Map of the Marne salient showing the battle line of June 2, 1918. From The History of The A.E.F. by Shipley Thomas.
The Marne SalientShowing Battle Line of June 2, 1918, when the 2nd and 3rd American Divisions entered the line.
". . . our casualties were increasing alarmingly; ammunition was running short and the problem of supply, in view of the large demands, became more and more difficult. It became all too clear that actions so stubbornly contested and involving us in such formidable losses would never enable us to capture Paris. In truth the brilliant offensive had petered out. This unpleasant fact was quickly realised by the High Command and the order came from General Ludendorff for us to consolidate the positions we had reached."
Excerpt from 'Day 6. June 1.' the brief closing section of the account of the Aisne Offensive, the Third German Drive of 1918, by Major-General A. D. von Unruh, Chief of the General Staff, 4th Reserve Corps (Corps von Conta). German commander Erich Ludendorff made his bid for victory with repeated offensives in 1918. Unruh had faced four British divisions that had been devastated in Operations Michael and Georgette in March and April had been moved into what was expected to be a quiet sector, one held by the French. The offensive, successful in its advance, and in ground gained, created a salient that reached the Marne River from a base between Soissons and Reims. The Corps von Conta faced the Americans and French Colonial troops who held Château Thierry, a town that straddled the Marne.
The Last of the Ebb: the Battle of the Aisne, 1918 by Sidney Rogerson, page 146, copyright © Sidney Rogerson, 1937, publisher: Frontline Books, publication date: 2011
1918-06-01, 1918, June, Aisne Offensive, Ludendorff, Marne Salient
