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Western Front: 1915 – 1917: Stalemate
Operations in 1917
1. Nivelle's
Offensive
2. Battle
of Arras
3. Battle of Messines
4. Third
Battle of Ypres
5. French
Victories
6. Battle
of Cambrai
Battle of Messines
Short Summary:
BATTLE OF MESSINES (June 7-8, 1917). With the French
armies almost prostrate on the Aisne, the main weight of the war fell
on the British. At the same time, the collapse of Russia made it necessary
to strike a vital blow on the western front before German strength could
be transferred from the eastern front. The British chose the Ypres area,
where a breakthrough would outflank the entire German defensive system;
but first the Messines Ridge, which gave the Germans perfect observation
over the British lines south of Ypres, had to be cleared. In a brilliant,
well-planned, and perfectly executed operation (in which hundreds of
tons of mines were placed under the German position) the ridge was quickly
captured.
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Haig now turned to Flanders and the operation which
had been in his mind since February, the clearance of the Flemish coast,
the only place where a flank could be found and rolled up. He was already
under heavy pressure from Main to keep the Germans off the French, and
from the British Admiralty to root out the submarines based on Bruges
and making their sorties from Ostend (Oostende) and Zeebrugge. The first
part of the program was the capture of the Messines (Mesen) Ridge, the
steepest approach; after this had been accomplished, the main advance
was to be made toward Roeselare (Roulers) and Thourout (now Torhout).
The most remarkable feature of the battle was a great chain of mines,
the earliest of which had been begun two years before, which had been
driven into the bowels of the ridge, two of the galleries being 2,000
yards long. At zero hour, 3:10 A.M. on June 7, the mines were exploded
with tremendous effect. The nine divisions of Plumer's Second Army swept
through to the crest of the ridge. Crown Prince Rupert of Bavaria immediately
ordered all troops to fall back behind the Ypres-Comines (Komen) Canal.
For the main battle, Haig had brought up Gough and the headquarters
of the Fifth Army to divide the command with Plumer. Feeling that the
moment was appropriate for displaying greater dash than was likely to
come from this cautious veteran, he allotted the main role to Gough,
though Plumer had not left the Ypres salient since he superseded Smith-Dorrien
and knew it well. The result was a delay caused by the adaptation of
Plumer's methods to Gough's, and this was accentuated by a slow concentration
of the small, elite First French Army commanded by Maj. Gen. Francois
Paul Anthoine.
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