Second Battle of the Marne, July 1918

Second Battle of the Marne, July 1918

This week's chapter examines the minor operations at the end of June, Americans and Australians, success of the tanks, the strategic situation, Germans attack east and west of Reims, July 15, complete failure in east, Germans cross the Marne, end of German advance, July 17, German comment, July 18, Foch strikes between Soissons and the Marne, great allied success, the German retreat continues, fighting in the air, raids into Germany, operations on other sectors, the turn of the tide

The Germans experienced great difficulty in retiring across the river. The temporary bridges which they constructed were constantly shot away, and the troops on the left bank of the river had nothing but mountain artillery to support them, for the wheeled guns had been unable to cross to help them

 

The new German offensive July 16, 1918

Mr Bonar Law was able to tell the House of Commons last night that the general effect of the offensive east of Reims was that "the enemy have been very, heavily repulsed, have suffered severe losses, and have received a complete check"

Contrary to the expectation of some of the prophets, the enemy have delivered the first great blow of their long-expected offensive against the French, and not against the British. They have advanced to the assault on a front of about fifty-five miles east and west of Reims, and their right wing is operating on the line of the Marne. It is not to be supposed that the offensive which began yesterday discloses the whole of the German plans. The enemy are known to be prepared for battle in several other sectors, and when issue has been fully joined on the front first selected we shall probably see further developments elsewhere. But, whatever form it may ultimately assume, this is unquestionably the outset of Germany’s supreme effort during the present campaigning season. The details so far received are scanty, as is always the case on the first day, and the precise object of the German Higher Command is still a matter for speculation. Their attack is split into two halves by the city of Reims, around which there is a “dead sector” of several miles, perhaps because the defences of Reims remain extremely formidable. Looking at the battle from the French side, the right of the attack extends from the village of Prunay, east of Reims, to the group of low hills known as the Main de Massiges, a few miles west of the Argonne Forest, amid the rolling uplands of Champagne. The left of the attack extends from the village of Fossoy, south of the Marne and east of Chateau-Thierry, to Coulommes, a village some miles to the south-west of Reims. There was also some heavy and apparently isolated fighting with the American troops which hold the village of Vaux, west of Chateau-Thierry. All the reports concur in declaring that the German operation constituted no surprise. A movement in this area had been confidently expected for some days - indeed, the French are said to have predicted it almost to the hour - and the Allied Higher Command were fully prepared for the enemy’s advance. The attack was preceded by a violent bombardment, which began at midnight and was so intense that it roused the people of Paris. There was also a great deal of shelling of towns far behind the Allied line, including La Ferte-sous-Jouarre, on the Marne, and Montmirail and Chalons. Curiously enough, Reims does not appear to have been shelled at all, nor was there any noticeable bombardment in the “dead sector” on each side of the city. The enemy advanced to the assault in the chosen areas a little before 4.30am. In the sector east of Reims they made comparatively little progress all day. Our gallant French Allies held up the German infantry along the whole of this portion of the front, and only three points were seriously threatened. The first was at the village of Prunay, which the enemy seem at one time to have captured; it was only half a mile behind the French front line. The second was at Prosnes, where the Germans gained some ground; and the third was on the road from Somme Py to Souain, where the assailants also won a local success. But Mr Bonar Law was able to tell the House of Commons last night that the general effect of the offensive east of Reims was that “the enemy have been very, heavily repulsed, have suffered severe losses, and have received a complete check.” The French leaders express themselves as highly satisfied, and, should the situation remain as described they will have every possible reason for their gratification. The Germans fared rather better in their operations west of Reims, and if they have Paris in view it is quite possible that their principal strength was concentrated on this side. The battle extended for ten or a dozen miles along the banks of the Marne, from a point near Chateau-Thierry to Verneuil. Thence the battle line swerved north-eastward away from the river to Coulommes, which marked the limit of active hostilities west of Reims. The total length of the line of attack in this region was between twenty and twenty-three miles, and the progress of the Germans seems to have been curiously unequal. Towards Reims they penetrated as far south as the village of Belval, which brought them within seven miles of the town of Epernay, one of the principal centres of the champagne trade. They crossed the Marne at two or three points, and it must be borne in mind that the southern bank of the river is less easy to defend than the northern. The vine-clad hills in this neighbourhood are mostly on the northern side. From Verneuil the Germans made the passage of the river and reached Comblizy, and farther west they crossed at Dormans and got as far as the village of Chezy. In each instance these advances represent a thrust about three miles in depth. American troops were holding the extreme left of the battle line, at Fossoy and on the banks of the Surmelin, a small tributary of the Marne. Here, again, the Germans crossed the river, but according to the latest available information they did not get very far beyond the southern bank. The conflict between Germans and Americans west of Fossoy seems to have been distinguished by a brilliant counter-attack, in which the Americans took a thousand prisoners - a splendid omen, which was received with immense enthusiasm when it was announced in the House of Commons. It is understood that no British troops participated in the operations, so far as is known. The intermingling of British and French troops, which was only a temporary expedient due to a special emergency, has ceased. The British troops in the Marne area have gone north, and the French units which fought so valiantly in the Ypres sector have rejoined the main French forces. One prevalent theory is that the German Higher Command is endeavouring to encircle Reims and to gain control of the spacious wooded heights known as the Montagne de Reims well to the south of the city, by outflanking them. In his dispatch published to-day our Special Correspondent with the French Armies expresses the view that the Montagne de Reims, which he has examined, is so formidably held that the enemy have small prospect of taking it by any device. Until they capture these heights they have little chance of moving with safety towards the open country round Chalons. Our Correspondent thinks the principal attack is being made west of Reims, and that the object of the enemy is to form a wider front with a view to an advance towards Paris. With this view we are inclined to concur, but we are convinced as ever that General Foch will be able to counter the menace effectively.

