NZHistory, New Zealand history online - western front

Shellfire during Battle of the Somme

Shellfire blighted everything it touched.

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H. Stewart, The New Zealand Division 1916–1919: a popular history based on official records, Whitcombe & Tombs, Auckland, 1921

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Aerial reconnaissance photo, 1918

Aerial reconnaissance photo of the battlefield near Bailleul, northern France on 11 August 1918. Heavy artillery bombardments have wrecked buildings and created a very pockmarked landscape. The white clouds are bursts of friendly fire from artillery. Oblique and vertical aerial photography enabled military planners to create detailed trench maps and record battle damage. Oblique shots like this one were taken at considerable risk from ground fire. One of the long-lasting benefits of the development of aerial photography during the war was the ability to create accurate maps of large land areas for the first time.

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Air Force Museum of New Zealand
Accession number: MUS95203
Permission of the Air Force Museum of New Zealand must be obtained before any reuse of this image.

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1918: Amiens, Bapaume and victory - Western Front campaign

In 1918, a series of major German and Allied offensives broke the stalemate of trench warfare on the Western Front, resulting in the collapse of the German Army and the end of the war within the year. New Zealand units played their part in Allies final push for victory, helping breach the main German defence system – the Hindenburg Line – and capturing the walled town of Le Quesnoy during the last few months of the war.

At the beginning of 1918, events had seemed to be turning the war in the favour of Germany. The collapse of Russia’s resistance following the Bolshevik revolution in November 1917 allowed the Germans to transfer more than 50 divisions to the Western Front. On the back of this influx of troops, the German high command launched a massive offensive with the goal of ending the war before the full might of the United States (which had entered the war in April 1917) could be brought to bear.

German spring offensive: Defence of Amiens

German 1918 spring offensives

The German spring offensives which began on 21 March 1918 created the biggest crisis of the war for the Allies. In Operation Michael, 60 German divisions attacked along an 80-kilometre front between St Quentin and Arras, punching a hole through British defences on the Somme and almost destroying the Fifth Army. In some places they advanced as much as 60 km, an incredible feat after three years of mostly stationary trench warfare.

Retreating British troops set up a last line of defence around the city of Amiens, a vital logistics link between the Somme, Flanders and the Channel ports. Its loss would force the British to abandon the Somme, opening a massive gap between themselves and the French armies to the south, and cutting off the remainder of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in Flanders.

Change of name

In January 1918, II Anzac Corps was renamed XXII Corps to reflect the changing composition of the force. With the creation of the Australian Corps, the only ‘Anzac’ element left in II Anzac Corps was the New Zealand Division. As all the other divisions were British, it made sense to renumber it as a British corps.

The New Zealand Division, recovering after a difficult winter in the Ypres Salient, was among forces rushed south to the Somme on 24 March. Attached to General Sir Julian Byng’s Third Army, the New Zealanders moved into the Ancre Valley, taking up positions on the Somme battlefield of 1916. Over four days of desperate fighting around Mailly-Maillet, they managed to stabilise their section of the front, repelling a series of German attacks at Auchonvillers Ridge and Colincamps, and capturing 300 prisoners and 110 machine guns at La Signy Farm. These actions cost the New Zealand Division some 2400 casualties, including more than 500 dead.

A German follow-up attack against Arras on 26 March – Operation Mars – was defeated, although the British abandoned the town of Albert, further south. The German advance was running out of steam as losses amongst their leading units mounted. Their artillery struggled to keep pace with the advancing infantry, and discipline suffered as troops looted British supply depots.

As dawn broke on the 26th March, we passed through and halted just outside the village of Colincamps. We were warned that Fritz was in the vicinity. Our scouts headed out to have a look. The rest of us prepared for a short stop while our officers palavered on the situation. The stop was too short. The scouts were back quickly. The Germans were marching along the road, half a mile away, towards us.
The skipper gave us orders to stand by. He then spoke those words that make any soldier face hell 10 times over and never think of saying die.
‘Well, boys, it’s up to us. There’s no one behind us for miles – but there soon will be.’
We all knew this was bluff as other troops were days away, but the skipper continued.
‘I want this crowd stopped here, right here, and knowing you, I have faith in you. Now go to it.’ No more orders were necessary. We all knew what was required. Like clockwork, we fell into extended battle order. We waited just inside the cover of the trees for that word which would take us back into action. Our platoon officer lay beside me. I knew what that meant. I could now see the Germans, less than 300 yards away. They were coming towards us in great style and pace.
The officer said in my ear, ‘Sonny, you can start the ball. Fire.’
Len Coley, The Wellington Regiment, in Gavin McLean, Ian McGibbon and Kynan Gentry (eds), The Penguin book of New Zealanders at war, Penguin, North Shore, 2009, p. 209

