Battle Statistics

Question 1

Battle of Mons Statistics?

Answer 1

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.

Question 2

Battle of Mons - Depth?

Answer 2

• 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.

Question 3

Battle of the Marne Statistics?

Answer 3

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.

Question 4

Battle of the Marne - Depth?

Answer 4

• 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.

Question 5

First Battle of Ypres statistics?

Answer 5

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.

Question 6

First Battle of Ypres - Depth?

Answer 6

• 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.

Question 7

Second Battle of Ypres Statistics?

Answer 7

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.

Question 8

Second Battle of Ypres - Depth?

Answer 8

• 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.

Question 9

Battle of Loos Statistics?

Answer 9

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.

Question 10

Battle of Loos - Depth?

Answer 10

• 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.

Question 11

Battle of Verdun Statistics?

Answer 11

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.

Question 12

Battle of Verdun - Depth?

Answer 12

• 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.

Question 13

Battle of the Somme Statistics?

Answer 13

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.

Question 14

Battle of the Somme - Depth?

Answer 14

• 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.

Question 15

Battle of Passchendaele Statistics?

Answer 15

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.

Question 16

Battle of Passchendaele - Depth?

Answer 16

• Haig wanted to carry out a Fresh offensive to push the Germans back out of the Belgium, Lloyd George was heavily opposed to it and protested frequently.
• The weather was incredibly poor and it rained for practically the entire month of October however, despite this Haig continued his offensive.
• Many soldiers as a result of the weather died in craters and many contracted trench foot.
• Passchendaele was ultimately captured but very little was gained for such immense losses.
• Haig used a creeping barrage to cover the advance of his soldiers and in turn batter the German defences and he made some use of tanks but a number of them sank into the mud.
• Haigh continued the offensive leading to more senseless loss of life.

Question 17

Battle of Cambrai statistics?

Answer 17

20th November - 7th December 1917.

British Commander - Douglas Haig.
British Strength - 2 Corps and 476 tanks.
British Losses - 76’000 casualties and 180 tanks.

German Commander - Georg von der Marwitz.
German Strength - 1 Corps.
German Losses - 55’000 casualties.

Question 18

Battle of Cambrai - Depth?

Answer 18

• Major tank offensive carried out by the British forces.
• They made about 5 miles in gains in rather rapid time which had the potential to break the deadlock.
• However, they did not provide infantry support meaning that they were unable to hold the gains that they had made.

Question 19

Spring Offensive Statistics?

Answer 19

21st March -18th July 1918.

Allied Commanders - Ferdinand Foch and Douglas Haig.
Allied Losses - 863’000 casualties.

German Commander - Paul von Hindenburg.
German Losses - 688’000 casualties.

Question 20

Spring Offensive Depth?

Answer 20

• Russia was now out of the war meaning that Germany could divert all of it’s attention to the West.
• The Germans were at breaking point due to the naval blockade leading to major food shortages and ultimately they needed to end the war as fast as possible.
• The British were able to hold relatively successfully however, the French were at breaking point thankfully the Americans were able to plug the gaps forming in the French lines in turn halting the offensive.

Question 21

Battle of Amiens Statistics?

Answer 21

8th - 12th August 1918.

British Commander - Douglas Haig.
British Strength - 23 French divisions with 1’100 aircraft and 16 British divisions with 800 aircraft.
British Losses - 50’000 allied casualties.

German Commander - Hindenburg.
German Strength - 26 divisions and 365 aircraft.
German Losses -45’000 killed or wounded and 30’000 captured.

Question 22

Battle of Amiens - Depth?

Answer 22

• Haig aimed to counter the Germans after their Spring Offensive and force a German retreat.
• Haig used tanks infantry and aircraft which created a perfect balance of modern technology and was a true combined arms offensive.
• It essentially restored mobility to warfare as armies were able to advance miles rather than mere yards and in turn prevented Germans from continuing their war effort as they were unable to mount a defence.
• By the end of the 100 days the German forces had been forced from the Hindenburg line and had withdrawn from France.
• The allies had industrial superiority by this stage meaning that they could outproduce the German industry extensively.
• the RAF also played a crucial role as they used flash spotting to map German positions as well as strafing German trenches and using tactical bombing.
• Haig also provided infantry support for his tanks so not only could they gain extensive ground but also hold said ground.