Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux

Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux
Part of the Western Front of World War I

1918 map showing vicinity of Villers-Bretonneux
Date24–27 April 1918
LocationVillers-Bretonneux, Northern France
Result Allied victory
Belligerents

United Kingdom British Empire

France France		 German Empire German Empire
Commanders and leaders
France Ferdinand Foch
United Kingdom Douglas Haig
United Kingdom Henry Rawlinson
Australia Harold Edward Elliott
Australia Thomas William Glasgow
Australia Talbot Hobbs		 German Empire Erich Ludendorff
German Empire Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria
German Empire Georg von der Marwitz
Strength
Australian 13th, 14th and 15th Brigades
173rd Brigade of British 58th Division
Remnants of British 8th Division
Moroccan Division
3 Mark IV tanks (one male, two female)
7 Medium Mark A Whippet tanks		 228th Infantry Division
4th Guards Infantry Division
13 A7V tanks
Casualties and losses
Australia 2,473
United Kingdom 9,529
France 3,470		 c. 10,400

The Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux took place during the Battle of the Lys, 24–27 April 1918, when an assault was launched against the Allied lines to the east of Amiens. It is notable for the first major use of tanks by the Germans, who deployed fourteen of their twenty A7Vs, and for the first tank-versus-tank battle in history.

The tank battle occurred when a group of three advancing A7Vs met and engaged three British Mark IV tanks, two of which were female tanks armed only with machine-guns. The two Mark IV females were damaged and forced to withdraw but the male tank, armed with 6-pounder guns, hit and disabled the lead A7V, which was then abandoned by its crew. The Mark IV continued to fire on the two remaining German A7Vs, which withdrew. The "male" then advanced with the support of Whippet light tanks which had arrived, until disabled by artillery fire and abandoned by the crew. The German and British crews recovered their vehicles later in the day. A counter-attack by two Australian and one British brigade during the night of 24 April partly surrounded Villers-Bretonneux and on 25 April the town was recaptured. Australian, British and French troops restored the original front line by 27 April.[lower-alpha 1]

Prelude

In late 1917 and early 1918, the end of the fighting on the Eastern Front allowed the Germans to transfer large numbers of men and equipment to the west.[2] Buoyed by this but concerned that the entry of the United States into the war would negate their numerical advantage if they did not attack quickly and that massed tank attacks like that at Cambrai in November 1917 made far more areas on the Western Front vulnerable to attack, the German commander, Erich Ludendorff, chose to use the temporary numerical advantage to punch through the front line and then advance north towards the sea. In March, the Germans launched the Spring Offensive, against the Third Army and the Fifth Army on the Somme, which were understrength due to the small numbers of replacements being sent from Britain.[3]

In unfinished defences, the Fifth Army was forced back quickly after the first two days, as the Germans advanced under a heavy bombardment of high explosives and gas. As the Germans advanced steadily west, the Third Army also fell back on its southern flank and the railhead at Amiens was threatened with capture; Paris was bombarded by long-range guns.[4] The Allies moved reinforcements to the Somme front and by the end of May, the German advance of the 1918 Battle of the Somme had been halted in front of Hamel. In preparation for a further attack, German railway construction companies were brought up and work undertaken to repair damaged railways in the captured ground.[3]

In early April, the Germans renewed their efforts, simultaneously beginning the Battle of the Lys in Flanders.[5] The Germans managed to advance towards Villers-Bretonneux, a town on the high ground to the south of the Somme River. The terrain allowed artillery observers to see bombardments on Amiens, which was only 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) away, which was of great tactical value. On 4 April, the Germans attempted to capture the town with 15 divisions but were repulsed by troops from the British 1st Cavalry Division and Australian 9th Brigade during the First Battle of Villers-Bretonneux.[3][6] After the first battle, the forces that had secured the town were relieved and by late April the area around Villers-Bretonneux was largely held by the 8th Division.[7] Although it had been one of the best British divisions it had suffered badly in the German attacks of March, losing 250 officers and about 4,700 men, reducing its infantry by half. Replacements in the latest draft from Britain included 18-year-olds with little training.[8]

