The Germans on the Somme

David Bilton

• Publisher: Pen & Sword Military
• Year: 2020
• eBook ISBN: 9781844688760
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: History

This highly illustrated book covers the activities of the German Army on the River Somme throughout the long years of The Great War. The initial fighting in 1914 was against the French prior to the arrival of the British Army. The 1916 Allied Offensive eventually resulted in the German withdrawal but only at a terrible cost to both sides. The 1918 Kaiserschlacht saw the Germans return, albeit briefly. Each phase is covered from the German perspective using primary and secondary sources. In addition to the wealth of splendid/fully captioned photographs, there is an authoritative general text and a useful chronological order of events. Being arguably the most evocative area in British military history, much has been written on the Somme. What makes this splendid book so different is the author's successful attempt to view events through the eyes of our adversaries.

Chapter One

1914

After 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 Königsberg 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.

The main street through the village of Allaines during the winter of 1914. There may have been a war on but little had changed away from the front line.

To accommodate the large number of headquarters staff many châteaux were taken over and their occupiers, if they had not already previously left, were moved out. Some were better equipped than others; Château Aubencheul-au-bac, had a small tropical garden attached to the rear of the main house.

An estate worker at Manancourt Château who had fought in the war of 1870/71 against the occupying power.

There was no turning back on 3 August when Germany declared war on France claiming that French planes had bombed Karlsruhe and Nurenburg; Belgium rejected the German ultimatum; the British government pledged armed support to Belgium in case of a German invasion declaring a general mobilisation, German cavalry crossed into Belgium and German troops invaded Russian Poland. At sea, although not yet at war, a German mine laid off Cuxhaven sank the British ship, SS San Wilfrido.

The next day, German cruisers shelled French Algeria before being chased off by British battlecruisers - this again, even though no state of war existed between the two countries; British ships left Scapa to stop the German fleet from breaking out, Germany declared war on Belgium and invaded on a fifteen-mile front with the Belgian army concentrating west of Liège to face the threat. In Britain army reserves and territorials were mobilised. The die was cast for a world war and when the British ultimatum to Germany expired at 2300 hours British time, Britain and Germany were at war – the first major European war for nearly a hundred years.

Active service was hard on boots. Based at Manancourt, regimental cobblers repair damaged boots.

Increasing the scale of the conflict, on 5 August, Austria declared war on Russia; in a quid pro quo, Montenegro declared war on Austria and Zanzibar declared war on Germany. Fighting on the western front continued with German forces failing to break Belgian resistance at Liège but managing to get through to Namur. On the North Sea, British cruisers sank the German minelayer Königin Luise off the Suffolk coast with two of the mines laid sinking the British cruiser Amphion.

Bapaume during the winter of 1914

The Kaiser’s speech to the German people on the eve of war with France explaining that ‘A heavy time is today over Germany.’

The battles of the French frontiers began on 6 August, the same day that Serbia declared war on Germany. A day later, and only three days after declaring war, an advance party of the BEF landed in France with two corps following on 9 August, and by 16 August the entire expeditionary force was in France.

‘On 1 August, just before 1900 hours, the time set for 16 Division to move into Luxembourg, the Kaiser countermanded the order, but by then a company of 69 Infantry Regiment, commanded by Lt. Feldmann, had already crossed the border and taken their objective; the next day Fourth Army occupied the country. Next day, the Belgian government refused the German army entry and, from that point on, considered itself to be at war with Germany. On 4 August German forces crossed the frontier, meeting little opposition.’

‘While the German armies fought their way through Belgium, the French launched their own attacks in Lorraine, the Ardennes and on the Sambre. No matter how valiantly the French and Belgians fought, the German army kept moving forward. On 24 August, ‘one million Germans invaded France. For the French and British the great retreat had begun. It lasted for thirteen days, blazing summer days’ in which the German Army made a bid for a swift decisive victory. ‘They were desperate days for the Allies whose only offensive plan had not survived the opening battles of the war’, while the German troops were following the highly detailed Schlieffen plan.’

During the initial battles on the Somme, before the lines settled down into trenches, any surviving buildings were used as a barracks, even churches.

When timber was available, Pioneer units were able to construct mass bunks so troops had a permanent place to rest and leave their belongings when at rest.

Officers were quartered in better billets and provided with a batman to look after their needs. In a larger billet like a château, they also had their own private orchestra.

A soldier from Ernst Junger’s regiment – 73 Fusiliers, photographed just before setting off for the war. The regiment had served with the British Army during the siege of Gibraltar in the 18th century and wore a Gibraltar armband to commemmorate the action.

Wherever the ground was flat, it was necessary to provide as high an observation point as possible, in this case a platform built into a very tall tree.

French troops in bivouac on the Somme region.

‘Five of the seven armies ‘scythed down towards Paris on a 75-mile front. For the troops on both sides they were days of endless marching under a scorching sun.’ Even though the Allied troops were under constant pressure their retreat was ordered and controlled, but each new action moved them closer to Paris – so close that, on 2 September, the French government left for Bordeaux.’

‘However, a captured map shows that Kluck’s First Army was now headed for the gap between the French Fifth and Sixth armies and not for Paris. This exposed his army’s right flank to attack; this deviation from the Schlieffen Plan when his troops were seriously over-extended, badly exhausted and exposed, both on their flanks and the rear, resulted in a general withdrawal from the Marne to the Aisne.’

‘With the Allied attacks failing to push the Germans back on the Aisne, attention on both sides was becoming increasingly concentrated on the open flank to the west, and, ‘by the time the battle on the Aisne was dying down, activity at the western end of the li...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Chapter 1 – 1914
• Chapter 2 – 1915
• Chapter 3 – 1916
• Chapter 4 – 1917
• Chapter 5 – 1918
• Bibliography