 

Bridging the river 'worse than hell' July 17, 1918

The enemy succeeded in crossing the Marne west of Dormans, first by light bridges and boats, and then, when he had established a footing on the south bank, by six larger pontoon bridges about 30ft wide

The main result of the first 16 hours’ fighting is that during the day the enemy succeeded in crossing the Marne west of Dormans, first by light bridges and boats, and then, when he had established a footing on the south bank, by six larger pontoon bridges about 30ft wide. Two of these were destroyed by French bombing squadrons, which were very active all through the day. In the morning a low bank of clouds made their work rather difficult, but they kept up a continual bombardment not only of the bridges, but of the masses of infantry concentrated in the woods north of Dormans and Fossoy, and inflicted a large number of casualties. A message taken from one of the enemy’s carrier-pigeons which fell into our hands described the passage of the river as worse than hell. The fact remains, however, that they did get across, and that the French and Americans holding the advanced posts, though always keeping up a strong rearguard action, fell back before them to the line of resistance. Late in the day the Americans counter-attacked west of Fossoy and drove a certain number of the enemy back to, and even across, the river. East of Fossoy and south of Dormans the fighting was particularly severe round the villages of Reuilly, Courthiezy, and Vassy, and also north of the river, from Chatillon-sur-Marne to Bouilly, where the Italians fought very gamely and, with the French immediately on their right on the western slopes of the Montagne de Reims, clung tenaciously to the positions to which they withdrew on a front running south from Bouilly to Marfaux and then west to Cuchery. Bouilly and Marfaux are only seven miles west of Reims, so that the isthmus at the end of which the city lies has been narrowed. In Champagne, where the ground is not densely wooded as it is to the west on the Marne, the enemy nowhere managed, except at Prunay, to get south of the Old Roman Road which runs from Reims to the Argonne. The greatest depth of the advance was at no point more than a couple of miles, so that it was practically confined to the zone of the outposts, though it must be remembered that in this sector the elaborate defensive system of which I wrote yesterday was of old standing, whereas the defences west of Reirns had only been constructed since the beginning of June. Taking the advance generally, it falls a long way short of the eight or nine miles which, from information received, it is known that the enemy meant to cover in the first rush. The enemy’s losses were also greater than they expected. One German division which ought not to have taken part in the fighting till the second day had to be thrown in at midday on the first. All the divisions so far identified, including two or more divisions of Guard troops, are good fighting units. The process of concentration appears to have been completed only at the last moment, as a Bavarian division which arrived at 2am yesterday took part in the attack two hours later. Last night the French guns were continually flashing over nearly a quadrant of the horizon with a brightness that reminded me of the old days at Verdun and on the Somme. The extreme points reached yesterday by the enemy south of the river were St Agnan and La Chapelle-Monthodon, two villages on the road from Conde to Dormans, along which, while the Aisne offensive was in progress, I saw troops and troops of refugees trailing slowly along away from the enemy, and farther to the east the lower edge of the Forest of Bouquigny. There for the time being the advance was checked, and there was no further fighting during the night, though the guns on both sides were never silent, and the flashing of them was seen as far as Paris. Both here and, north of the Marne, where the Germans got no farther than south-cast of the Forest of Rodemat, a wood about a mile and a half north of the river, the country is thickly wooded, though in the district below Dormans it is, generally speaking, a good deal lower than the heights on the right bank, where the enemy’s batteries are placed, and therefore exposed to their fire. How far the push is really checked it is difficult to say till the results of today’s fighting are known. The general situation is that in this sector, though the enemy have got well beyond the zone of outposts, they have not by a long way broken the French line of resistance. East of Reims the results of the first day were much more favourable for the French, as here it is only the zone of outposts that has been given up. No position of importance, that is to say, has been lost except the Monts of the Moronvilliers massif, which, as they fell within this zone, had to be abandoned, along with the rest of it. It would have been impossible to garrison the position, in spite of its great strength, with a sufficient number of men to hold it, since if the rest of the line fell back, as it did yesterday, the whole of the garrison and batteries would have been cut off and surrounded. Consequently it was evacuated with other positions right atid left of it, but the outposts who had been stationed there retreated in perfect order, bringing with them prisoners. The men of this army are in the best of spirits and cheered their general whenever they saw him.

