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The Second Battle of the Somme of 1918 was fought during the First World War on the Western Front from late August to early September, in the basin of the River Somme. It was part of a series of successful counter-offensives in response to the German Spring Offensive, after a pause for redeployment and supply. The most significant feature of the 1918 Somme battles was that with the first Battle of the Somme of 1918 having halted what had begun as an overwhelming German offensive, the second formed the central part of the Allies' advance to the Armistice of 11 November. On 15 August 1918, British Field Marshal Douglas Haig refused demands from Supreme Allied Commander Marshal Ferdinand Foch to continue the Amiens offensive during World War I, as that attack was faltering as the troops outran their supplies and artillery, and German reserves were being moved to the sector. Instead, Haig began to plan for an offensive at Albert, which opened on 21 August. The main attack was launched by the British Third Army, with the United States II Corps attached. The second battle began on 21 August with the opening of the Second Battle of Bapaume to the north of the river itself. That developed into an advance which pushed the German Second Army back over a 55 kilometre front, from south of Douai to La Fère, south of Saint-Quentin, Aisne. Albert was captured on 22 August. On 26 August, the British First Army widened the attack by another twelve kilometres, sometimes called the Second Battle of Arras. Bapaume fell on 29 August. The Australian Corps crossed the Somme River on the night of 31 August, and broke the German lines at the Battle of Mont St. Quentin and the Battle of Péronne. The British Fourth Army's commander, General Henry Rawlinson, described the Australian advances of 31 August – 4 September as the greatest military achievement of the war. On the morning of 2 September, after a heavy battle, the Canadian Corps seized control of the Drocourt-Quéant line (representing the west edge of the Hindenburg Line). The battle was fought by the Canadian 1st Division, 4th Division, and by the British 52nd Division. Heavy German casualties were inflicted, and the Canadians also captured more than 6,000 unwounded prisoners. Canada's losses amounted to 5,600. By noon that day the German commander, Erich Ludendorff, had decided to withdraw behind the Canal du Nord. By 2 September, the Germans had been forced back to the Hindenburg Line, from which they had launched their offensive in the spring. The Second Battle of the Somme　第二次ソンムの戦い

At 06:45 [H Hour], 28 May 1918, American Soldiers of the 28th Infantry Regiment left their jump-off trenches following an hour-long artillery preparation. Part of the preparation was counter-battery fire directed at German artillery positions. A rolling barrage, advancing 100 meters every two minutes, was calculated to give the attacking troops time to keep up with it. The 28th Infantry Regiment (Colonel Hansen Ely, commanding) plus two companies of the 18th Infantry, three machine-gun companies and a company of engineers (3,564 men), captured Cantigny from the German Eighteenth Army. The village was situated on high ground surrounded by woods, making it an ideal observation post for German artillery. Because the Americans did not have them in sufficient quantity, the French provided air cover, 368 heavy artillery pieces, trench mortars, tanks, and flamethrowers. The French Schneider tanks were from the French 5th Tank Battalion. Their primary purpose was to eliminate German machine gun positions. With this massive support, and advancing on schedule behind the creeping artillery barrage, the 28th Infantry took the village in 30 minutes. It then continued on to its final objective roughly a half kilometer beyond the village. The first German counterattack, a small attack at 08:30 against the extreme right of the new American position, was easily repulsed, but German artillery bombarded the 28th Infantry for most of the day. At 17:10 the first large-scale counterattack took place, and a company of the 1st Battalion of the 26th Infantry commanded by Major Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. was used to reinforce a weak spot in the American line. Another German counterattack at 18:40 was also repulsed by a combination of artillery and Infantry defensive fire. A series of counterattacks over the next two days were also defeated by both American regiments, and the position held. The Americans reduced the salient and expanded their front by approximately a mile. A minor success, its significance was overshadowed by the battle underway along the Aisne. The U.S. forces held their position with the loss of 1,603 casualties including 199 killed in action ; they captured 250 German prisoners. Matthew B. Juan, a Native American war hero, was killed during this battle. The American success at Cantigny assured the French that American divisions could be entrusted in the line against the German offensive to take Paris. The victory at Cantigny was followed by attacks at Château-Thierry and Belleau Wood in the first half of June.

The Battle of Skra di Legen (Skora di Legen) was a two-day battle which took place at the Skra fortified position, located northeast of Mount Paiko, which is north-west of Thessaloniki, on May 29–30, 1918, on the Macedonian front of World War I. The battle was the first large-scale employment of Greek troops of the newly established Army of National Defence on the front, and resulted in the capture of the heavily fortified Bulgarian position. The Allied force comprised three Greek divisions of the National Defence Army Corps under Lieutenant General Emmanouil Zymvrakakis, plus one French brigade. The three Greek divisions included the Archipelago Division under Major General Dimitrios Ioannou, the Crete Division under Major General Panagiotis Spiliadis, and the Serres Division under Lieutenant Colonel Epameinondas Zymvrakakis. The 5th and 6th Regiments from the Archipelago Division were in the center, the 7th and 8th Regiments from the Crete Division were on the right flank and the 1st Regiment of the Serres Division was on the left flank.In the early morning of 29 May 1918, Greek artillery fired on Bulgarian positions in preparation for the next morning's assault. On 06.30, 30 May 1918, Allied forces captured Skra from the heavily outnumbered Bulgarians. Starting from the evening of the same day until May 31, the Bulgarian army launched several counterattacks on positions held by the Crete Division. All attacks were repelled, cementing the Allied victory. In the battle, 441 Allied soldiers were killed, 2,227 wounded and 164 missing in action. Bulgaria suffered 600 soldiers killed and 2045 taken prisoner. 32 machine guns and 12 artillery pieces were also captured. Skra di Legen スコラーデーリーゲン?　ギリシャ語で読み不明です。 The Battle of Belleau Wood (1–26 June 1918) occurred during the German Spring Offensive in World War I, near the Marne River in France. The battle was fought between the U.S. 2nd (under the command of Major General Omar Bundy) and 3rd Divisions along with French and British forces against an assortment of German units including elements from the 237th, 10th, 197th, 87th, and 28th Divisions. The battle has become a key component of the lore of the United States Marine Corps.In March 1918, with nearly 50 additional divisions freed by the Russian surrender on the Eastern Front, the German Army launched a series of attacks on the Western Front, hoping to defeat the Allies before U.S. forces could be fully deployed. The Battle of Belleau Wood ベロー・ウッドの戦い

