Edward 8th “encouraged Nazis to bomb UK into submission” in World War Two, according to a new Channel 4 documentary.

The documentary, Edward VIII: Britain’s Traitor King, will show evidence the former king — who abdicated in 1936 after the Church of England, the government and the public condemned his decision marry American socialite Wallis Simpson — passed information to Germany and encouraged the Nazis to bomb Britain before reappointing him as king.

It will reportedly also show evidence that Edward VIII aided the Nazis with the fall of France in 1940.

The revelatory documentary, which will air on Sunday, 27 March, is based on the work of historian Andrew Lownie whose book Traitor King will be released in May.

The documentary uses evidence from captured German documents held in the Royal Archives.

Edward was known to write reports while living in Paris that exposed weaknesses in the French army, including poor leadership. The information was then passed, perhaps unwittingly, to a Nazi sympathiser, Charles Bedaux.

Jane Ridley, a professor of modern history at the University of Buckingham and talking head on the documentary, claims: “[Edward] knew, when he boasted about the inadequacy of French war defences, that this would go back to Germany”.

In 1937, Edward and his wife met Hitler and he was famously pictured giving a Nazi salute.

After Winston Churchill, who was prime minister at the time, sent the Duke to govern the Bahamas, Edward sent a coded telegram to a Nazi associate saying he was willing to return to Europe.

Mr Lownie argues in the documentary that this indicates Edward was aware of Operation Willie, the German plan to put the Duke back on the throne as the head of a puppet state.

The rumours are longstanding. In 2015, researchers at the Institute of Historical Research at the School of Advance Study at the University of London pieced together from open archives across 30 countries, including Germany, Spain and Russia.

They revealed that Edward, the Duke of Windsor, told the Spanish diplomat Don Javier Bermejillo that the effective bombing of England “could bring peace”.

Dr Karina Urbach, the senior research fellow who worked on the study, said: “This report went to Franco and was then passed on to the Germans. The bombing of Britain started on 10 July.”

In April 1945, less than a month before the end of World War II in Europe, an American army captain found an abandoned vehicle with a trove of German government documents, one of which was signed by Joachim von Ribbentrop, the Nazi foreign minister who would later be executed at Nuremberg. Eventually, the Americans searched castles in the nearby area, as well as a country house in another part of the country, and found a huge cache of files that would eventually provide insight into the inner workings of the Nazi state—along with one set of microfilm that detailed the Third Reich’s attempt to build a relationship with King Edward VIII, whose 1936 abdication made him a virtual exile, after his brief reign on the throne.

In his new book, Traitor King, out this week, historian Andrew Lownie uses these files and many more, including documents from the FBI and the State Department, to trace the route that Edward and his American-born divorcée wife, Wallis Simpson, took from France to Portugal to the Bahamas during World War II, and the way that they kept in touch with German agents and officials even after the Battle of Britain began in the summer of 1940. He notes the American intelligence service belief that Wallis was in “constant contact” with Ribbentrop after the war started and cites a report that she even kept a signed picture of him on her dressing room wall. In the book, Lownie also elaborates on Ribbentrop’s eventual plan to kidnap the couple when they wouldn’t willingly join onto a German effort to force a negotiated peace with England.

“It’s to the credit of the Americans, particularly the American historians, that captured German documents found at the end of the war, which give chapter and verse to the duke’s treachery, were saved,” Lownie said in a video call. “Of course, this has provided our evidence, but there’s plenty of other evidence. I found, for example, private diaries of the king’s private secretary, of an MI-5 officer, diplomats, all of this confirming that the German documents were accurate and that the duke had been a traitor.”

The traditional view of Edward is that he chose love over his duty to the country and sparked a crisis in the British government. But in investigating the connections between Edward VIII and Wallis, Lownie finds evidence that it isn’t the whole story. “The revisionist view is my view, which was that he was maneuvered off the throne because they were desperate to get rid of him,” Lownie said. The government may have been skeptical of Edward even before he became king. “Fortunately Wallis came along and gave them their excuse to push him off the throne.”

Vanity Fair spoke to Lownie about the case that Edward and Wallis represented a bigger threat to Britain than previously acknowledged and why he prefers writing about the royal “baddies” rather than those thought to be following the rules and causing no scandal.

Andrew Lownie stated: I’d always suspected that they were more actively involved as intriguers with the Nazis rather than unwitting victims of the Nazis. That’s what I set out to investigate. By looking at files in the States and in other countries and looking at private papers, one began to get the sense that they were much more deeply implicated than perhaps history has realized, because of course, a lot of the files have been destroyed or cleaned out. So the evidence really wasn’t there in the British archives.

The Western Front was one of the main theatres of war during the First World War. Following the outbreak of war in August 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The German advance was halted with the Battle of the Marne. Following the Race to the Sea, both sides dug in along a meandering line of fortified trenches, stretching from the North Sea to the Swiss frontier with France, which changed little except during early 1917 and in 1918.

Between 1915 and 1917 there were several offensives along this front. The attacks employed massive artillery bombardments and massed infantry advances. Entrenchments, machine gun emplacements, barbed wire and artillery repeatedly inflicted severe casualties during attacks and counter-attacks and no significant advances were made. Among the most costly of these offensives were the Battle of Verdun, in 1916, with a combined 700,000 casualties, the Battle of the Somme, also in 1916, with more than a million casualties, and the Battle of Passchendaele, in 1917, with 487,000 casualties.

To break the deadlock of the trench warfare on the Western Front, both sides tried new military technology, including poison gas, aircraft, and tanks. The adoption of better tactics and the cumulative weakening of the armies in the west led to the return of mobility in 1918. The German spring offensive of 1918 was made possible by the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk that ended the war of the Central Powers against Russia and Romania on the Eastern Front. Using short, intense “hurricane” bombardments and infiltration tactics, the German armies moved nearly 100 kilometres (60 miles) to the west, the deepest advance by either side since 1914, but the result was indecisive.

The unstoppable advance of the Allied armies during the Hundred Days Offensive of 1918 caused a sudden collapse of the German armies and persuaded the German commanders that defeat was inevitable. The German government surrendered in the Armistice of 11 November 1918, and the terms of peace were settled by the Treaty of Versailles in 1919.

1914

War plans – Battle of the Frontiers[edit]

See also: Schlieffen Plan, Plan XVII, and Battle of the Frontiers

Map of the Western Front and the Race to the Sea, 1914

French bayonet charge (1913 photograph)

German infantry on the battlefield, 7 August 1914

The Western Front was the place where the most powerful military forces in Europe, the German and French armies, met and where the First World War was decided.^[12] At the outbreak of the war, the German Army, with seven field armies in the west and one in the east, executed a modified version of the Schlieffen Plan, bypassing French defenses along the common border by moving quickly through neutral Belgium, and then turning southwards to attack France and attempt to encircle the French Army and trap it on the German border.^[13] Belgian neutrality had been guaranteed by Britain under the Treaty of London, 1839; this caused Britain to join the war at the expiration of its ultimatum at midnight on 4 August. Armies under German generals Alexander von Kluck and Karl von Bülow attacked Belgium on 4 August 1914. Luxembourg had been occupied without opposition on 2 August. The first battle in Belgium was the Battle of Liège, a siege that lasted from 5–16 August. Liège was well fortified and surprised the German Army under Bülow with its level of resistance. German heavy artillery was able to demolish the main forts within a few days.^[14] Following the fall of Liège, most of the Belgian field army retreated to Antwerp, leaving the garrison of Namur isolated, with the Belgian capital, Brussels, falling to the Germans on 20 August. Although the German army bypassed Antwerp, it remained a threat to their flank. Another siege followed at Namur, lasting from about 20–23 August.

