Jump to: navigation, search. Telo, António José / Marquês de Sousa, Pedro: Battles, battlefields and campaigns, Western Front, Manuel de Oliveira Gomes da Costa (1863-1929). Gas mixed with the existing fog to blind the CEP; communication between its constituent parts was soon lost. Several attempts to cross the river in the night between 1 and 2 November failed, only the 37th US Division succeeded in gaining a bridgehead at Oudenaarde. [33] A notable loss was that during the battle, the German Ace Pilot Manfred von Richthofen, also known as the Red Baron, was killed in action. is licensed under: CC by-NC-ND 3.0 Germany - Attribution, Non-commercial, No Derivative Works. On the afternoon of 8 April 1918, however, an order arrived from General Richard Haking (1862… More French reinforcements arrived in the latter part of April, after the Germans had suffered many casualties, especially among the stoßtruppen. British commentators produced a very different – and often scathing – account of what had happened to their “ancient ally”. Middlebrook estimated French casualties as 80,000 and German as c. 250,000 with 50–60,000 lightly wounded. Whereas the First Army, under General Henry Horne (1861–1929), had favoured a “defence-in-depth” approach, which the CEP had internalized since its arrival in France, Haking, after his return from Italy, where he had been sent in the wake of the Caporetto disaster, Total casualties since 21 March were British: c. 240,000, French: 92,004 and German: 348,300. began to insist on holding a main line of defence at all costs, informing the commander of the Portuguese division, General Manuel de Oliveira Gomes da Costa (1863–1929), and his subordinates, of this new approach. The Battle of the Lys (7–29 April 1918), also known as the Lys Offensive, the Fourth Battle of Ypres, the Fourth Battle of Flanders and Operation Georgette, was part of the 1918 German offensive in Flanders during World War I, also known as the Spring Offensive. That's it. The extent to which the change to the battle plan was understood by the Portuguese is open to question; Gomes da Costa would continue to insist, for years to come, that the CEP had been asked to defend too many lines with its enfeebled battalions. For the Portuguese, this battle – the costliest engagement of the First World War – lasted a single morning, and 9 April 1918 became the central date of their commemoration activities. In spite of the Belgian's attempts to delay the Germans for as long as possible, their surrender angered the Allies, whose armies' north-western flank was now vulnerable to German attack. Altogether the British Army suffered over 50,000 casualties at Loos, almost double the number of … However, they failed in their main objective to capture Hazebrouck and force a British withdrawal from the Ypres salient. In the North, the Germans had taken up positions behind the Deinze-Bruges Canal and put up fierce resistance against Belgian attacks between 20 and 31 October. The Battle of Armentières was fought by German and Franco-British forces in northern France in October 1914, during reciprocal attempts by the armies to envelop the northern flank of their opponent, which has been called the Race to the Sea. In 1978 Middlebrook wrote of 160,000 British casualties, 22,000 killed, 75,000 priosners and 63,000 wounded. Some days earlier, two brigades had been sent to the rear to rest; the remaining four brigades and the artillery corps, making up the Portuguese 2nd Division, had stayed behind. The battle was presented – and is International Encyclopedia of the First World War, ed. Just better. The Belgian Army, for instance, lost one-fifth of its forces between 4 October and 11 November 1918, one-third of all the losses it sustained throughout the whole war. Here, George Edwin Ellison and George Lawrence Price were killed. This is a ratio of about 2 inches (5 cm) of ground taken by every dead soldier. The Battle of the Lys (French: Bataille de la Lys, Dutch: Leieslag) was a major battle between Belgian and German forces during the German Invasion of Belgium of 1940, in World War Two, and the final major battle fought by Belgian troops before their surrender on … The March 1918 offensive having come to a halt, the German High Command decided to strike a second blow further north, aimed squarely at the British sector. The army’s suffering on that day would then be used as justification for its increasing role in Portuguese politics, culminating in the 28 May 1926 coup which ended the First Republic. In the first phase of the offensive, the German 4th Army was defeated in the Fifth Battle of Ypres (28 September – 2 October) and Passchendale was retaken. Troops of the British Expeditionary Force moved north from the Aisne front in early October and then joined in a general advance with French troops further south, pushing German cavalry and Jäger back towards Lille until 19 October. Causing huge casualties for the Germans, the Allies had captured 5 miles (8 km) of some of the best defended territory in the world. The 5th Division casualties were similar and the Indian Corps up to 31 October had 1,565 casualties. Battle of the Lys (1918) (9–29 April 1918) also known as the Battle of Estaires or the Fourth Battle of Ypres. The Allies advanced up to 18 mi (29 km), with an average advance of 6 mi (9.7 km) and captured c. 10,000 prisoners, 