After Marines were repeatedly urged to turn back by retreating French forces, Marine Captain Lloyd W. Williams of the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines uttered the now-famous retort "Retreat? Hell, we just got here". Williams' battalion commander, Major Frederic Wise, later claimed to have said the famous words. On 4 June, Major General Bundy—commanding the 2nd Division—took command of the American sector of the front. Over the next two days, the Marines repelled the continuous German assaults. The 167th French Division arrived, giving Bundy a chance to consolidate his 2,000 yards (1,800 m) of front. Bundy's 3rd Brigade held the southern sector of the line, while the Marine brigade held the north of the line from Triangle Farm. At 03:45 on 6 June, the Allies launched an attack on the German forces, who were preparing their own strike. The French 167th Division attacked to the left of the American line, while the Marines attacked Hill 142 to prevent flanking fire against the French. As part of the second phase, the 2nd Division were to capture the ridge overlooking Torcy and Belleau Wood, as well as occupying Belleau Wood. However, the Marines failed to scout the woods. As a consequence, they missed a regiment of German infantry dug in, with a network of machine gun nests and artillery. At dawn, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines—commanded by Major Julius Turrill—was to attack Hill 142, but only two companies were in position. The Marines advanced in waves with bayonets fixed across an open wheat field that was swept with German machine gun and artillery fire, and many Marines were cut down. Captain Crowther commanding the 67th Company was killed almost immediately. Captain Hamilton and the 49th Company fought from wood to wood, fighting the entrenched Germans and overrunning their objective by 6 yards (5.5 m). At this point, Hamilton had lost all five junior officers, while the 67th had only one commissioned officer alive. Hamilton reorganized the two companies, establishing strong points and a defensive line. In the German counter-attack, then-Gunnery Sergeant Ernest A. Janson—who was serving under the name Charles Hoffman—repelled an advance of 12 German soldiers, killing two with his bayonet before the others fled; for this action he became the first Marine to receive the Medal of Honor in World War I.

Also cited for advancing through enemy fire during the counter-attack was then-Marine Gunner Henry Hulbert who was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. The rest of the battalion now arrived and went into action. Turrill's flanks lay unprotected, and the Marines were rapidly exhausting their ammunition. By the afternoon, however, the Marines had captured Hill 142, at a cost of nine officers and most of the 325 men of the battalion. On the night of 4 June, the intelligence officer for the 6th Marines, Lieutenant William A. Eddy, and two men stole through German lines to gather information about German forces. They gathered valuable information showing the Germans were consolidating machine gun positions and bringing in artillery. While this activity indicated an attack was not immediately likely, their increasing strength was creating a base of attack that raised concern about breaking through to Paris. At 17:00 on 6 June, the 3rd Battalion 5th Marines (3/5)—commanded by Major Benjamin S. Berry, and the 3rd Battalion 6th Marines (3/6)—commanded by Major Berton W. Sibley, on their right—advanced from the west into Belleau Wood as part of the second phase of the Allied offensive. Again, the Marines had to advance through a waist-high wheat field into deadly machine gun fire. One of the most famous quotations in Marine Corps history came during the initial step-off for the battle when Gunnery Sergeant Dan Daly, a recipient of two Medals of Honor who had served in the Philippines, Santo Domingo, Haiti, Peking and Vera Cruz, prompted his men of the 73rd Machine Gun Company forward with the words: "Come on, you sons of bitches, do you want to live forever?" The first waves of Marines—advancing in well-disciplined lines—were slaughtered; Major Berry was wounded in the forearm during the advance. On his right, the Marines of Major Sibley's 3/6 Battalion swept into the southern end of Belleau Wood and encountered heavy machine gun fire, sharpshooters and barbed wire. Marines and German infantrymen were soon engaged in heavy hand-to-hand fighting. The casualties sustained on this day were the highest in Marine Corps history up to that time. Some 31 officers and 1,056 men of the Marine brigade were casualties. However, the Marines now had a foothold in Belleau Wood. The battle was now deadlocked. At midnight on 7–8 June, a German attack was stopped cold and an American counter-attack in the morning of 8 June was similarly defeated. Sibley's battalion—having sustained nearly 400 casualties—was relieved by the 1st Battalion, 6th Marines.

