Map of the 1918 German offensives on the Western Front from The Memoirs of Marshall Foch by Marshall Ferdinand Foch. © 1931 by Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc.

German Offensives

Of Mar. 21 (Picardy)

Of May 27 (Aisne-Marne)

Of July 15 (Champagne-Marne)

Of Apr. 9 (Flanders)

Of June 9 (Compiegne)

Front and situation of the German Armies March 20, 1918 (on the eve of the offensive)

Front at the end of the offensive

Scale of miles

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Sunday, June 9, 1918

"Between Noyon and Montdidier on June 9 [1918], artillery preparation for the fourth drive in the Germans' spring offensive began at midnight, but the French, amply warned, began their counterpreparation ten minutes earlier. Though opportune, this fire did not disrupt the enemy's infantry assault, which occurred between 0300 and 0430 hours. Striking the left-center of Third Army, which occupied a forty-five-kilometer front, the Germans advanced seven kilometers on the first day and five on the second across a front of twenty-five kilometers."

Quotation Context

The fourth of German's five 1918 offensives, the Noyon-Montdidier Offensive, began on June 9, in an attempt to build on the success of the Aisne (Blücher) Offensive begun on May 27. But the French were not surprised as they had been in May, and had reserves ready.

Source

Pyrrhic Victory; French Strategy and Operations in the Great War by Robert A. Doughty, pp. 457–458, copyright © 2005 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College, publisher: Harvard University Press, publication date: 2005

Tags

1918-06-09, 1918, June, Noyon-Montdidier Offensive, map of 1918 German offensives, Noyon, Montdidier