Panorama of the Western theater of war 1914/15 from Compiègne to Arras, with the North Sea coast in the distance.

Reverse:

Panorama des westlichen Kriegschauplatzes 1914/15 von Compiegne bis Arras.

Die Panorama-Postkartenreihe umfaßt mit ihren 9 Abschnitten Nr. 400 bis 408 den gesamten westlichen Kriegschauplatz von der Schewizer Grenze bis zur Nordseeküste.

Panorama of the Western theater of war 1914/15 from Compiègne to Arras.

The panoramic postcard series includes with their 9 sections No. 400 to 408 the entire western front from the Schewizer border to the North Sea coast.

Nr. 407

Wenau-Postkarte Patentamtl. gesch.

Logo: W&N AGL

Other views: Larger, Larger, Back

Tuesday, March 12, 1918

"His Majesty commands:

(1) That the Michael Attack take place on 21st March. First penetration of the hostile position 9:40 a.m.

(2) The first great tactical objective of Crown Prince Rupprecht's Group of Armies will be to cut off the British in the Cambrai salient and, north of the river Omignon and as far as the junction of that river with the Somme, to capture the line Croisilles-Bapaume-Péronne . . . Should the progress of the attack by the right wing be very favourable it will push on beyond Croisilles. The subsequent task of the Group of Armies will be to push on towards Arras-Albert, left wing fixed on the Somme near Péronne, and with the main weight of the attack on the right flank to shake the English front opposite Sixth Army and to liberate further German forces from their stationary warfare for the advance. All divisions in rear of Fourth and Sixth Armies are to be brought forward forthwith in case of such an event."

Quotation Context

Beginning of the order by German Commander in Chief General Paul von Hindenburg approved by Kaiser Wilhelm on March 12, 1918. The Michael Attack was Operation Michael that Germany launched on March 21, 1918. Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria commanded the Second and Seventeenth German Armies, two of the three in the offensive.

Source

The World Crisis 1911-1918 by Winston Churchill, page 765, copyright © by Charles Scribner's Sons 1931, renewed by Winston S. Churchill 1959, publisher: Penguin Books, publication date: 1931, 2007

Tags

1918-03-12, 1918, March, Operation Michael, Compiegne to Arras