The German attack was repulsed with 3,000 casualties but managed to disrupt British attack preparations, causing a delay until the night of 12/13 October. an historically important grouping of 2 1915 dated 1/10000 scale trench maps , still with the 1915 mud on from the battle of loos. The real tragedy of that battle was its nearness to complete success. The gas caused some defenders to panic, but they regrouped, and the British troops, advancing in columns of 1,000 men, were slaughtered by German machine guns. Foggy weather inhibited observation, the artillery preparation was inadequate and the British and French defenders were well prepared behind intact wire. Some partners do not ask for your consent to process your data, instead, they rely on their legitimate business interest. This exhibition was launched to mark the 100th anniversary of the start of the Battle of Loos, held at the National Trust (NT) property Gunby Hall, near Spilsby in Lincolnshire. Supply and communications problems, combined with the late arrival of reserves, meant that the breakthrough could not be exploited. [2], The battle was the third time that specialist Royal Engineer tunnelling companies were used to dig under no-man's-land, to plant mines under the parapets of the German front line trenches, ready to be detonated at zero hour. The Battle of Loos took place from 25 September – 8 October 1915 in France on the Western Front, during the First World War. At the Frévent Conference on 27 July, Field Marshal French failed to persuade Ferdinand Foch that an attack further north offered greater prospects for success. Loos Panorama 1915 - Part 1: Tower Bridge to Hulluch. The exhibition was funded by the NT and designed and delivered by Gunby staff. The Battle of Loos in September and October 1915 was the British Army's contribution to the major Allied offensive launched simultaneously with the main French offensive in Champagne. The Battle of Loos is part of A military history of the battle that follows the British official history closely. Haig did not hear until 10:00 a.m. that the divisions were moving up to the front. ‘Battle Lines: Archie and the Battle of Loos’ (March to October 2016). There were 242,000 Allied casualties, 141,000 German casualties. 50,000 of them were in the main fighting area between Loos and Givenchy and the remainder in the subsidiary attacks. All that we needed was more artillery ammunition to blast those clearly-located machine-guns, plus some fresh infantry to take over from the weary and depleted "Jocks." Wanting to be closer to the battle, French had moved to a forward command post at Lilliers, less than 20 mi (32 km) behind the First Army front. Major-General Richard Hilton, at that time a Forward Observation Officer, said of the battle: A great deal of nonsense has been written about Loos. Mar 2, 2021 - Explore Carl Dycer's board "FWW maps/info" on Pinterest. The Battle of Loos was fought from 25 September until about 16 October 1915 in an area of coalmines and mining villages near the town of Lens, north of Arras. The Battle of Loos was a ghastly failure after the first smash through. Six British divisions attacked strong German defences in support of French offensives to the south. The cemetery is about 1 kilometre from Loos Church in the southern part of the village. will not split. The Germans were still in some districts and launch their counter-offensive at the end of September. For a more thorough and fresh analysis, see Lloyd 2006. [14] Twelve attacking battalions suffered 8,000 casualties out of 10,000 men in four hours. The Battle of Loos came to an stand-still. Much of the reserves divisions had to march most of the day and night single file up the only accessible roads. Loos 1915. Most Unfavourable Ground: The Battle of Loos 1915. The Battle of Loos saw the British make minor gains in exchange for around 50,000 casualties. Haig and Foch, commander of the groupe des armées du nord (Northern Army Group), wanted the reserves closer, to exploit a breakthrough on the first day; French agreed to move them nearer to the front but still thought they should not be committed until the second day. [21] Later in the battle, pilots carried out a tactical bombing operation for the first time in history. Battle of Loos. find out more story 1916: Year of attrition. The maps and the breakdown of casualties by unit are particularly valuable. Subsequent operations [edit | edit source] German tactical defensive proficiency was still dramatically superior to the British offensive planning and doctrine, resulting in a British defeat. [6] Prior to the British attack, about 140 long tons (142 t) of chlorine gas was released with mixed results; in places the gas was blown back onto British trenches, while in others it caused the Germans considerable difficulty. II, Battles of Aubers Ridge, Festubert, and