仮に井伊直弼が薩摩藩に取り潰しの沙汰を降したら。。。薩摩藩は素直に従うと思いますか？

The ensuing conflict led to the Battle of Sardarapat (May 21–29), the Battle of Kara Killisse (1918) (May 24–28), and the Battle of Bash Abaran (May 21–24). On May 28, 1918, Georgia, signed the Treaty of Poti with Germany, and welcomed the prospect of a German expedition, seeing the Germans as protectors against the post-Russian Revolution havoc and the Ottoman military advances. The expedition was composed almost exclusively of Bavarian troops and included the 7th Bavarian Cavalry Brigade, reinforced by the 29th Bavarian Infantry Regiment (7th and 9th Jäger Battalions), the 10th Sturm Battalion, 1 machine-gun detachment, and the 176th Mortar Company. It was 3,000 strong and commanded by Major General Friedrich Freiherr Kress von Kressenstein. General Erich Ludendorff was also involved in supervision and organizing the expedition; he personally met Georgian representatives in Berlin, accompanying them to see Kaiser Wilhelm II. Besides the Georgians of Caucasus there were Georgians who served in the Georgian Legion of the German Imperial Army. Many these officers and soldiers were awarded by the Georgian Order of Queen Tamar, issued specifically for the German military personnel. This force was transported by sea from the Crimea to the Georgian Black Sea port of Poti where it landed on June 8, 1918, and was later reinforced by the German troops recalled from Syria and Ukraine for service in Georgia. The Ottoman Empire had the Third Army in the region.On June 4 under direct threat of the Ottoman 3rd Army which had advanced to within 7 km of Yerevan and 10 km of Echmiadzin, the First Republic of Armenia signed the Treaty of Batum. On June 10, the German force arrived at Tiflis, the capital of Georgia, and held a joint German-Georgian military parade in the city’s main thoroughfare. The German expedition was soon joined by the former German prisoners of war in Russia and the mobilized Württemberg colonists who had settled in Georgia in the mid-19th century. Combined German-Georgian garrisons were stationed in various regions of Georgia, including Poti, Ochamchire, Kutaisi, and Borchalo.The arrival of the German troops in Georgia coincided with the growing German-Turkish rivalry for Caucasian influence and resources, notably the oilfields near Baku, Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan, on the Caspian and the associated rail and pipeline connection to Batumi on the Black Sea (Baku-Batumi pipeline).

The memoirs of General of Artillery Friedrich Freiherr Kress von Kressenstein were published in 2001 in German language in Tbilisi, Georgia - Editor Dr. David Paitschadse, publishing house Samschoblo, ISBN 99928-26-62-2, online version can be found here The Second Battle of the Piave River, fought between 15 and 23 June 1918, was a decisive victory for the Italian Army against the Austro-Hungarian Empire during World War I. Though the battle proved to be a decisive blow to the Austro-Hungarian Empire and by extension the Central Powers, its full significance was not initially appreciated in Italy. Yet Erich Ludendorff, on hearing the news, is reported to have said he 'had the sensation of defeat for the first time'. It would later become clear that the battle was in fact the beginning of the end of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. With the exit of Russia from the war in 1917, Austria-Hungary was now able to devote significant forces to the Italian Front and to receive reinforcements from their German allies. The Austro-Hungarian emperor Karl had reached an agreement with the Germans to undertake a new offensive against Italy, a move supported by both the chief of the general staff Arthur Arz von Straußenburg and the commander of the South Tyrolean Army Group Conrad von Hötzendorf. In the autumn of 1917, the Germans and Austrians had defeated the Italians at the Battle of Caporetto. After Caporetto, the Italians fell back to the Piave and were reinforced by six French infantry divisions and five British infantry divisions as well as sizeable air contingents.Italy's defeat at Caporetto led to General Luigi Cadorna's dismissal and General Armando Diaz replaced him as Chief of staff of the Italian Army. Diaz set up a strong defense line along the Piave. Up until this point in the war, the Italian army had been fighting alone against the Central Powers; with the defeat at Caporetto, France and Britain sent small reinforcements on the Italian front. These, besides accounting for less than a tenth of the Italian forces in theater, had however to be redirected for the major part to the Western Front as soon as the German Spring Offensive began in March 1918.The Austro-Hungarian Army had also recently undergone a change in command, and the new Austrian Chief of Staff, Arthur Arz von Straußenburg, wished to finish off the Italians. After Caporetto, the Austro-Hungarian offensive had put many Italian cities, including Venice and Verona, under the threat of the Central Powers. The Second Battle of the Piave River 第二次ピアーヴェ川の戦い

