#operation michael

David McLellan (Second Lieutenant) (Photographer) takes the following photos #OnThisDay Mar 26 1918:

IWM (Q 9821) “Whippet Tanks of the 3rd Battalion at Maillet-Mailly,some of which had been in action earlier in the day and were the first Whippet Tanks to be used, 26th March 1918. The advancing infantry are of the New Zealand Division which later in the day filled the gap in the line.”

IWM (Q 8628) “Battle of Rosières (Operation Michael). A 6-inch Mark VII gun of the Royal Garrison Artillery in action near Hedauville"

IWM (Q 8625) “Battle of Rosières (Operation Michael). Concentration of the British 17th Division at Hénencourt as the V Corps reserve after evacuation

Production date: 1918-03-26

Notes from the 56th Division report of the German offensive as part of Operation Michael on 28/29 March 1918.

British and Commonwealth soldiers on top of a captured German A7V.  This particular tank tipped over during the fighting on April 24, and was retrieved from no-man’s-land several weeks later.

April 24 1918, Villers-Bretonneux--After a respite of a few days to let his armies recuperate, Ludendorff ordered a final push to seize the heights south of Ypres.  This was to be preceded by a resumption of the attack towards Amiens, stalled earlier in the month.  This attack was to be supported by 13 of Germany’s new A7V tanks--more than half the total Germany would produce during the war.  The Germans took the town of Villers-Bretonneux on April 24, and while pushing on past the town, an A7V encountered three British Mark IV tanks.  It quickly force the two “female” tanks (armed only with machine guns) to withdraw.  The male tank, however, scored several hits on the A7V, forcing the crew to bail out.  The British tank later engaged two more A7Vs later in the day, driving them off before being disabled by mortar fire; the Germans would capture the tank after the crew abandoned it.  The Germans, however, would themselves lose two additional tanks that tipped over during the fighting due to their high center of gravity; the British would recover one from no man’s land three weeks later, and the other when the Germans lost the area during the summer.

The Germans had lost three of their tanks (a full 15% of their wartime production) during the battle, and even their gains during the day proved ephemeral.  An Australian-led counterattack at 10PM recaptured Villers-Brettoneux along with 600 German PoWs; Amiens would not be seriously threatened again during the war.

The most dramatic moment of the encounter between the two legendary fliers.

April 1 1918, Amiens--Pilots during the war suffered a high risk of capture compared to other soldiers, as they could easily be forced down behind enemy lines.  Noted French pilot Roland Garros, for example, was captured in 1915 and only managed to escape back to France in February 1918.  After the start of Operation Michael, the risk of capture increased; for almost the first time since the war in the air began in earnest, the front lines were fluid, and places that had been safe to land for Allied fliers only days before were now behind German lines.

Shortly after Operation Michael, a British pilot and his navigator, both in their first twenty minutes in the air, were forced down by German fliers from Manfred von Richthofen’s Jasta.  They believed their war was over; they would spend its remainder subjected to ignominious tasks such as teaching home economics in German convents.  However, their fellow fliers were unwilling to accept their fate, and a small contingent, led by the famous Lord Flasheart, mounted a rescue operation, traveling behind enemy lines and facing almost certain death.  They successfully rescued their comrades, even confronting Richthofen himself in the process.  Flasheart shot and wounded Richthofen during the escape; it is thought that this contributed to Flasheart’s ultimate victory over Richthofen in the skies three weeks later.

Today in 1917: “Bloody April” Today in 1916: Spring 1916: Strategic Overview Today in 1815: Italian Army Advances on Bologna; Cobbett Urges Peace With France

Major General John Monash, commander of the 3rd Australian Division which helped repulse the German attack at Villers-Bretonneux.  He would later command all Australian forces on the Western Front and become the namesake for Monash University in Melbourne.

April 4 1918, Villers-Bretonneux--The German offensive had made it to within ten miles of the key rail junction of Amiens in late March, but Allied reinforcements and German supply difficulties had dramatically slowed German progress since then.  The Germans were quickly diverting forces north towards Flanders for the next part of their plan, Operation Georgette.  However, Ludendorff attempted one final push toward Amiens on April 4, around the town of Villers-Bretonneux.  Even if Amiens could not be taken, the town was well-situated on heights within seven miles of the city, and German artillery could wreak havoc on Allied rail operations if it were taken.

The German attack, starting with a more than two-to-one numerical superiority, initially went quite well, taking much of the town. However, later that day, a surprise counterattack by the Australian Corps reversed all of the German gains.  To the south, the French also gained back some ground near Cantigny.  After some limited fighting the next morning, Ludendorff decided “to abandon the attack on Amiens for good....The enemy resistance was beyond our powers.”  

The Germans had made huge gains over the previous two weeks, advancing over 40 miles in places.  But sheer territorial gain for its own sake, however dramatic it looked on the map, was useless.  Much of the ground taken was what had been deliberately abandoned in 1917 to shorten the line.  Amiens was still in Allied hands, the British Army had neither collapsed nor been separated from the French, and inter-Allied cooperation had in fact increased with Foch’s appointment as generalissimo.  The Allies had taken heavy casualties and lost over 90,000 PoWs, but the Germans had suffered almost as much.  Although many of the German casualties were wounded who would recover and return to the war, the German losses were disproportionately among their elite front-line units; the German army would be permanently weakened by the offensive.

Today in 1917: Preliminary Barrage Begins at Arras as RFC Launches Air Offensive Today in 1916: Brusilov Promoted to Command of Southwest Front Today in 1915: Marshal Bülow Forced to Retire after Heart Attack

The German advance during operation Michael; the vast majority of the gains came from March 21 - 27.

March 27 1918, Montdidier--After six days of the offensive, the Germans had advanced over thirty miles against the British Fifth Army.  On March 27, they pushed the French out of Montdidier, cutting off a key rail connection to Amiens.  To the north, they were only twelve miles from the city. The gap between the French and the remnants of the British Fifth Army had still not been plugged.  But the German advance showed signs of slowing.  Fayolle’s French forces checked the Germans just past Noyon, and the British slowed the Germans near Rosières.  Looting also became a widespread problem--when the Germans entered Albert on the morning of March 27, they spent a considerable portion of the day feasting and drinking on the captured stores there.  What they found was quite a bounty for soldiers who had been chafing under the British blockade for years, but the looting caused further delays.  The abundance also disheartened the soldiers; the U-boat campaign had clearly not hurt the English as much as the blockade had hurt them.  Finally, the further the Germans advanced, the longer their supply lines became--not everything could be replenished by looting.  Reinforcements and ammunition had to come over longer and longer roads increasingly torn up by German trucks with metal wheels (rubber being in short supply).  Many of the supply lines now traced through the destroyed ground of the Somme battlefield of 1916, as well. And, with Foch now in charge, the French were bringing in more reinforcements daily.

Today in 1917: German Booby Trap Explodes in Bapaume, Kills French PMs, Australian Soldiers Today in 1916: Russia Halts Lake Naroch Offensive Today in 1915: Austria Offers Italy Territory for Neutrality