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The Battle of Arras - Walter Utton 1885-1917 (Any word/ name that 'Highlights' on mouse rollover - click for Profile) The Battle of Arras - 9th April - 16th May 1917
The main Allied offensive in 1917, planned by General Nivelle, the French commander-in-chief, was to be launched on the Aisne on 16 April. A week earlier, the British army launched a diversionary attack at Arras, with the aim of diverting large numbers of German reserves to the north. The Germans now occupied a heavily fortified defensive position, the Hindenburg Line or Siegfried Stellung, to which they had withdrawn during the period 23rd February to 5th April 1917. Following a massive five-day artillery bombardment, using 2,800 guns, Haig's offensive began on 9 April on a 14-mile front. Six divisions of the German Sixth Army (Falkenhausen) faced the 14 divisions of the British First Army (Horne) and the Third Army (Allenby). The Germans also had fewer aircraft than the RFC although they were superior machines. North of Arras, to the left, the Canadian Corps (Byng), part of the First Army, seized a section of Vimy Ridge after three hours of heavy fighting. In the centre near Arras, the Third Army advanced 3˝ miles into German held territory, the biggest gain since trench warfare had begun in 1914. To the south of the River Scarpe very little progress was made. The gains in the north were extended on 12 April, but in the centre resistance was stronger than had been expected and the front there, was almost stationary. Haig's plans for an immediate further attack were put off with the arrival of German reserves. However, the British held their ground and maintained pressure on the Germans as the Nivelle offensive was launched. The second phase of the battle began 23/24 April, when, during fierce fighting, a mile was added to the British gains all along the front. To the right of the Third Army, Gough's Fifth Army had attacked the German Second Army from 11 April, but made no progress in breaching the Hindenburg Line at Bullecourt, subsequent attempts in May also failed. In order to encourage the French to continue fighting on the Aisne and to divert attention from British preparations at Ypres, Haig renewed the action once more on 3 May. It was a failure, there was only one small gain, Fresnoy, but fighting continued on a reduced scale until the end of May. The northern six miles of the Hindenburg Line had been seized, along with a large number of prisoners, in this costly battle of attrition. By the time the Arras offensive was halted at the end of May, the British had suffered heavy losses: men killed, missing or wounded - First Army 46,826; Third Army 87,226; Fifth Army 24,608. The Germans suffered well over 100,000 losses. "
Heavy-lidded, somnolent
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