David Bilton - The Germans on the Somme 1914-1918

First published in Great Britain in 2009 by
PEN & SWORD MILITARY
An imprint of
Pen & Sword Books Ltd
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Copyright David Bilton, 2009

PRINT ISBN 978 1 84415 865 2
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Contents

Acknowledgements

Not again, please! and Why are you writing another book? were the common cries sorry! Once again, a big and meaningful thank you to my family who have to put up with my need to write. Again, what would I do without Anne Coulson to read my proofs or the Prince Consorts Library to assist me in my research? Thank you. As always it was a pleasure to work with the wonderful team at Pen and Sword who are always so forgiving.

Errors of omission or commission are solely my responsibility.

Introduction

T he Somme, Dpartement 80, is part of Picardy, an area forever part of the greatest and worst of British military history in the Great War. But its historical importance was not manifest until July 1916 and then again in early 1918.

Although not in the original plans of the German Army, war came in earnest to the unspoilt, prosperous farming area of the Somme in the closing days of September and stayed there for the duration of the war. After the initial battles between the French and Germans the region settled down to trench warfare in a modest way. It was not until the arrival of the British in July 1915 that the area became more active. A year later, with the first battle of the Somme, the area became, for nearly five months, strategically very important.

By the end of 1916 the German Army found its position in the region to be untenable and strategically withdrew, under the noses of the British, to new positions. Already, however, the focus of the war had changed with the French attacking further south and the British to the north, leaving the Somme a relatively quiet sector. It was not until March 1918 that full-scale war returned when the Kaiserschlacht began. On 1 July 1916, on the opening day of the great Somme offensive, the British army suffered its greatest death toll in one day, and, on 21 March, on the first day of the German offensive on the Somme, it suffered its greatest number of POWs taken. When the offensive ran out of steam, the British gradually retook the lost ground and by the last few weeks of the war the Somme again became a peaceful place.

German unit titles explain their origin and to some extent the ages of the men involved: Reserve units comprised men who had recently completed their compulsory service, Ersatz units were made up of physically fit men who had not been called up for conscript service, while Landwehr and Landsturm designated successively older age groups. However, as the war progressed the names remained unchanged but the personnel did not always reflect the title. An Ersatz unit might contain anyone not in another unit at that particular time, and so spare to requirements and free to serve in a unit with a short life span. While German regiments were raised by the independent states and many had their own titles and number, apart from Bavarian troops, they were subsumed into the general structure. From 1915 onwards brigades were replaced by regiments of three battalions, making a German division roughly the same size as a British one.

France and Germany had been at war in the 1870s. A German postcard celebrating their victory at Bapaume in January 1871.

A fter days of diplomatic discussion across Europe, following the death of Archduke Ferdinand, the first shots of the war were fired on 29 July when two Austrian monitors bombarded Belgrade and in return were shelled by Serbian guns on Topcider Heights. On the same day the German North Sea and Baltic fleets were mobilised and the British First Fleet sailed from Portland for Scapa Flow ready for their war station, as the British Cabinet pressed the German Government for mediation, warning that it could not stay out in all circumstances. At the same time Germany asked Britain to stay neutral, promising in return not to annex any French territory, while warning Russia that even a partial mobilisation would trigger war. Regardless of the warning, the next day the Russian Tsar signed the order for general mobilisation on 4 August.

On 31 July, Germany declared a state of danger of war and demanded assurances of French neutrality within eighteen hours - these were not forthcoming. Before the day was out and war declared, Germany decided to mobilise; the cruiser Knigsberg left Dar-es-Salaam to raid Allied commerce, Russian ships began mine-laying in the Gulf of Finland, Belgium ordered mobilisation for 1 August and Turkey ordered full mobilisation for men between twenty and forty-five for 3 August. At midnight the German Government declared an imminent danger of war and issued ultimatums to France and Russia, asking the latter to end all military steps by noon 1 August, while the former was called upon to declare its intentions with regard to the Russo-German conflict.

Wanting to fight a war only on the Eastern Front, the Kaiser found, on 1 August, that mobilisation could not be confined to just one front. The same day France ordered a general mobilisation but, as preparations continued, the day was quiet until 1700 hours when Germany prematurely invaded Luxembourg, ordered general mobilisation for men aged twenty to forty-five and ten minutes later declared war on Russia. Although not at war, Germany detained British merchant ships at Hamburg, mobilised the High Seas Fleet and assembled two U-boat flotillas off Heligoland. After mobilising, Belgium declared that she would uphold her neutrality.

On Sunday, 2 August, Germany demanded passage through Belgian territory in order to anticipate a French attack while simultaneously invading Luxembourg and sending patrols into France. In response France sent troops to the Franco-Belgian border, believing that the German probes were a ruse, and also sent an army corps into Alsace to seize Mulhouse and Huningen and destroy Rhine bridges. With its mobilisation complete, Serbian raiders captured towns on the Austria-Bosnia border while Russian troops invaded East Prussia. In the Baltic, the German cruisers Magdeburg and Augsburg shelled Libau and laid mines, while in Britain the Admiralty ordered full mobilisation.