French (and one British) soldiers in what appears to be a hastily-improvised line. An official photograph on the British Front in France taken May 3, 1918. French reserves came to the aid of the British during the German Offensives of 1918. Operation Michael on the Somme had been fought from March 21 to April 5, and Operation Georgette on the Lys River from April 9 to 29.
Reverse:Official photograph taken on the British Western Front in France. British and French alongside each other waiting for the Boches. 5/3/18.
"The last spasm of the first German offensive occurred on April 4, when the enemy struck between the Somme and Montdidier. Though the Germans had sixteen divisions in their front line and the French only seven, the French had eight divisions in reserve, and they intervened rapidly. The French also had ample artillery, 588 75-mm and 378 heavy pieces. Showing little interest in infiltration tactics, the Germans attacked in dense formations and suffered heavy casualties. The following day First Army counterattacked. Instead of a tightly coordinated offensive, its individual corps launched separate attacks after brief artillery preparations, but the corps advanced as much as one and a half kilometers."
Germany's Somme Offensive, Operation Michael, was launched on March 21, 1918 against the British Third and Fifth Armies in fog that obscured the attackers. The Germans used Hutier infiltration tactics that focused on breaking through weak points, leaving strong defensive points to be taken by following forces. The British, particularly the Third Army, were overwhelmed and driven back. With no reserves, they called for assistance from the French. Newly-appointed Commander-in-Chief Ferdinand Foch had been calling for a unified command and general reserve for months, and now had both. Commanding the French Army, Henri Philippe Pétain and the French First Army used his new tactics of well-prepared attacks with limited, but achievable goals. The French 75-mm field gun had been used successfully through the entire war, but the French in 1918 had more heavy guns they could bring to bear.
Pyrrhic Victory; French Strategy and Operations in the Great War by Robert A. Doughty, page 440, copyright © 2005 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College, publisher: Harvard University Press, publication date: 2005
1918-04-04, 1918, April, Montdidier, Franco-British hasty line
