THE THIRD BATTLE OF YPRES 1917 – PART THREE There were a number of reasons why even Nivelle’s French subordinates doubted the wisdom of the plan, the chief one being that for most of the front the Aisne is overlooked by a three hundred foot escarpment, known as the Chemin des Dames, after the road that had been built along it to allow the daughters of pre-revolutionary French kings to ride from Soissons to Berry au Bac. Nivelle had rightly planned on surprise, but there was very little of it. The movement of thousands of troops, the stockpiling of ammunition, the building of roads, the laying of light railways and the construction of jump-off trenches could not be concealed, and to make that worse a copy of the complete French plan was captured from a careless staff officer in a trench raid by the by the Germans in early April. Even without that, the artillery bombardment was an unmistakeable signal that something was up. The French tanks were of little help, unlike the British version they were lightly armoured and had difficulty in crossing trenches. Many were knocked out by German artillery or broke down, but even when they did make some progress the infantry were too exhausted to keep up with them.
THR THIRD BATTLE OF YPRES 1917 - PART THREE
THR THIRD BATTLE OF YPRES 1917 - PART THREE
THR THIRD BATTLE OF YPRES 1917 - PART THREE
THE THIRD BATTLE OF YPRES 1917 – PART THREE There were a number of reasons why even Nivelle’s French subordinates doubted the wisdom of the plan, the chief one being that for most of the front the Aisne is overlooked by a three hundred foot escarpment, known as the Chemin des Dames, after the road that had been built along it to allow the daughters of pre-revolutionary French kings to ride from Soissons to Berry au Bac. Nivelle had rightly planned on surprise, but there was very little of it. The movement of thousands of troops, the stockpiling of ammunition, the building of roads, the laying of light railways and the construction of jump-off trenches could not be concealed, and to make that worse a copy of the complete French plan was captured from a careless staff officer in a trench raid by the by the Germans in early April. Even without that, the artillery bombardment was an unmistakeable signal that something was up. The French tanks were of little help, unlike the British version they were lightly armoured and had difficulty in crossing trenches. Many were knocked out by German artillery or broke down, but even when they did make some progress the infantry were too exhausted to keep up with them.