The French deployed five armies on the frontier. The French Plan XVII was intended to bring about the capture of Alsace–Lorraine. On 7 August, the VII Corps attacked Alsace to capture Mulhouse and Colmar. The main offensive was launched on 14 August with the First and Second Armies attacking toward Sarrebourg-Morhange in Lorraine.^[17] In keeping with the Schlieffen Plan, the Germans withdrew slowly while inflicting severe losses upon the French. The French Third and Fourth Armies advanced toward the Saar and attempted to capture Saarburg, attacking Briey and Neufchateau but were repulsed. The French VII Corps captured Mulhouse after a brief engagement first on 7 August, and then again on 23 August, but German reserve forces engaged them in the Battle of Mulhouse and forced the French to retreat twice.

The German Army swept through Belgium, executing civilians and razing villages. The application of “collective responsibility” against a civilian population further galvanised the allies. Newspapers condemned the German invasion, violence against civilians and destruction of property, which became known as the “Rape of Belgium.” After marching through Belgium, Luxembourg and the Ardennes, the Germans advanced into northern France in late August, where they met the French Army, under Joseph Joffre, and the divisions of the British Expeditionary Force under Field Marshal Sir John French. A series of engagements known as the Battle of the Frontiers ensued, which included the Battle of Charleroi and the Battle of Mons. In the former battle the French Fifth Army was almost destroyed by the German 2nd and 3rd Armies and the latter delayed the German advance by a day. A general Allied retreat followed, resulting in more clashes at the Battle of Le Cateau, the Siege of Maubeuge and the Battle of St. Quentin (also called the First Battle of Guise).

First Battle of the Marne

Main article: First Battle of the Marne

The German Army came within 70 km (43 mi) of Paris but at the First Battle of the Marne (6–12 September), French and British troops were able to force a German retreat by exploiting a gap which appeared between the 1st and 2nd Armies, ending the German advance into France.The German Army retreated north of the Aisne and dug in there, establishing the beginnings of a static western front that was to last for the next three years. Following this German retirement, the opposing forces made reciprocal outflanking manoeuvres, known as the Race to the Sea and quickly extended their trench systems from the Swiss frontier to the North Sea. The territory occupied by Germany held 64 percent of French pig-iron production, 24 percent of its steel manufacturing and 40 percent of the coal industry – dealing a serious blow to French industry.

On the Entente side (those countries opposing the German alliance), the final lines were occupied with the armies of each nation defending a part of the front. From the coast in the north, the primary forces were from Belgium, the British Empire and then France. Following the Battle of the Yser in October, the Belgian army controlled a 35 km (22 mi) length of West Flanders along the coast, known as the Yser Front, along the Yser and the Ieperlee from Nieuwpoort to Boezinge.Meanwhile, the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) occupied a position on the flank, having occupied a more central position.

First Battle of Ypres

Main article: First Battle of Ypres

From 19 October until 22 November, the German forces made their final breakthrough attempt of 1914 during the First Battle of Ypres, which ended in a mutually-costly stalemate.After the battle, Erich von Falkenhayn judged that it was no longer possible for Germany to win the war by purely military means and on 18 November 1914 he called for a diplomatic solution. The Chancellor, Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg; Generalfeldmarschall Paul von Hindenburg, commanding Ober Ost (Eastern Front high command); and his deputy, Erich Ludendorff, continued to believe that victory was achievable through decisive battles. During the Lodz offensive in Poland (11–25 November), Falkenhayn hoped that the Russians would be made amenable to peace overtures. In his discussions with Bethmann Hollweg, Falkenhayn viewed Germany and Russia as having no insoluble conflict and that the real enemies of Germany were France and Britain. A peace with only a few annexations of territory also seemed possible with France and that with Russia and France out of the war by negotiated settlements, Germany could concentrate on Britain and fight a long war with the resources of Europe at its disposal. Hindenburg and Ludendorff continued to believe that Russia could be defeated by a series of battles which cumulatively would have a decisive effect, after which Germany could finish off France and Britain.

Trench warfare

Main article: Trench warfare

German trench on the Western Front, 1915.

Trench warfare in 1914, while not new, quickly improved and provided a very high degree of defense. According to two prominent historians:Trenches were longer, deeper, and better defended by steel, concrete, and barbed wire than ever before. They were far stronger and more effective than chains of forts, for they formed a continuous network, sometimes with four or five parallel lines linked by interfacings. They were dug far below the surface of the earth out of reach of the heaviest artillery….Grand battles with the old maneuvers were out of the question. Only by bombardment, sapping, and assault could the enemy be shaken, and such operations had to be conducted on an immense scale to produce appreciable results. Indeed, it is questionable whether the German lines in France could ever have been broken if the Germans had not wasted their resources in unsuccessful assaults, and the blockade by sea had not gradually cut off their supplies. In such warfare no single general could strike a blow that would make him immortal; the “glory of fighting” sank down into the dirt and mire of trenches and dugouts.

1915

Map of the Western Front, 1915–16

Between the coast and the Vosges was a westward bulge in the trench line, named the Noyon salient for the captured French town at the maximum point of advance near Compiègne. Joffre’s plan for 1915 was to attack the salient on both flanks to cut it off. The Fourth Army had attacked in Champagne from 20 December 1914 – 17 March 1915 but the French were not able to attack in Artois at the same time. The Tenth Army formed the northern attack force and was to attack eastwards into the Douai plain across a 16-kilometre (9.9 mi) front between Loos and Arras. On 10 March, as part of the larger offensive in the Artois region, the British Army fought the Battle of Neuve Chapelle to capture Aubers Ridge. The assault was made by four divisions along a 2 mi (3.2 km) front. Preceded by a surprise bombardment lasting only 35 minutes, the initial assault made rapid progress and the village was captured within four hours. The advance then slowed because of supply and communication difficulties. The Germans brought up reserves and counterattacked, forestalling the attempt to capture the ridge. Since the British had used about one-third of their supply of artillery ammunition, General Sir John French blamed the failure on the Shell Crisis of 1915, despite the early success.

Gas warfare

Main article: Chemical weapons in World War I

All sides had signed the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907, which prohibited the use of chemical weapons in warfare. In 1914, there had been small-scale attempts by both the French and Germans to use various tear gases, which were not strictly prohibited by the early treaties but which were also ineffective.The first use of more lethal chemical weapons on the Western Front was against the French near the Belgian town of Ypres. The Germans had already deployed gas against the Russians in the east at the Battle of Humin-Bolimów.

An artist’s rendition of Canadian troops at the Second Battle of Ypres

Despite the German plans to maintain the stalemate with the French and British, Albrecht, Duke of Württemberg, commander of the 4th Army planned an offensive at Ypres, site of the First Battle of Ypres in November 1914. The Second Battle of Ypres, April 1915, was intended to divert attention from offensives in the Eastern Front and disrupt Franco-British planning. After a two-day bombardment, the Germans released a lethal cloud of 168 long tons (171 t) of chlorine onto the battlefield. Though primarily a powerful irritant, it can asphyxiate in high concentrations or prolonged exposure. Being heavier than air, the gas crept across no man’s land and drifted into the French trenches. The green-yellow cloud started killing some defenders and those in the rear fled in panic, creating an undefended 3.7-mile (6 km) gap in the Allied line. The Germans were unprepared for the level of their success and lacked sufficient reserves to exploit the opening. Canadian troops on the right drew back their left flank and halted the German advance.The gas attack was repeated two days later and caused a 3.1 mi (5 km) withdrawal of the Franco-British line but the opportunity had been lost.

