On the night of September 7, Blow ordered two of his corps to withdraw to favorable positions just hours before von Kluck ordered these same two corps to march to reinforce 1st Army on the Ourcq River. The armoured vehicle would not truly come into its own until the doctrines of J.F.C. A German offensive began by 21 October but the 4th and 6th Armies were only able to take small amounts of ground, at great cost to both sides at the Battle of the Yser (1631 October) and further south in the First Battle of Ypres (19 October22 November). On 1 July 1916, a few minutes before they attacked on the Somme, the British exploded several huge mines packed with explosives under the German position. This work gradually led pilots into aerial battles against enemiesengaged in similar activities. It was also somewhat resistant to artillery fire, tangling together further to become more impassable, or being simply replaced if it was damaged. The combination of 19th-century war tactics, such as an adherence to the Napoleonic principles, which focused on destroying the enemy despite huge losses, and new 20th-century technology, was a major reason for so many casualties in the First World War. The use of these chemical weapons violated the 1899 Hague Declaration Concerning Asphyxiating Gases and the 1907 Hague Convention on Land Warfare, both strictly prohibiting the use of chemical warfare. [4], To the south, the French retook Mulhouse on 19 August and then withdrew. [58] Herwig estimated 300,000 casualties for all sides at the Marne but questioned whether isolating the battle was justified. [57], In 2009, Herwig re-estimated the casualties for the battle. As the speed andflying capabilities of aircraft improved they evenbombed airfields, transportation networks and industrial facilities. This retreat was achieved not a moment too soon, as the rest of the German First Army under Gen. Alexander von Kluck was marching still farther westward to envelop the BEFs open left flank. [69] In October, a new 4th Army was assembled from the III Reserve Corps, the siege artillery used against Antwerp, and four of the new reserve corps training in Germany. Told of the threat, Moltke suffered a nervous breakdown. But the bayonet was still a handy tool that soldiers also used for cooking and eating! He decided to swing back his centre and left, with Verdun as the pivot, while drawing troops from the right and forming a fresh Sixth Army on his left to enable the retiring armies to return to the offensive. This dislocated Joffres design for an early return to the offensive and compelled the Sixth Army to fall back hurriedly toward the shelter of the Paris defenses. Further west, the French Fifth Army had concentrated on the Sambre by 20 August, facing north on either side of Charleroi and east towards Namur and Dinant. [59] In 2010, Ian Sumner wrote that there were 12,733 British casualties, including 1,700 dead. Later in the day, he arrived at the BEF HQ for discussions which ended with Joffre banging his hand dramatically on a table while shouting "Monsieur le Marchal, the honour of England is at stake!" On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. These early experiments were a small taste of things to come. Flying goggles used by the Royal Flying Corps, 1917, Two British fighters destroying a German aircraft, 1917. 31, 2021, thoughtco.com/first-battle-of-the-marne-2361397. The French threw back the massive German advance and thwarted German plans for a quick and total victory on the Western Front. Angered by the French proclivity for retreating without informing him, the commander of the BEF, Field Marshal Sir John French, wished to pull the BEF back towards the coast but was convinced to stay at the front by War Secretary Horatio H. Kitchener. The Battle of Mulhouse (Battle of Alsace 710 August) was the first French offensive of World War I. Little Willie only drove three mph and could not move across the trenches. When the British retraced their steps, it was the report of their columns advancing into the gap which led Blow to order the retreat of his Second Army on September 9. [7], On 26 August, German forces captured Valenciennes and began the Siege of Maubeuge (24 August 7 September). This type of machine gun had the firepower of a hundred other guns. The Battle of Amiens in August 1918 and the subsequent 'Hundred Days' offensiveillustrated that the British had learned how to combine infantry assaults (men armed with rifles, grenades and machine guns) with gas, artillery, tanks and aircraft in a co-coordinated attack orall arms approach. These were of limited use, however, as the body of the aircraft itself made it difficult and dangerous to fire any weapons. There was a gap between the left of the Second Army and the right of the Third Army at Verdun, which faced north-west, on a line towards Revigny, against the Fifth Army advance west of the Meuse between Varennes and Sainte-Menehould. Allied troops attacked the Germans' large Marne salient (i.e., a bulge protruding into the Allied lines), taking the Germans by surprise. Please select which sections you would like to print: Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. The Battle of Marne was the first time aeroplanes were used in war to spy behind enemy lines. Although many defenders were killed by the explosions. 