During 1915, the German armies on the Western Front increased the front line from one to three trenches, built a second trench system 1,500–3,000 yd (0.85–1.70 mi; 1.4–2.7 km) behind the front line and developed the defensive use of machine-guns and artillery, to restrict an attack to a bend (Ausbeulung) in the line. The Franco-British offensives in 1915 found the German defences in a state of continuous development, the building programme taking time to complete, due to a shortage of labour. In March 1915, Joffre concluded that a period of inactivity would benefit the Germans more than the French; General Ferdinand Foch, commander of the Groupe Provisoire du Nord (GPN), proposed an offensive in which a "general action" on the Western Front including the British, to confuse the defenders and pin down reserves, would complement a "decisive action", to break through the German defences at a place where the Germans would not be able to establish a new defensive front by a short retirement. Joffre accepted the proposals on 23 March, with the objective being the seizure of Vimy Ridge and exploitation of the success by an eastwards advance into the Douai plain. The French army had not completed an adaptation to siege warfare and much of the equipment necessary, particularly heavy artillery, did not exist. It had been impossible to synchronise operations in Artois with the First Battle of Champagne, which ended on 17 March. Debate within the army as to means and ends had led to two schools of thought, those who, like Joffre, favoured "continuous battle" (an attack without pause involving all resources) and advocates of "methodical battle" like Foch, who wanted to conduct offensives as series of attacks with pauses to reorganise and consolidate. The theoretical bases of the forthcoming French offensive in Artois were collected in But et conditions d'une action offensive d'ensemble (Purpose and Conditions for Comprehensive Offensive Action) 16 April 1915 (and Note 5779) which had been compiled from analyses of reports received from the front since 1914. The document contained instructions on infiltration tactics, "rolling" barrages and poison gas, which were to be used systematically for the first time. Although doubtful about the capacity of the British to attack, Joffre wanted an offensive on the northern flank of the Tenth Army, to force the Germans to disperse their defences. At a meeting on 29 March, with Sir John French, the commander of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), and Herbert Kitchener, the Secretary of State for War, it was agreed that the IX Corps (9e Corps d'Armée) and XX corps would be relieved at Ypres by British units and on 1 April, French agreed to attack at the same time as the Tenth Army.

French doubts about the efficiency of the BEF had not diminished after the Battle of Neuve Chapelle and British doubts about the French had increased after the débâcle at Ypres on 22 April, when French troops had been routed by a German gas attack; Joffre had to agree to place reserves behind the Ypres front to secure British co-operation. The size of the German army was increased over the winter and by reorganising square field army divisions (two brigades with two regiments each) with fewer infantry battalions. The change to a nine-battalion (triangular) organisation with one brigade headquarters commanding three regiments, provided new divisions with a nucleus of trained and experienced troops and make it easier to move divisions from quiet sectors without undue disruption. On 3 March, Falkenhayn had formed the 11th Army, to be the main attacking army (Durchbruchsarmee) on the Western Front. On 30 March, its Chief of Staff, Colonel Hans von Seeckt, recommended an offensive between Arras and Albert, which required fourteen corps and 150 heavy artillery batteries. An offensive in the west was cancelled in April, due to the deteriorating situation on the Eastern Front, where the Austro-Hungarian Army (Landstreitkräfte Österreich-Ungarns/Császári és Királyi Hadsereg) faced collapse. The 11th Army and other divisions of the Westheer were sent east and the initiative in the west was left with the Entente armies. The defences of the German army in the west had been improvised since late 1914 and in many places were vulnerable to the growing number of French heavy guns. During the spring, the Westheer began to implement a standard defensive system, building a second position behind a barbed wire barricade, far enough behind the first position to require an attacker to pause to bring field artillery into range. The first position was elaborated into a zone, with camouflaged strong points and machine-gun nests built of concrete behind the front trenches. The 6th Army held a front of 56 mi (90 km) from Menin to the south of Arras with thirteen divisions and the 58th and 115th divisions in OHL reserve behind the front. The 6th Army had 660 field guns and 150 heavy guns. West of Lille, the front line was in the marshy Flanders plain and south of La Bassée, the ground was criss-crossed by waterways and drainage ditches, which made fortification difficult. West of Lens, the high ground of Vimy Ridge and the Lorette Spur dominated the ground further to the west; to the south around Arras the ground was overlooked from the ridge at Thilloy beyond the Scarpe.

South of Ablain rose wooded heights towards Carency, with the village in a hollow, the houses in five groups, one in the centre and the others facing north, west, south and east, protected by four lines of trenches. Each street and house had been fortified, connected by underground passages and garrisoned with four battalions of infantry and six companies of engineers. Field guns and machine-guns had been dug into the gardens and orchards, as well as behind the church, which made it impossible to attack the village except form the south and east. Trenches connected Carency with Ablain and Souchez on the Béthune–Arras road. Between Souchez and Arras at the hamlet of La Targette, the Germans had dug trenches, known as the "White Works", under which lay a German fortress. To the east of La Targette, was the village of Neuville St. Vaast, 1.5 mi (2.4 km) long and 700 yd (640 m) wide, between the Arras–Béthune and Arras–Lens roads, which had also been turned into an underground fortress. South of Neuville St. Vaast extended the Labyrnthe, on both sides of the Arras–Lens road, which contained tunnels and small strong points organised in a maze, with frequent blank walls and sally ports for the defenders to appear behind the attackers, linked by tunnels to Neuville St. Vaast. About 2 mi (3.2 km) east of the Labyrnthe and Neuville St. Vaast was the edge of the heights bounding the plain between the Scarpe and the Béthune–La-Bassée–Lille Canal. Opposite the French Tenth Army, the XIV Corps held the front with the 29th and 28th divisions and to the south, I Bavarian Reserve Corps held the line from Souchez to the south bank of the Scarpe at Arras, with the 5th and 1st Bavarian Reserve divisions. After the British attack at Neuve Chapelle, the local attacks which had occurred since December 1914 resumed, which resulted in minor changes of the front line. At the end of April, indications of a bigger attack in preparation and reports of new French units being formed suggested a more ambitious French attack north of Arras. French artillery fire began to increase in May but the weather in Artois was mainly cloudy and overcast, which with French air superiority restricted German air reconnaissance and ground observation of the rear of the French Tenth Army. Infantry patrolling was also inhibited and the presence of the French XVII Corps was not detected until 8 May. An attack on the same day was made on the positions of the 28th Division west of Liévin by the French 43rd Division, which was eventually repulsed at great cost to both sides. The final bombardment began at 6:00 a.m., with registration of targets for an hour. At 8:00 a.m. the mines in the Carency sector and the Lorette Spur were sprung, as an intense bombardment of the first two German positions continued, until a ten-minute pause at 9:40 a.m., followed by a ten-minute hurricane bombardment. As the infantry began their attack, the bombardment changed to a creeping barrage.

