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View of Jerusalem showing Jaffa Road with an inset photograph of British general Edmund Allenby who captured the city from the Turks on December 11, 1917.
The disparity in the number of nations arrayed against the Central Powers was a common motif, and was updated as the numbers on each side increased. Italy's entry into the war on May 23, 1915 changed the numbers again.Central Powers (top) Sultan Mohammed V of Turkey, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, Kaiser Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary. Allies (center and bottom rows) Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, King George V of the United Kingdom, President Raymond Poincaré of France, King Nikola of Montenegro, King Peter of Serbia, King Victor Emmanuel of Italy, King Albert I of Belgium, Emperor Taishō of Japan.In the center, a poem: Drei gegen Acht, Three against Eight.
Bulgarian and German soldiers with a Skoda mountain gun on the Balkan Front.
Relief map postcard of the battle front between the Meuse and Moselle Rivers, including Verdun, Nancy, and the Woevre plain. Forts Douaumont and Vaux can be made out east of Verdun, target of the 1916 German siege. St. Mihiel is to the west, south of Verdun. The Argonne is in the upper left, west of Verdun.
The St. Mihiel Salient from The History of The A.E.F. by Shipley Thomas Captain of the 26th U. S. Infantry. The St. Mihiel Offensive began on September 12, 1918.
"Allenby's order were issued on 9 September. As well as virtually all the available infantry and cavalry, every artillery piece in the theatre, 380 guns and 172 howitzers, would be employed, and ammunition was to be available on a scale hitherto unknown. In all, over six hundred lorries and tractor/trailer combinations would be available to haul ammunition and supplies and move heavy guns as required, and in order to facilitate their passage in the all-important coastal strip a total of ten bridges — all but two of them capable of taking 60-pounder guns — had been constructed over the Nahr el Auja between its mouth and Ferrikhiye, eleven kilometers inland. All six of the Royal Air Force's squadrons would be employed, and great store was set on securing German/Turkish aerodromes — especially that at Jenin — for their use as soon as possible." ((1), more)
"Marshal Foch's plan entailed the direct participation in favourable conditions of nearly the entire Belgian Army in an important phase of the general offensive. The Sovereign gave his consent when the Marshal came to La Panne on the 9th September to offer him, in agreement with Sir Douglas Haig, command of a combined force in which the preponderant role would be reserved to our troops. The constitution of the 'Flanders Army Group' was decided—it would include the Belgian Army and the Second British Army. The French Army would be represented by the 7th Corps of three divisions and the 2nd Cavalry Corps, as well as important reinforcements of artillery.On the following day, the 10th, at the Château de Bombom, the Marshal's residence, the King signified his approval and accepted as Major-General General Degoutte, who had distinguished himself at the head of the Sixth French Army." ((2), more)
"'The British Government,' Guillaumat was informed, 'give their consent to the proposal so far as it concerns them and the British troops.' It was all he wanted.There were still the Italians to consult. As soon as Guillaumat returned to Paris, he was off again, this time on the Rome Express. Franchet d'Esperey was becoming anxious. All was ready and further delay might prove disastrous: the enemy could discover what was afoot, and there was the risk of the weather breaking. To make his position clear, d'Esperey even sent a staff officer by plane to Rome to insure that Guillaumat understood the situation. He need not have worried. Guillaumat took the Italians by storm, as he had taken 10 Downing Street; they gave their consent.Triumphantly Franchet d'Esperey made a laconic entry in his diary: 'Tuesday, September 10. I receive from Clemenceau authority to commence operations when I judge it suitable. Artillery fire to open September 14. D. Day [Jour J]: 15 September.'" ((3), more)