The success of this attack would not be repeated, as the Allies countered by introducing gas masks and other countermeasures. An example of the success of these measures came a year later, on 27 April in the Gas attacks at Hulluch 40 km (25 mi) to the south of Ypres, where the 16th (Irish) Division withstood several German gas attacks.The British retaliated, developing their own chlorine gas and using it at the Battle of Loos in September 1915. Fickle winds and inexperience led to more British casualties from the gas than German. French, British and German forces all escalated the use of gas attacks through the rest of the war, developing the more deadly phosgene gas in 1915, then the infamous mustard gas in 1917, which could linger for days and could kill slowly and painfully. Countermeasures also improved and the stalemate continued.

Air warfare

Main article: Aviation in World War I

Specialised aeroplanes for aerial combat were introduced in 1915. Aircraft were already in use for scouting and on 1 April, the French pilot Roland Garros became the first to shoot down an enemy aircraft by using a machine-gun that shot forward through the propeller blades. This was achieved by crudely reinforcing the blades to deflect bullets. Several weeks later Garros force-landed behind German lines. His aeroplane was captured and sent to Dutch engineer Anthony Fokker, who soon produced a significant improvement, the interrupter gear, in which the machine gun is synchronised with the propeller so it fires in the intervals when the blades of the propeller are out of the line of fire. This advance was quickly ushered into service, in the Fokker E.I (Eindecker, or monoplane, Mark 1), the first single seat fighter aircraft to combine a reasonable maximum speed with an effective armament. Max Immelmann scored the first confirmed kill in an Eindecker on 1 August. Both sides developed improved weapons, engines, airframes and materials, until the end of the war. It also inaugurated the cult of the ace, the most famous being Manfred von Richthofen (the Red Baron). Contrary to the myth, anti-aircraft fire claimed more kills than fighters.

Spring offensive

Ruins of Carency after it was recaptured by France

The final Entente offensive of the spring was the Second Battle of Artois, an offensive to capture Vimy Ridge and advance into the Douai plain. The French Tenth Army attacked on 9 May after a six-day bombardment and advanced 5 kilometres (3 mi) to capture Vimy Ridge. German reinforcements counter-attacked and pushed the French back towards their starting points because French reserves had been held back and the success of the attack had come as a surprise. By 15 May the advance had been stopped, although the fighting continued until 18 June. In May the German Army captured a French document at La Ville-aux-Bois describing a new system of defence. Rather than relying on a heavily fortified front line, the defence was to be arranged in a series of echelons. The front line would be a thinly manned series of outposts, reinforced by a series of strongpoints and a sheltered reserve. If a slope was available, troops were deployed along the rear side for protection. The defence became fully integrated with command of artillery at the divisional level. Members of the German high command viewed this new scheme with some favour and it later became the basis of an elastic defence in depth doctrine against Entente attacks.

During the autumn of 1915, the “Fokker Scourge” began to have an effect on the battlefront as Allied reconnaissance aircraft were nearly driven from the skies. These reconnaissance aircraft were used to direct gunnery and photograph enemy fortifications but now the Allies were nearly blinded by German fighters. However, the impact of German air superiority was diminished by their primarily defensive doctrine in which they tended to remain over their own lines, rather than fighting over Allied held territory.

Autumn offensive[edit]

In September 1915 the Entente allies launched another offensive, with the French Third Battle of Artois, Second Battle of Champagne and the British at Loos. The French had spent the summer preparing for this action, with the British assuming control of more of the front to release French troops for the attack. The bombardment, which had been carefully targeted by means of aerial photography, began on 22 September. The main French assault was launched on 25 September and, at first, made good progress in spite of surviving wire entanglements and machine gun posts. Rather than retreating, the Germans adopted a new defence-in-depth scheme that consisted of a series of defensive zones and positions with a depth of up to 8.0 km (5 mi).

On 25 September, the British began the Battle of Loos, part of the Third Battle of Artois, which was meant to supplement the larger Champagne attack. The attack was preceded by a four-day artillery bombardment of 250,000 shells and a release of 5,100 cylinders of chlorine gas.The attack involved two corps in the main assault and two corps performing diversionary attacks at Ypres. The British suffered heavy losses, especially due to machine gun fire during the attack and made only limited gains before they ran out of shells. A renewal of the attack on 13 October fared little better.In December, French was replaced by General Douglas Haig as commander of the British forces.

1916

German soldier on the Western Front in 1916

Falkenhayn believed that a breakthrough might no longer be possible and instead focused on forcing a French defeat by inflicting massive casualties.His new goal was to “bleed France white.” As such, he adopted two new strategies. The first was the use of unrestricted submarine warfare to cut off Allied supplies arriving from overseas.The second would be attacks against the French army intended to inflict maximum casualties; Falkenhayn planned to attack a position from which the French could not retreat, for reasons of strategy and national pride and thus trap the French. The town of Verdun was chosen for this because it was an important stronghold, surrounded by a ring of forts, that lay near the German lines and because it guarded the direct route to Paris.

Falkenhayn limited the size of the front to 5–6 kilometres (3–4 mi) to concentrate artillery firepower and to prevent a breakthrough from a counter-offensive. He also kept tight control of the main reserve, feeding in just enough troops to keep the battle going. In preparation for their attack, the Germans had amassed a concentration of aircraft near the fortress. In the opening phase, they swept the air space of French aircraft, which allowed German artillery-observation aircraft and bombers to operate without interference. In May, the French countered by deploying escadrilles de chasse with superior Nieuport fighters and the air over Verdun turned into a battlefield as both sides fought for air superiority.

Battle of Verdun

Main article: Battle of Verdun

French soldiers observing enemy movements

The Battle of Verdun began on 21 February 1916 after a nine-day delay due to snow and blizzards. After a massive eight-hour artillery bombardment, the Germans did not expect much resistance as they slowly advanced on Verdun and its forts. Sporadic French resistance was encountered. The Germans took Fort Douaumont and then reinforcements halted the German advance by 28 February.

The Germans turned their focus to Le Mort Homme on the west bank of the Meuse which blocked the route to French artillery emplacements, from which the French fired across the river. After some of the most intense fighting of the campaign, the hill was taken by the Germans in late May. After a change in French command at Verdun from the defensive-minded Philippe Pétain to the offensive-minded Robert Nivelle, the French attempted to re-capture Fort Douaumont on 22 May but were easily repulsed. The Germans captured Fort Vaux on 7 June and with the aid of diphosgene gas, came within 1 kilometre (1,100 yd) of the last ridge before Verdun before being contained on 23 June.

Over the summer, the French slowly advanced. With the development of the rolling barrage, the French recaptured Fort Vaux in November and by December 1916 they had pushed the Germans back 2.1 kilometres (1.3 mi) from Fort Douaumont, in the process rotating 42 divisions through the battle. The Battle of Verdun—also known as the ‘Mincing Machine of Verdun’ or ‘Meuse Mill’—became a symbol of French determination and self-sacrifice.

Battle of the Somme

Main article: Battle of the Somme

British infantry advance near Ginchy. Photo by Ernest Brooks.

In the spring, Allied commanders had been concerned about the ability of the French Army to withstand the enormous losses at Verdun. The original plans for an attack around the River Somme were modified to let the British make the main effort. This would serve to relieve pressure on the French, as well as the Russians who had also suffered great losses. On 1 July, after a week of heavy rain, British divisions in Picardy began the Battle of the Somme with the Battle of Albert, supported by five French divisions on their right flank. The attack had been preceded by seven days of heavy artillery bombardment. The experienced French forces were successful in advancing but the British artillery cover had neither blasted away barbed wire, nor destroyed German trenches as effectively as was planned. They suffered the greatest number of casualties (killed, wounded and missing) in a single day in the history of the British Army, about 57,000.

