by Barrie Pitt
152. ‘Suddenly the roads’: Churchill, World Crisis.
Chapter 7
162. ‘A strong picquet line’: Churchill, idem.
166. ‘Paris was calm’: Churchill, idem.
168. ‘ “If we can hold” ’: Quoted in Liddell Hart, Fog of War.
Chapter 8
185. ‘If the dispositions’: Haig, idem.
Chapter 9
205. ‘No one who has been’: Churchill, idem.
206. ‘Cavalry cantered’: Churchill, idem.
210. ‘The attack on Mont St. Quentin’: Sir A. Montgomery, Story of Fourth Army.
Chapter 10
222. ‘Just a word of caution’: quoted by Haig, idem.
223. ‘What a wretched lot’: Haig, idem.
Chapter 11
241. ‘ “I see that it is necessary” ’: ‘ “We can no longer” ’: quoted in Tschuppik, Ludendorff.
242. ‘ “Why bring up Belgium?” ’: quoted in Tschuppik, idem.
244. ‘One is able’: Jünger, Storm of Steel.
Chapter 12
275. ‘The mighty framework’: Churchill, idem.
Index
INDEX
Abbeville conferences, 126, 141–2
Achilles plan, 49, 137
Air raids, 36
Ailette, River, 136, 138
Aire, River, 231
Aisne, River, 136, 231; crossed by Germans in Battle of Chemin-des-Dames, 148
Aisne heights, 210
Alberich Position, 214
Albert, King of the Belgians, 101, 126, 242
Albert, 49, 80, 98, 102, 103, 143, 151, 195; falls to Allies, 211, 244
Alsace-Lorraine, 248
Amerongen, 290, 292
Amiens, 4, 98, 105, 152; German objective in the Spring Offensive, 107–9, 128
Amiens, Battle of: the British plan, 194–5; preparations, 195–7; first day’s advance, 197, 199–204; effect on German morale, 204–6; second and third days’ fighting, 207–8; final actions, and the results, 208–10
Amiens–Chaulnes railway, 203
Amiens–Roye road, 196, 200, 204, 205, 213
Amiens Salient, 194
Ancre, River, 102, 197
Anthoine, General, 174
Antwerp–Meuse Line, 243, 244
Archangel scheme, 49, 50, 137
Archives of Reason, The, 8
Ardre Valley, 183
Argonne Forest, 226, 229, 231, 232, 253, 259, 268
See also Meuse–Argonne Offensive
Armentières, 47, 59, 110, 115, 117–20; captured by the Allies, 221
Armentières–Warneton railway, 53
Armistice: Germany asks for, 250–252; President Wilson’s reply to Germany, 254, 260–4; the discussions in the Compiègne Forest, 265–6; the terms, 266–7; military action just prior to, 268–70; reactions of Allied and German soldiers, 270–1; civilian reactions in Allied countries, 271–3; reactions in capitals of Central Powers, 273–5
Armour: Ludendorff fails to appreciate value of, 131; Allied, and effect on German morale, 205
See also ARMY, BRITISH, Tank Corps; Tanks
Armoured-cars, at Battle of Amiens, 200–1
ARMY, BELGIAN, 59, 233
ARMY, BRITISH: quality of men in, 9, 16–18; front-line soldier’s attitude to the Staff, 18–21; limitations of the generals, 21, 23; dispositions (spring 1918), 57–61; under French command, 100–1; strength deployed March–July 1918, 164–5; morale, 165–6; post-war development of, 281–3 ARMIES
FIRST, 59, 214, 233, 258; in the Battle of the Lys, 114, 123; in the Battle of Amiens, 208
SECOND, 23, 59, 233; in the Battle of the Lys, 114; in attack on Hindenburg Line, 236, 252