Loos, The First Hundred Thousand; Being the Unofficial Chronicle of a Unit of "K (1)". It was the biggest British attack of 1915, the first time that the British used poison gas and the first mass engagement of New Army units. From what I can ascertain, some of the divisions did actually reach the enemy's trenches, for their bodies can now be seen on the barbed wire. [22] As the land offensive stalled, British pilots and observers flew low over German positions, providing target information to the artillery. [a][18], The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) came under the command of Brigadier-General Hugh Trenchard. It was the biggest British attack of 1915, the first time that the British used poison gas and the first mass engagement of New Army units. II, Battles of Aubers Ridge, Festubert, and Loos' by Brigadier-General J.E. French visited Haig from 11:00 to 11:30 a.m. and agreed that Haig could have the reserve but rather than using the telephone he drove to Haking's headquarters and gave the order at 12:10 p.m. Haig then heard from Haking at 1:20 p.m. that the reserves were moving forward. The reserves - the two fresh divisions - were held too far back and came up too late. Archibald Murray, the Deputy Chief of the Imperial General Staff (DCIGS) advised French that as troops fresh from training, they were suited for the long marches of an exploitation rather than for trench warfare. Despite improved methods, more ammunition and better equipment, the Franco-British attacks were largely contained by … The British line of attack at the Battle of Loos was originally rejected by the British commanders as too exposed to the German artillery fire. Field Marshal Sir John French and Douglas Haig (GOC First Army), regarded the ground south of La Bassée Canal, which was overlooked by German-held slag heaps and colliery towers, as unsuitable for an attack, particularly given the discovery in July that the Germans were building a second defensive position behind the front position. [30] On 8 October, the Germans attempted to recapture much of the remaining lost ground by attacking with five regiments around Loos and against part of the 7th Division on the left flank. [8] French had already been criticised before the battle and lost his remaining support in the government and army due to the British failure and a belief that he handled poorly the reserve divisions. The Battle of Neuve Chapelle (10–13 March 1915) took place in the First World War in the Artois region of France. This photograph was taken by author and historian John Giles in the 1960s and shows a view from the slopes of Hill 70 towards Hulluch. [31][32] The British made a final attack on 13 October, which failed due to a lack of hand grenades. The Battle of Cartagena de Indias took place during the 1739 to 1748 War of Jenkins' Ear between Spain and Britain.The result of long-standing commercial tensions, the war was primarily fought in the Caribbean; the British tried to capture key Spanish ports in the region, including Porto Bello and Chagres in Panama, Havana, and Cartagena de Indias in present-day Colombia. [12] The British were able to break through the weaker German defences and capture the village of Loos-en-Gohelle, mainly due to numerical superiority. John Shea Edmonds. [3], Sir French decided to keep a reserve consisting of the Cavalry Corps, the Indian Cavalry Corps and XI Corps (Lieutenant-General Richard Haking), which consisted of the Guards Division and the New Army 21st Division and 24th Division, recently arrived in France and a corps staff (some of whom had never worked together or served on a staff before). At the time, it was the largest British offensive of the First World War. [7] Due to the inefficiency of contemporary gas masks, many soldiers removed them as they could not see through the fogged-up eyepieces or could barely breathe with them on, which led to some being affected by their own gas. Moreover, Loos hotel map is available where all hotels in Loos are marked. The twelve attacking battalions suffered 8,000 casualties out of 10,000 men in four hours. General Map of the Loos Battlefield 25th September 1915 showing the main positions and locations on the battlefield, and location of all the British divisions at the start of the battle. 