300 guns and 600 machine-guns.. Around 200,000 casualties. The Battle of the Lys and the Escaut was the third and last phase of the Second Battle of Belgium (French: 2ème Bataille de Belgique) or the Ypres-Lys Offensive, and took place in Belgium between 20 October and 11 November 1918. It was part of a German offensive known as the “Spring Offensive” whose goal was to recapture Ypres from British Forces. Around 200,000 casualties. In 2006 Zabecki gave 86,000 German, 82,040 British and 30,000 French casualties. Reinforcements had been made from the latest draft in the United Kingdom; some units replacements had been 18 year olds with little training. The situation on the frontlines was confused, and soon after the battle accusations began to fly between Portuguese and British about who had given way first at the points of contact between the 2nd Division and its neighbouring formations, allowing German forces to surround and mop up Allied soldiers. The third German offensive Operation Georgette takes place in Flanders with the objective of capturing key railway and supply roads and cutting off British Second Army at Ypres. French civilians became increasingly hostile to Belgians in their midst. [1] Mud and a collapse of the supply-system had stopped the advance in early October but by the middle of the month the GAF launched the second phase of the offensive, the Battle of Courtrai. In Belgium the Groupe d'Armées des Flandres (GAF) was formed under the command of King Albert I of Belgium, with the French General Jean Degoutte as Chief of Staff, comprising twelve Belgian divisions, ten divisions of the British Second Army and six divisions of the French Sixth Army. There were over 200,000 casualties and losses. Order of Battle of the Allied Army (North to South), New River Notes, 91st Division American Expeditionary Force, World War I, Ypres-Lys Operation, November 9-11, 1918, 37th Division, Armistice between Russia and the Central Powers, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_the_Lys_and_the_Escaut&oldid=999487881, Battles of World War I involving the United Kingdom, Battles of World War I involving the United States, Battles of the Western Front (World War I), Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, 30th Army Corps (Lt-Gen Hippolyte-Alphonse Pénet), This page was last edited on 10 January 2021, at 12:40. In 2002 Marix Evans recorded 109,300 German casualties … The great tragedy for the British Army and the Imperial Forces of Australia, New Zealand and Canada, who suffered so many losses in the fight for the few miles from Ypres to the Passchendaele Ridge, is that only five months later almost all of the ground gained in the mud and horror of the battles … The battle was named after the river Leie (known as Lys in French), where the battlefield was situated (in Belgium and in Northern-France). Henry promised to attack France at Guyenne, landing 10,000 men at Hondarribia in the Basque in June 1512. Short of officers and equipment, their resistance was short-lived and they retreated five miles suffering 7,000 casualties killed, wounded and missing. [7] The sudden end of the war came as a surprise to many Allied soldiers, as well as German soldiers. The battle was presented – and is generally remembered – as an epic encounter against impossible odds. The offensive involved Australian, Belgian, British, Canadian, French and American forces, and inflicted heavy casualties on the Germans opposing it. These troops were due to be relieved from front line duty the day the attack started. A new offensive to cross the Escaut which aimed at reaching Brussels was planned for 10 November, but this was cancelled when it became clear an armistice was imminent. What began as a withdrawal turned into a rout. Although some Portuguese units on the frontlines seem to have held out, suffering heavy casualties, most simply gave way, rushing back to the safety of the Lawe and Lys rivers. During Georgette, the Germans managed to penetrate Allied lines to a depth of 9.3 mi (15 km). The Battle of the Lys (French language: Bataille de la Lys, Dutch language: Leieslag) was a major battle between Belgian and German forces during the German Invasion of Belgium of 1940. Even while the barrage was taking place, German Stoßtruppen were already at work in the British and Portuguese trenches, sowing chaos. The battle waged on 9 April 1918 constitutes the central event of the CEP’s history even if the full details of the encounter were not generally understood at home. By 29 April, the German high command realized they could no longer achieve their objectives and called off the offensive. DOI: 10.15463/ie1418.11329. Landsturmmann Julius Berger is a Battle of the Lys casualty, dying on 11th April 1918,… …whereas his namesake Gefreiter Max Berger was killed on 25th May 1918, a … In 2006 Zabecki gave 86,000 German, 82,040 British and 30,000 French casualties. American troops north-west of Toul lose village of Seicheprey, but regain it and inflict heavy casualties … Both sides suffered heavy losses during the battle of the Lys. Although it had been one of the best British divisions it had suffered badly in the German attacks of Marchlosing 250 officers and about 4,700 other ranks, reducing its infantry by half. On 29 th April, the German High Command called off the offensive. At about 4:15 AM on 9 April 