The Verdun lesson learnt, the Allies’ tactical aim became the achievement of air superiority and until September, German aircraft were swept from the skies over the Somme. The success of the Allied air offensive caused a reorganisation of the German air arm and both sides began using large formations of aircraft rather than relying on individual combat.After regrouping, the battle continued throughout July and August, with some success for the British despite the reinforcement of the German lines. By August, General Haig had concluded that a breakthrough was unlikely and instead, switched tactics to a series of small unit actions. The effect was to straighten out the front line, which was thought necessary in preparation for a massive artillery bombardment with a major push.

The final phase of the battle of the Somme saw the first use of the tank on the battlefield.The Allies prepared an attack that would involve 13 British and Imperial divisions and four French corps. The attack made early progress, advancing 3,200–4,100 metres (3,500–4,500 yd) in places but the tanks had little effect due to their lack of numbers and mechanical unreliability. The final phase of the battle took place in October and early November, again producing limited gains with heavy loss of life. All told, the Somme battle had made penetrations of only 8 kilometres (5 mi) and failed to reach the original objectives. The British had suffered about 420,000 casualties and the French around 200,000. It is estimated that the Germans lost 465,000, although this figure is controversial.

The Somme led directly to major new developments in infantry organisation and tactics; despite the terrible losses of 1 July, some divisions had managed to achieve their objectives with minimal casualties. In examining the reasons behind losses and achievements, once the British war economy produced sufficient equipment and weapons, the army made the platoon the basic tactical unit, similar to the French and German armies. At the time of the Somme, British senior commanders insisted that the company (120 men) was the smallest unit of manoeuvre; less than a year later, the section of ten men would be so.

Hindenburg line

Main article: Hindenburg Line

The Hindenburg Line at Bullecourt seen from the air

In August 1916 the German leadership along the Western Front had changed as Falkenhayn resigned and was replaced by Hindenburg and Ludendorff. The new leaders soon recognised that the battles of Verdun and the Somme had depleted the offensive capabilities of the German Army. They decided that the German Army in the west would go over to the strategic defensive for most of 1917, while the Central powers would attack elsewhere.

During the Somme battle and through the winter months, the Germans created a fortification behind the Noyon Salient that would be called the Hindenburg Line, using the defensive principles elaborated since the defensive battles of 1915, including the use of Eingreif divisions. This was intended to shorten the German front, freeing 10 divisions for other duties. This line of fortifications ran from Arras south to St Quentin and shortened the front by about 50 kilometres (30 mi).British long-range reconnaissance aircraft first spotted the construction of the Hindenburg Line in November 1916.

1917

Main articles: Hindenburg Line and Western Front tactics, 1917

Map of the Western Front, 1917

The Hindenburg Line was built between 2 mi (3.2 km) and 30 mi (48 km) behind the German front line. On 25 February the German armies west of the line began Operation Alberich a withdrawal to the line and completed the retirement on 5 April, leaving a supply desert of scorched earth to be occupied by the Allies. This withdrawal negated the French strategy of attacking both flanks of the Noyon salient, as it no longer existed.The British continued offensive operations as the War Office claimed, with some justice, that this withdrawal resulted from the casualties the Germans received during the Battles of the Somme and Verdun, despite the Allies suffering greater losses.

On 6 April the United States declared war on Germany. In early 1915, following the sinking of the Lusitania, Germany had stopped unrestricted submarine warfare in the Atlantic because of concerns of drawing the United States into the conflict. With the growing discontent of the German public due to the food shortages, the government resumed unrestricted submarine warfare in February 1917. The calculated that a successful submarine and warship siege of Britain would force that country out of the war within six months, while American forces would take a year to become a serious factor on the Western Front. The submarine and surface ships had a long period of success before Britain resorted to the convoy system, bringing a large reduction in shipping losses.

British Army on the Western Front (August 1917)

By 1917, the size of the British Army on the Western Front had grown to two-thirds of the size of the French force. In April 1917 the BEF began the Battle of Arras. The Canadian Corps and the 5th Division of the First Army, fought the Battle of Vimy Ridge, completing the capture of the ridge and the Third Army to the south achieved the deepest advance since trench warfare began. Later attacks were confronted by German reinforcements defending the area using the lessons learned on the Somme in 1916. British attacks were contained and, according to Gary Sheffield, a greater rate of daily loss was inflicted on the British than in “any other major battle”.

During the winter of 1916–1917, German air tactics had been improved, a fighter training school was opened at Valenciennes and better aircraft with twin guns were introduced. The result was higher losses of Allied aircraft, particularly for the British, Portuguese, Belgians and Australians who were struggling with outmoded aircraft, poor training and tactics. The Allied air successes over the Somme were not be repeated. During their attack at Arras, the British lost 316 air crews and the Canadians lost 114 compared to 44 lost by the Germans. This became known to the Royal Flying Corps as Bloody April.

Nivelle Offensive

Main articles: Battle of Arras (1917), Nivelle Offensive, and 1917 French Army mutinies

The same month, the French Commander-in-chief, General Robert Nivelle, ordered a new offensive against the German trenches, promising that it would end the war within 48 hours. The 16 April attack, dubbed the Nivelle Offensive (also known as the Second Battle of the Aisne), would be 1.2 million men strong, preceded by a week-long artillery bombardment and accompanied by tanks. The offensive proceeded poorly as the French troops, with the help of two Russian brigades, had to negotiate rough, upward-sloping terrain in extremely bad weather.Planning had been dislocated by the voluntary German withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line. Secrecy had been compromised and German aircraft gained air superiority, making reconnaissance difficult and in places, the creeping barrage moved too fast for the French troops. Within a week the French suffered 120,000 casualties. Despite the casualties and his promise to halt the offensive if it did not produce a breakthrough, Nivelle ordered the attack to continue into May.

On 3 May the weary French 2nd Colonial Division, veterans of the Battle of Verdun, refused orders, arriving drunk and without their weapons. Lacking the means to punish an entire division, its officers did not immediately implement harsh measures against the mutineers. Mutinies occurred in 54 French divisions and 20,000 men deserted. Other Allied forces attacked but suffered massive casualties.Appeals to patriotism and duty followed, as did mass arrests and trials. The French soldiers returned to defend their trenches but refused to participate in further offensive action. On 15 May Nivelle was removed from command, replaced by Pétain who immediately stopped the offensive. The French would go on the defensive for the following months to avoid high casualties and to restore confidence in the French High Command, while the British assumed greater responsibility.

American Expeditionary Force

On 25 June the first US troops began to arrive in France, forming the American Expeditionary Force. However, the American units did not enter the trenches in divisional strength until October. The incoming troops required training and equipment before they could join in the effort, and for several months American units were relegated to support efforts.In spite of this, however, their presence provided a much-needed boost to Allied morale, with the promise of further reinforcements that could tip the manpower balance towards the Allies.

Flanders offensive

Main articles: Battle of Messines (1917) and Third Battle of Ypres

Two United States soldiers run toward a bunker past the bodies of two German soldiers.

In June, the British launched an offensive in Flanders, in part to take the pressure off the French armies on the Aisne, after the French part of the Nivelle Offensive failed to achieve the strategic victory that had been planned and French troops began to mutiny.The offensive began on 7 June, with a British attack on Messines Ridge, south of Ypres, to retake the ground lost in the First and Second battles in 1914. Since 1915 specialist Royal Engineer tunnelling companies had been digging tunnels under the ridge, and about 500 t (490 long tons) of explosives had been planted in 21 mines under the German defences. Following several weeks of bombardment, the explosives in 19 of these mines were detonated, killing up to 7,000 German troops. The infantry advance that followed relied on three creeping barrages which the British infantry followed to capture the plateau and the east side of the ridge in one day. German counter-attacks were defeated and the southern flank of the Gheluvelt plateau was protected from German observation.

