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1917 original pen and ink drawing of a sentry in the dunes of the Belgian coast viewing a ship on the horizon. Possibly by W Wenber, Leading Seaman.
German soldiers on the San River in Russia on July 17, 1916. The river flows beyond the trees in the distance.
British soldiers advancing on the Flanders front. From The Nations at War by Willis J. Abbot 1918 Edition
An aerial observer or pilot in flight helmet and overcoat reports to a German General and his staff at a division's combat headquarters on March 21, 1918, the first day of Operation Michael, Germany's spring offensive, the first of five German drives in 1918.
Living and dead soldiers on the Somme in March, 1918. Operation Michael, the German spring offensive 1918 began on March 21. Men and barbed wire line the horizon; dead soldiers lie in the foreground.
"Might is on the side of the Germans. Opposite our front, in contrast to the situation we have been faced with since 1914, Germany has grouped several excellent divisions. Moreover, she has given us proof of this. For a month we have suffered important losses. On the 18th March [1918] alone we lost 1,100 men. We must not deceive ourselves; the enemy is in a position to teach us a lesson whenever he likes. It is a mistake to count too much on military aid from the Allies, for in fact what aid they could bring us would be weak and tardy. Our politicians adopt a haughty and provocative attitude towards Germany, and the Army bears the brunt." ((1), more)
"There was another whistle high up in the air. Everyone had the choking feeling: this one's headed our way! Then there was a huge, stunning explosion — the shell had hit in our midst.Half stunned I stood up. From the big crater, burning machine-gun belts spilled a coarse pinkish light. It lit the smouldering smoke of the explosion, where a pile of charred bodies were writhing, and the shadows of those still living were fleeing in all directions. Simultaneously, a grisly chorus of pain and cries for help went up. The rolling motion of the dark mass in the bottom of the smoking and glowing cauldron, like a hellish vision, for an instant tore open the extreme abysm of terror." ((2), more)
"During the afternoon [of March 20, 1918], they either volunteered or drew lots for the various obviously suicidal tasks, and in due course as evening fell (it was raining softly again) some of them moved along the front trench to the saps, and out towards the isolated forward posts. Each man carried a Very pistol: when he fired his green flare he would be signalling his own death or defeat, and those behind could expect the enemy in ten minutes or less. As the last man reach the post, the sap trench was blocked with knife-rests and wire entanglements behind him; if there was an officer or senior NCO in the forward post, he usually occupied the rearmost position in order to block the retreat of any whose nerve, in the face of an inescapable destiny, should fail." ((3), more)
"The watch-hands moved round; we counted off the last few minutes. At last, it was five past five. The tempest was unleashed.A flaming curtain went up, followed by unprecedentedly brutal roaring. A wild thunder, capable of submerging even the loudest detonations in its rolling, made the earth shake. The gigantic roaring of the innumerable guns behind us was so atrocious that even the greatest of the battles we had experienced seemed like a tea party by comparison. What we hadn't dared hope for happened: the enemy artillery was silenced; a prodigious blow had laid it out. We felt too restless to stay in the dugout. Standing out on top, we gasped at the colossal wall of flame over the English lines, gradually obscuring itself behind crimson, surging clouds." ((4), more)
"On the north the British Third Army maintained in general its positions, but it was quite otherwise with General Gough's Fifth Army. Along almost the whole of its front, it was swept away, its right in particular being thrown back west of Saint-Quentin up to the edge of the Crozat Canal.On the following day, the 22nd, this army, badly shaken, retreated towards the Somme. An extraordinary incident here took place—one only to be explained by the contagion which spread from the confused and shaken troops, driven in by the heavy attack on the front line. The Somme, running several miles in the rear, was captured by the enemy practically without a blow being struck." ((5), more)
(1) Excerpt from the entry for March 20, 1918 from the diary of Albert, King of the Belgians. Much of the unusually long entry concerns the introduction of the Flemish (Dutch) language into the Belgian Army. Albert continues with our quotation, responding to what he considers unrealistic arrogance towards the Germans on the part of his ministers and to the question he asks himself, 'What, in fact, is the situation?'
The War Diaries of Albert I King of the Belgians by Albert I, pp. 196–197, copyright © 1954, publisher: William Kimber
(2) German Lieutenant Ernst Jünger was leading his company forward to a reserve position on the night of March 19, 1918 when they were hit by a shell. Like the other survivors, Jünger fled before falling into a shell-hole and recollecting his men, whom he returned to organize. He gathered his company to continue deploying for what he elsewhere refers to as German commander Erich Ludendorff's, and Germany's, 'mighty do-or-die offensive', Operation Michael, launched on March 21, 1918. Before the shell struck, Jünger had 150 men. The next day he was able to collect 63.
Storm of Steel by Ernst Jünger, page 225, copyright © 1920, 1961, Translation © Michael Hoffman, 2003, publisher: Penguin Books, publication date: 2003
(3) Since the November, 1917 Bolshevik Revolution and the December armistice between Russia and the Central Powers, an armistice that ultimately resulted in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in March, 1918, the Entente Allies had been anticipating a great German offensive on the Western Front bolstered by troops recently redeployed from Russia. The order for the offensive, Operation Michael, was issued on March 12. On March 20th the attack was imminent.
1918, the Last Act by Barrie Pitt, page 73, copyright © 1962 by Barrie Pitt, publisher: Ballantine Books, Inc., publication date: 1963
(4) German Lieutenant Ernst Jünger describing the preliminary bombardment opening what he elsewhere refers to as German commander Erich Ludendorff's, and Germany's, 'mighty do-or-die offensive', Operation Michael. Jünger was leading his company forward to a reserve position on the night of March 19, 1918 when they were hit by a shell killing or wounding much of his company. Before the shell struck, Jünger had 150 men. The next day he was able to collect 63. On March 21st, German troops hit the British line, striking the Third and Fifth Armies. The Third held; the Fifth did not.
Storm of Steel by Ernst Jünger, pp. 228–229, copyright © 1920, 1961, Translation © Michael Hoffman, 2003, publisher: Penguin Books, publication date: 2003
(5) German commander Erich Ludendorff launched Germany's great offensive, Operation Michael, on March 21, 1918, his troops striking the Third and Fifth British Armies. The Third held; the Fifth did not. Excerpt from French General Ferdinand Foch's Memoirs.
The Memoirs of Marshal Foch, translated by Col. T. Bentley Mott by Ferdinand Foch, page 255, copyright © 1931 by Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc., publisher: Doubleday, Doran & Co., publication date: 1931
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