The 39th Division crossed the German trenches in front of La Targette, where two strong points contained artillery but the French advance was so swift, that only a few machine-gunners were able to engage them and the village was captured by 11:15 a.m., 350 prisoners being taken. The area was quickly consolidated and French field artillery galloped up to engage German troops nearby. The French pressed on to Neuville and advanced up the southern part of Vimy Ridge but troops of the 11th Division on the right flank, were held up by the defenders of the Labyrnthe. In the centre, the French gained a foothold in houses at the south end of the village and near the cemetery and half of the village was captured. On the main front, the French artillery had prepared the way for the infantry and creeping barrages had kept the surviving German infantry pinned down but where the French had fewer heavy guns and ammunition, the attacks had failed. The XVII Corps to the south of the attack front, had been expected to make a deeper advance than the other corps but was stopped by German machine-gun fire in no man's land and was only able to establish small footholds in the first position. In the south of the attack front, the X Corps infantry were stopped in no man's land. By nightfall the Tenth Army had taken 3,000 prisoners, ten field guns and fifty machine-guns. The success of XXXIII Corps had used up much of its ammunition and poor-quality shells had caused 24 premature explosions in its guns, against only four knocked out by German counter-battery fire. On 10 May, Joffre and Foch decided that infantry attacks would have to reflect the capacity of the artillery to support them and a proposal by d'Urbal to attack south of Arras was rejected. Joffre ordered several cavalry divisions to move towards the Tenth Army area as a decoy. To keep German reserves pinned down, a feint attack was made north of the Lorette Spur towards Loos, which managed a small advance on the left, until stopped by the fire of German artillery in Angres. On the Lorette Spur, machine-gun fire from a German strong point near the chapel caused many French casualties. A counter-attack from the sugar refinery between Ablain and Souchez was seen assembling and the French attack in the area was suspended. Barrage fire by the French artillery prevented the German infantry from advancing and the French infantry descended from the spur towards the Ablain ravine. The attack on Carency continued and German counter-attacks recovered some of the communication trenches and tunnels connecting it with Souchez. During the day, houses east of the village were stormed and a hollow south of the Carency–Souchez road was captured.

A lull occurred on the main front as the French infantry reorganised and the surviving German defenders recovered from the effects of the attack. French gunners were hampered (paralysed) by their ignorance of the positions of the infantry and left unable to fire a preparatory bombardment; the gunners concentrated on shelling German reserves seen advancing and on counter-battery fire. The most advanced French infantry were cut off by German barrage-fire, suffered from a serious shortage of water and frequently were counter-attacked, which rapidly reduced their ability to attack again, particularly in the units which had advanced the furthest. To the south of XXXIII Corps, the 39th Division attacked Neuville on the orders of the corps commander, despite the reservations of the divisional and army commanders and suffered a costly repulse by devastating fire from the defenders. On the right, beyond the Arras–Béthune road, Neuville cemetery was taken and counter-attacks by German reserves brought up from Douai and Lens were repulsed. By 11 May, the Tenth Army had reorganised sufficiently to attempt another general offensive but the DM and the 77th Division, which were the most advanced, had received the fewest reinforcements and supplies. Communication with the foremost troops was almost impossible through the German artillery-fire but d'Urbal thought that the German defence was rapidly increasing in effectiveness and that delay would put the French at a greater disadvantage. To the north the 70th Division and the 13th Division of XXI Corps managed to advance at Ablain, Carency, Bois 125 and along the Lorette Spur, which left the German garrison in Ablain outflanked on both sides. The attack by the XXXIII Corps was met by a huge volume of German artillery and small-arms fire and repulsed, DM having suffered 5,120 casualties since 9 May; the 77th Division also gained little ground due to German flanking fire. On the evening of 11 May, the French captured the lower slopes of the Arabs' Spur in mutually costly fighting and a night counter-attack by German troops from the Spur of the White Way was repulsed. The 13th and 43rd divisions captured the crest of the Lorette Spur during the night, which deprived the Germans of the commanding views from the ridge. German artillery in Angres and the machine-guns in Ablain kept a constant fire on the new French positions. On 11 May, D'Urbal reinforced the XXXIII Corps and XX Corps with fresh divisions, ready to attack after a two-hour bombardment. The French captured the wood east of Carency, which overlooked German communication trenches with Souchez and prevented their use. A German party on a wooded hillock kept the French from the east end of the village and the western approach was blocked by infantry at a stone quarry, nearly 91 m (300 ft) deep.