Battle

German 2nd Army attack

On 17/18 April, the Germans bombarded the area behind Villers-Bretonneux with mustard gas, causing 1,000 Australian casualties.[3][9] On the evening of 23/24 April, an artillery barrage was fired, using mustard gas and high explosive rounds. Next morning, the Germans attacked the village with four divisions.[3][9] The German infantry, with fourteen supporting tanks (one was unserviceable), broke through the 8th Division, making a 3-mile (4.8 km) wide gap in the Allied line.[10] Villers-Bretonneux fell to the Germans and the railway junction of Amiens became vulnerable to capture.[11] After the Germans took Villers-Bretonneux, the first engagement between opposing tanks took place. Three British Mark IV tanks from No. 1 Section, A Company, 1st Battalion, Tank Corps had been dispatched to the Cachy switch line, at the first reports of German advance and were to hold it against the Germans.[12] One was a "male" (the No. 1 Tank of the section) armed with two 6-pounder guns and machine guns, under the command of Lieutenant Frank Mitchell. It was crewed by only four of the normal crew of eight, as the others had been gassed. The other tanks were "females" armed with 0.303 in (7.7 mm) machine-guns, for use against infantry.[13] All were advancing when they encountered a German A7V, "Nixe" of Abteilung III Imperial German Tank Force, commanded by 2nd Lieutenant Wilhelm Biltz.[13][14]

A7V tank at Roye, 21 March 1918

Nixe fired on the two "females", damaging them to the extent that it left holes in the hull leaving the crew exposed. Both retreated; their machine guns were unable to penetrate the armour on the German tank. Mitchell's "male" Mark IV continued to fire at the A7V, while on the move to avoid German artillery fire and the gun of the German tank. The movement meant Mitchell's gunner had difficulty in aiming the 6-pounders. The tanks fired at each other on the move, until the Mark IV stopped to allow the gunner a clear shot and the gunner scored three hits (a total of six shell hits).[15] Nixe heeled over on its side, possible as a result of crossing an incline at the wrong angle.[14] The surviving German crew (out of 18 men), including Biltz, alighted from the vehicle and the British fired at them as they fled on foot, killing nine.[16]

The British tank was next faced by two more A7Vs, supported by infantry; Mitchell's tank fired several ranging shots at the German tanks and they retreated. Mitchell's tank continued to attack the German infantry, firing case-shot. Seven of the new British Whippet medium tanks arrived, attacked the Germans, encountered some battalions "forming up in the open" and killed many infantry with their machine-guns and by running them down. Mitchell later remarked that when they returned their tracks were covered with blood. Only four of the seven Whippets came back, the rest were destroyed by artillery and five crew were killed.[17]

Being the last tank on the field and slow moving, the Mark IV became a target for German artillery and Mitchell ordered the tank back, manoeuvring to try to avoid the shells but a mortar round disabled the tracks. The crew left the tank, escaping to a British-held trench, much to the surprise of the troops in it.[13] Leutnant Biltz and his crew boarded "Nixe" and withdrew. The tank was eventually broken up for spares in June 1918. Earlier in the day, another tank in the same group as Biltz, A7V No 506 "Mephisto", had fallen onto its side and been abandoned. The tank was recovered by Australian and British troops some three months later.[18][lower-alpha 2]

Fourth Army counter-attack

A captured "female" Mark IV tank C14 in 1917

About noon the 1st Battalion of the Sherwood Foresters had attempted a counter-attack. The British 25th Brigade was considered for an attack but this was cancelled.[21] A tank with troops from the 2nd Royal Berkshire made a spontaneous attack from the north, pushing the German line back about 150 yards (140 m).[22] General Henry Rawlinson had responded even before he received orders from Marshal Ferdinand Foch to recapture the town.[23] At 9:30 a.m. he ordered an immediate counter-attack by the Australian 13th Brigade under General Thomas William Glasgow and the 15th Brigade under General H. E. "Pompey" Elliott, both in reserve, though the 13th Brigade had suffered many casualties at Dernancourt nearby. Rawlinson intended an enveloping attack, the 15th Brigade attacking north of the town and the 13th Brigade attacking to the south. British troops would support and the 2nd Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment and the 22nd Durham Light Infantry would follow through in the gap between the Australians and "mop up" the town, once it was isolated. Artillery support was available but since German positions were unknown and to avoid alerting the Germans, there was no preparatory barrage to soften up the German positions. Instead the artillery would bombard the town for the hour once the attack began and then move its line of fire back beyond the line held by the Allies before the German attack.[24]