THIRD, 60, 115, 210, 213–15, 218, 219, 233, 258; in St. Quentin offensive, 69, 78–82, 85, 98, 105, 106; in Battle of Amiens, 208, 209; in attack on Hindenburg Line, 236
FOURTH, 216, 233, 234, 258; in Battle of Amiens, 194, 197, 208–10, 214–15; in attack on Siegfried Position, 219, 253
FIFTH, 60, 61, 115, 164, 233; in St. Quentin offensive, 69–74, 78–81, 83, 87, 90–93, 94
OF OCCUPATION, 279
CORPS
III, 195, 215, 216
V, 87, 93, 105
VII, 91, 93
IX, 114, 119
XII, 91
XV, 115
XVIII, 79, 90, 91
XIX, 90, 91
AUSTRALIAN, 233; at Hamel, 171
CANADIAN, 59, 196; at Vimy Ridge, 114, 214
CAVALRY, 197, 201, 202
DIVISIONS, AUSTRALIAN
1st, 121, 196
2nd, 200
3rd, 52–4, 200
4th, 98, 200
5th, 98, 200
DIVISIONS, CANADIAN
3rd, 200
4th, 200
DIVISION, CAVALRY
2nd, 83
Divisions, Infantry
8th, 126; at Chemin-des-Dames, 143, 145, 149
9th, atthe Lys, 114, 119, 128, 129
19th, at the Lys, 114, 126; at Chemin-des-Dames, 143, 149
21st, at the Lys, 126, 128, 129; at Chemin-des-Dames, 143, 149
25th, at the Lys, 126, 129; at Chemin-des-Dames, 143, 149
31st, at the Lys, 120
34th, 115, 119
40th, at the Lys, 115, 117, 119
46th, in attack on Siegfried Position, 237, 238
50th (Northumbrian), at the Lys, 117, 120, 126; at Chemin-des-Dames, 143, 145, 149
51st (Highland), 81; at the Lys, 115, 117, 120
55th, at the Lys, 115, 117, 120
57th. 220
61st, at the Lys, 114, 120
63rd (Royal Naval), 24, 28–30; in St. Quentin offensive, 80, 84, 87, 93; at Drocourt–Quéant Switch, 220
DIVISION, NEW ZEALAND, 98
BRIGADES, INFANTRY
3rd Rifle, 79
4th Guards, 121
5th, 216
6th (Australian), 217
15th (Australian), 217, 218
South African, 83
CORPS AND REGIMENTS
Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, 81
Artists Rifles, 1st Battalion, 26–9
Black Watch, 81
Connaught Rangers, 6th Battalion, 91
Devonshire, 2nd Battalion, 149
Gordon Highlanders, 81
Green Howards, 89
King Edward’s Horse, 117
King’s Royal Rifle Corps, 79
Lancers, 16th/15th Queen’s Royal, 282
Royal Artillery. See Artillery Royal Engineers, 238; Special Duties Gas Unit, 82
Royal Scots Fusiliers, 82–3
Royal Welch Fusiliers, 125
Seaforth Highlanders, 81
Tank Corps, 133, 171, 220, 223; 1st Battalion, 132. See also Armour; Tanks
ARMY, FRENCH: morale, 165–6; Pétain’s deployments after Chemin-des-Dames, 167–8; never recovered from Verdun and Nivelle offensive, 283
ARMY GROUPS
Armées du Nord, 61
Armées de l’Est, 61
ARMIES
FIRST, 61, 197, 215, 232, 234; in Battle of Amiens, 208
SECOND, 61
THIRD, 215; in Battle of Amiens, 208, 210
FOURTH, 61, 62, 175, 232
FIFIH, 61, 175, 176, 190, 232, 233
SIXTH, 61, 175–7, 233, 252; at Chemin-des-Dames, 144, 147
SEVENTH, 61
EIGHTH, 61
NINTH, in Second Battle of the Marne, 189–91
TENTH, 168, 215, 232, 233; in Second Battle of the Marne, 176, 191; in Battle of Amiens 209
CORPS
III, 50
V, 94
XXXVII, 50
DIVISIONS
28th Infanterie, 123
30th, 190
45th, 149
Moroccan, 185, 187
ARMY, GERMAN: weaknesses in the High Command, 3; the General Staff, 39–40; the Sturmabteilung (Storm Troops), 43–4, 78, 79, 81, 82, 85, 88, 91, 107, 119, 128, 147, 148, 165, 181, 183, 221, 239; revoluti