The crisis seemed to galvanise the Allies, whose leaders agreed to unite their forces under the command of French General Ferdinand Foch. The American authorities agreed to place several of their divisions under temporary British and French command, and two French armies moved forward to help defend the Somme. British forces repelled another attack against Amiens on 4 April, ending the German offensive in this area. The Germans had occupied over 300 sq km of territory – at a cost of 250,000 casualties. The BEF suffered 177,000 casualties, while the French lost 77,000 men killed, wounded or captured.

New Zealand Cyclist Corps in France, 1918

The German Army launched four more offensives between April and July. In Flanders, Operation Georgette (9-29 April) pushed the British out of Passchendaele and Messines, territory won at such cost the previous year, but failed to capture the important Hazebrouck rail hub. New Zealand units were involved here too, helping stop the German advance in the Battle of the Lys. Mounted, cyclist and entrenching troops from Lieutenant-General Sir Alexander Godley’s XXII Corps filled crucial gaps in the line south-east of Ypres, fighting as de facto infantrymen at ‘Shrewsbury Forest’ (near Hill 60), Mount Kemmel, the Vierstraat Road and Hill 44 before being withdrawn.

A further attack on the River Aisne at the end of May netted the Germans another 40 km, but their strategic aims remained beyond their grasp. Each advance only stretched their dwindling resources. German factories, starved of materials by the Allied naval blockade, struggled to replace the weapons and equipment that had been lost. Between March and July, the German Army lost a million men killed or wounded, including many irreplaceable experienced and elite soldiers. In desperation, the German authorities began sending 17-year-old conscripts to the front.

The Allies were also close to exhausting their available manpower, but unlike the Germans were able to keep increasing their firepower. Infantry units now possessed plenty of mortars, machine guns and grenades, while artillery accounted for more than a third of the BEF’s total strength on the ground. The British Tank Corps, formed in July 1917, continued to expand, as did the Royal Air Force (formed in April 1918) and the French Aéronautique Militaire. The Germans could not match this combination of forces. Even as the last German offensives unfolded in June-July, the Allies were planning a devastating counter-attack.

Allies hit back: Second Marne and Bapaume

Battle of Bapaume

The New Zealand Division remained in the Ancre Valley on the Somme until it was relieved in early June. After a period in reserve, the division went back into the line on 2 July, occupying trenches in front of the town of Hébuterne. They spent the next few weeks carrying out aggressive patrolling and fighting small actions to improve their tactical position. By now, the nature of the battlefield had changed dramatically. Much of the new front line ran through territory not destroyed by years of shellfire. Towns, forests and farmland were largely intact, and conditions were ripe for a return to open warfare.

In July 1918, the Allies struck back, landing a series of blows on the increasingly demoralised Germans. French forces, supported by British and American troops, pushed the Germans back outside Paris during the Second Battle of the Marne (18 July-9 August). New Zealand mounted troops of XXII Corps (attached to the French Fifth Army) took part in this fighting, and the New Zealand Cyclist Battalion captured the village of Marfaux on 22 July. The British Fourth Army followed up this success with a stunning victory in the Battle of Amiens (8-11 August), capturing 50,000 Germans and 500 field guns. These huge losses prompted German commander General Erich Ludendorff to label the first day of the battle the ‘Black Day of the German Army’.

Three VC winners

Samuel Forsyth, Reginald Judson and John (Jack) Grant were all awarded the Victoria Cross for separate actions over nine days during the fighting around Biefvillers (Forsyth, 24 August), Bapaume (Judson, 25 August), and Bancourt (Grant, 1 September). All three were cited for their bravery in attacking German machine-gun posts, amongst other courageous acts.