 

A case for caution July 18, 1918

The word "failure" is being used in regard to the German offensive, but it is safer to employ it just now in a relative sense

The news from the battlefront on the Marne and in Champagne continues to be extremely favourable, but the public will be well advised to be cautious in their hopes. It must never be forgotten that the German Higher Command have more at stake than ever before. Politically they are in a very difficult position. They have committed themselves to undertakings which a section of the Reichstag appears to regard with some misgivings, and the doubts of this section are shared by a considerable portion of the German civil population. They have evidently given effusive assurances to the Pan-Germans. They have told their armies that the task before them is not difficult, and they have generally endeavoured to encourage a belief in an early victory over the Allies. In a sense, the men who compose the German Higher Command are on their trial. These points should be weighed in considering the very limited progress accomplished by the enemy during the last three days. So far as can be gathered; they have used only thirty divisions in the present operations, and they have hardly drawn on their reserves. We must therefore either expect increasing efforts in the present battle area, or an early diversion elsewhere. The word “failure” is being used in regard to the German offensive, but it is safer to employ it just now in a relative sense. The enemy unquestionably hoped to set in motion another big drive. That purpose has failed, thanks to the preparations of General Foch and his subordinates, and still more to the high valour of the French troops and of the Americans and Italians who are fighting with them. The great sweep which was projected has already degenerated into a series of local attacks; but some of these attacks show a certain amount of definite progress which requires careful watching. For the time being, the idea of widening the front with a view to an advance towards Paris appears to have been definitely abandoned. More and more thc battle shows a tendency to develop into a struggle for the possession of the great wooded plateau known as the Montagne de Reims. The Germans rightly calculate that if they could obtain this important position the city of Reims would fall into their hands, because its evacuation by the French would become inevitable. They are not yet attacking the plateau directly, and our Special Correspondent with the French Armies adheres to his view that its defences are strong enough to resist them. But they are trying to achieve their purpose by encirclement. To the east of Reims they have failed altogether, thanks to the skilful dispositions of General Gouraud. On the western side, however, they are creeping on. North of the Marne their troops are already at the foot of the western slopes of the Montagne. South of the river, the right wing of the troops which have effected a lodgment on the bank have turned their backs on Paris and are trying to move eastward towards Epernay. They have not yet got very far, and they are being splendidly resisted, but on the whole they do move slowly forward both north and south of the river, and the local situation is therefore not without its anxieties. Turning now to details, there is very little that is fresh to be noted about the position east of Reims. In all this sector there has been hardly any change. During Tuesday the Germans delivered five attacks between the Suippes stream and Massiges, and all were easily repulsed. At more than one point the French were even able to reoccupy their old front lines, and these successes tend to make the attempted encirclement of the Montagne an extremely partial affair. West of Reims a somewhat different position exists. By noon yesterday, north of the Marne, the enemy had made progress to a depth of a mile and a half on a six-mile front. They had pushed through the Courton Wood, and were before the villages of Pourcy and Nanteuil, which stand on the western verge of the Montagne de Reims. Later in the day they were driven from some of this ground in a brilliant counter-attack by Italian troops. This is the most considerable advance reported yesterday. South of the Marne the outlook is more satisfactory. The forces pushing eastward towards Epernay debouched from Oeuilly and Leuvrigny, and entered the hamlets of Montvoisin and Chene-la-Reine. This shows only a small gain. Farther west, on Tuesday, there were “lively attacks” through the Bouquigny Forest and the Bois de Nesle, but the enemy were firmly held by the French. Still farther west, desperate and partially successful attempts were made by the Germans to recover the important heights overlooking the river north of St Agnan and La Chapelle. The French lost La Bourdonnerie Farm, but are only two or three hundred yards behind it, and they are clinging firmly to the southern portion of the heights. Nearer Chateau-Thierry, again, the redoubtable Americans are more than holding their own at Fossoy. American units are fighting shoulder to shoulder with the French at other points on the southern bank. From all parts of the battlefront come reports that the German losses are extremely heavy. One estimate credits them with a hundred thousand casualties, and though this calculation is perhaps too enthusiastic, there can be no doubt that the price paid is entirely disproportionate to the results obtained up till now.