Zweibund — the Dual Alliance — Germany and Austria-Hungary united, were the core of the Central Powers, and here join hands. The bars of Germany's flag border the top left, and those of the Habsburg Austrian Empire and ruling house the bottom right.
Schulter an SchulterUntrennbar vereintin Freud und in Leid!'Shoulder to shoulderInseparably united in joy and in sorrow!
"Early on the 13th March [1915] Sir John French wired to Lord Kitchener :- 'Cessation of the forward movement is necessitated to-day by the fatigue of the troops, and, above all, by the want of ammunition. The First Army is consolidating and strengthening its new line. Further plans are being matured for a vigorous offensive'. Subsequent enquiries as to the ammunition available showed, however, that if the offensive operations were resumed there would be a risk of depleting the supplies beyond the limits of safety, and on the 15th March Sir John French decided that for the time-being the idea of continuing the offensive must be abandoned."
On the night of March 12, 1915, Sir John French, commander of the British Expeditionary Force, expected to resume the offensive and continue the three-day Battle of Neuve Chapelle, but the demands of the battle on men and materiel forbade it. On the first day of the battle, when the British and Indian troops had broken through the German front line, the 18-pound guns had fired 129 rounds per gun. Britain was producing 7.5 rounds per 18-pounder per day, and the production rates for other caliber guns were comparable. No nation had been prepared for the rate at which artillery shells and other weapons and ordnance were being consumed in the war, but both France and Germany had responded more quickly. The shell shortage was particularly acute in Britain and Russia. Herbert Lord Kitchener was British Secretary of State for War.
Military Operations France and Belgium, 1915, Vol. I, Winter 1914-15: Battle of Neuve Chappelle : Battle of Ypres [Second] by J. E. Edmonds, pp. 149, 150, copyright © asserted, publisher: Macmillan and Co., Limited, publication date: 1927
1915, 1915-03-13, March, Neuve Chapelle, Shell Shortage