With the Germans now clearly on the defensive, the Allies looked to maintain the pressure with a series of fresh offensives. On 21 August, the British Third Army (including the New Zealand Division) attacked along a 15-km front north of Amiens, breaking through the German line and driving toward Bapaume. The New Zealand Division played a support role for the first few days of the battle, then spearheaded the attack from 24 August, capturing Grévillers, Loupart Wood and the village of Biefvillers in a single day.

On 25 August, the New Zealanders reached Bapaume. After two days of savage fighting, the German defenders abandoned the town on the night of 28 August, slipping away to new positions to the east. New Zealand troops entered Bapaume next day, then push east through the villages of Frémicourt and Bancourt. After clearing strong German positions on Bancourt Ridge, the New Zealand Division advanced another 6 km before halting near Bertincourt to regroup. The Battle of Bapaume was over.

By early September, the British First, Third and Fourth armies had pushed the German forces on the Somme back to the Hindenburg Line – the point where the German Army had launched its spring offensive in March. This was now their last line of defence on the Western Front.

Hundred Days’ Offensive: Havrincourt, Canal du Nord, Hindenburg Line, Selle and Sambre

Advance to victory, 1918

As the Third Army followed the retreating Germans across the Somme, the New Zealand Division mopped up a succession of rearguards, fighting their way through Havrincourt Forest and Gouzeaucourt Wood before reaching Trescault Ridge. This position was part of a chain of enemy outposts and strongpoints screening the Hindenburg Line, just 4 km to the east.

On 12 September, the Third Army attempted to overwhelm the German positions along Trescault Ridge, capturing the villages of Havrincourt and Trescault and some of the high ground during the Battle of Havrincourt (12-14 September). The New Zealand Division, weakened from their efforts at Bapaume, struggled to advance on Trescault Spur, an offshoot of the main ridge which was defended by troops of the elite Jäger Division. After two days of bloody fighting the New Zealanders were relieved and moved back to Bapaume to rest.

In late September, the Allies launched a massive offensive against the Hindenburg Line, attacking simultaneously along more than half of the Western Front. On the 26th, American and French forces struck in the Meuse-Argonne region in the north-east. The next day, the British First and Third armies pushed toward the city of Cambrai, capturing 10,000 prisoners and 200 field guns. In Flanders, the British Second Army and the Belgian Army punched through German defences near Ypres on 28 September, advancing up to 9 km in 24 hours – more ground than was taken in three months of fighting at Passchendaele in 1917. Back on the Somme, the British Fourth Army attacked the central sector of the Hindenburg Line on 29 September, crossing the St Quentin Canal and penetrating German support lines.

Stunned by the scale and ferocity of the Allied offensive, the German high command implored the Kaiser to seek an immediate armistice to allow their troops to withdraw to Germany and regroup. On 4 October, the German government asked the Americans to broker a ceasefire.

James Crichton VC

The New Zealand Division came out of reserve for the final phases of the Battle of the Canal du Nord (27 September - 1 October). Fighting their way through the main Hindenburg Line, the 1st New Zealand Infantry Brigade seized the town of Crèvecoeur on the final day of the battle, establishing a vital foothold across the Scheldt Canal in the process. The Third Army was able to expand this bridgehead when the Germans withdrew to the ‘Masnières-Beaurevoir line’, a trench system prepared hastily behind the Hindenburg Line.

After pausing to regroup, the British Third and Fourth armies renewed their attack on 8 October. Breaking through weak German defences, the New Zealand Division advanced more than 5 km to take the village of Esnes, capturing more than 1000 prisoners and a dozen field guns along the way. The 800 New Zealand casualties included 150 dead. That night German forces withdrew to the River Selle, allowing Canadian troops to take Cambrai unopposed. The New Zealanders continued the pursuit to the Selle, advancing 18 km before being relieved on 14 October.

The division returned to action a week later, taking part in the closing stages of the Battle of the Selle (17-25 October) before halting outside the old fortress town of Le Quesnoy, which was encircled by elaborate and historic black ramparts.

On 4 November, the British First, Third and Fourth armies launched a major offensive (later designated the Battle of the Sambre). It would prove to be the final attack of the war. On the opening day, the New Zealand Division captured 2000 prisoners and 60 field guns and advanced to the edge of the Mormal Forest. Le Quesnoy fell the same day, after soldiers from the 4th Battalion, New Zealand Rifle Brigade, scaled the walls with a ladder.