onary precept of reserves, 44; exhaustion of, in St. Quentin offensive, 103–4; strength deployed, March–June 1918, 164; morale, 165, 204–6, 220–2; signs of breakup, 205–6, 221–2, 247; retreats to Hindenburg Line, 214–15, 244; loses territorial gains of Spring Offensive, 221; planned withdrawal of, 248–9; limitation of, by Treaty of Versailles, 285; the new Army formed by von Seeckt, 285–9
ARMIES
FIRST, 137, 190
SECOND, 49, 72; at St. Quentin, 80, 105, 107; at the Lys, 131
THIRD, 190
FOURTH, 119, 121, 130, 237
SEVENTH, 155, 163; at Chemin-des-Dames, 137, 149
ELEVENTH, 285
SEVENTEENTH, 49; at St. Quentin, 72, 82, 85, 105
EIGHTEENTH, 49, 50, 60, 160, 162–3; at St. Quentin, 72, 104–7
Corps
IV (Prussian), 117
XIX (Saxon), 117–20
Divisions
Guards, 140
2nd Guards, 215, 217
ARMY, PORTUGUESE, 59
Divisions
1st, 115
2nd, 115, 117
ARMY, UNITED STATES: arrival in France, 62; French and British jealousy of, 63; qualities of, 63–4; kept under American command, 65, under French command, 101, 111–12; post-war development of, 284–5
ARMIES
FIRST, 225; in St Mihiel battle, 229, 231
CORPS
I, 231
II, 231
DIVISIONS
1st, 63; at Second Battle of the Marne, 185, 187, 191
2nd, 63, 155, 169; at Chemin-des-Dames, 153; at Second Battle of the Marne, 185, 187
3rd, 153, 159; at Second Battle of the Marne, 182, 190
4th, at Second Battle of the Marne, 191
26th (Yankee), 63, 229, 230
27th, 224; in attack on Siegfried Position, 237–9
28th, 191
30th, 224, 237, 238
32nd, 191
33rd (National Guard), 171–2
42nd (Rainbow), 63, at Second Battle of the Marne, 191
BRIGADES
4th Marine, 155, 159
6th Marine, 158
REGIMENT
38th Infantry, 183
Army of the Orient, Allied, victorious in Bulgaria, 246, 247
Arnim, General Sixt von, 119, 121
Arnold, Lieutenant, 203–4
Arras, 45, 47, 60, 83, 95, 106, 213, 215
Artillery: German 77-millimetre field and 5·9s, 15; German gas-shell, 46; British, before the Somme and Passchendaele, 46; German deployment by division into three time-classes, 46, 47; at Warneton, 52, 54; at opening of German Spring Offensive, 74, 75–78; Bruchmüller’s, 138, 146–7, 160, 162, 179, 184; at opening of Battle of Amiens, 196; at Belleau Wood, 156;at Second Battle of the Marne, 179; at Battle of Amiens, 199; at St. Mihiel battle, 229–30; in last hours of the war, 269–70
Asquith, H. H. (Earl of Oxford and Asquith), 32–3, 275
Atrocities, 268–9
Austria, 39; seeks separate peace, 245; secures armistice, 264
Austro-Hungarian Empire, Spanish influenza in, 273
Bac St. Maur, 118
Bailleul, 110, 118, 121, 129, 221
Bailleul-Armentières railway, 119
Baker, Newton D., quoted 65
Bapaume, 49, 80, 143, 215
Bar le Duc, 62
Barisis, 50, 60, 61
Bavarian Separatist Movement, 274
Bazentin, 211
Beaurepaire Château, 55
Beaurevoir Line, 253
Beauvais Conference, 111
Belfort gap, 6
Belgium, Ludendorff proposes to retain control of, 242, 245, 248
Belleau Wood, 155–9, 169, 229
Below, General von: commander of German Seventeenth Army, 85; commander of First Army, 137