Two areas of the German front line, on either side of the Neuve Chapelle battlefield, were attacked by the British First Army (General Sir Douglas Haig). In the south I Corps and the Indian Corps attacked on a 2,400 yd (1.4 mi; 2.2 km) front from the Rue du Bois and IV Corps attacked in the north on a 1,500 yd (1,400 m) front opposite Fromelles. The attack was intended to make two breaches in the German defences 6,000 yd (3.4 mi; 5.5 km) apart, after which the infantry were to advance to Aubers Ridge about 3,000 yd (1.7 mi; 2.7 km) beyond. The preliminary bombardment began at 5:00 a.m. and at 5:30 a.m. became intense. Ten minutes later, the infantry attacked and surprised the German defenders, artillery fire cutting all the German telephone lines to the rear. Visibility was poor due to smoke and dust and the bombardment proved less effective than assumed; much of the British shell-fire fell short and few of the German machine-guns were destroyed. German machine-gunners and artillery began to fire at the same time and in ten minutes inflicted many casualties on the British infantry as they advanced across no man's land. The failure of the attack to gain more than a few footholds in the German first line led to a second attack at 8:00 a.m. after a forty-five-minute bombardment, which was repelled in no man's land by German defensive fire. A new attack was ordered for noon but was delayed until about 5:00 p.m. Despite a "terrific" bombardment, the German machine-gun nests were not destroyed and the machine-gunners stopped the attack with flanking-fire. To assist the French, whose attack had been more successful, another attack was ordered for 8:00 p.m. and then cancelled as it became clear that another attack could not be launched. The extent of the British defeat had not been realised, due to the difficulty of communicating with the front line. The British lost c. 11,000 casualties and German casualties had also been severe; the defensive position had been turned into a crater-field but German reserves were moved from the British front to Vimy Ridge on 12 May. Joffre and Foch met French that day to persuade him to resume the attack after the redeployment of German divisions south against the Tenth Army: French agreed to relieve a French division south of La Bassée by 15 May. Pétain proposed a combined attack on Souchez with the divisions of XXXIII and XXI corps for 12 May, which was rejected due to the exhaustion of the XXI Corps divisions. Pétain substituted a plan for three limited attacks against Carency, Bois 125, Ablain and Souchez, with similar attack in the south against Neuville. Joffre sent the III Corps to the Tenth Army as reinforcement but also had to withdraw artillery to support the British attack due at Festubert.

Pétain wanted more air reconnaissance but aircraft wireless was of extremely short range and during attacks, confusion on the ground made artillery observation from the air impossible. As an alternative, Pétain suggested making highly detailed maps of the German rear areas and systematically bombarding German artillery emplacements continuously, rather than during attacks but the suggestions were impractical, because of the ammunition shortage. Foch and d'Urbal met late on 15 May and ordered that the offensive was to end temporarily, as the attacks after 9 May had been poorly prepared and of diminishing effectiveness. Preparations with the standard of detail and organisation of the attack on 9 May, were to be made before the offensive resumed. "Bases of departure" were to be captured at Souchez and Neuville, before an attack on Vimy Ridge, which Foch expected to take eight to ten days. D'Urbal cancelled an attack due on 16 May and issued instructions to each corps to capture limited objectives. XXXIII Corps was given five objectives before an attack on Souchez and XXI Corps three objectives before supporting the attack on Souchez. The first limited objective attack was planned for 17 May but rainstorms forced a delay until 20 May and the night of 20/21 May. Huge artillery bombardments preceded infantry attacks, intended to occupy several hundred square metres of ground at a time. On the afternoon of 21 May, the French attacked the Spur of the White Way from the north, south and west. A party attacking from the Arabs' Spur captured their objectives in minutes and another party attacking from the north seized the main German communication trench, surrounding and taken the garrison prisoner. The attack from Ablain captured houses west of the church and the communications trench linking the White Way with Souchez was cut; 300 Germanprisoners and a field gun were taken. At 2:00 a.m. on 22 May, a German counter-attack from a foothold in Ablain was repulsed. On 25 May IX, XXI and XXXIII corps attacked limited objectives simultaneously, after a day-long artillery bombardment but made little progress. The remnants of the garrison in Ablain were attacked again on 28 May in their remaining trenches around the cemetery. French artillery placed a barrage to the east of the cemetery, cutting off the garrison before the infantry attacked and took 400 prisoners.

Delivery of supplies was intermittent, because field kitchens had to be set up well back to avoid shellfire. The remaining defences had been improvised between attacks many were overlooked from a flank and some from French positions behind them. A big attack on 21 May, pushed the defenders back and a counter-attack failed to restore the position, which was re-established further back along a track at the northern fringe of Ablain. Trenches were dug forwards towards the Lorette Spur, which gave some flank protection. II Battalion, Infantry Regiment 157 was severely depleted in the fighting and was relieved by units from six regiments. Constant French attacks slowly forced the surviving defenders back but the consequences of losing ground north-west of Souchez were so dangerous, that a stream of German units were sent to hold the area between late May and 7 June. After several days of minor operations, French infantry attacked from the Lorette Spur to the Scarpe at 4:00 p.m. From Ecurie southwards, the French were seen assembling and bombarded, which stopped the attack in no man's land. In the north, several footholds were gained and only recaptured during the night. Lochow requested more reinforcements, IV Corps south of Arras with the 8th and 7th divisions, was exchanged with two burnt-out divisions and the 111th Division took over the line from the 8th Division; the 115th Division was relieved at Neuville by the 58th Division. French attacks continued from 25 to 26 May, from Liévin to Souchez which captured German trenches, then lost them to German counter-attacks. On 27 May, Ablain cemetery and trenches to the south were lost, which made the village untenable and on 28 May, the Germans retired to a line either side of the sugar refinery west of Souchez. Local attacks continued and on 29 May, a French attack up the road from Aix-Noulette to Souchez was repulsed by Reserve Infantry Brigade 85. Lochow suspected that the attack was a ruse and next day the French attacked further south. On 30 May, French artillery-fire fell in the south and extended into the VIII Corps area, before an attack at 5:00 p.m. from Souchez to Roclincourt, which was eventually repulsed. Late on 31 May, trenches between Angres, the Carency stream and the sugar refinery were lost and only the trenches to the north were recaptured on 1 June after many counter-attacks. During the evening, an attack from Neuville to Tsingtao Trench captured the trench, which threatened the German hold on the Labyrnthe. Lochow put Fasbinder in command with the 58th Division and moved the 15th Division to Neuville. British diversionary attacks around Givenchy-lez-la-Bassée, continued during early June and were repulsed in costly fighting by VII and XIX corps.

