Battle of the Loos Flashcards
What year was this battle?
1915.
What is it nicknamed?
The big push.
How long was the front line?
20miles long
What was the landscape like and what was used to hide?
It was a flat landscape with not many trees or items to hide behind, therefore, the Allies used smoke barrages to hide the soldiers going across No Man’s Land.
What weapons did they use and what were the weapons’ tactics?
They used chlorine gas to make up for lightweight artillery shells. There was 140 tonnes in 5000 cylinders for gas. There was a 4-day preliminary bombardment of shells and then a 4 hour crescendo of shelling before the British attacked.
What was the primary situation that resulted and then what happened thereafter?
On the first day the British took the village of Looks, Hill 70 and they started advancing on a nearby village called Lens. They were also able to take part of the German trenches in front of the redoubt. However, they started to lack munitions as there was a late arrival of reinforcement troops and munitions, which then allowed the Germans to retake Hill 70. The machine guns that the Germans had killed 8, 500 soldiers in one day.
What was wrong with the battle plan?
First there was a late arrival of reinforcement troops. The gas also blew back and killed some of the British’s own troops and the smokescreens were inefficient and still allowed the Germans to shoot and kill the Allies regardless. This made us unable to hold the territory we had previously gained. Also, the Germans saw the build-up of weapons and troops during the bombardment and were ready and strengthen their army.
Who joined in this battle?
Kitchener’s New Army Units
Why was this nicknames the Scottish Battle?
1/2 of the 72 battalions were Scottish and the death toll was particularly high amongst the Scots. No part of Scotland was unaffected by the death toll in Loos.