Bentinck, Count Godard, 290, 292
Berlin; wartime hardships in, 37–9; Spanish influenza in, 273
Berthelot, General, commander of French Fifth Army, 175–6, 177, 183, 184, 190, 191, 232, 233
Béthune, 47, 55, 59, 97, 114, 115, 120, 124, 128, 137, 194
Beurnevesin, 6
Binding, Rudolf, quoted 21, 102–3 107–8, 151, 181–2
Birdwood, General (later Field-Marshal Lord), commander of British Fifth Army, 233
Bliss, General, 111–13, 126
Blockade of Germany, 37–9, 234–5
Blondecques, 126
Blücher scheme, 137, 138, 145, 148, 160 (and see Chemin-des-Dames, Battle of)
Blunden, Edmund, quoted 30, 64
Böhn, General von, commander of German Seventh Army, 137, 149, 155, 243
Bois de l’Abbé, 132, 133
Bouresches, 155, 157, 169
Bray-sur-Somme, 98, 102
Brest-Litovsk, Treaty of, 44, 222
Breuil, 187
British Legion, 279
Brittain, Vera, 125
Broodseinde, 122
Bruchmüller, Colonel, 45–6. See also under Artillery
Bruges, 234
Brunehilde Position, 214
Brusilov, General, 2
Brussels, 234
Buat, General, 174, 175
Bugeaud, Marshal, quoted 258
Bulgaria, 39; on verge of collapse, 246; request armistice, 247
Bullecourt, 171
Burian, Baron, 245
Byng, General Sir Julian: commander of British Third Army, 60, 98, 209, 215, 217, 219, 233, 236; Governor-General of Canada, 279
Cachy, 133
Cambrai, 80; taken by the British, 258
Cambrai–Bapaume road, 81, 87
Cambrai Salient, 23
Canal du Nord, 219, 222, 233, 236; destruction of German Line at, 246
Cantigny, 140
Castelnau, General de, commander of Groupe d’Armées de l’Est, 61 Castor and Pollux scheme, 49
Casualties: ratio of, from rifle or machine-gun and shell or shrapnel, 29; at Welsh Ridge, 30; Allied, at Verdun, the Somme and Passchendaele, 31–2; at Warneton, 54; in the Battle of the Lys, 133, 134; at Belleau Wood, 159; at Hamel, 173; at Second Battle of the Marne, 192; at Mont St. Quentin, 217; German (Aug. 8–Sept. 9), 221; at Lessines, 269; the grand total, in First World War, 277; in Meuse–Argonne offensive, 278
Cavalry: Allied belief in, as only means of transport for troops in action, 5; in Battle of Amiens, 197, 201, 202, 206–7; at Lessines, 269; post-war use of horses, 282
Charteris, Brigadier-General, 55
Château Thierry, 152 161, 176, 182, 189, 190
Chaulnes, 213
Chaumont, 62
Chemical warfare: mustard gas used at the Lys, 117; at Chemin-des-Dames, 147; at Second Battle of the Marne, 179, 182, 183
Chemin-des-Dames, 136, 138
Chemin-des-Dames, Battle of: Ludendorff’s plan, 136–8; Americans correctly predict German intentions, 139–40, 143; Allied dispositions, and perilous position of French Sixth Army, 143–6; the artillery barrage and gas-attack, 146–7; the Germans advance twelve miles, 147–50; German looting and drunkenness, 150–1; arrival of American troops, 152–3; the Germans halt their attack, 153–4
Chemin-des-Dames ridge, 143
Churchill, Sir Winston, 33, 34, 219, 271; quoted 107, 152, 162, 166–7, 205, 206–7, 275
Clemenceau, Georges, 55, 65, 124, 126, 168, 254, 266; at Doullens Conference, 97–9; distrusts Lloyd George, 255; and President Wilson, 258; and the German peace move, 260; and the Armistice terms, 267; dominates the Peace Conference, 280; Keynes on his character, 280–1