1918, the German artillery unleashed a mixed barrage of explosive and gas shells whose intensity the Portuguese had never experienced before. Having spent the night packing, officers and men were then surprised by the German onslaught which followed. Battle of the Lys (1918) From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core. by Ute Daniel, Peter Gatrell, Oliver Janz, Heather Jones, Jennifer Keene, Alan Kramer, and Bill Nasson, issued by Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin 2019-01-11. Meneses, Filipe Ribeiro de: Lys, Battle of the , in: 1914-1918-online. The Battle of the Lys, also known as the Fourth Battle of Ypres, took place between 7 th and 29 th April, 1918. There is some controversy over the extent to which the British High Command knew that the German offensive would begin on 9 April 1918, and over whether or not it failed to pass on that information to the Portuguese. The CEP’s increasingly disorderly retreat, combined with the ineffectual action of its reserve brigade, turned the Portuguese into a ready-made scapegoat for the La Lys debacle. This text The Battle of the Lys (French: Bataille de la Lys, Dutch: Leieslag) was a major battle between Belgian and German forces during the German Invasion of Belgium of 1940 and the final major battle fought by Belgian troops before their surrender on 28 May. They lost 140,000 men. They were the last British and British Empire soldiers to be killed during the First World War. The source code for the WIKI 2 extension is being checked by specialists of the Mozilla Foundation, Google, and Apple. The offensive was continued with the Battle of Courtrai (14–19 October). In August 1918, the Allied Command launched an offensive across the Western Front. Although the Portuguese henceforth celebrated 11 November along with other allied nations, it was 9 April that took pride of place in their remembrance ceremonies. To install click the Add extension button. In reality, though, the new infiltration tactics used by the Germans were probably responsible. According to the Statistics of the Military Effort of the British Empire during the Great War, British forces in the period of the Battle of Cambrai suffered 75,681 casualties, 10,042 killed and died of wounds, 48,702 wounded and 16,987 missing or prisoners of war. On 9 April 1918 the Portuguese Expeditionary Corps (Corpo Expedicionário Português, CEP) was about to enter a new, and as yet undefined, phase of its existence. Around 2,600 British men were registered as casualties as a result of the failed gas attack, but very few died. The area was largely held by the British 8th Division. In the Center, the 91st US Division suffered heavy losses against strong German resistance in Spitaals Bosschen near Waregem. The French 6th Army and 37th US Division advanced with less difficulties between the Lys and Escaut, but encountered stiff resistance when they reached the Escaut on 1 November. At Mons, the British Army attempted to hold the line of the Mons–Condé Canal against the advancing German 1st Army. The cost to both sides in human casualties was immense at between 200,000 and 400,000, although exact figures for British and German casualties continue to be a matter of discussion for military historians. Command points, artillery positions and communication trenches were singled out for special attention. This army was conveyed by the admiral Edward … The same night the men of the 1st Battalion were relieved and moved out by route march, then by ‘motor-lorries’ to La Bréarde where they remained until the end of the Battle of the Lys. Facing them were 50,000 German troops. Manuel de Oliveira Gomes da Costa (1863–1929). By 10 November, the Belgian Army had reached the western outskirts of Ghent. On 9 April 1918 the Portuguese Expeditionary Corps (Corpo Expedicionário Português, CEP) was about to enter a new, and as yet undefined, phase of its existence. The battle was named after the river Leie (known as the Lys in French), where the battlefield was situated (in Belgium and in Nord-Pas-de-Calais). Portuguese casualties were high, but only – in First World War terms – when it comes to prisoners taken. On their way to the rear they encountered, and often demoralized, the men of the reserve brigade, who were moving towards their allotted position in preparation for a counterattack that never materialized. In 2006 Zabecki gave 86,000 German,82,040 British and 30,000 French casualties. What the Portuguese call the Battle of the Lys represented merely the start of Operation Georgette, the second of Erich Ludendorff's (1865-1937) 1918 Spring Offensives. The German retreat had not been a rout, but was relatively well organized with very mobile "Machinen Gewehr Kompanies" attacking the advancing Allies and which inflicted many casualties. On the afternoon of 8 April 1918, however, an order arrived from General Richard Haking (1862–1945) of XI (British) Corps, stating that the 2nd Division’s infantry should also withdraw to the rear for a prolonged period of rest. Moreover, there was a great deal of confusion over what its actual mission was. What is undoubtedly the case, however, is that the 2nd Division was now covering with three brigades what the CEP as a whole had previously covered with four, and that its battalions were heavily depleted after months without reinforcements. The Germans lost 120,000 of the 800,000 men engaged in the battle, while British and French losses had been on the same scale. On 31 October II Corps had only 14,000 men of the original 24,000 man establishment, of which c. 1,400 men were inexperienced drafts. On 8 and 9 November the French launched a new attack, which was repulsed by the Germans, but which nevertheless resulted in a new bridgehead between Oudenaarde and Melden.