses as America had joined the war by the end of Passchendaele
Balloons
Hot-air balloons were widely used in World War 1. Many were placed on the Western Front as observers because they were cheaper than planes. The development of fighter planes made it more dangerous to be in an air balloon. Balloon crew members were given parachutes. They were also given a powered wrench that helped them bring the balloon down quickly.
Bombing
The use of bombs was very important in World War 1. Bombing raids were conducted all the time. Bombers such as Zeppelins were extremely vulnerable to ground fire, but could level buildings in seconds. The Sikorski 1M, Caproni, Gotha, and the Airco DH-4 were other bombers used; none of them were very effective. Fast fighter planes and strong antiaircraft artillery made it hard to bomb during day hours, and it was hard to bomb during night hours due to the darkness. Strategic bombing was difficult to carry out. Still, there were over 9,000 casualties due to bombs.
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Trench System
Between the trenches of opposing sides was a stretch of land known as no-man’s land. It had already been deformed by shellfire, and in wet weather it was extremely hard to walk through this area. Behind no-man’s land was barbed wire meters deep and it was almost impossible for troops to pass. Next was the front line. Being on the front line was extremely dangerous. You had to worry about shellfire as well as being hit by your own artillery behind you. Beyond the front line were the support and reserve trenches, followed by the communications trench. The communications trenches were used to transport men, equipment, and food supplies. Finally, at the back of the trenches was a lot of long-range artillery equipment. Soldiers usually served eight days on the font line, then four days in the reserve trench. That was followed by a four-day resting period away from the trenches. However, this system wasn’t always followed when there was a shortage of men. Sometimes men would serve weeks on the front line..
Battle of Jutland
In May 1916, both the British and German fleets sent out scout ships to find their enemy’s fleet. They found each other, then went back to lead the rest of the fleet to their position. Admiral Sir David Beatty was on his way to join the rest of the British fleet commanded by Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, when he encountered a German fleet. They then began to open fire. Many ships were sunk during this battle. Then Beatty encountered the German High Seas Fleet, further complicating his situation. Jellicoe and the rest of the Grand Fleet were on its way to assist Beatty. When he arrived, Admiral Reinhardt von Scheer and the German fleet retreated to the north. Jellicoe feared that Scheer was leading them into a trap and turned south to intercept Scheer on his journey home. Later, they engaged in battle, and again, Scheer retreated. Still unwilling to follow the German fleet, Jellicoe took a different path, and later intercepted them again. Many British ships were damaged before the British decided not to follow the retreating Germans again. The British lost 3 battle cruisers, 3 cruisers, 8 destroyers, and 6,100 total men. The Germans lost 1 battleship, 1 battle cruiser, 4 light cruisers, 3 destroyers, and 2,550 men..
In the spring of 1917, Canadian troops were sent to capture Vimy Ridge, which was being occupied by the Germans. The allies (the United States, Great Britain, France, etc.) had tried several times to capture it, but every attempt met with failure. This battle was the biggest victory for Canada during World War I, which was also known as the Great War.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
When Great Britain declared war on Germany in 1914, the Dominion of Canada, as a colony of the British Empire, found it automatically dragged into the conflict. Robert Borden sent troops as part of the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) to fight under British orders. The CEF soon became the symbol of a new wave of nationalism in Canada. In 1916, Borden created the Ministry of Overseas Military Forces and, in 1917, Arthur William Currie was the first Canadian appointed as Commander of the Canadian Corps in Europe. Canada entered the war as a simple colony; but by the end, it emerged with a much stronger sovereign identity. It signed the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 and became a member of the League of Nations.
Video of Vimy
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