[Leslie] Averill and [Harold] Kerr were already working along the tree-covered bank to the edge of the inner moat. They picked up the ladder, and stepping on the knife-edge bridge in single file reached the sluice-gate. The whole place was ominously still but for the low gurgle of water in the moat below them… Quietly they raised the ladder against the wall. It reached the top of the bricks with a foot to spare, resting against a 2-foot high grassy bank which crowned the rampart… Averill started to mount it, telling the others that he would shout down to them from the top if all was quiet.
It was now about 4 p.m. Averill quickly reached the top of the brick-work, and stepped over the coping on to the grassy bank. Crouching behind it, he peered over. It was one of the most dramatic moments in the Division’s history. There was an instant crashing through some brushwood on the far side, and Averill saw 2 Germans of the bombing post running off panic-stricken. He sent a revolver bullet after them. Kerr was now on the topmost rung. The 2 officers could see a pair of machine guns on the salient on their right pointing into the moat but abandoned. They stood up and walked over the top of the grass slope and down the other side towards the boulevard. They were greeted by a great jabbering of German. Kerr fired a shot at the man who appeared to be leader, but missed. The whole enemy party bolted at once into an underground cavern under the rampart.
Colonel Hugh Stewart, The New Zealand Division 1916-1919: A popular history based on official records, Whitcombe and Tombs Limited, Auckland, 1921, pp. 591–2

This was last significant action of the war for the New Zealanders. By 5 November they had cleared the Mormal Forest and the division was relieved overnight. New Zealand artillery remained behind to support British units before heading back into reserve on the 9th. New Zealand units would not go into action again; two days later, the war was over.

Abandoned by its allies – Bulgaria, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire had all ceased hostilities – its population suffering due to the Allied blockade, and its armies in disarray, Germany accepted defeat. An armistice on the Western Front came into effect at 11 a.m. on 11 November 1918.

Armistice and occupation

Armistice and occupation of Germany

The conditions of the armistice gave the German Army 14 days to leave all occupied territory and 28 days to withdraw across the river Rhine. The Allies also insisted on sending their armies into Germany to occupy three bridgeheads around the cities of Cologne, Coblenz and Mainz. British forces occupied the Cologne area, while the Americans and French took control of Coblenz and Mainz.

Sent to join the British occupation force, the New Zealand Division marched 240 km through France and Belgium in December, reaching the German border on 19 December. Led by 1st Battalion, Canterbury Regiment, the infantry entered Cologne the next day, followed on Boxing Day by the artillery and other horse-borne units.

The New Zealanders’ role as occupiers was short-lived. Once it became clear that Germany could not resume the fight, thoughts turned to demobilising the troops and getting them home. Beginning in late December, married men and those who had enlisted in 1914-15 were sent back to England and from there to New Zealand. The process sped up from January 1919, with 700-1000 men leaving each week. On 25 March 1919, the last New Zealand soldiers left Cologne and the New Zealand Division was officially disbanded. After nearly three years’ service and at a cost of more than 12,000 lives, New Zealand’s war on the Western Front was over.

Further information

Books

J. Crawford & I. McGibbon (eds), New Zealand's great war: New Zealand, the Allies and the First World War, Exisle Publishing, Auckland, 2007
D. Fenton, New Zealand and the First World War, Penguin, Auckland, 2013
G. Harper, Spring Offensive: New Zealand and the Second Battle of the Somme, HarperCollins, 2003
I. McGibbon (ed.), The Oxford companion to New Zealand military history, Oxford University Press, Auckland, 2000
H. Stewart, New Zealand Division, 1916–1919: a popular history based on official records, Whitcombe & Tombs, Wellington, 1921

Schlieffen Plan and German invasion of 1914

See enlarged version of this map here. You can also download a hi-res copy as a pdf (4 mbs).

The Schlieffen Plan drawn up in 1905 was the German army’s answer to its central strategic problem: how to win a war on two fronts, against France in the west and Russia in the east. The Chief of the Imperial German General Staff, Count Alfred von Schlieffen, envisaged a massive attack through the Low Countries into northern France (shown by the green arrows on the map), an advance that would persuade France to surrender within six weeks. Troops could then be sent east by rail to defend East Prussia against the ‘Russian steamroller’, which was expected to be slow to get moving.

