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Folding postcard relief map looking north from the River Aisne to the Oise Canal, from Compiègne to Soissons, and from Noyon to St. Gobain, France. A hand drawn arrow indicates Pimprez, marked with an 'X'.
Headstone of Private C.W.K. Hicks, New Zealand Entrenching Battalion, died August 21, 1918, age 29, buried in Cabaret Rouge British Cemetery, Souchez, France. © 2013 by John M. Shea
Portrait postcard of French General Charles Mangin by J.F. Bouchor, December, 1917.
1918 German pen and ink drawing of the road to Cambrai, France. Two smaller trees seem to serve as the good and bad thief on either side of the crucified Jesus Christ.
German Minnenwerfer (Mine Thrower) Trench Mortar crew with their officer. The reverse is dated November 2, 1918, nine days before the Armistice.
"For [Ludendorff] 20 August was 'another black day' with 'heavy and irreplaceable losses.' 'On August 20th a deep salient was made at Cuts,' he wrote, 'rendering the position of the troops, with the Oise in the rear, exceedingly uncomfortable. In the direction of Nouvron, also, the enemy broke into our line, but was driven back, although not completely, by counter-attacks delivered by good German Jaeger divisions.' Given the exposed position of German troops in front of the Rivers Oise and Ailette he reluctantly agreed to sanction the withdrawal of the right wing of the Ninth Army behind the Oise, while moving the centre back behind the Ailette a day later. 'The battle has again taken an uncomfortable course, in spite of all our precaution,' he added, 'the nerves of the Army had suffered. In some places the men would no longer stand the tremendous artillery barrages and tank attacks which had become still more severe.'" ((1), more)
"About eleven o'clock the greater number of Mark V. Tanks and Whippets had reached the line of the railway. A few leading Tanks had even crossed it, when all in a moment the mist lifted with the suddenness of a withdrawn curtain. A blazing sun appeared, and each advancing Tank stood out clearly under its bright light. The German artillery, which was covering the railway, immediately directed a deadly fire on the Tanks, and each individual machine became the centre of a zone of bullets and bursting shells. The infantry as they advanced had to avoid these little whirlwinds of fire. It was at this time that most of the thirty-seven Tanks which were hit by shells during the day were accounted for." ((2), more)
"Mangin was mightily pleased with Tenth Army's achievements, recording in his diary, rather immodestly, that 'my plan succeeded perfectly'. Almost smelling out German weakness, like the terrier he always reminded people of, Mangin wanted to push on. He was, however, increasingly concerned whether he would get any reserves; indeed, whether the French Army had enough left to continue the battle. He admitted on 22 August that 'it is most annoying that I did not have the necessary forces' to take advantage of the situation . . ." ((3), more)
"At eleven o'clock on 23 August, I had just dropped off to sleep when I was woken by loud knocking on the door. An orderly had come with marching orders. All day, the rolling and stamping of unusually heavy artillery fire had blown across the front, and had reminded us on the exercise grounds, over our lunch and over games of cards, not to be too hopeful as far as the further duration of this rest period was concerned. We had coined an onomatopoeic front-line expression for this distant sound of cannons: 'It's whumping.'We hurriedly got packed up and were on the road to Cambrai during a cloudburst." ((4), more)
"In the afternoon there was an officers' meeting, at which we were told that the following night we were to take up a position of readiness to the right of the main Cambrai—Bapaume road, not far from Beugny. We were warned of the danger from a new breed of rapid, agile tanks.I paraded my company in battle order in a small apple orchard. Standing under an apple tree, I addressed a few words to the men, who were drawn up in front of me in a horseshoe arrangement. They looked serious and manly. There wasn't much to say. In the course of the last few days, and with a kind of sweepingness that is only to be explained by the fact that an army is not only men under arms, but also men fused with a sense of common purpose, probably every one of them had come to understand that we were on our uppers. With every attack, the enemy came forward with more powerful means; his blows were swifter and more devastating. Everyone knew we could no longer win. But we would stand firm." ((5), more)
(1) The success of the Anglo-French Battle of Amiens, particularly the seven-mile advance on a broad front in the first day, stunned German commander Erich Ludendorff who referred to a 'black day for the German Army.' Military and civilian leaders met at Spa on August 13 to review the situation, to be joined by the Emperors Wilhelm II of Germany and Karl of Austria-Hungary the next day. Some of the officers who met with him thought Ludendorff was suffering a nervous breakdown.
Hundred Days: The Campaign that Ended World War I by Nick Lloyd, page 74, copyright © 2014 by Nick Lloyd, publisher: Basic Books, publication date: 2014
(2) The Battle of Bapaume began on August 21, 1918 in a heavy mist that blinded both attackers and the defending Germans, but favored the former, shielding the British Mark V heavy tanks and faster, lighter Whippet tanks. Despite the losses, our author concludes, 'We had reached the general line of the railway practically along the whole front of the attack. We had captured Achiet-le-Petit and Logeast Wood, Courcelles and Moyenneville. Most important of all, the position we needed for the launching of our principal attack had been successfully gained, and we had taken over 2000 prisoners.' (page 227)
The Tank Corps by Clough Williams-Ellis & A. Williams-Ellis, page 226, publisher: The Offices of "Country Life," Ltd. and George Newnes, Ltd., publication date: 1919
(3) In July, 1918, German commander Erich Ludendorff's Friedensturm — Peace Assault — the Champagne-Marne Offensive, left his forces occupying an enormous salient from Soissons and Reims to the Marne River. Commanding the French 10th Army, that included the 1st and 2nd American Divisions and the Moroccan Division, General Charles Mangin struck on the western side of the salient on July 18, advancing as much as 8 km on the first day. By early August, the Marne salient had been eliminated, and the city of Soissons retaken.
Hundred Days: The Campaign that Ended World War I by Nick Lloyd, page 76, copyright © 2014 by Nick Lloyd, publisher: Basic Books, publication date: 2014
(4) Excerpt from German Lieutenant Ernst Jünger's memoir Storm of Steel. Jünger was wounded on the third day of Germany's 1918 Somme Offensive, Operation Michael, in March, 1918. He returned to his regiment on June 4. The last German offensive of the war, the Champagne-Marne Offensive, ended on July 17. The counter-offensive that would end with Allied victory began the next day. In the summer of 1918, 250,000 American soldiers were arriving on the Western Front each month. French and British production of weapons — including tanks and aircraft — supplied the Allied armies, and far outpaced German production. Allied Commander-in-Chief Ferdinand Foch kept up constant attacks on the German line from mid-July on. The 1917 Battle of Cambrai was the first significant tank battle, a British victory, the gains of which were lost to German counter-attacks in subsequent days.
Storm of Steel by Ernst Jünger, page 276, copyright © 1920, 1961, Translation © Michael Hoffman, 2003, publisher: Penguin Books, publication date: 2003
(5) Excerpt from German Lieutenant Ernst Jünger's memoir Storm of Steel. Jünger was wounded on the third day of Germany's 1918 Somme Offensive, Operation Michael, in March, and returned to his regiment on June 4. The last German offensive of the war, the Champagne-Marne Offensive, ended on July 17. The counter-offensive that would end with Allied victory began the next day. The 'new breed of rapid, agile tanks' was the British Whippet tank, first used on August 8 in the Battle of Amiens.
Storm of Steel by Ernst Jünger, pp. 276–277, copyright © 1920, 1961, Translation © Michael Hoffman, 2003, publisher: Penguin Books, publication date: 2003
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