[6]. The Battles of the Lys, 1918 9 April – 29 April 1918 : the Battles of the Lys 1918 . For the World War II battle, see Battle of the Lys (1940). British casualties from 14 October – 30 November were 58,155, French losses were 86,237 men and of 134,315 German casualties in Belgium and northern France, from 15 October – 24 November, 46,765 losses were incurred on the front from the Lys to Gheluvelt, from 30 October – 24 November. The following forces were assigned to the Allied army:[5]. 1918, Battle of the Lys, casualties, Festubert, France, Germany, Givenchy-les-la-Bassee, Seicheprey, Toul, trenches, United States of America. Filipe Ribeiro de Meneses, National University of Ireland Maynooth. Some days earlier, two brigades had been sent to the rear to rest; the remaining four brigades and the artillery corps, making up the Portuguese 2nd Division, had stayed behind. The casualty figures for Passchendaele are highly contested but it is generally agreeed that each side lost a minimum of 200,000 men and likely as many as twice that. This contributed to the Stab-in-the-back myth, which stated that the German Army was not yet defeated on the battlefield, but was instead betrayed by left-wing and Jewish politicians on the home front. The Battle of Mons was the first major action of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in the First World War.It was a subsidiary action of the Battle of the Frontiers, in which the Allies clashed with Germany on the French borders. The battle waged on 9 April 1918 constitutes the central event of the CEP’s history even if the full details of the encounter were not generally understood at home. Henry VIII had joined in the Holy League on 13 October 1511 with Venice and Spain to defend the Papacy from its enemies and France with military force. Portuguese commentators concentrated their attention on the few instances of resistance (notably the fortified village of La Couture) and identified some heroic individuals, starting with soldier Aníbal Milhais (1895–1970), a light machine-gunner who carried out a successful one-man campaign against the advancing Germans. Notes ^ Almost immediately the battle became one in which small and isolated groups of men were asked to fight on without orders or any conception of what was happening around them. In the wake of the battle, and amid conflicting accounts of what had happened, the British High Command decided to prevent the reconstitution of the CEP as a frontline fighting force. The German Sixth Army was concentrated on a relatively narrow front, poised to strike against XI Corps (whose line was held by the British 55th Division and the Portuguese 2nd) and the 40th Division, to the north. Battle of the Lys (1918). The battle ended on 10 November, apart from small operations. The initial objective was to reach and cross the Lawe and Lys rivers. Valenciennes was taken on 2 November, and Mons was reached on 10 November. While mortal casualties among the Portuguese were counted in the low hundreds, the numbers taken prisoners surpassed 6,000. On 2 November, the Germans were forced to fall back on the Ghent–Terneuzen Canal, which they held until the end of the war. Quite the same Wikipedia. The British suffered 4,695 casualties, the Belgians "nett" casualties from among 2,000 killed and 10,000 men ill or wounded. The more traditional explanation is that in the face of a coming offensive, Haking engaged in a race against time to replace the Portuguese and that he narrowly missed his goal, in part because many of the reserve units at his disposal had only recently arrived from the March 1918 battle, in the hope of resting in a quiet sector. Middlebrook estimated French casualties as 80,000 and German as c. 250,000 with 50–60,000 … This continued for at least three hours after which the casualties of the 1st Battalion numbered 3 officers and 31 other ranks. Aftermath Casualties. Advanced trenches in Givenchy and Festubert regions recovered. Between 3 November and 8 November, the allies were forced to rest and reorganize their forces. A notable loss was that during the battle, the German Ace Pilot Manfred von Richthofen, also known as the Red Baron, was killed in action. [2][3] The French took Roulers, the Belgians Ostend, Bruges and Zeebrugge and the British Courtrai, Lille and Douai.[4]. Once again Ludendorff had failed to achieve his main target. Subsequent operations. In the South, the British army advanced steadily. The Ypres-Lys Offensive of World War I, part of the larger Hundred Days Campaign, was launched in August 1918 to liberate Belgium and parts of northeast France. You could also do it yourself at any point in time. Casualties. The Battle of the Lys and the Escaut was the third and last phase of the Second Battle of Belgium (French: 2ème Bataille de Belgique) or the Ypres-Lys Offensive, and took place in Belgium between 20 October and 11 November 1918. 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