On 11 July 1917, during Unternehmen Strandfest (Operation Beachparty) at Nieuport on the coast, the Germans introduced a new weapon into the war when they fired a powerful blistering agent Sulfur mustard (Yellow Cross) gas. The artillery deployment allowed heavy concentrations of the gas to be used on selected targets. Mustard gas was persistent and could contaminate an area for days, denying it to the British, an additional demoralising factor. The Allies increased production of gas for chemical warfare but took until late 1918 to copy the Germans and begin using mustard gas.

From 31 July to 10 November the Third Battle of Ypres included the First Battle of Passchendaele and culminated in the Second Battle of Passchendaele. The battle had the original aim of capturing the ridges east of Ypres then advancing to Roulers and Thourout to close the main rail line supplying the German garrisons on the Western front north of Ypres. If successful the northern armies were then to capture the German submarine bases on the Belgian coast. It was later restricted to advancing the British Army onto the ridges around Ypres, as the unusually wet weather slowed British progress. The Canadian Corps relieved the II ANZAC Corps and took the village of Passchendaele on 6 November,despite rain, mud and many casualties. The offensive was costly in manpower for both sides for relatively little gain of ground against determined German resistance but the ground captured was of great tactical importance. In the drier periods, the British advance was inexorable and during the unusually wet August and in the Autumn rains that began in early October, the Germans achieved only costly defensive successes, which led the German commanders in early October to begin preparations for a general retreat. Both sides lost a combined total of over a half million men during this offensive.The battle has become a byword among some British revisionist historians for bloody and futile slaughter, whilst the Germans called Passchendaele “the greatest martyrdom of the war.”

Battle of Cambrai

Main article: Battle of Cambrai

On 20 November the British launched the first massed tank attack and the first attack using predicted artillery-fire (aiming artillery without firing the guns to obtain target data) at the Battle of Cambrai.The Allies attacked with 324 tanks (with one-third held in reserve) and twelve divisions, advancing behind a hurricane bombardment, against two German divisions. The machines carried fascines on their fronts to bridge trenches and the 13-foot-wide (4 m) German tank traps. Special “grapnel tanks” towed hooks to pull away the German barbed wire. The attack was a great success for the British, who penetrated further in six hours than at the Third Ypres in four months, at a cost of only 4,000 British casualties.The advance produced an awkward salient and a surprise German counter-offensive began on 30 November, which drove back the British in the south and failed in the north. Despite the reversal, the attack was seen as a success by the Allies, proving that tanks could overcome trench defences. The Germans realised that the use of tanks by the Allies posed a new threat to any defensive strategy they might mount. The battle had also seen the first mass use of German Stosstruppen on the Western front in the attack, who used infantry infiltration tactics to penetrate British defences, bypassing resistance and quickly advancing into the British rear.

1918

Map of the final German offensives, 1918

Following the successful Allied attack and penetration of the German defences at Cambrai, Ludendorff and Hindenburg determined that the only opportunity for German victory lay in a decisive attack along the Western front during the spring, before American manpower became overwhelming. On 3 March 1918, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed and Russia withdrew from the war. This would now have a dramatic effect on the conflict as 33 divisions were released from the Eastern Front for deployment to the west. The Germans occupied almost as much Russian territory under the provisions of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk as they did in the Second World War but this considerably restricted their troop redeployment. The Germans achieved an advantage of 192 divisions in the west to the 178 Allied divisions, which allowed Germany to pull veteran units from the line and retrain them as Stosstruppen (40 infantry and 3 cavalry divisions were retained for German occupation duties in the east).

The Allies lacked unity of command and suffered from morale and manpower problems, the British and French armies were severely depleted and not in a position to attack in the first half of the year, while the majority of the newly arrived American troops were still training, with just six complete divisions in the line.Ludendorff decided on an offensive strategy beginning with a big attack against the British on the Somme, to separate them from the French and drive them back to the channel ports. The attack would combine the new storm troop tactics with over 700 aircraft,^[tanks and a carefully planned artillery barrage that would include gas attacks.

German spring offensives

Main article: German spring offensive

German tank in Roye, 21 March 1918

Operation Michael, the first of the German spring offensives, very nearly succeeded in driving the Allied armies apart, advancing to within shelling distance of Paris for the first time since 1914. As a result of the battle, the Allies agreed on unity of command. General Ferdinand Foch was appointed commander of all Allied forces in France. The unified Allies were better able to respond to each of the German drives and the offensive turned into a battle of attrition.^] In May, the American divisions also began to play an increasing role, winning their first victory in the Battle of Cantigny. By summer, between 250,000 and 300,000 American soldiers were arriving every month.A total of 2.1 million American troops would be deployed on this front before the war came to an end. The rapidly increasing American presence served as a counter for the large numbers of redeployed German forces.

Allied counter-offensives

Main articles: Second Battle of the Marne, Hundred Days Offensive, and Armistice of 11 November 1918

Italian regiments in 1918

In July, Foch began the Second Battle of the Marne, a counter-offensive against the Marne salient which was eliminated by August. The Battle of Amiens began two days later, with Franco-British forces spearheaded by Australian and Canadian troops, along with 600 tanks and 800 aircraft. Hindenburg named 8 August as the “Black Day of the German army.”The Italian 2nd Corps, commanded by General Alberico Albricci, also participated in the operations around Reims.German manpower had been severely depleted after four years of war and its economy and society were under great internal strain. The Allies fielded 216 divisions against 197 German divisions.The Hundred Days Offensive beginning in August proved the final straw and following this string of military defeats, German troops began to surrender in large numbers.As the Allied forces advanced, Prince Maximilian of Baden was appointed as Chancellor of Germany in October to negotiate an armistice. Ludendorff was forced out and fled to Sweden. The German retreat continued and the German Revolution put a new government in power. The Armistice of Compiègne was quickly signed, stopping hostilities on the Western Front on 11 November 1918, later known as Armistice Day. The German Imperial Monarchy collapsed when General Groener, the successor to Ludendorff, backed the moderate Social Democratic Government under Friedrich Ebert, to forestall a revolution like those in Russia the previous year.

The British Army used a variety of standardized battle uniforms and weapons during World War I. According to the British official historian Brigadier James E. Edmonds writing in 1925, “The British Army of 1914 was the best trained best equipped and best organized British Army ever sent to war”. They were the only army to wear any form of a camouflage uniform; the value of drab clothing was quickly recognised by the British Army, who introduced Khaki drill for Indian and colonial warfare from the mid-19th century on. As part of a series of reforms following the Second Boer War, a darker khaki serge was adopted in 1902, for service dress in Britain itself. The British military authorities showed more foresight than their French counterparts, who retained highly visible blue coats and red trousers for active service until the final units received a new uniform over a year into World War I. The soldier was issued with the 1908 Pattern Webbing for carrying personal equipment, and he was armed with the Short Magazine Lee–Enfield rifle.

Uniform

British soldiers at Christmas 1914 wearing the 1905 forage cap and the 1902 Pattern service dress. Their bandolier equipment would suggest that these men are from a mounted unit.

Main article: Service Dress (British Army)

The British soldier went to war in August 1914 wearing the 1902 Pattern Service Dress tunic and trousers. This was a thick woollen tunic, dyed khaki. There were two breast pockets for personal items and the soldier’s AB64 Pay Book, two smaller pockets for other items, and an internal pocket sewn under the right flap of the lower tunic where the First Field Dressing was kept. Rifle patches were sewn just above the breast pockets, to prevent wear from the webbing equipment and Enfield rifle. Shoulder straps were sewn on and fastened with brass buttons, with enough space for a brass regimental shoulder title. Rank insignia was sewn onto the upper tunic sleeves, while trade badges and Long Service and Good Conduct stripes were placed on the lower sleeves. A stiffened peak cap was worn, made of the same material, with a leather strap, brass fitting and secured with two small brass buttons. Puttees were worn around the ankles and calves, and ammunition boots with hobnail soles on the feet.

