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Russian graves of Nokohtor Apax and Minenko-Maziav Kolodeyschak in Cerny-en-Laonnois Cemetery, France, the men possibly killed in the Second Battle of the Aisne, fighting alongside the French. Kolodeyschak died May 1, 1917.
King Albert of Belgium decorates Willy Coppens, Belgium's Ace of Aces. Coppens describes this June 30, 1918 ceremony, in which he was awarded the Ordre de la Couronne in his memoir Flying in Flanders.
War memorial, Arras, France.
French General Robert Nivelle, from a pharmaceutical advertising card
Detail from the Basque Memorial, Chemin des Dames, Craonnelle, France.
"On 26 April Sir William Robertson wrote to Haig: 'It seems to me the right thing to do is to keep on fighting.' And Haig agreed; but he was in a dilemma. He wanted to launch his new offensive in the north, but he couldn't neglect the Arras front while the French were in their present disarray. As he informed the War Cabinet on 1 May: 'We cannot rely on adequate French offensive co-operation. The fact is deeply to be regretted, but it must be recognized. We must maintain the offensive for at least two or three weeks more.'" ((1), more)
"I hereby desire to mention in Corps Orders, Captain Declercq and 1st Class Sergeant-Pilot Willy Coppens, for the coolness, courage, and skill shown by them in the course of a reconnaissance over the enemy's lines on the morning of May 1st. Attacked suddenly by four enemy scouts, they succeeded, after a prolonged and unequal fight, in bringing back their machine, badly damaged by the enemy's fire." ((2), more)
"Our orders didn't get through until the last minute and then they were all garbled. No one, including our officers, seemed to know what we were supposed to be doing, or where we were going. Officers were supposed to have synchronized their watches in so far as it was possible at that time of day. At a certain time, our barrage was supposed to lift and we were to climb out of the trenches and go forward. Well, we did — but it wasn't all at the same time! We were given false information and told the artillery had smashed the enemy defences and we would get through the wire — did we hell!" ((3), more)
"The first signs of a serious morale crisis appeared in the Laffaux sector on 4 May: one company refused to fight. In some quarters tracts were found with the words: 'Down with the war! Death to those in charge!' In his thesis on the 1917 mutinies, Guy Pédroncini observes that most cases of rebellion were found in the 6e armée (formerly Mangin's) and among the divisions engaged in the May 1917 operations, which, as was shown, were the most useless." ((4), more)
"At 9 a.m. on 5 May, the 18e corps of the 10e armée launched its main assault against Craonne and Hurtebise farm, with two divisions (35e and 36e) abreast. In spite of the fierce resistance of the Garde corps, the Californie plateau was taken, but the French troops engaged on the Vauclerc plateau were attacked from behind by strong German contingents pouring out of the Dragon's and Saxons' caves. Testimonies quoted by Nobécourt are revealing: 'We advanced in the morning, but when we got through, the huns were coming out of holes and shooting us in the back. Many were killed or wounded'. 'The 65e attacked yesterday morning. At first it went very well. But (...) we went past our objectives and found ourselves caught between fires: huns in front and huns behind. We incurred heavy losses and we have no officers left. In the company there were 180 of us; hardly 40 are left today.'" ((5), more)
(1) Britain's Arras Offensive, part of the Franco-British Nivelle Offensive, commenced on Easter Monday, April 9, 1917. After a first day that saw the taking of Vimy Ridge by the Canadian Corps and a British advance in other parts of the line, the British suffer heavy losses while achieving little more. French delays in launching their offensive — Second Battle the Aisne — led British Commander Douglas Haig to continue attacking to keep the Germans off balance. When the French attacked on April 16, their high hopes quickly came to little. They too suffered heavy losses, and a roundhouse blow to French morale that soon led soldiers to refuse to attack. Haig would get to execute his offensive 'in the north' in July. It would become the disastrous Battle of Passchendaele. William Robertson was Chief of Britain's Imperial General Staff.
Cheerful Sacrifice: The Battle of Arras, 1917 by Jonathan Nicholls, page 192, copyright © Jonathan Nicholls [1990 repeatedly renewed through] 2011, publisher: Pen and Sword, publication date: 2010
(2) Entry from the Belgian Flying Corps Orders of May 2, 1917. Willy Coppens, who would become Belgium's leading ace with 37 victories, was in his first aerial combat the previous day, piloting a Sopwith One-and-a-Half Strutter two-seater. He had crossed the line at Ypres, flying at 10,000 feet, when he saw four German single-seat scouts climbing towards him. Watching them carefully, he missed the approach of four others. After four and a half minutes, the Germans inexplicably flew away. Coppens and his gunner/observer were uninjured, but 32 bullets had pierced their plane.
Flying in Flanders by Willy Coppens, page 79, publisher: Ace Books, publication date: 1971
(3) Sergeant Jack Cousins of the 7th Bedfordshire regiment describing his experience in the May 3 and 4, 1917 final major attack of the Battle of Arras, the Third Battle of the Scarpe, fought on a sixteen-mile front from Vimy to Bullecourt. Nearly 6,000 British troops, including Canadians and Australians, were killed in the attack.
Cheerful Sacrifice: The Battle of Arras, 1917 by Jonathan Nicholls, page 197, copyright © Jonathan Nicholls [1990 repeatedly renewed through] 2011, publisher: Pen and Sword, publication date: 2010
(4) French commander in chief Robert Nivelle had convinced many politicians and his soldiers that he had discovered the secret to breaking through the German front and bringing the war to a rapid conclusion. The failure of his offensive, the Second Battle of the Aisne, to do more than pushing the front forward at great cost to his men, broke many of the units under his command. The battle began on April 16, 1917. Within hours it was clear it would achieve no more than its initial objectives, the crossing of the Aisne River and capture of the high ground of Chemin des Dames. The French mutinies had begun by the 21st with soldiers calling for peace. Other incidents occurred on April 24 and 29, but they spread widely in May. Lauffaux is northeast of Soissons on the western end of Chemin des Dames. French General Charles Mangin's nickname was 'the Butcher.'
The 1917 Spring Offensives: Arras, Vimy, Chemin des Dames by Yves Buffetaut, page 184, publisher: Histoire et Collections, publication date: 1997
(5) French commander in chief Robert Nivelle continued the offensive he had begun on April 16, 1917, the Second Battle of the Aisne, with the May 5 assault at the eastern end of the Chemin des Dames, northwest of Reims. The farms and villages of the plateau held a warren of caves in which German troops hid, letting the French advance before striking them from behind.
The 1917 Spring Offensives: Arras, Vimy, Chemin des Dames by Yves Buffetaut, page 180, publisher: Histoire et Collections, publication date: 1997
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