- Battle of Festubert
The Battle of Festubert was an attack by the
British army in the Artois region ofFrance on the western front duringWorld War I . It began onMay 15 ,1915 and continued untilMay 25 .Context
It was part of the larger French Artois Offensive and was undertaken to assist the French near
Arras by preventing German reserve troops from being available to move there. [Farndale 1986, page 107]The Battle
The attack was made by the
British First Army under SirDouglas Haig against a German salient betweenNeuve Chapelle to the north and the village of Festubert to the south. The assault was planned along a three mile front, and would initially be made mainly byIndia n troops. This would be the first British army night attack of the war.The battle was preceded by a 60 hour bombardment by 433
artillery piece s that fired about 100,000 shells. This bombardment failed to significantly damage the front line defenses of theGerman Sixth Army , but the initial advance made some progress in good weather conditions. The attack was renewed on the 16th, and by the 19th the British 2nd and 7th divisions had to be withdrawn due to heavy losses.On the 18th the Canadian Division, assisted by the 51st (Highland) Division, renewed the advance, but this made little progress in the face of effective German artillery fire. The British forces then entrenched themselves at the new front line in conditions of heavy rain. The Germans now brought up more reserves to reinforce their lines.
From
May 20 until the 25th the attack was renewed, resulting in the capture of the village ofFestubert . However the total offensive had only netted 1 km of advance, at a cost of 16,000 casualties.ee also
*
List of Canadian battles during World War I Notes
References
*General Sir Martin Farndale, [http://www.naval-military-press.com/FMPro?-db=nmp%5fproducts.fp5&-format=nmpweb%2fdetail.htm&-lay=cgi&-sortfield=date&Co=NMP&search=History%20of%20the%20Royal%20Regiment%20of%20Artillery.%20Western%20Front%201914-18&-max=20&-recid=35933&-token.0=3668698&-find= History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery. Western Front 1914-18. London: Royal Artillery Institution, 1986]
External links
* [http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/festubert.htm The Battle of Festubert]
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