There can be no doubt that Monchy-le-Preux was a key location on the Arras battlefield. Its capture on the 11th April 1917 was an important event. The Germans certainly didn’t want to lose it, which was why they tried to retake it a few days later on the 14th April. That date rightly belongs to […]
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Roeux – The real star of the show
Roeux was never intended as a front line defensive position, but on the afternoon of the 9th April 1917 it found itself thrust into the limelight, and immediately became the star of the show. For the next five weeks it proved to be a huge thorn in the side of the British. Its buildings, the […]
JB x 2
I can’t claim to be a ‘James Bond’ fan, nor can I claim not to be, it’s just that I’ve somehow never managed to watch a ‘007’ film from beginning to end. However, if you are a bit of a ‘Bond’ aficionado you might want to read on. It’s quite widely documented that Major Valentine […]
Faith, Hope and Charity
“The First Battle of the Scarpe had been fought in sure faith of victory, the Second in good hope of success, but the Third Battle, on the 3rd May, was mere charity.” As summaries go, this is probably as good a verdict on the Battle of Arras as you are likely to find anywhere. The […]
The 9th April 1917 – Battalion commanders killed or died of wounds
At the time of writing “Visiting the Fallen” I didn’t comment on the number of battalion commanders killed on the opening day of the Battle of Arras, though the ones buried within the area covered by the books are featured. I knew the number was far fewer than on the opening day of the Battle of the […]
Divisions, Brigades and Battalions – Arras and Bullecourt 1917
Somewhere along the line, I thought it might be useful to include the Order of Battle for Arras and Bullecourt on the website. “Military Operations, France and Belgium, Volume One, 1917”, which covers this period of fighting, only offers a skeleton Order of Battle. It does not set out which battalions made up each of […]
Some notes on attrition at Arras – 1917
The Battle of Arras undoubtedly took its toll on many of the divisions that took part in it. When the 2nd Division took part in the Third Battle of the Scarpe on the 3rd May 1917 it was only able to do so with a composite brigade consisting of four battalions designated ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’ and […]
‘Mind the gap’ – Bailleul, Gavrelle and the 4th Division
For anyone interested in the events surrounding the Battle of Arras I would recommend “Prelude to Victory” by Brigadier-General E.L. Spears. Towards the end of the book he writes about the opening days of the battle itself. In one of the paragraphs he writes: “When the 4th Division reached the Green Line it had to […]
Tinkering around the edges – Arras South
Minor operations were often carried out at the same time as much bigger affairs and, understandably perhaps, they tend to have attracted little attention over the years. The opening of the Battle of Arras was no exception. For that reason alone, while putting together ‘Arras South’, I was tempted to venture across the Bapaume-Cambrai road. […]
Squeezing Lens – Arras North – Various pages
There are numerous references to Hill 70 in ‘Arras North’ as well as the chapter in ‘Arras Memorials’ covering the Canadian Memorial at Vimy Ridge. Although it lies on the Loos battlefield, Hill 70 was also the scene of heavy fighting on the 15th August 1917 and in the days that immediately followed. The reason it merits […]