Clermont, 113, 142
Cointet, Colonel de, 145
Cologne valley, 83, 91
Command and leadership: weaknesses of mind and nerve in German High Command, 3; the German General Staff, 39–40; frontline British soldier’s attitude to the Staff, 18–21; limitations of the generals, 21–3; and loss of touch with actuality, 252; intellectual power and a large command, 278–9; post-war awards and appointments of Allied commanders, 279–80
Communist Party, German,
289
Compiègne, 163
Compiègne Forest, 185; Armistice discussions in, 265–7
Conscription: in Britain, 19, 111; in France, 283
‘Contemptibles’, the, 1, 17
Coverbeek stream, 59, 121
Craonne, 143
Crown Prince, German, 41, 104, 106, 109, 136, 150, 153, 161
Crozat Canal, 49, 60, 83, 87, 88, 104
Curragh incident, 102
Debeney, General, commander of French First Army, 162, 197, 198, 207, 208, 210, 215, 232, 234
Defence, power in, 4
Degoutte, General, commander of French Sixth Army, 175–7, 182, 184, 190–1, 227
Delville Wood, 17, 211
Demicourt, 24
Dendre, River, 269
Derby, Lord, 56
Deverell, General (later Field-Marshal) Sir Cyril, 163
Dickman, General, 231
‘Doctrine of Attrition’, 1–2
Dormans, 182
Douai, 219
Doullens Conferences, 55, 97–102, 111
Dranoutre, 130
Drocourt–Quéant Switch, 214, 220, 222
See also Wotan Position Duchesne, General, commander of French Sixth Army, 144, 145, 147, 148, 161–2, 175
Drury, General, 96
Dyl, Major van, 289–90
Eisner, Kurt, 39
Epéhy, 233
Erquinghem, 117–19
Erzberger, Herr, 265, 266
d’Esperey, General Franchet, commander of Groupe d’Armées du Nord, 61
Estaires, 117, 118, 120, 143, 221
Evangelism, in Britain, 36
Eysden, 289
Falkenhayn, General Erich von, 283, 284
Fayolle, General, 95
Feilding, Lieut.-Colonel, quoted, 91–3
Fère-en-Tardenois, 149, 190, 191, 207
Festubert, 117, 120, 128, 130, 194
Feuilleres, 215
Field Railways, 164
Fismes, 148, 150, 151, 191
Flanders fever, 166,
Flesquières Salient, 5, 23, 50, 60, 78, 79, 83, 84, 87, 95, 114, 143, 214, 233; evacuated by the Allies, 93
Foch, Marshal, 56, 66, 94, 144, 161, 163, 167, 231, 242, 252, 254; at Doullens Conference, 98–100; commands Allied armies, 100–1; his position strengthened, 111–112; first directive, 123–4; and support for the British at the Lys, 124–6, 129; and the Battle of Chemin-des-Dames, 139; directive on ‘foot-by-foot defence of the ground’, 162; and Pétain’s deployments after Chemin-des-Dames, 168; disparages Pétain, 174; and General Gouraud, 175; and the Second Battle of the Marne, 177; 184–5, 189, 190; proposes offensive by the British, 194; differences with Haig over Battle of Amiens, 208–9; suggests American assault on St. Mihiel Salient, 225; differences with Pershing over objective of American attack, 225–7, 229; and the American Meuse–Argonne Offensive, 253; at Armistice discussions, 265–6; and American casualties, 278; post-war career and altercation with Clemenceau, 280