Tropical Variation

There were also lightweight uniforms for wear in warmer climates, e.g. India known as Khaki drill. The Officers’ uniform was a little different in cut, but the Other Ranks‘ tunic was distinguished from the temperate service dress by having only the breast pockets. Both were made from a lighter cloth (both in weight, and in shade).

Scottish Variations

A soldier of the Gordon Highlanders being decorated by King George V in 1917. He wears the Balmoral bonnet, but not the khaki apron which would have covered the kilt in the field.

Uniform for Highland regiments differed in the design of the tunic, which was made to resemble the traditional Highland dress, notably in the cut-away front of the tunic to allow the wearing of a sporran. A kilt of the regimental tartan was covered by a khaki apron on active service; it had pockets since sporrans were not worn in the field. Puttees were worn over khaki hose (woollen sock tops). All Scottish units wore the Glengarry bonnet in 1914, but this was found to be impractical and was replaced during 1915 by the Balmoral bonnet, which resembled the civilian Tam O’Shanter.

Personal Equipment

1908 Pattern Webbing Equipment

Main article: 1908 Pattern Webbing

British troops at Gallipoli wearing 1908 pattern webbing and Pith helmets.

The British were the first European army to replace leather belts and pouches with webbing, a strong material made from woven cotton, which had been pioneered in the United States by the Mills Equipment Company. The 1908 Pattern Webbing equipment comprised a wide belt, left and right ammunition pouches which held 75 rounds each; left and right braces, a bayonet frog and attachment for the entrenching tool handle, an entrenching tool head in web cover, water bottle carrier, small haversack and large pack. A mess tin was worn attached to one of the packs, and was contained inside a cloth buff-coloured khaki cover. Inside the haversack were personal items, a knife, and, when on Active Service, unused portions of the daily ration. The large pack could sometimes be used to house some of these items, but was normally kept for carrying the soldier’s Greatcoat and or a blanket. The full set of 1908 webbing could weigh over 70 pounds (32 kg).

1903 Bandolier Equipment

The British personal equipment used in the Second Boer War had been found to be deficient for a number of reasons, and the Bandolier Equipment was introduced as a stop-gap replacement. The equipment was made of brown leather and consisted of five 10-round ammunition pouches worn over one shoulder on a bandolier, with an associated waist belt and pouches, and a haversack and water bottle. It soon proved to be unsuitable for infantry use, but was used throughout the First World War by cavalry and other mounted troops.The cavalry version of the 1903 Equipment had a further four ammunition pouches on the bandolier, worn on the soldier’s back, giving a total of 90 rounds carried.^[6]

1914 Pattern Leather Equipment

A sergeant of the London Regiment wearing the 1914 Pattern Leather Equipment

On the outbreak of war, it became clear that the Mills Equipment Company would be quite unable to keep up with the sudden demand for webbing. Therefore, a version of the 1908 equipment was designed to be made in leather, as both Britain and the USA had large leather working industries with excess capacity. The leather was coloured with either a brown or khaki finish, and the packs and haversacks were made from canvas. It was originally intended that the leather equipment would be used by units in training or on home service, and that it would be exchanged for webbing before going on active service. However, in practice, reinforcement drafts and sometimes whole battalions would arrive at the front line still with their leather equipment.

Pith helmet

Main article: Pith helmet

The Pith helmet is a lightweight helmet made of cork or pith, with a cloth cover, designed to shade the wearer’s head from the sun. They were widely worn during World War I by British Empire troops fighting in the Middle East and Africa. It also had a wide pocket on the outer helmet.

Brodie Helmet

Main article: Brodie helmet

The first delivery of a protective steel helmet (the Brodie helmet) to the British Army was in 1915. Initially there were far from enough helmets to equip every man, so they were designated as “trench stores”, to be kept in the front line and used by each unit that occupied the sector. It was not until the summer of 1916, when the first 1 million helmets had been produced, that they could be generally issued.

The helmet reduced casualties but was criticized by General Herbert Plumer on the grounds that it was too shallow, too reflective; its rim was too sharp, and its lining was too slippery. These criticisms were addressed in the Mark I model helmet of 1916 which had a separate folded rim, a two-part liner, and matte khaki paint finished with sand, sawdust, or crushed cork to give a dull, non-reflective appearance.

Gas helmets

Main articles: Hypo Helmet, PH helmet, and Small box respirator

British Vickers machine gun crew wearing PH-type gas helmets during the Battle of the Somme, July 1916

The first use of poison gas on the Western Front was on 22 April 1915, by the Germans at Ypres, against Canadian and French colonial troops. The initial response was to equip troops with cotton mouth pads for protection. Soon afterwards the British introduced the Black Veil Respirator, which consisted of a long cloth which was used to tie chemical-soaked mouth pads into place.Dr. Cluny MacPherson of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment brought the idea of a mask made of chemical absorbing fabric and which fitted over the entire head to England, and this was developed into the British Hypo Helmet of June 1915. This mask offered protection to the eyes as well as to the respiratory system. One British officer described it as “a smoke helmet, a greasy grey-felt bag with a talc window certainly ineffective against gas“.The following PH helmet had two celluloid eyepieces, but there was no way to expel the carbon dioxide build up inside the mask . This type of mask went through several stages of development before being superseded in 1916 by the canister gas mask the Small box respirator. This had a mask connected to a tin can containing the absorbent materials by a hose and an outlet valve to reduce the carbon dioxide build up inside the mask.

Weapons

Revolvers

Main article: Webley Revolver

The standard-issue Webley revolver at the outbreak of World War I was the Webley Mk V (adopted 9 December 1913),^[13] but there were considerably more Mk IV revolvers in service in 1914,as the initial order for 20,000 Mk V revolvers had not been completed when hostilities began.On 24 May 1915, the Webley Mk VI was adopted as the standard sidearm for British troops and remained so for the duration of World War I, being issued to officers, airmen, naval crews, boarding parties, trench raiders, machine-gun teams, and tank crews. The Mk VI proved to be a very reliable and hardy weapon, well suited to the mud and adverse conditions of trench warfare, and several accessories were developed for the Mk VI, including a bayonet (made from a converted French Pritchard bayonet),a speedloader device (“Prideaux Device”), and a stock allowing for the revolver to be converted into a carbine. As officers were required to purchase their own pistols, some opted for other weapons such as the Webley–Fosbery Automatic Revolver, but it was never service issue.

Short Magazine Lee–Enfield Mk III

Main article: Lee–Enfield

Soldiers armed with Lee–Enfield rifles and wearing Brodie helmets in a trench at night, Cambrai – 12 January 1918

The Lee–Enfield rifle, the SMLE Mk III, was introduced on 26 January 1907, along with a Pattern 1907 bayonet (P’07) and featured a simplified rear sight arrangement and a fixed, rather than a bolt-head-mounted sliding, charger guide. The fast-operating Lee bolt-action and large magazine capacity enabled a trained rifleman to fire 20 to 30 aimed rounds a minute, making the Lee–Enfield the fastest military bolt-action rifle of the day.World War I accounts tell of British troops repelling German attackers who subsequently reported that they had encountered machine guns, when in fact it was simply a group of trained riflemen armed with SMLE Mk III rifles. During the war, the standard SMLE Mk III was found to be too complicated to manufacture (an SMLE Mk III rifle cost the British Government £3/15/-) and demand was outstripping supply, so in late 1915 the Mk III* was introduced.