The attack took place on the night of 24/25 April, after a postponement from 8:00 p.m. Glasgow argued that it would still be light, with terrible consequences for his men and that the operation should start at 10:00 p.m. and "zero hour" was eventually set for 10:00 p.m. The operation began with German machine gun crews causing many Australian casualties. A number of charges against machine-gun posts helped the Australian advance; in particular, Lieutenant Clifford Sadlier of the 51st Battalion, was awarded the Victoria Cross, after attacking with hand-grenades. The two brigades swept around Villers-Bretonneux and the Germans retreated, for a while escaping the pocket along a railway cutting. The Australians eventually captured the German positions and pushed the German line back, leaving the German troops in Villers-Bretonneux surrounded. The British units attacked frontally and suffered many casualties. By 25 April, the town had been recaptured and handed back to the villagers.[25] The battle was a great success for the Australian troops, who had defeated the German attempt to capture Amiens and recaptured Villers-Bretonneux while outnumbered; the village remained in Allied hands to the end of the war.[1]

Aftermath

Analysis

Fighting continued in Villers-Bretonneux and the vicinity for months after the counter-attack. The Australians spent Anzac Day clearing Germans out of the houses and fighting in the streets and the town was not secured until 27 April.[3] On 26 April, a French Moroccan Division attack on Hangard Wood, south of the village was a costly failure. On 3 May, the Australian 12th Brigade attacked towards Monument Wood, east of Villers-Bretonneux. The attack failed with the 48th Australian Battalion, losing over 150 men to the Jäger.[7] The German offensive in the Australian sector ended in late April. As the Germans turned their attention to the French sectors, in May and June, a lull occurred on the Somme, during which the Australians exploited their success at Villers-Bretonneux, conducting a series of "peaceful penetration" operations that slowly advanced the front east.[26][27]

As the German offensive came to a halt around the Marne in early July, more fighting took place around Villers-Bretonneux, as part of diversionary moves by Australian forces, acting in support of the Battle of Hamel.[28] Corporal Walter Brown, of the 20th Australian Battalion, received the Victoria Cross for his actions.[29] Later in the month, the area around Villers-Bretonneux saw more fighting when the 25th Battalion and 26th Battalion of the 7th Australian Brigade attacked around Monument Wood; for his actions during the assault and German counter-attack, Lieutenant Albert Borella of the 26th Battalion later received the Victoria Cross.[30][31] After the Anzac Day counter-attack, British and French commanders lavished praise upon the Australian soldiers who took part. Brigadier-General George Grogan, a witness, later wrote that it was "perhaps the greatest individual feat of the war" for troops to attack at night, across unfamiliar ground at short notice and with no artillery preparation.[32][3]

These factors had proved essential to the Australian success.[9] Foch spoke of their "astonishing valiance [sic]..." and General Sir Henry Rawlinson attributed the safety of Amiens to the "...determination, tenacity and valour of the Australian Corps".[3][33] After the battle the worst examples of looting by AIF soldiers of the war occurred.[34] In 2011, King wrote that one culprit was Barney Hines, the "Souvenir King" of the AIF, who was something of a celebrity. According to King, Hines raided a number of houses, looting alcohol and expensive clothes, which he then used to throw a party for his friends that ended abruptly when the Germans shelled the house, wounding Hines and several others. King also wrote that the Australians shared rations with French civilians in the town.[35] Due to the coincidence of the day in which the counter-attack occurred, the battle holds a significant place in Australian military history, nevertheless it was a combined Allied effort.[33]

Casualties

The fighting around Villers-Bretonneux in April resulted in the following Allied casualties: the Australian brigades had taken 2,473 casualties, British casualties were 9,529 and French losses were c. 3,500. German losses were 8,000–10,400 men.[36]