Schlieffen’s plan was executed by his successor Helmuth von Moltke in August 1914, with some modifications. The Netherlands was not invaded; more troops than planned were kept in Alsace-Lorraine to defend it against a French offensive; and 250,000 troops were diverted to East Prussia to help fend off an unexpectedly speedy Russian advance.

The broken purple line shows the furthest extent of the 1914 German advance. Their offensive ended in mid-September with a French victory in the First Battle of the Marne. The subsequent German retreat to the positions indicated by the solid purple line ended any hopes of a quick victory against the French. Instead, the Western Front settled into a stalemate that was to last 3½ years. The front line was in much the same position when the New Zealand Division arrived in April 1916. The area shaded green is the foreign territory that was occupied by Germany for most of the war.

Historians disagree about whether the reduction of the invading force’s numbers was the key reason the Schlieffen Plan failed. Among other factors, Belgian resistance was stronger and the British Expeditionary Force was in the field sooner than the Germans expected.

Credit:

Map produced by Geographx with research assistance from Damien Fenton and Caroline Lord.

It originally appeared in Damien Fenton, New Zealand and the First World War (Penguin, 2013)

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Armistice and occupation of Germany map

See enlarged version of this map here. You can also download a hi-res copy as a pdf (2.5 mbs).

This map shows the areas from which the German army was forced to withdraw during the late stages of the First World War and following the Armistice of 11 November 1918.

Between July and November 1918 the Allies pushed the overstretched and demoralised German army eastward across the area on the map shaded red. By the time an armistice came into effect at 11 a.m. on 11 November (at which point the front line extended along the purple line above), most of northern France and part of Belgium had been liberated from German occupation.

The conditions of the Armistice gave Germany 14 days to evacuate from all remaining occupied territory and German territory claimed by France and Belgium (the grey-shaded area), and 28 days to withdraw its armed forces across the river Rhine (to the right of the map).

The Allies insisted on sending their armies to occupy the demilitarised Rhineland and establishing 30-km bridgeheads centred on Cologne, Coblenz and Mainz. This was to ensure that Germany would not break the Armistice’s ceasefire before the terms of peace could be agreed to. The Allied forces’ respective occupation zones are highlighted in yellow on the map.

When news of the Armistice was received on 11 November, most of the New Zealand Division was billeted at Beauvois and Fontaine (marked by the number 1 on the map). On 28 November they began their march towards the British occupation zone around the industrial city of Cologne (their route is shown by the red arrow). On 19 December, after a 240-km march, the New Zealand Division entered German territory. The infantry then boarded trains and arrived in Cologne next day, followed on Boxing Day by the artillery units.

From late December, New Zealand soldiers who had volunteered in 1914-15 and those who were married were sent back to England and from there to New Zealand. When it became clear that Germany was not capable of resuming combat, the repatriation process sped up. On 25 March 1919 the last draft of New Zealand soldiers left Cologne.

Credit:

Map produced by Geographx with research assistance from Damien Fenton and Caroline Lord.

It originally appeared in Damien Fenton, New Zealand and the First World War (Penguin, 2013)

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Advance to victory 1918 map

See enlarged version of this map here. You can also download a hi-res copy as a pdf (8 mbs).

This map shows the route taken by the British Third Army (between the red dotted lines) as it advanced across northern France during the Hundred Days Offensive - the rapid series of Allied victories in the final stages of the First World War. The advance of the New Zealand Division – part of the Third Army’s IV Corps – is shown by the red arrow. The purple lines mark the front on specific dates in September and October 1918.

After the Battle of Bapaume the German Second and Seventeenth armies (in green) retreated to defensive positions along the Hindenburg Line (the castellated black line), the Canal du Nord and Havrincourt Wood. By now the German Army was buckling under the pressure of being attacked along more than half the Western Front by the Allied armies of Britain, France, Belgium and the United States. While some German soldiers fought on until the bitter end, many demoralised units offered only token resistance before surrendering.

The Division methodically fought its way through Havrincourt and Gouzeaucourt Woods between 7 and 10 September before encountering stiff resistance at Trescault Spur. Here the Third Army stalled until 29 September, when a powerful attack on the Hindenburg Line was launched. On 1 October the 1st New Zealand Infantry Brigade captured the town of Crèvecoeur-sur-l’Escaut, establishing a foothold across the Scheldt Canal. By late October the New Zealand Division had halted outside the fortress town of Le Quesnoy, 25 km to the north-east. On 4 November the New Zealanders captured Le Quesnoy after scaling the town’s historic ramparts with a ladder. This was to be their last significant action of the war; most of the Division was relieved the following day and was still in reserve when an armistice was signed with Germany on 11 November.