On 7 June, Falkenhayn met the 6th Army commanders and accepted their claim that only with fresh troops could the 6th Army positions be held. The 5th and 123rd divisions were sent to the 6th Army and XIX Saxon Corps was relieved by IV Corps on 14 June. The 117th Division was moved from the Lorette Spur beyond the Béthune–Lens road for a rest but around Liévin and Angres, the 7th Division (Lieutenant-General Riedel) and 8th Division (Major-General von Hanstein) held decrepit trenches which could not be repaired at night because French searchlights illuminated the ground to catch German troops in the open. At Schlammulde south of the Aix-Noulette–Souchez road was relatively protected from French artillery-fire but was covered in corpses, which revolted the troops who could not bury the dead. Many attempts were made to close a 330 yd (300 m) gap to a switch trench, which led towards the sugar refinery and Souchez. Two breastworks had been built near the Château and more fortifications had been built in Souchez. An absence of attacks in the 16th Division area had been used to repair the defences from Souchez to Hill 123 but the trenches in the 5th Division (Major-General von Gabain) area were derelict. In the I Bavarian Reserve Corps area, the 58th Division still held much of the Labyrnthe and to the south the 1st Bavarian Reserve Division and the exhausted 52nd Reserve Infantry Brigade, which had held the line since the beginning of the offensive were still in the original front line, although the trenches were severely damaged. The German artillery had been reorganised into divisional groups and batteries south of the Scarpe, maintained flanking fire on the French guns north of the river. A new trench line ordered by Lochow had been dug from Loos to Lens, Vimy and Thélus and a new line was planned east of Lens to Oppy and Feuchy, far enough back to negate the tactical advantage of artillery support from Vimy Ridge, should it be captured. Signs of another French attack increased and on 14 June, French reconnaissance patrols were active from Angres to Neuville and French artillery-fire grew in intensity. Super-heavy shells sufficient to penetrate concrete shelters fell in Souchez, Givenchy, Thélus and Farbus, destroying command posts and staging areas. At dawn on 16 June, much of the German wire had been cut, many trenches had been demolished and the defending infantry had suffered many casualties. At noon, the French attacked from Liévin to the Scarpe, with little return fire from the German artillery, which had been suppressed by counter-battery fire and under observation from French aircraft, which flew overhead unchallenged.

Late on 16 June, the French attacked in a smoke-screen and reached the forward German positions, where several footholds was gained and protected by box-barrages. German counter-attacks later in the evening eliminated one foothold and took 205 prisoners but further to the left a French foothold was maintained by the weight of covering artillery-fire. By night, the French had consolidated in the 7th Division trenches at Liévin and Angres. The German survivors in the Schlammulde, between Angres and the chapel at Notre Dame de Lorette, were forced back. House-to-house fighting continued in Souchez and in the 16th Division area, where the front line for 0.62 mi (1 km) had been lost. Some French troops reached German artillery positions, beyond which were no trench defences. Against the 5th Division in the south, the French attacks collapsed but the 58th Division at the Labyrnthe and areas just to the south were broken through. In counter-attacks during the night by Armee-Gruppe Lochow, the 7th Division recaptured trenches at Liévin and Angres but failed to the south-west and at Schlammulde. The 8th Division regained the second Lorette switch line and the 16th Division cleared a few isolated penetrations but not the area south of Souchez; artillery-fire prevented the digging of a switch trench. A continuous barrage (Dauerfeur) was maintained on the breakthrough, which prevented the French advancing further, except at the churchyard at Souchez and by dawn the Labyrnthe had been recaptured. About 700 French prisoners were taken. The 6th Army was reduced to a desperate position and OHL sent VI Corps units forward as they arrived. On 17 June the French attack resumed and broke into the 5th Division defences and was then pushed out from there and either side by counter-attacks. A French advance to the north along the Aix-Noulette–Souchez road made Schlammulde untenable and it was abandoned overnight; Marokkanerwäldchen (Moroccan Copse) on the Arras–Béthune road was lost. There were many German casualties and the 16th Division was relieved by the 11th Division of VI Corps; the 58th Division was kept in line for lack of a replacement. OHL provided the 15th Division, which had had only a few days' rest and the 123rd Division in an emergency. The 12th Division of VI Corps could not hasten its arrival before 19 June and the 187th Infantry Brigade was hurried north, the 53rd Reserve Division relieved the 3rd Bavarian Division which then replaced the 58th Division and another thirteen heavy batteries were sent to the 6th Army. Armee-Gruppe Lochow held the north with the IV Corps headquarters, the 117th and 123rd Saxon divisions on the right, the 7th and 8th divisions on the left and the 3rd Ersatz Brigade in reserve. VIII Corps held the central area with the 11th and 5th divisions, the 12th Division (Lieutenant-General Chales de Beaulieu) to join on the northern flank and the 6th Division in 6th Army reserve when it arrived.