"The [St. Mihiel] salient had been held by the Germans since September, 1914. It covered the most sensitive section of the enemy's position on the Western Front; namely, the Mézières-Sedan-Metz Railroad and the Briey Iron Basin; it threatened the entire region between Verdun and Nancy, and interrupted the main rail line from Paris to the east. Its primary strength lay in the natural defensive features of the terrain itself. The western face of the salient extended along the rugged, heavily wooded eastern heights of the Meuse; the southern face followed the heights of the Meuse for 8 kilometers to the east and then crossed the Plain of the Woevre, including within the German lines the detached heights of Loupmont and Montsec which dominated the plain and afforded the enemy unusual facilitites for observation. The enemy had reënforced the positions by every artificial means during a period of four years.On the night of September 11th, the troops of the First Army were deployed in position." ((4), more)
"At 1 a.m. on 12 September more than 3000 artillery tubes for 4 hours fired 1.1 million shells at the Germans — the greatest single artillery bombardment in the war. Thereafter, nearly 20 divisions of the American First Army, supported by 267 light tanks under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel George C. Patton, Jr., as well as about 1400 Allied aircraft attacked the eight war-weary and understaffed German divisions of Composite Army C in the form of two sharp pincers of a set of forceps on both sides of the salient. Victory was never in doubt — especially since Ludendorff on 11 September, the day before the attack, had ordered Army Group Gallwitz to evacuate the salient in case of attack. The Americans in effect 'relieved the Germans' in the St Mihiel salient. The moral fibre of the Germans can be gauged by the fact that they received the newly arrived Austro-Hungarian 1st and 35th divisions with cries of 'war prolongers'." ((5), more)
(1) Under the command of General Edmund Allenby, the British entered Jerusalem on December 11, 1917, then continued advancing along the Mediterranean coast in Palestine. In an attack launched on March 8, Allenby tried but failed to take Nablus, attacking across the Jordan River at the same time. Further attacks were suspended after the success of Germany's Spring offensives made the Allied position on the Western Front desperate, and demanded men and materiel in France. With the ultimate German failure and the success of Allied offensives beginning in July, Allenby could resume his suspended campaign. He would do so on September 19.
Eden to Armageddon: World War I in the Middle East by Roger Ford, pp. 373–374, copyright © Roger Ford 2010, publisher: Pegasus Books, publication date: 2010
(2) Allied Commander-in-Chief Ferdinand Foch was preparing for offensives along the Western Front, from the North Sea to Verdun, all to launch at the end of September, 1918. Albert, King of the Belgians, would command the Flanders Army Group described, Douglas Haig the British forces, incorporating some American units. Henri Philippe Pétain commanded the French forces, still including some American units, and John J. Pershing the American First Army.
The War Diaries of Albert I King of the Belgians by Albert I, pp. 221–222, copyright © 1954, publisher: William Kimber
(3) French general Adolphe Guillaumat commanded Allied forces — French, British, Italian, and Serbian — on the Balkan Front from December 1917 until his replacement by General Louis Franchet d'Esperey in June, 1918. During his tenure, Guillaumat laid the groundwork for the offensive d'Esperey would execute and could argue strongly and knowledgeably for it. French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau had sent Franchet d'Esperey to the Balkans, scapegoat for the French failure in the Aisne (Blücher) Offensive.
The Gardeners of Salonika by Alan Palmer, page 198, copyright © 1965 by A. W. Palmer, publisher: Simon and Schuster, publication date: 1965
(4) Excerpt from American Commander-in-Chief General John J. Pershing's 'final report' of November, 1919 describing the threat posed by the St. Mihiel salient. He launched the St. Mihiel Offensive on September 12, 1918, the first independent offensive of the new American First Army. The line Charleville-Mézières-Sedan-Metz roughly parallels the French border with southeastern Belgium and Luxembourg.
The Great Events of the Great War in Seven Volumes by Charles F. Horne, Vol. VI, 1918, pp. 308–309, copyright © 1920 by The National Alumnia, publisher: The National Alumni, publication date: 1920
(5) American Commander-in-Chief John J. Pershing launched the St. Mihiel Offensive, the war's first American offensive, on September 12, 1918. The American First Army attacked with support from the French, including their Renault tanks and British and French planes. German commander Erich Ludendorff had earlier determined the war could not be won, but was pulling back to eliminate the salient and shorten his line.
The First World War: Germany and Austria Hungary 1914-1918 by Holger H. Herwig, page 423, copyright © 1997 Holger H. Herwig, publisher: Arnold, publication date: 1997
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