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Bourlon and Bourlon Wood. From The Tank Corps by Major Clough Williams-Ellis & A. Williams-Ellis.
Map of the Trentino, part of "Italia Irredenta," unredeemed Italy: Venezia Tridentina (Trentino and Alto Adige)
The election of soldier delegates to the first Soviet. From a Bulgarian poster.
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.
Postcard of a German soldier guarding French POWs, most of them colonial troops, the colorful uniforms of a Zouave, Spahi, Senegalese, and metropolitan French soldier contrasting with the field gray German uniform. A 1915 postcard by Emil Huber.
"During November 22 [1917], the Germans had not only prevented any significant advances, but they had even taken back some ground. But most important of all, while Byng and his Third Army staff were preparing for the following day's attack on Bourlon, Rupprecht had obtained the one day of grace he so desperately needed. He now had sufficient reinforcements to be able to discount any idea of a general withdrawal. And so, with fresh troops entering the battle on both sides, the lines were now drawn up for a life and death struggle for the vital Bourlon Ridge." ((1), more)
". . . by November 20th the Allied forces were in position to afford serious support to the Italian Army. On the 22nd and 23rd, heavy fighting took place on the Asiago plateau, as well as in the region of Monte Grappa and Monte Tomba; the Italian soldiers put up a splendid resistance everywhere.On the 23rd, General Foch was able to leave Italy; the crisis was conjured. The first demoralization once over, the Comando Supremo rapidly recovered itself and, under its direction, the Italian Army reëstablished with its own forces a continuous front in the valley of the Piave, without the British and French units having to be engaged." ((2), more)
"During the night [of November 23–24, 1917], the first snow fell, making communications even more difficult. Then came the incessant rain. It was in these conditions that all the tanks which had been in action were ordered back for re-fitting, leaving only twelve of 1 Battalion available for the following day. These were to attack Bourlon village at noon with the 121st Brigade of 40th Division. During the morning, this time was changed to 3:00 p.m. Then the IV Corps commander, Lieutenant General Woollcombe, visited the divisional headquarters at Havrincourt and stated that as he thought there were not enough tanks to ensure success, the operation should be postponed until the next day. These orders were sent to all the various brigade headquarters in the Graincourt area, but due to the destruction of telephone lines by enemy shelling, they did not reach 121st Brigade until it was too late. The attack had started." ((3), more)
". . . On November 25 [1917] the elections for the Constituent Assembly began. . . .The results of the election were startling. Out of a total of 41.7 million votes only 9.8 million were polled for the Bolsheviks—24 percent or, at the most, 29 percent if you counted the Left Social Revolutionaries with them. Even in Petrograd and Moscow, even in the army and the navy, Lenin had less than half the vote. The Social Revolutionaries with nearly 20.8 million votes, or 58 per cent of the total, were the big winners. As for the Mensheviks, they had all but vanished from the scene, and the bourgeois parties polled only 1.99 million votes between them." ((4), more)
"On November 25 and 26 [1917] we renewed our attack upon Fontaine-Notre-Dame and again tried to capture Bourlon Village.In the end, however, both these important points remained in enemy hands.A week had now elapsed since the launching of the battle.According to the original scheme, the action should not have been continued for more than three days, but in spite of our original 'Self-Denying Ordinance' as to ground, when desirable points of vantage were actually in our hands, we had fallen a prey to 'land hunger' and had still fought on and continued to advance in order to consolidate these new and delightful possessions." ((5), more)
(1) The British launched the Battle of Cambrai, the largest tank offensive yet seen, on November 20, 1917 with three tank brigades, 380 tanks in all, most of them Mark IVs. Where the tanks were well coordinated with the infantry, the two were able to advance up to 4½ miles on a 6-mile front. But the British had no rested reserves, and saw little success when they resumed the offensive on the 21st. On November 22, their goals were capturing Bourlon Wood and the villages of Bourlon and Fontaine-notre Dame. General Byng had the troops he had lacked on the 21st, but so did Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria.
The Battle of Cambrai by Brian Cooper, page 155, copyright © Bryan Cooper 1967, publisher: Stein and Day, publication date: 1968
(2) When joint German and Austro-Hungarian forces attacked on October 24, 1917 in the Battle of Caporetto, their first offensive on the Isonzo Front in Italy's northeast, the Italian Second Army, and then the entire front collapsed. Fearing Italy would be driven out of the war, the British and French agreed at the Rapallo Conference in early December to send troops to Italy. Italian King Victor Emmanuel sacked Luigi Cadorna, his commander in chief, replacing him with Armando Diaz. General Ferdinand Foch was the lead French representative at the conference. The Asiago plateau was on Italy's northern front near Trentino. Monte Grappa and Monte Tomba were on the new northeastern front of the Piave River.
The Memoirs of Marshal Foch, translated by Col. T. Bentley Mott by Ferdinand Foch, page 232, copyright © 1931 by Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc., publisher: Doubleday, Doran & Co., publication date: 1931
(3) On November 24, 1917, the Battle of Cambrai was in the fourth day of what had been intended battle of not more than three days. The British had taken much of Bourlon Wood south of the village of Bourlon. British commander Douglas Haig still looked to unleash his cavalry.
The Battle of Cambrai by Brian Cooper, page 168, copyright © Bryan Cooper 1967, publisher: Stein and Day, publication date: 1968
(4) Russian parties across the political spectrum had called for a freely elected parliament for years. The November, 1917 vote for a Constituent Assembly came a month after Vladimir Lenin and his Bolsheviks seized power from a weak government unable to deliver an end to the war or the distribution of land to those who worked it. Petrograd was the capital and where the revolution was launched. Moscow was also controlled by the Bolsheviks who had strong support in the army and navy, but not as much support as expected.
The Russian Revolution by Alan Moorehead, page 264, copyright © 1958 by Time, Inc., publisher: Carroll and Graf, publication date: 1989
(5) The British tank and infantry offensive in the Battle of Cambrai began on November 20 and met with unexpected success on the first day as the tanks and infantry trained to work with them cooperated in the advance. On the second and subsequent days, the British did not have reserves to continue the offensive, and could only proceed with fewer tanks, and weary soldiers who had not been trained for tank warfare. The British took much of Bourlon Wood, but could not capture and hold the village of Bourlon north of the woods or Fontaine-Notre-Dame to the east.
The Tank Corps by Clough Williams-Ellis & A. Williams-Ellis, page 116, publisher: The Offices of "Country Life," Ltd. and George Newnes, Ltd., publication date: 1919
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