Credit:

Map produced by Geographx with research assistance from Damien Fenton and Caroline Lord.

It originally appeared in Damien Fenton, New Zealand and the First World War, Penguin, Auckland, 2013.

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Battle of Bapaume map

See enlarged version of this map here. You can also download a hi-res copy as a pdf (3 mbs).

In contrast to the relatively static trench-based stalemate that characterised the Western Front for most of the First World War, by mid-1918 the tide had turned in favour of the Allied armies and open warfare ensued over swathes of the French countryside. The map above shows the position of the front line shifting rapidly eastwards in August-September 1918 during one of the New Zealand Division’s final offensives of the war, the Battle of Bapaume.

From July 1918, the overstretched German army faced renewed attacks from the British, French, Belgian and American allies along the Western Front. On 21 August the British Third Army (with the New Zealand Division as part of its IV Corps) launched an attack north of the 1916 Somme battlefield, intending to drive the Germans back towards the town of Bapaume. This ground was chosen as it was less torn-up by years of shelling, and thus better suited to mobile attacks with armoured support. The red arrow shows the progress that the New Zealand Division made during the battle.

The New Zealand Division played a supporting role on the right flank of the main attack in the first few days of the battle, but from 24 August it took a lead role. In a single day the New Zealanders captured the town of Grévillers, Loupart Wood and the village of Biefvillers. The following day they began to surround the town of Bapaume, where several major roads intersected. The German defenders resisted the siege until the night of 28 August, when they retreated to positions just east of Bancourt and Frémicourt. The New Zealanders entered Bapaume next day and continued to push the front line further east through lightly defended towns and across largely abandoned terrain until they halted east of Bertincourt to regroup.

By early September the British First, Third and Fourth armies had pushed the Germans back to the Hindenburg Line east of Bapaume, the area from which they had launched their Spring Offensive in March.

Credit:

Map produced by Geographx with research assistance from Damien Fenton and Caroline Lord.

It originally appeared in Damien Fenton, New Zealand and the First World War, Penguin, Auckland, 2013.

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German 1918 spring offensives map

See enlarged version of this map here. You can also download a hi-res copy as a pdf (2 mbs).

In early 1918 the German army achieved a substantial manpower advantage on the Western Front by transferring 50 divisions from the Eastern Front following Russia’s surrender in December 1917. On 21 March the Germans launched a massive offensive with the goal of ending the war before the American Expeditionary Force could be fully deployed, reversing the numerical imbalance on the Continent. Their aim was to first isolate the British Expeditionary Force and then compel the French to surrender. The map above shows the advances made by the Germans.

German armies (represented by green boxes) first attacked on the Somme, effectively destroying the British Fifth Army and driving a wedge between the British (red) and French (blue) forces. The New Zealand Division was one of the units rushed south in late March to establish a new defensive line. At Colincamps and Auchonvillers, the Division helped to stop the German advance on Amiens – the rail hub that linked the British armies in Flanders to the rest of France.

In a series of battles the Germans advanced up to 60 km into Allied-held territory, extending the front line from the solid purple line to the line of dashes in the centre of the map. In rushing forces south, the British had left the Flanders region around Ypres and the Channel ports vulnerable. On 9 April the Germans attacked in this area, but for logistical reasons stopped short of the strategic town of Hazebrouck (extending the front line to the purple dotted line at the top of the map). The final German advances were made in late May and early June in the Aisne sector, where the front line was pushed south to the Marne River (indicated by the purple dotted line at the bottom of the map).

The substantial territory captured during the spring offensive was of little strategic value to the Germans, whose depleted and over-extended units were unable to hold onto their gains during the Allied counter-attacks that began in July.

Credit:

Map produced by Geographx with research assistance from Damien Fenton and Caroline Lord.

It originally appeared in Damien Fenton, New Zealand and the First World War (Penguin, Auckland, 2013)

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Battles of Broodseinde and Passchendaele map

See enlarged version of this map here. You can also download a hi-res copy as a pdf (1.5 mbs).

