The Battle of the Lys, also known as the Fourth Battle of Ypres, was fought from 7 to 29 April 1918 and was part of the
German spring offensive in
Flanders
Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...
during the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. It was originally planned by General
Erich Ludendorff
Erich Friedrich Wilhelm Ludendorff (9 April 1865 – 20 December 1937) was a German general, politician and military theorist. He achieved fame during World War I for his central role in the German victories at Liège and Tannenberg in 1914. ...
as Operation George but was reduced to Operation Georgette, with the objective of capturing
Ypres
Ypres ( , ; nl, Ieper ; vls, Yper; german: Ypern ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though
the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality co ...
, forcing the British forces back to the
Channel ports
The Channel Ports are seaports in southern England and the facing continent, which allow for short crossings of the English Channel. There is no formal definition, but there is a general understanding of the term. Some ferry companies divide their ...
and out of the war. In planning, execution and effects, Georgette was similar to (although smaller than)
Operation Michael
Operation Michael was a major German military offensive during the First World War that began the German Spring Offensive on 21 March 1918. It was launched from the Hindenburg Line, in the vicinity of Saint-Quentin, France. Its goal was to ...
, earlier in the Spring Offensive.
Background
Strategic developments
The German attack zone was in
Flanders
Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...
, from about east of
Ypres
Ypres ( , ; nl, Ieper ; vls, Yper; german: Ypern ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though
the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality co ...
in
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
to east of
Béthune
Béthune ( ; archaic and ''Bethwyn'' historically in English) is a city in northern France, sub-prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department.
Geography
Béthune is located in the former province of Artois. It is situated south-east of Calais, ...
in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, about south. The front line ran from north-north-east to south-south-west. The
Lys River, running from south-west to north-east, crossed the front near
Armentières
Armentières (; vls, Armentiers) is a commune in the Nord department in the Hauts-de-France region in northern France. It is part of the Métropole Européenne de Lille.
The motto of the town is ''Pauvre mais fière'' (Poor but proud).
Geogra ...
in the middle of this zone. The front was held by the
Belgian Army
The Land Component ( nl, Landcomponent, french: Composante terre) is the land branch of the Belgian Armed Forces. The King of the Belgians is the commander in chief. The current chief of staff of the Land Component is Major-General Pierre Gérard. ...
in the far north, by the
British Second Army
The British Second Army was a field army active during the First and Second World Wars. During the First World War the army was active on the Western Front throughout most of the war and later active in Italy. During the Second World War the army ...
(under
Plumer) in the north and centre and by the
British First Army
The First Army was a formation of the British Army that existed during the First and Second World Wars. The First Army included Indian and Portuguese forces during the First World War and American and French units during the Second World War.
F ...
(under
Horne) in the south.
Prelude
Tactical developments
The German attacking forces were the
Sixth Army in the south (under
Ferdinand von Quast
Alexander Ferdinand Ludolf von Quast (18 October 1850 – 27 March 1939) was a Prussian military officer, participant in the Franco-Prussian War and a general in the First World War. He commanded the German 6th Army during the Battle of the Lys ...
), and the
Fourth Army in the north (under
Sixt von Armin Sixt von Armin is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
*Friedrich Sixt von Armin (1851–1936), German general
*Hans-Heinrich Sixt von Armin __NOTOC__
Hans-Heinrich Sixt von Armin (6 November 1890 – 1 April 1952) was a German ...
). Both armies included substantial numbers of the new ''
stosstruppen'', trained to lead attacks with the new
stormtroop tactics.
The British First Army was a relatively weak force; it included several worn-out formations that had been posted to a "quiet sector". This included two divisions of the
Portuguese Expeditionary Corps
The Portuguese Expeditionary Corps (CEP, Portuguese: ''Corpo Expedicionário Português'') was the main military force from Portugal that fought in the Western Front, during World War I. Portuguese neutrality ended in 1916 after the Portuguese ...
, which were undermanned, lacked almost half of their officers, had very low morale and were set to be replaced the day of the German attack.
German plan of attack
The German plan was to break through the First Army, push the Second Army aside to the north, and drive west to the
English Channel
The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...
, cutting off British forces in France from their supply line which ran through the Channel ports of
Calais
Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...
,
Dunkirk
Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.[Boulogne
Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. Boulogne lies on the ...]
.
Battle
Battle of Estaires (9–11 April)
The German bombardment opened on the evening of 7 April, against the southern part of the Allied line between Armentières and
Festubert
Festubert is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. The village was on the Western Front during the First World War and was largely destroyed in the May 1915 Battle of Festubert.
Geography
A farming v ...
. The barrage continued until dawn on 9 April. The Sixth Army then attacked with eight divisions. The German assault struck the Portuguese
Second Division
In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...