1862 – 1945. The bombardment forewarned the Germans of the attack, but the British added an element of surprise with their first use of poison gas.Their attack began on September 25. Aircraft of the 2nd and 3rd wings dropped many 100 lb (45 kg) bombs on German troops, trains, rail lines and marshalling yards. [34], The Loos Memorial commemorates over 20,000 soldiers of Britain and the Commonwealth who fell in the battle and have no known grave. During the battle the British suffered 50,000 casualties. Casualties were particularly high among Scots units. Tower Bridge 1915. | Header image by Schima Martos, 1917, Contact: contactUs@wwitoday.com | Held at the Museum of the Regiment, Whitington Barracks, Lichfield, Staffordshire. Despite that, the British advanced.On the night of the 25th, the Germans counter-attacked, suffering heavy losses.The death toll at Loos exceeded that of previous battles, with the British losing 50,000 men to 20,000 Germans. But, alas, neither ammunition nor reinforcements were immediately available, and the great opportunity passed. The "First Hundred Thousand" of Kitchener's Army suffered heavily. [16] French told Foch on 28 September, that a gap could be "rushed" just north of Hill 70, although Foch felt that this would be difficult to co-ordinate and Haig told him that the First Army was in no position for further attacks. 1916 witnessed two of the longest and most notorious battles of the First World War. [15] German machine gunners reported being "nauseated" from the sight of so many corpses and ceased firing so that the British could retreat with their wounded. More than 61,000 British casualties were sustained in this battle. Both French offensives met with some success.To Foch's north, Field-Marshall Sir John French commanded thirteen British divisions that had replaced French forces in August. The village has given its name to the Battle of Loos, 25th September-8th October, 1915, in which it was captured from the Germans by the 15th (Scottish) and 47th (London) … With only 533 guns and a shortage of shells to cover 11,200 yd (6.4 mi; 10.2 km) front with two German trench lines to bombard, the British would probably be attacking positions that had not been disrupted enough to cause a breakthrough and reliant on the success of the gas attack. [8] French had not understood the poorness of the roads these reserves would be using and had not constructed new ones. Loos is a small mining town between Lens and La Bassee in northern France. Solihull, UK: Helion, 2005. The only two things that prevented our advancing into the suburbs of Lens were, firstly, the exhaustion of the "Jocks" themselves (for they had undergone a bellyfull of marching and fighting that day) and, secondly, the flanking fire of numerous German machine-guns, which swept that bare hill from some factory buildings in Cite St. Auguste to the south of us. [26] Though Haig and Gough committed too many of their forces on the first day, they largely escaped blame for the debacle. From 'Military Operations France and Belgium, 1915, Vol. French's combination of poor tactical planning, lack of knowledge of the conditions and poor execution in releasing the reserves was blamed for the British failure by John Keegan in 1998. [5] The British commanders at this time did not grasp that German defensive tactics included placing the second line of machine gun nests on the reverse slopes of hills; destroying them would need howitzers and shells with high explosives. Copyright © 2014 by John Shea | Designed by As the British were short of artillery ammunition, the RFC flew target identification sorties prior to the battle, to ensure that shells were not wasted. The Battle of Loos took place on the Western Front between 25 September and 13 October 1915. The battle was the British component of the combined Anglo-French offensive known as the Third Battle of Artois. battle, namely ˝Hill 70˝ which closed access to Lens, would only be retaken in August 1917 by the Canadians. The location of each Loos hotel listed is shown on the detailed zoomable map. [1] On 3 May, the British decided to use poison gas in military operations in France. An Anglo-French would attack eastward in Artois (with the British at Loos) as the French attacked northwards in Champagne. The map at the top right is the wrong battle. Positions are given for troops both before and after the Battle, which took place 25th September 1915. Much of the barbed wire, in some places 30 ft (9.1 m) deep, remained uncut and the British had used their stock of chlorine gas. At a conference on 6 September, Haig announced to his subordinates that extensive use of chlorine gas might facilitate an advance on a line towards Douai and Valenciennes, despite the terrain, as long as the French and British were able to keep the attack secret. Loos Panorama 1915 - Part 2: Double Crassier area. [28] In Der Weltkrieg, the German official account, 6th Army casualties are given as 29,657 to 21 September; by the end of October losses had risen to 51,100 and total German casualties for the autumn battle (Herbstschlacht) in Artois and Champagne, were given as 150,000 men. See more ideas about map, ww1, me on a map. We and our partners process personal data such as IP Address, Unique ID, browsing data for: Use precise geolocation data | Actively scan device characteristics for identification.. 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