Early on 9 May, French aircraft bombed the 6th Army headquarters at La Madeleine en Lille and railway stations in the town, with little effect. By 19 May, German aircraft reinforcements could make reconnaissance flights behind the French front and reported massive concentrations of artillery and the assembly of troops at the Doullens railway station, which were interpreted as signs of another big French offensive.The French made secondary attacks along the Western Front, to pin down German reserves as part of the general action, intended to complement the decisive action at Arras. The Second Army attacked a German salient west of Serre on a 1.2 mi (1.9 km) front at Toutvent Farm, 19 mi (30 km) south of Souchez, from 7–13 June, against the 52nd Division and gained 980 yd (900 m) on a 1.2 mi (2 km) front, at a cost of 10,351 casualties, 1,760 being killed; German casualties were c. 4,000 men. On 10 and 19 July, the 28th Reserve Division repulsed attacks near Fricourt. The 6th Army attacked a salient south of Quennevières near Noyon, from 6–16 June and advanced 550 yd (500 m) on a 0.62 mi (1 km) front, with 7,905 casualties; the German 18th Division had 1,763 losses. German attacks in the Argonne from 20 June, captured French positions at La Hazarée and another attack on 13 July, captured high ground west of Boureuilles and near Le Four de Paris. The German attacks took 6,663 prisoners from 20 June. In the south-east, the First Army attacked the Saint-Mihiel salient from 1 May to 20 June. The 9th Division was pushed back to the second line by five French attacks; after several more attacks, the neighbouring 10th Division relieved the pressure on the Grande Tranchée de Calonne road, with an attack on the Bergnase (Les Éparges) on 26 June. The Germans gained a commanding position, from which counter-attacks were repulsed on 3 and 6 July. The French operations gained a small amount of ground for c. 16,200 casualties. About 43 mi (70 km) beyond St. Mihiel, The Army Detachment of Lorraine attacked from 5–22 June, advancing 1,100–1,600 yd (1,000–1,500 m) on a 3.1 mi (5 km) front and then 2,200 yd (2,000 m) on an 5.0 mi (8 km) front, with 32,395 casualties. On 7 July, the III Bavarian Corps counter-attacked west of Apremont, captured French front trenches and resisted French attacks until 12 July, inflicting many losses. In late June, French attacks captured Gondrexon and next day the German 30th Reserve Division captured a hill at Ban-de-Sapt, until French counter-attacks on 8 and 24 July. The Seventh Army attacked 12 mi (20 km) to the west of Colmar from 5 May – 22 June and advanced 1.9 mi (3 km) on a 2.8 mi (4.5 km) front. Attacks on high ground west of Metzeral from 5 to 7 May were repulsed but on 14 June the heights and the village of Sondernach were captured.

Three squadrons of 1st Wing Royal Flying Corps (RFC) were attached to the First Army, to fly defensive patrols for four days before the attack, to deter enemy reconnaissance. During the attack they were to conduct artillery observation and reconnaissance sorties and bomb enemy rear areas, railway junctions and bridges further away. This battle was an unmitigated disaster for the British army. No ground was won and no tactical advantage gained. It is doubted if it had the slightest positive effect on assisting the main French attack 15 miles (24 km) to the south. The battle was renewed slightly to the south, from 15 May as the Battle of Festubert. In the aftermath of the Aubers Ridge failure, the war correspondent of The Times, Colonel Charles à Court Repington, sent a telegram to his newspaper highlighting the lack of high-explosive shells, using information supplied by Sir John French; The Times headline on 14 May 1915 was: "Need for shells: British attacks checked: Limited supply the cause: A Lesson From France". This precipitated a political scandal known as the Shell Crisis of 1915. The German Official Historians of the Reichsarchiv recorded c. 102,500 French casualties from 9 May – 18 June, 32,000 British casualties and 73,072 German casualties for the operations of the Second Battle of Artois. The British Official Historian, J. E. Edmonds recorded British casualties as 11,619 men. Edmonds wrote that the German Official History made little reference to the battle but in 1939 G. C. Wynne wrote that Infantry Regiment 55 had 602 casualties and Infantry Regiment 57 lost 300 casualties. The Battle of Festubert (15–25 May 1915) was an attack by the British army in the Artois region of France on the western front during World War I. The offensive formed part of a series of attacks by the French Tenth Army and the British First Army in the Second Battle of Artois (3 May – 18 June 1915). After the failure of the attempted breakthrough by the First Army in the attack at Aubers Ridge (9 May 1915) tactics of a short hurricane bombardment and an infantry advance with unlimited objectives, were replaced by the French practice of slow and deliberate artillery-fire intended to prepare the way for an infantry attack. A continuous three-day bombardment by the British heavy artillery was planned, to cut wire and demolish German machine-gun posts and infantry strong-points. The German defences were to be captured by a continuous attack, by one division from Rue du Bois to Chocolat Menier Corner and by a second division 600 yards (550 m) north, which was to capture the German trenches to the left of Festubert. The objectives were 1,000 yards (910 m) forward, rather than the 3,000 yards (2,700 m) depth of advance intended at Aubers Ridge. The battle was the first British attempt at attrition. Festubert フェステュベール