, which held a front of about . The Portuguese division was overrun and withdrew towards Estaires after hours of heavy fighting. The British
55th (West Lancashire) Division, to the south of the Portuguese in a more defensible position, pulled back its northern brigade and held its ground for the rest of the battle, despite attacks from two German reserve divisions. The British
40th Division (to the north of the Portuguese) collapsed under the German attack and fell back to the north.
Horne committed his reserves (First
King Edward's Horse
King Edward's Horse (The King's Overseas Dominions Regiment) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1901, which saw service in the First World War.
Early history
The regiment was originally formed as part of the Imperial Yeomanry ...
and the 11th Cyclist Battalion) to stem the German breakthrough but they too were defeated. The Germans broke through of front and advanced up to , the most advanced probe reaching
Estaires
Estaires (; vls, Stegers) is a commune in the Nord department of the Hauts-de-France region in northern France.
The town gives its name to a type of chicken bred in the area: the Estaires chicken.
Geography
Estaires is located in French Fla ...
on the Lys. There they were finally halted by British reserve divisions. On 10 April, the Sixth Army tried to push west from Estaires but was contained for a day; pushing north against the flank of the Second Army, it took Armentières.
Battle of Messines (10–11 April)
![British 55th Division gas casualties 10 April 1918](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/British_55th_Division_gas_casualties_10_April_1918.jpg)
Also on 10 April, German Fourth Army attacked north of Armentières with four divisions, against the British 19th Division. The Second Army had sent its reserves south to the First Army and the Germans broke through, advancing up to on a front, and capturing
Messines.
The 25th Division to the south, flanked on both sides, withdrew about . By 11 April, the British situation was desperate; it was on this day that
Haig issued his famous "backs to the wall" order.
Battle of Hazebrouck (12–15 April)
On 12 April, the Sixth Army renewed its attack in the south, towards the important supply centre of
Hazebrouck
Hazebrouck (, nl, Hazebroek, , vls, Oazebroeke) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France. It was a small market town in Flanders until it became an important railway junction in the 1860s. West Flemish was the usual language until 1 ...
, another to the west. The Germans advanced some and captured
Merville. On 13 April they were stopped by the
First Australian Division, which had been transferred to the area. The British
Fourth Division defended Hinges Ridge, the
Fifth Division held Nieppe Forest and the
33rd Division was also involved.
Battle of Bailleul (13–15 April)
From the Germans drove forward in the centre, taking
Bailleul, west of Armentières, despite increasing British resistance. Plumer assessed the heavy losses of the Second Army and the defeat of his southern flank and ordered his northern flank to withdraw from
Passchendaele to Ypres and the
Yser Canal
The Ieperlee (or ''Ypres-Ijzer Canal'') is a canalized river that rises in Heuvelland in the Belgian province of West Flanders and flows via the city of Ypres (Ieper) into the Yser at Fort Knokke.
The river is long. Its name is derived from ''ie ...
; the Belgian Army to the north conformed.
Retirement from Passchendaele Ridge
On 23 March, Haig had ordered Plumer to make contingency plans to shorten the line along the Ypres Salient and release troops for the other armies. On 11 April, Plumer authorised a withdrawal of the southern flank of the Second Army and ordered the VIII and II corps in the Passchendaele Salient to retreat the next day into the Battle Zone, behind outposts left in the Forward Zone of the British defensive system. The divisional commanders were ordered that the Forward Zone must be held and that the Germans must not be given the impression that a withdrawal was in progress. At noon on 12 April, the VIII Corps ordered the infantry retirement to begin that night and the 59th Division was withdrawn and transferred south, to be replaced by part of the 41st Division. The II Corps had begun to withdraw its artillery at the same time as VIII Corps on the night of and ordered the 36th and 30th divisions to conform to the VIII Corps withdrawal which were complete by 13 April, without German interference; VIII Corps HQ was transferred to reserve.
During 13 April, General Headquarters (GHQ) discussed the retirements in the Lys valley, which had lengthened the British front line and Plumer agreed to a retirement in the
Ypres Salient
The Ypres Salient around Ypres in Belgium was the scene of several battles and an extremely important part of the Western front during the First World War.
