World War One: A Layman's Guide by Scott Addington

Author:Scott Addington [Addington, Scott]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2012-11-26T07:00:00+00:00

Defence in Depth: Arras & Vimy Ridge

Part of Nivelle’s grand plan of 1917 was to use the British and Canadian forces in a diversionary attack at Arras, just to the north of the main French offensive on the Aisne.

As they had done further south, the Germans had also retreated towards the Hindenburg Line in the Arras area causing the British the same planning problems that had hindered the French. Wherever possible the enemy had positioned themselves on the reverse slopes of hills and had adopted a ‘defence in depth’ strategy. This amounted to leaving the front lines relatively empty apart from a number of machine gun nests designed to inflict as much damage onto the attacking troops as possible. These men would then retreat, pulling the attacking infantry along with them to such an extent that the attackers would advance beyond the protective shield of their artillery. Then they would be destroyed by huge counter attacks.

This ‘defence in depth’ technique utilised by the Hindenburg Line was very effective and caused carnage and devastation throughout the ranks of any attacking force. However, the world ‘Line’ is a bit of a misnomer. It wasn’t anything like a continuous line, but a collection of heavily defended and fortified areas along the front. A perfect example of this was the Arras area. The region to the south of the village of Arras was heavily defended, but just a few miles north towards the Vimy Ridge it was a different story. German defences here were in range of the Allied guns; their trenches were on the forward slopes of hills and were heavily manned. An attack in this area could prove more fruitful.

The attack commenced on 9th April after a steady five day artillery bombardment that had given the Germans all the notice they needed to prepare for a fight. The attacking troops were split into two groups; the Canadians in the north were to capture the Vimy Ridge, with the British forces to the south, just in front of the village of Arras.

A notable part of this attack was the use of tunnels as a method of troop transportation. The village of Arras had a huge number of tunnels and sewers underneath it which the Royal Engineers widened and extended way out into No Man’s Land. Troops could be amassed for the attack in almost complete secrecy.

This element of surprise was a major factor in the Canadian successes on the Vimy Ridge. Advancing in a snowstorm, surprise was so complete that enemy trenches were occupied before the machine gunners were able to get to their guns. The artillery also pulled off a perfect creeping barrage which destroyed the German first and second line defences and enabled the Canadians to advance two miles in one day. By the 12th they had captured the entire ridge. It was viewed as a spectacular success, but it was not without cost, with over 14,000 Canadians killed or wounded in this advance.

The British forces to the south of Vimy Ridge also exploited the tunnel network and creeping barrage to their advantage.

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