Memorial

In the 1930s an impressively towering memorial was established at the top of the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery to honour the Australian soldiers who fell in France in the Great War. The cemetery is located between Villers-Bretonneux and Fouilloy on the hill (belonging to the latter but overlooking the former) from which the famous night attack was launched. Some 10 miles (16 km) east of Amiens and north of the Roman road to St-Quentin, it rises gently to a plateau overlooking Amiens, the Somme valley and the town. The cemetery contains 2,000 graves, of which 779 are Australian.[37] A further ten Australian casualties of the battle are buried in the Villers-Bretonneux Communal Cemetery.[38] The smaller Crucifix Corner British Military Cemetery just east of the town, in the shadow of a motorway embankment, contains the graves of Australian, British and French metropolitan and colonial (Moroccan) troops, the former including many Australians who fell in the area in fighting, which moved further to the east only on 8 August 1918 (but from then on rapidly).[39] The victory gained at Villers-Bretonneux on the third anniversary of the Gallipoli landings is yearly commemorated by Australians. In 2008, to mark the ninetieth anniversary, the Australian and New Zealand Anzac Day dawn service was held for the first time on the Fouilloy Hill, as well as the traditional one held on the Gallipoli Peninsula.[40]

Notes

  1. ↑ German units engaged: I, II and III Sturmpanzerwagen Abteilungen, 228th Division, 4th Guard Division, 77th Reserve Division, 208th Division and Guard Ersatz Division. In reserve: 19th Division, 9th Bavarian Reserve Division and the Jäger Division. Allied divisions engaged: parts of the 4th and 5th Australian divisions, parts of the 58th, 8th, 18th divisions, French 131st and Moroccan divisions.[1]
  2. ↑ Mephisto was later recovered by troops from the 26th Australian Battalion and the British lst Gun Carrier Company; after the war the tank was taken back to Australia as a souvenir.[19] It is the only surviving German World War I tank and is preserved at the Queensland Museum in Brisbane, Australia.[20]

Footnotes

References

Books
  • Baldwin, Hanson (1962). World War I: An Outline History. London: Hutchinson. OCLC 988365. 
  • Bean, C. E. W. (1941) [1937]. The Australian Imperial Force in France During the Main German Offensive, 1918. The Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918. V (8th ed.). Sydney: Angus and Robertson. OCLC 17648469. 
  • Coulthard-Clark, Chris (1998). Where Australians Fought: The Encyclopaedia of Australia's Battles (1st ed.). St Leonards, New South Wales: Allen and Unwin. ISBN 1-86448-611-2. 
  • Davies, C. B.; Edmonds, J. E.; Maxwell-Hyslop, R. G. B. (1995) [1937]. Military Operations France and Belgium, 1918: March–April, Continuation of the German Offensives. History of the Great War Based on Official Documents. II (Imperial War Mmuseum and Battery Press ed.). London: Macmillan. ISBN 0-89839-223-3. 
  • Foley, J. (1967). A7V Sturmpanzerwagen. Armour in Profile. Leatherhead: Profile Publications. OCLC 30441493. 
  • Grey, Jeffrey (2008). A Military History of Australia (3rd ed.). Melbourne, Victoria: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-69791-0. 
  • King, Jonathan (2011). Great Battles in Australian History. Crows Nest, New South Wales: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 978-1-74237-457-4. 
  • Laffin, John (1992). A Guide to Australian Battlefields of the Western Front 1916–1918. Kenthurst, New South Wales: Kangaroo Press and the Australian War Memorial. ISBN 0-86417-468-3. 
  • Messenger, C. R. M. (1988). Hitler's Gladiator: Life of SS-Oberstgruppenfuhrer and General der Waffen-SS Sepp Dietrich. London: Brassey's. ISBN 0-08031-207-1. 
  • Stanley, P. (2010). Bad Characters: Sex, Crime, Murder and Mutiny in the Great War. Sydney: Murdoch Books. ISBN 1-74266-216-1. 
  • Williams-Ellis, A.; Williams-Ellis, C. (1919). The Tank Corps (PDF). New York: G. H. Doran. OCLC 317257337. Retrieved 3 October 2013. 
Journals
  • Morgan, Joseph (2014). "Voices from Gallipoli and the Western Front: The Forgotten 26th". Sabretache. Garran, Australian Capital Territory: Military Historical Society of Australia. LV (1 (March)): 17–27. ISSN 0048-8933. 
Theses

Further reading

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