Ypres district
Ypres lies at the junction of the Ypres–Comines Canal and the Ieperlee. ...
to the Mt Kemmel, Voormezeele ( south of Ypres), White Château ( east of Ypres) to Pilckem Ridge defence line but ordered only that artillery ammunition be carried to the rear; the 4th Army reported on 14 April, that the British were still occupying the Passchendaele Salient. The next day was quiet in the salient and the withdrawal of the II Corps and XXII Corps divisions was covered by the outposts in the original front line and artillery, which was divided into some active batteries which fired and a greater number of batteries kept silent, camouflaged and not to fire except in an emergency. Plumer gave orders to begin the retirement by occupying the line before the night of while maintaining the garrisons in the outpost line and holding the Battle Zone with a few troops as an intermediate line. During the night of the outpost line garrisons were to be withdrawn behind the new front line at and the intermediate line in front of the Battle Zone was to be held as long as possible, to help the troops in the new line to get ready.
On 16 April, patrols went forward during the morning and found the area between the old and new front lines to be empty, the Germans still apparently in ignorance of the retirement; one patrol captured a German officer scouting for observation posts who did not know where the British were. Only in the late afternoon did German troops begin to close up to the new line and the British troops in the Battle Zone easily repulsed the German infantry, the 4th Army diary recorded that patrols discovered the withdrawal at that afternoon.
Battle of Merckem (17 April)
On 17 April, the Belgian Army defeated an attack from
Houthulst
Houthulst (; vls, Oetulst, ) is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality consists of the sub-municipalities Houthulst, Jonkershove, Klerken and Merkem. On January 1, 2006, Houthulst had a total populatio ...
Forest (The Battle of Merckem) against the 10th and 3rd Belgian divisions from
Langemarck
Langemark is a village in the Belgian province of West Flanders, and a subdivision of the municipality of Langemark-Poelkapelle. The village has about 5,000 inhabitants. Besides the village center, there are also three smaller hamlets on th ...
to Lake Blankaart by the
58th, 2nd Naval and the
6th Bavarian divisions, with help from the II Corps artillery. The Germans captured Kippe but were forced out by counter-attacks and the line was restored by nightfall. On the afternoon of 27 April, the south end of the outpost line was driven in when Voormezeele was captured, re-captured and then partly captured by the Germans; another outpost line was set up north-east of the village. Belgian losses were 619 killed, wounded or missing. The Germans lost between 1922 and 2354 men, of which 779 were taken prisoner.
First Battle of Kemmel (17–19 April)
The
Kemmelberg
Kemmelberg (, ) is a hill formation in Flanders, Belgium. It is located less than a kilometer from the village of Kemmel, part of the municipality of Heuvelland in West Flanders.
History
The earliest settlements on the Kemmelberg date back 2.500 y ...
is a height commanding the area between Armentières and Ypres. On 17–19 April, the German Fourth Army attacked and was repulsed by the British.
Battle of Béthune (18 April)
On 18 April, the German Sixth Army attacked south from the breakthrough area toward Béthune but was repulsed.
Second Battle of Kemmel (25–26 April)
French General
Ferdinand Foch
Ferdinand Foch ( , ; 2 October 1851 – 20 March 1929) was a French general and military theorist who served as the Supreme Allied Commander during the First World War. An aggressive, even reckless commander at the First Marne, Flanders and Art ...
had recently assumed supreme command of the Allied forces and on 14 April agreed to send French reserves to the Lys sector. A French division relieved the British defenders of the Kemmelberg.
From the German Fourth Army made a sudden attack on the Kemmelberg with three divisions and captured it. This success gained some ground, but there was no progress made toward a new break in the Allied line.
Battle of the Scherpenberg (29 April)
On 29 April, a final German attack captured the Scherpenberg, a hill to the north-west of the Kemmelberg.
Aftermath
Analysis
During ''Georgette'', the Germans managed to penetrate Allied lines to a depth of . However, they failed in their main objective to capture Hazebrouck and force a British withdrawal from the Ypres salient. More French reinforcements arrived in the latter part of April, after the Germans had suffered many casualties, especially among the . By 29 April, the German high command realized they could no longer achieve their objectives and called off the offensive.
Casualties
In 1937 C. B. Davies, J. E. Edmonds and R. G. B. Maxwell-Hyslop, the British
official historians gave casualties from as and a similar number of German casualties. Total casualties since 21 March were British: and German: In 1978 Middlebrook wrote of casualties, and Middlebrook estimated French casualties as German as wounded. In 2002 Marix Evans recorded casualties and the loss of British losses of and and French losses of and 12 guns. In 2006 Zabecki gave and casualties. The German ace
Manfred von Richthofen
Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen (; 2 May 1892 – 21 April 1918), known in English as Baron von Richthofen or the Red Baron, was a fighter pilot with the German Air Force during World War I. He is considered the ace-of-aces of ...
, the "Red Baron," was killed in action.
Notes
Footnotes
References
Books
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Theses
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Websites
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Further reading
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External links
CWGC map
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Battles of the Western Front (World War I)
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Battles in Flanders
Conflicts in 1918
Battle
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...