Vickers Machine Gun

Main article: Vickers machine gun

Vickers machine gun crew, Western Front.

The Vickers machine gun accompanied the BEF to France in 1914, and in the years that followed, proved itself to be the most reliable weapon on the battlefield, some of its feats of endurance entering military mythology. Perhaps the most incredible was the action by the 100th Company of the Machine Gun Corps at High Wood on 24 August 1916. This company had ten Vickers guns, and it was ordered to give sustained covering fire for twelve hours onto a selected area 2,000 yards (1,800 m) away in order to prevent German troops forming up there for a counter-attack while a British attack was in progress. Two companies of infantrymen were allocated as carriers of ammunition, rations and water for the machine-gunners. Two men worked a belt-filling machine non-stop for twelve hours keeping up a supply of 250-round belts. 100 new barrels were used up, and all the water, including the men’s drinking water and contents of the latrine buckets, was used to keep the guns cool. In that twelve-hour period the ten guns fired a million rounds between them. One team is reported to have fired 120,000 from their gun to win a five franc prize offered to the highest-scoring gun. At the end of operation, it is alleged that every gun was working perfectly and that not one gun had broken down during the whole period. It was this reliability which endeared the Vickers to the soldiers that used it. It rarely broke down; it just kept on firing. Demand from the British Army for Vickers machine guns was so high that Vickers had to find new ways of increasing production and by 1915 Vickers had supplied the British armed forces with 2,405 guns. These increases continued throughout the war: 7,429 were supplied in 1916, 21,782 in 1917 and 39,473 in 1918.

Initially operated by a machine gun section within each infantry battalion and generally used in the direct fire role, the arrival of light machine guns in 1915 allowed the Vickers guns to be withdrawn and issued to the Machine Gun Corps, which was formed in October of that year, and who deployed them in a supporting role from a rear or flanking position.

Lewis Machine gun

Main article: Lewis Gun

Lewis gun used in an anti aircraft role

The British officially adopted the Lewis machine gun in .303-inch calibre for Land and Aircraft use in October 1915.^[25] Despite costing more than a Vickers gun to manufacture, £165 against about £100 for the Vickers, Lewis machine-guns were in high demand with the British military during World War I. The Lewis had the advantages of being considerably more portable and about 80% faster to build than the Vickers gunBetween August 1914 and June 1915 the British government placed orders for 3,052 Lewis guns. By the end of World War I over 50,000 Lewis Guns had been produced in the US and UK and they were nearly ubiquitous on the Western Front, outnumbering the Vickers gun by a ratio of about three to one.

The Lewis Gun utilised two different drum magazines, one holding 47 and the other 97 rounds of ammunition, and had a rate of fire of 500 to 600 rounds per minute. The gun weighed 28 pounds (13 kg), only about half as much as a typical medium machine gun of the era, such as the Vickers machine gun, and was chosen in part because, being more portable than the Vickers, it could be carried and used by a single soldier.

Mortars

Mortars are curved trajectory weapons that can lob shells into trenches whose occupants would be unaffected by flat trajectory weapons but, compared to the standard artillery guns, mortars have a relatively short range. During the early years of the war it quickly became clear that some type of weapon was needed to provide artillery like fire support to the infantry. Such minenwerfer weapons were used to great effect by the German Army in 1914.A weapon that was fully man transportable yet could fire reasonably powerful shells at targets beyond the range of rifle- or hand-launched grenades was badly needed.

2-inch mortar

Main article: 2-inch Medium Mortar

The 2-inch Medium Mortar was designed and manufactured by the Royal Ordnance Factories in early 1915 and introduced along with the 1.57 inch mortar in March 1915. It incorporated what was known of the German pre war Krupp mortar. This was the first design to meet all the requirements, after modifications to simplify manufacture, it fired a spherical cast iron bomb of 42 lb (19 kg) which was considered the largest practical size for use from trenches, at ranges from 100 yards (91 m) to 600 yards (550 m) using a simple 2 inches (51 mm) tube as the mortar body. Drawbacks were that the steel tail was usually projected backwards towards the firer when the bomb detonated, resulting in occasional casualties; and the No. 80 fuse was also required by the 18 pounder field guns which were given priority, limiting mortar ammunition supply to the front until early 1916, when a special cheap trench mortar fuse was developed. The 2-inch mortar served in limited numbers in France in 1915, from March, with early mortars and ammunition made by the Royal Ordnance Factory, mass production finally began with an order in August 1915, for 800 mortars from several railway workshops and agricultural machinery makers, together with an order for 675,000 bombs from numerous small firms.^[33]

Stokes mortar

Main article: Stokes Mortar

Stokes Mortar in action in the Middle East

The 2 inch medium mortar was superseded by the 81mm Stokes Mortar, first issued at the end of 1915 which was later adopted by the French Army too. The Stokes Mortar was a simple weapon, that was easy to manufacture and use. The weapon was broken down into three sections for easy transport, the barrel (‘tube’) which weighed 43 pounds, the base plate weighed 28 pounds (13 kg) and bipod weighed 37 pounds (17 kg) for a total of 108 pounds (49 kg). The Stokes mortar could fire as many as 25 bombs per minute and had a maximum range of 800 yards (730 m). British Empire units had 1,636 Stokes mortars in service on the Western Front at the Armistice.

9.45-inch mortar

Main article: 9.45-inch Heavy Mortar

The ML 9.45-inch (240 mm) mortar was a design based on the French 240 mm Trench Mortar and introduced in 1916, the British version differed from the French LT weapon in that the propellant charge was loaded through the muzzleIn June 1916, following unsatisfactory trials with the French model, the army replaced them with 30 of its own model, firing a 150-pound bomb, followed by 200 more in December 1916.The 9.45 inch mortar also known as the “Flying Pig” was a corps level weapon.

Tanks

Mark I and later tanks

Main article: British heavy tanks of World War I

The Mark V (male tank armed with the 6 pounder gun here) was the most developed of the British heavy tanks, entering service in 1918.

The development of trench warfare based around obstacles such as trenches and barbed wire and covered by fast firing machine guns made attacking the enemy lines costly. There was a demand for a self-propelled and protected weapon which could move across any kind of terrain in support of the troops and that was effective against enemy machine gun emplacements, leading to the development of the tank. The great weakness of the armoured car was indeed that they required smooth terrain to move upon, and new developments were needed for cross-country capability The Mark I tank was the first British tank to be used in battle; in February 1915, the First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill created the Landship Committee to investigate a mechanical solution to the stalemate of trench warfare. The Mark I tanks, were operated by the Heavy Branch of the Machine Gun Corps and had a range of 23 miles (37 km) without refuelling and a speed of 3 miles per hour. The Mark I tank first saw service on the Somme in September 1916.The Mark I tank was available in two different configurations known as ‘male’ and ‘female’. Male tanks mounted a 57mm six pounder gun in each sponson, plus three light Hotchkiss machine guns. Female tanks had two heavy Vickers machine guns in place of the six pounders. The tank evolved during the war and included developments such as the Mark IX tank which was for carrying troops (thirty infantrymen) or ten tons of cargo. The Mark IX was armed with two machine guns and had loopholes for the infantry to fire from.

Medium Mark A Whippet

Another tank in use was the Medium Mark A Whippet, while the heavy tanks had been designed to attack the German trenches the Tank Corps now wanted a lighter, faster tank to work with the cavalry over open country.The Whippet had a crew of four and was armed with three Hotchkiss machine guns, they weighed 14 tons and had a road speed of just over 8 miles (13 km) per hour and a radius of 80 miles (130 km).They were very fast by 1918, standards but tank crews found them difficult to drive and combat experience showed that it was not suitable for working with the cavalry.Whippets first saw service during the German Spring Offensive in 1918, by the end of the war the Whippet was responsible for more German casualties than any other British tank of the war.

