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Cavalry commander Manfred von Richthofen visits his wounded son, the more famous Manfred von Richthofen, wounded by gunner second Lieutenant A.E. Woodbridge on July 6, 1917 in a fight with an FE2b of 20 Squadron.
The Newfoundland Memorial in the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Park pays tribute to the Newfoundland Regiment and its part on the opening day of the Battle of the Somme, July 1, 1916. © 2013, John M. Shea
A French Schneider 105mm L from La Musée de la Grande Guerre du Pays de Meaux, France. First put into service in late 1915, 1,300 of the guns were in service in 1918. A heavier weapon than the French 75, it was more effective against entrenched troops. © 2014 John M. Shea
Detail from the Basque Memorial, Chemin des Dames, Craonnelle, France.
Islamic Headstones in Cerny-en-Laonnois Cemetery, France for Douro Koudiougou, killed April 17, 1917, and Sarkou Modey, with no known date of death. © 2014 by John M. Shea
"The day began well. We had scarcely gone to an altitude of 6,000 feet when an English patrol of five machines was coming our way. We attacked them by a rush as if we were cavalry, and the hostile squadron lay destroyed on the ground. None of our men was even wounded. Of our enemies three had plunged to the ground, and two had come down in flames. . . .In the evening we were able to send off the proud report: 'Six German machines have destroyed thirteen hostile aeroplanes.'Boelcke's Squadron had only once been able to make a similar report. At that time we had shot down eight machines. To-day one of us had brought low four of his opponents. The hero was a Lieutenant Wolff, a delicate-looking little fellow, in whom nobody could have suspected a redoubtable hero. My brother had destroyed two, Schäfer two, Festner two, and I three." ((1), more)
"At 5.30 a.m. [April 14, 1917], following a weak and scrappy barrage, the little force advanced. It was just daylight. The morning was misty and the ground soggy with the recent snow and rain. Over the first 200 yards some casualties were caused by machine-gun fire, but the Newfoundlanders on the right flank quickly surrounded and captured a troublesome strongpoint at Monchy windmill. With that secured they advanced on the Bois-du-Vert, the Essex moving in on the other wood to the left. The Germans were seen running back from their first trench and both this and a second trench further on were found practically deserted. After a pause, the two battalions went on in high spirits, meeting little opposition. At 7.20 a.m. the Essex telepohoned to Brigade HQ that the objective was taken. Observers in Monchy could see the Newfoundlanders digging in near some burning huts on the edge of a small copse — but that is the last that is known of them. The battalion never returned." ((2), more)
"Two days later, the 14th [April, 1917], the same orders for departure, and same counterorder, but on the 15th we left Aulnay for good. We passed through Jalons-les-Vignes, where I didn't see even a stump [of vignes (vine stocks)], and the regiment came to billet at the village of Isse, where we spent just one night. Finding myself in too tight a space in this encampment, I climbed onto a pile of fodder, where I slept rather badly, because there were thistles in large number and their little barbs pricked my skin disagreeably, which left a piercing recollection of Isse—the only one, by the way.The next day, April 16th, the regiment left Isse at dawn, to head for the front where the cannonade was raging." ((3), more)
"Our morale was excellent as we crossed the parapet. Nothing could stop us: [in our minds] we'd already reached Caronne, California Plateau, the Ailette, which we would cross with thick ropes to make sure no one drowned. What a disappointment! What slaughter! From the start of the first phase — the plan had six of them — the machine-guns stopped us dead. Within ten or fifteen minutes the company had been cut to pieces; among the dead, many veterans of Verdun and the Somme." ((4), more)
"The artillery battle has become extremely violent during the night over all the front between Soissons and Rheims." ((5), more)
(1) Three paragraphs from the chapter 'My Record Day', April 13, 1917, by Manfred von Richthofen. The baron was then flying an all-red Albatros D.III. His victims were two-seater planes, an R.E.8 and two F.E.2b, four of the six men killed and two wounded. Von Richthofen was flying over the battlefield of Britain's Arras Offensive. The British losses were so heavy the month was called 'Bloody April': 245 aircraft and balloons lost and 316 airmen killed or missing. The Germans reported 76 planes and seven balloons lost. Oswald Boelcke had been Germany's leading ace with 40 victories when he died on October 28, 1916. Von Richthofen's victories were numbers 41, 42, and 43.
The Red Air Fighter by Manfred von Richthofen, pp. 118–119, copyright © Lionel Leventhal Limited, 1990, publisher: Stackpole Books, publication date: 1999
(2) The Newfoundland and Essex Battalions had advanced into a German trap, were surrounded, and killed or captured on April 14, 1917 in the Battle of Arras, begun with significant success on April 9, and continued at great cost until May 17. The Newfoundland Regiment was among the few Dominion troops fighting with the British on July 1, 1916, the first day of Battle of the Somme. The unit had nearly been destroyed: Of the 752 Newfoundlanders who advanced, 26 officers and 658 men were casualties.
Cheerful Sacrifice: The Battle of Arras, 1917 by Jonathan Nicholls, page 165, copyright © Jonathan Nicholls [1990 repeatedly renewed through] 2011, publisher: Pen and Sword, publication date: 2010
(3) Excerpt from the notebooks of French Infantry Corporal Louis Barthas whose regiment was marching to the front to play a role in the Nivelle Offensive that began April 16, 1917. Nivelle had delayed the offensive — the 'same orders for departure, the same counterorder' that Barthas refers to first occurred on April 12 — in part due to bad weather. Isse is approximately 35km southeast of Rheims, France.
Poilu: The World War I Notebooks of Corporal Louis Barthas, Barrelmaker, 1914-1918 by Louis Barthas, page 309, copyright © 2014 by Yale University, publisher: Yale University Press, publication date: 2014
(4) Corporal Jean Portes of the French 1st Infantry describing his company's destruction in the opening minutes of the Nivelle Offensive, April 16, 1917. The battles of Verdun and the Somme, the two great Western Front battles of 1916, the first the French defense against the German assault on Verdun, the second the Anglo-French offensive on the Somme River. The Nivelle Offensive began with a British offensive at Arras, begun on April 9. The Second Battle of the Aisne was the French component. Despite the stalling of the British at Arras, the morale of French soldiers was reported to be high, but it was dashed by the failure of their attack in its first minutes and hours.
They Shall Not Pass: The French Army on the Western Front 1914-1918 by Ian Sumner, page 149, copyright © Ian Sumner 2012, publisher: Pen and Sword, publication date: 2012
(5) A French Army morning communiqué released at 2:00 P.M. on April 16, 1917, the opening day of the Nivelle Offensive. The day was a disaster for the French.
The 1917 Spring Offensives: Arras, Vimy, Chemin des Dames by Yves Buffetaut, page 142, publisher: Histoire et Collections, publication date: 1997
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