Battle Statistics Flashcards
Battle of Mons Statistics?
23rd August 1914.
British Commander - Sir John French.
British Strength - 2 Corps, 1 cavalry division, 1 cavalry brigade, 300 guns.
British Losses - 1’630 casualties.
German Commander - Alexander von Kluck.
German Strength - 4 Corps, 3 cavalry divisions, 600 guns.
German Losses - 3’500 casualties.
Battle of Mons - Depth?
- It took part during the wider battle of the Frontiers and the British were aiming to hold the Mons canal to prevent a continued German advance.
- The British held the line for a time before eventually being forced to retreat after inflicting heavy casualties on the Germans, the nearby French army had fallen back.
- The initial withdrawal was supposed o be short but it was ultimately two weeks to the outskirts of Paris, The Great Retreat.
Battle of the Marne Statistics?
5th - 12th September 1914.
Entente Commanders - Joseph Joffre, John French.
Entente Strength - 1’080’000, 64 French divisions 6 British.
Entente Losses - 250’000 French casualties, 12’800 British casualties.
German Commander - Helmuth von Moltke.
German Strength - 800’000 soldiers, 51 divisions.
German Losses - 260’000 killed or wounded, 38’000 captured.
Battle of the Marne - Depth?
- It was a huge Franco - British counter attack to prevent the advancing Germans from reaching Paris. Sir John French opposed it but the BEF took part regardless.
- The Germans were overstretched and had to retreat to 40 miles North of the River Aisne.
- The Germans realised that the Schliefen plan had failed and proceeded to dig in leading to the race to the sea.
First Battle of Ypres statistics?
19th October - 30th November 1914.
British Commander - John French.
British Strength - 164’000 British soldiers alongside 250’000 Belgians and 4’000’000 French.
British Losses - 58’000 British casuatlies.
German Commander - Erich von Falkenhayn .
German Strength - 5’400’000 soldiers.
German Losses - 80’000 casualties.
First Battle of Ypres - Depth?
- The German army were attempting to outflank the Entente forces whilst they were also trying to do the same thing, part of the Race to the Sea.
- There was very little high command involvement meaning that small groups of soldiers would carry out minor operations.
- Both sides only made small gains as it was ultimately a stalemate.
- Both sides attempted to bring more forces into the area but by that stage both were exhausted and the battle fazed out.
- Many Indian soldiers were deployed to aid the heavily diminished BEF.
Second Battle of Ypres Statistics?
22nd April - 25th May 1915.
British Commander - Horace Smith Dorian later replaced by Herbert Plummer.
British Strength - 6 British divisions and 2 French Divisions.
British Losses - 60’000 casualties.
German Commander - Albrecht von Wurttenburg.
German Strength - 7 divisions.
German Losses - 35’000 casualties.
Second Battle of Ypres - Depth?
- The German aim was twofold, they wanted to close Ypres salient in order to improve their frontline positions, they also wanted to cover the movement of some of their soldiers to Galicia due to a Russian offensive there.
- The Germans aimed to utilise gas to cause panic in the British soldiers, the gas however, ultimately did break the first British defences but they were unable to close the Salient.
- The Germans were aiming to capture the high ground to the West and South of the town to make future offensives easier.
Battle of Loos Statistics?
25th August - 8th September 1915.
British Commander - John French.
British Strength - 6 divisions.
British Losses - 60’000 casualties.
German Commander - Ruprecht crown prince of Bavaria.
German Strength - 3 divisions.
German Losses - 26’000 casualties.
Battle of Loos - Depth?
- It was the largest British offensive to date in the war, however the BEF was heavily depleted so many of the soldiers were now reservists.
- The British opted to use gas however, it lingered in some places and blew back in others leading to chaos in the British offensive.
- Some small gains were made however, it had lead to heavy losses as the German position was strong.
- Poor communication allowed for a German counter offensive which forced the British back to their starting positions, it also led to the shell scandal as the quality of shells was incredibly poor.
Battle of Verdun Statistics?
21st February - 18th December 1916.
French Commander - Joseph Joffre.
French Strength - 75 Divisions.
French Losses - 163’000 dead, 400’000 casualties.
German Commander - Erich von Falkenhayn.
German Strength - 50 divisions.
German Losses - 143’000 dead and 355’000 casualties.
Battle of Verdun - Depth?
- It was the longest battle of the First World War, the Germans planned an offensive to take the fortress complex near Verdun believing that it would significantly harm the French position.
- The German forces initially performed well however, they became bogged down as the French artillery began a constant bombardment of the German positions.
- The French asked the British to attack at the Somme in order to reduce the pressure at Verdun.
- Despite making some major gains the Germans ultimately withdraw due to immense pressure at the Somme.
Battle of the Somme Statistics?
1st July - 18th November 1916.
British Commander - Douglas Haig.
British Strength - 13 divisions initially but went up to 50.
British Losses - 440’000 casualties, 50’000 in the First day alone.
German Commander - Erich von Falkenhayn.
German Strength - 10 divisions initially but went up to 50.
German Losses - 440’000 casualties.
Battle of the Somme - Depth?
- The plan set out by Haig was to ease pressure on the French forces at Verdun.
- A week long artillery bombardment was carried out to soften up the German defensive positions however, this was ineffective as the German forces were dug in too deep and their defensive positions were heavily fortified.
- The German forces simply emerged after the bombardment and as the British forces got caught in the now tangled wire they inflicted immense casualties.
- Haig used tanks and aircraft to try and overwhelm the Germans however, the tank were new and most of them performed incredibly poorly.
- Many of the British soldiers lack experience and therefore, performed poorly. Furthermore, the large amount of mud made advance difficult and some drowned.
- Although it could be argued to be a success as it did successfully relieve pressure on Verdun however, only 7 miles were gained.
Battle of Passchendaele Statistics?
31st July to 10th November 1917.
British Commander - Douglas Haig.
British Strength - 50 British Divisions.
British Losses - 240’000 casualties.
German Commander - Paul Von Hindenburg.
German Strength - 77-83 divisions.
German Losses - 217’000 casualties.