Hand grenades

Main article: Hand grenade

At the start of the war the only grenade in service with the army was the No 1 Grenade. Because of the problems associated with it, the Jam Tin Grenade was designed. It contained an inner can of explosive with an outer can of metal fragments or ball bearings. The fuses that were developed for the Jam Tin Grenade were activated by friction or a by lighted taper which was often replaced by a lighted cigarette.This was followed by the highly successful Mills bomb in 1915. It was oval in shape to fit into a clenched fist and time fused. The detonator was activated by a spring driven firing pin which was restrained by a lever that in turn was locked by a safety pin.The Mills bomb was a defensive grenade, but was also used in trench-raiding by assault troops. After throwing the user had to take cover immediately and a competent thrower could manage 20 yards (18 m) with reasonable accuracy. Adopted as the standard grenade, over 33 million Mills bombs were produced in the final three years of the war.

Artillery

Further information: see Category:World War I artillery of the United Kingdom

Soldiers haul an 18 pounder field gun out of the mud near Zillebeke August 1917

In 1914, the heaviest artillery gun was the 60 pounder gun, four in each of the heavy batteries. The Royal Horse Artillery had the QF 13 pounder gun and the Royal Field Artillery the QF 18 pounder gun. By 1918, the situation had changed and artillery were the dominant force on the battlefield. Between 1914 and 1918 the heavy and siege artillery of the Royal Garrison Artillery had increased from thirty two heavy and six siege batteries to 117 heavy and 401 siege batteries With the increase in the number of batteries of heavier guns the armies need to find a more efficient method of moving the heavier guns around, (it was proving difficult to find the number of draught horses required) the War Office ordered over one thousand Holt caterpillar tractors, which transformed the mobility of the siege artillery. The army also mounted a variety of surplus naval guns, on various railway platforms to provide mobile long-range heavy artillery on the Western Front.

Ordnance QF 18 pounder

Main article: Ordnance QF 18 pounder

The 18 pounder gun was the most important field gun of the war,with over 10,000 being manufactured by the end of the war and 113,000,000 rounds of ammunition issued. Some Royal Horse Artillery batteries were also re-equipped with it as their 13 pounders proved unsuited to the prevalent trench warfare.

BL 6-inch Mk VII naval gun

Main article: BL 6-inch Mk VII naval gun

The 6-inch guns were first sent to France on 5 October 1914 with 7th Siege Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery, mounted on improvised field carriages. Following its successful employment in the battle of the Somme its role was defined as counter battery fire and also they “were most effective for neutralising defences and for wire cutting with a new fuse which reliably burst instantly above ground on even slight contact, instead of forming craters, they were also employed for long range fire against targets in depth. It was supposed to be replaced by the BL 6-inch Gun Mk XIX, 310 of which were built during the war. This model gun served in all theatres, with 108 being in service on the Western front at the end of World War I.

BL 60 pounder gun

Main article: BL 60 pounder gun

The 60 pounder guns were formed into “Heavy Batteries” in the First World War operated by the Royal Garrison Artillery and used mainly for counter-battery fire (i.e. suppressing or destroying the enemy’s artillery). When the war began a single four gun battery was attached to each infantry division of the BEF. From early 1915, 60 pounder batteries moved from Division to Army control.From June 1916, the War Office adopted Major-General Birch‘s recommendations to increase heavy battery sizes to six guns,as more guns with better concentration of firepower were required on the Western Front, while minimising the administrative overhead of more batteries.

Railway guns

14-inch railway gun inspected by King George V August 1918

Some of the largest guns deployed were the Railway guns, there were sixteen of the smaller BL 9.2-inch Railway Guns in service by the end of the war, which together fired a total of 45,000 rounds. The BL 12-inch railway gun, had the ability to send a 850-pound (390 kg) shell 12 miles (19 km) into the German rear area and was used during the battle of Arras.The largest calibre Railway gun used was the BL 14-inch Railway Gun Boche Buster, which fired its first round in the presence of King George V and scored a direct hit on the Douai railway yards 18 miles (29 km) away.

The First World War impacted all levels of British society. Even the Royal Household was not immune from its devastation; three members of staff were killed in the first weeks of war. All together, over 500 members of the Royal Household served during the war. Many from the Royal Mews joined mounted regiments or veterinary units, Sandringham House staff and the footmen joined the Norfolk Regiment, and some of the woodsmen from Windsor became sappers, using their experience with timber to lay the infrastructure of the Western Front. Part of the Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace was converted into a medical ward and some of the horses were taken into military service, including Paddy, Mac Neill and Granard. The Riding School housed catering facilities for troops passing through London on leave.

TM The King and Queen’s tea party to the wounded at the Royal Mews, Buckingham Palace, March 1916 ©

King George V and Queen Mary were also both active in the war effort. The King first visited the Western Front in November 1914 and he returned five further times during the war. His engagements included meeting Allied heads of state, inspecting troops and visiting the wounded. Queen Mary felt she should accompany her husband and her first visit to France was in July 1917, where she visited hospitals, aerodromes, nurses’ hostels and casualty clearing stations. At home in Britain, they undertook similar visits to wounded and disabled soldiers, sailors and airmen in hospitals and convalescent centres; discharged soldiers and sailors were even invited to entertainments at Buckingham Palace. During periods of unrest amongst munitions and engineering workers, the royal couple  also initiated goodwill tours of industrial and shipbuilding areas.

For three days this week we have given entertainments to wounded soldiers & sailors in our Riding School, over 2000 have been able to come & enjoyed it I am glad to say- Everything was very well organised & arranged for their comfort. They had tea first in the Coach Houses, members of our family presiding at each table, & being helped by the ladies & gentlemen of our household, & various friends of ours – The entertainments consisted of various artistes, acrobats, conjurors etc

QUEEN MARY TO THE DOWAGER DUCHESS OF MECKLELBURG-STRELITZ (QUEEN MARY’S AUNT, AN ELDERLY MEMBER OF THE BRITISH ROYAL FAMILY LIVING IN GERMANY), 24 MARCH 1916, ROYAL ARCHIVES

The Armistice of 11 November 1918 was the armistice signed at Le Francport near Compiègne that ended fighting on land, sea and air in World War I between the Entente and their last remaining opponent, Germany. Previous armistices had been agreed with Bulgaria, the Ottoman Empire and Austria-Hungary. It was concluded after the German government sent a message to American president Woodrow Wilson to negotiate terms on the basis of a recent speech of his and the earlier declared “Fourteen Points“, which later became the basis of the German surrender at the Paris Peace Conference, which took place the following year.

Also known as the Armistice of Compiègne (French: Armistice de Compiègne, German: Waffenstillstand von Compiègne) from the place where it was officially signed at 5:45 a.m. by the Allied Supreme Commander, French Marshal Ferdinand Foch,^[1] it came into force at 11:00 a.m. Paris time on 11 November 1918 and marked a victory for the Allies and a defeat for Germany, although not formally a surrender.

The actual terms, which were largely written by Foch, included the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front, the withdrawal of German forces from west of the Rhine, Allied occupation of the Rhineland and bridgeheads further east, the preservation of infrastructure, the surrender of aircraft, warships, and military materiel, the release of Allied prisoners of war and interned civilians, eventual reparations, no release of German prisoners and no relaxation of the naval blockade of Germany. The armistice was extended three times while negotiations continued on a peace treaty. The Treaty of Versailles, which was officially signed on 28 June 1919, took effect on 10 January 1920.

Fighting continued up to 11 a.m. of the 11 November 1918, with 2,738 men dying on the last day of the war.^[2]