The New Zealand Division won a comprehensive victory and then suffered its single costliest assault in two successive battles in early October 1917.

In late August 1917 General Herbert Plumer was given command of an offensive to capture high ground east of the Belgian town of Ypres using his Second Army (positioned south of the red broken line on the map). Under the command of the Army’s II ANZAC Corps was the New Zealand Division (just above the centre of the map).

The New Zealand Division took part in the Battle of Broodseinde on 4 October 1917, tasked with seizing part of the Broodseinde Ridge called Gravenstafel Spur. On that day the New Zealand soldiers overwhelmed German forward positions, captured 1100 prisoners and helped to extend the front line eastwards, as indicated by the thick purple broken line. This was achieved at a cost of 1700 casualties, including 350 deaths.

The British high command mistakenly concluded that the relative ease with which the Broodseinde Ridge had been won meant enemy resistance was faltering. It resolved to make a further push for Passchendaele Ridge on 12 October. However, by this time heavy rain had turned the terrain of Flanders into a muddy bog, rendering artillery support ineffective.

New Zealand soldiers advanced up the ridge only to find the enemy’s concrete pillboxes and lines of barbed wire still largely intact. 845 New Zealanders lost their lives in the Battle of Passchendaele, and another 2700 were wounded. This futile attack was the New Zealand Division’s greatest disaster.

The survivors of the New Zealand Division were withdrawn over the following weeks and replaced by members of the Canadian Corps. At a cost of 16,000 casualties, the Canadians managed to capture Passchendaele Ridge on 10 November, extending the front line to the thin purple broken line on the map.

Credit:

Map produced by Geographx with research assistance from Damien Fenton and Caroline Lord.

It originally appeared in Damien Fenton, New Zealand and the First World War (Penguin, 2013)

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Battle of Messines map

See enlarged version of this map here. You can also download a hi-res copy as a pdf (2.4 mbs).

In the summer of 1917 the British launched a major offensive to capture the Messines Ridge, a salient on the Western Front from which the Germans had a commanding view over the British-held Ypres Salient to the north. The map above shows the territory taken from the Germans on 7 June 1917 during the Battle of Messines.

From March 1917 the New Zealand Division was stationed in the Douve Sector (located at the bottom of the map), forming part of the British Second Army’s II Anzac Corps. On the day of the offensive, the Corps' aim was to capture the ruins of Messines before extending and consolidating their position at the purple line of dashes marked ‘Final Objective’. For weeks prior to Zero Day they rehearsed the battle plan methodically – every aspect of the operation being planned in minute detail.

Since early 1916 British tunnelling companies had been constructing mine shafts that extended directly beneath the German front line positions at Messines. These shafts were packed with enormous explosive charges and coordinated to detonate at Zero Hour: 3.10am on 7 June. Those that did explode are shown as yellow dots, those that were discovered by the Germans or failed to explode are shown as black and yellow dots.

The explosions devastated the German front-line positions, and caused disarray and thousands of deaths amongst the German forces. Immediately after Zero Hour a British artillery barrage began to creep forward, behind which British, Australian and New Zealand troops crossed no-man’s-land.

The battle plan was executed successfully, and by 7am the New Zealanders had cleared the town of Messines of German defenders. Australian troops then continued the push eastwards, extending the front line to the purple dotted line. By the time the New Zealand Division was relieved on 9 June, it had sustained 3700 casualties, including 700 dead, largely due to German artillery counter-attacks.

Credit:

Map produced by Geographx with research assistance from Damien Fenton and Caroline Lord.

It originally appeared in Damien Fenton, New Zealand and the First World War (Penguin, 2013)

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battle of messines

western front

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NZHistory, New Zealand history online - western front

Shellfire during Battle of the Somme

Aerial reconnaissance photo, 1918

1918: Amiens, Bapaume and victory - Western Front campaign

German spring offensive: Defence of Amiens

Change of name

Allies hit back: Second Marne and Bapaume

Three VC winners

Hundred Days’ Offensive: Havrincourt, Canal du Nord, Hindenburg Line, Selle and Sambre

Armistice and occupation

Further information

Links

Books

Schlieffen Plan and German invasion of 1914

Armistice and occupation of Germany map

Advance to victory 1918 map

Battle of Bapaume map

German 1918 spring offensives map

Battles of Broodseinde and Passchendaele map

Battle of Messines map