5, to start on 6 September. Quick Firing18-pounder field gun Mk I, 1906. Omissions? German barbed wire at Beaucourt, November 1916. [17] Gallieni had come to the same conclusion on 3 September and had started marching the Sixth Army east. Pushing through Belgium, the Germans were slowed by stubborn resistance which allowed the French and arriving British Expeditionary Force to form a defensive line. Between 1914 and 1918, planes advanced from barely airworthy craft to effective weapons platforms. [13] After setting this order in action on 2 September, Kluck did not transmit word to Moltke and OHL until the morning of 4 September, which Moltke ignored. War: The First World War also known as 'The Great War'. [13] Though in keeping with the pre-war tradition of decentralised command (Auftragstaktik), Kluck disregarded the threat from the west. The front line trenches werebacked-up by second and third lines: 'support' and 'reserve' trenches. The Lewis Gun was the British Armys most widely used machine-gun. The first tank used was nicknamed 'Little Willie' and carried up to three crew members. [65] By 28 September, the Aisne front had stabilised and the BEF began to withdraw on the night of 1/2 October, with the first troops arriving in the Abbeville on the Somme on the night of 8/9 October. First Battle of the Marne, (September 612, 1914), an offensive during World War I by the French army and the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) against the advancing Germans who had invaded Belgium and northeastern France and were within 30 miles (48 km) of Paris. Some of the good flame throwers could shoot a stream as far as 50 yards (Flamethrowers and Snipers in WW1 2009). One of the few ways that tanks were effective during the war, was that they were capable of crossing barbed wire defences, although their tracks were still at risk of becoming entangled. After this, the fighting moved north to Lassigny and the French dug in around Nampcel. Super dreadnoughts, such as the HMS Orion, ruled the waves; their reign was short, however, as developments in naval aviation would soon render such ships obsolete. [47] The German retreat ended their hope of pushing the French beyond the VerdunMarneParis line and winning a quick victory. [citation needed], Joffre, whose planning had led to the disastrous Battle of the Frontiers, was able to bring the Entente to a tactical victory. Object description. The BEF completed its move of four divisions and a cavalry division to France on 16 August, as the last Belgian fort of the Fortified Position of Lige (Position fortifie de Lige) surrendered. Pilots would even wave at enemy planes when they passed each other on aerial reconnaissance duties! Moltke chose to reinforce the opposite wing that was attacking fortifications in the region near Verdun and Nancy. He sent his intelligence officer, Oberstleutnant Richard Hentsch to visit the HQs. From September 6-12, 1914, just one month into World War I, the First Battle of the Marne took place just 30 miles northeast of Paris in the Marne River Valley of France. That night he issued commands to halt the French retreat in his Instruction General No. For his failure, he was replaced as Chief of the General Staff on September 14 by Erich von Falkenhayn. A wide river, he stipulated that "the lines so reached will be fortified and defended." [64] The German IX Reserve Corps arrived from Belgium by 15 September and the next day joined the 1st Army for an attack to the south-west, with the IV Corps and the 4th and 7th cavalry divisions, against the attempted French envelopment. 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". Both sides dug in and a line of trenches soon ran from the Channel to the Swiss frontier. Both sides were faced with the prospect of costly siege warfare operations if they chose to continue an offensive strategy in France. The delay in starting the advance meant that the Germans had time to scramble out of their dugouts, man their trenches and open a devastating machine-gun fire. Soldiers disliked the Mark 1 Grenade (above) because it was liable to detonateif knocked against something when being thrown. Following the detonation of the mines, nine Allied infantry divisions attacked under a creeping artillery barrage, supported by tanks. That morning it came into contact with cavalry patrols of the IV Reserve Corps of General Hans von Gronau, on the right flank of the 1st Army west of the Ourcq River. The French captured Mulhouse, until forced out by a German counter-attack on 11 August, and fell back toward Belfort. [44] It was his orders that prevented Castelnau from abandoning Nancy on 6 September or reinforcing that army when the pivotal battle was unfolding on the other side of the battlefield. On arrival, however, Field Marshal Sir John French learned that the French Fifth Army under Gen. Charles Lanrezac had been checked by a German attack on August 21 and deprived of the crossing of the Sambre. 500,000 killed or wounded. Between September 9 and 13, German forces broke off contact with the enemy and retreated north to this new line. "[31] In 2001, Strachan described the course of the battle without mentioning taxis and in 2009, Herwig called the matter a legend: he wrote that many French soldiers travelled in lorries and all the artillery left Paris by train. There were many weapons used in WWI, they each had a purpose during the war. 40% occurred during the Battle of the Marne. Here we explore some of the weapons used and developed by the British Army during the conflict. To the chagrin of the Germans, such an effort had begun before the new plan could take effect. Greater results might have come if more effort had been made, as Gallieni urged, to strike at the rear flank of the Klucks First Army instead of the front and to direct reinforcements to the northwest of Paris for this purpose. Quickly moving to exploit the opportunity, Joffre ordered General Franchet d'Esprey's French Fifth Army and the BEF into the gap. It required a team of two gunners to operate it, one to fire and one to carry ammunition and reload. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. For commanders, the greatest tacticalproblemwas to get troops safely across the fire-swept divide between the trenchesto penetrate enemydefences. However, in General Gallieni's memoirs, he notes how some had "exaggerated somewhat the importance of the taxis. The British Army soon developed a range of gas helmets based on fabric bags and hoods that had been treated with anti-gas chemicals. Aerial photography of the front, 25 August 1916, Vickers .303 inchClass C medium machine gun, 1910. Communication trenches linked them all together. [23], The Allies were prompt in exploiting the break in the German lines, sending the BEF and the Fifth Army into the gap between the two German armies. Germany first used poison gas as a weapon during the Battle of Bolimov in January 1915. The main French offensive, the Battle of Lorraine (1425 August), began with the Battles of Morhange and Sarrebourg (1420 August) advances by the First Army on Sarrebourg and the Second Army towards Morhange. Further, the German command lost touch with the advancing armies, and movements at the front became disjointed. Late on 4 September, Joffre ordered the Sixth Army to attack eastwards over the Ourcq towards Chteau Thierry as the BEF advanced towards Montmirail, and the Fifth Army attacked northwards with its right flank protected by the Ninth Army along the St. Gond marshes. The request came at a moment when Moltke was becoming perturbed over the way the French were slipping away from his grasp. First Battle of the Marne, (September 6-12, 1914), an offensive during World War I by the French army and the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) against the advancing Germans who had invaded Belgium and northeastern France and were within 30 miles (48 km) of Paris. In the night of 6-7, two groups set off: the first, comprising 350 vehicles, departed at 10 PM, and another of 250 an hour later. "World War I: First Battle of the Marne." By then the German armies had recovered cohesion, and the German command was expecting and ready to meet such a maneuver, now the obvious course. [56] British casualties were 13,000 men, with 1,700 killed. The British stand at Le Cateau (August 26), interrupting the retreat from Mons, and Lanrezacs riposte at Guise (August 29) were also factors in checking the German enveloping wing, and each had still greater indirect effects. [42] The Battle of the Marne was the second great battle on the Western Front, after the Battle of the Frontiers, and one of the most important events of the war. Le Cateau apparently convinced Kluck that the British force could be wiped from the slate, and Guise led Gen. Karl von Blow (Second Army) to call on the First Army for support, whereupon Kluck wheeled inward, intending to roll up the French left. For the Germans, the result of the Battle of the Marne was a strategic but not a tactical defeat, and the German right wing was able to reknit and stand firmly on the line of the lower Aisne and the Chemin des Dames ridge, where trench warfare set in after assaults by the Allies in the latter half of September (First Battle of the Aisne). The guns also had to be positioned on a flat service. Germany first used poison gas as a weapon during the Battle of Bolimov in January 1915. While the German invasion failed decisively to defeat the Entente in France, the German army occupied a good portion of northern France as well as most of Belgium and it was the failure of the French Plan 17 that caused that situation. [] That men will let themselves be killed where they stand, that is well-known and counted on in every plan of battle. On 12 August, the Battle of Haelen was fought by German and Belgian cavalry and infantry, resulting in a Belgian defensive success. Even though the British Army had an arsenal of weapons at their fingertips, it tookthem most of the war to use these fighting tools to their advantage. These tanks were made for use on the Western Front because of the terrain's rough conditions. Ludendorff Offensive March 21 to July 18, 1918 Also known as the Ludendorff Offensive, the 1918 Spring Offensive begins with the Germans launching a string of attacks along the Western Front in. Still, some new weapons and technology used such as chemical warfare, flamethrowers and submarines caused great fear and chaos during World War I. On September 8, the aggressive d'Esprey launched a large-scale attack on Blow's Second Army driving it back (Map). Although they had been experimented with before, submarines were widely used for the first time during World War I. Germany began using them after the war began, first to intercept supplies on their way to the British Isles. The Fifth Army and the BEF had withdrawn south of the Oise, Serre, Aisne, and Ourq, pursued by the German 2nd Army on a line from Guise to Laon, Vailly, and Dormans and by the 1st Army from Montdidier, towards Compigne and then south-east towards Montmirail. He was a teacher in the Chicago suburbs and Seoul, Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. Using the German Sanittsberichte, Herwig recorded that from 110 September, the 1st Army had 13,254 casualties, the 2nd Army had 10,607 casualties, the 3rd Army had 14,987 casualties, the 4th Army had 9,433 casualties, the 5th Army had 19,434 casualties, the 6th Army had 21,200 casualties and the 7th Army had 10,164 casualties. Artillery literally shaped the battlefield in World War I. However, flamethrowers were effective, causing lots of havoc on the battlefield. But theyremainedvulnerable to enemy fire and were still mechanicallyunreliable. They alsomade the most of new technologieslike aircraft, sound ranging and flash spotting to locate and neutralise enemy artillery. [50][51] Ian Sumner called it a flawed victory and that it proved impossible to deal the German armies "a decisive blow". Thesewere latermodified to carry smoke, incendiary devices, flares and anti-tank warheads, as well as high explosive. Guns could rain down high explosive shells, shrapnel and poison gas on the enemy and heavy fire could destroy troop concentrations, wire, and fortified positions. The effectiveness of the tank as a weapon, was not fully realised until the inter-war years. By turning his army to meet the French, von Kluck created a 30-mile breach between Germany's First and Second Armies through which the French Fifth Army and British forces poured. Later in the war, fighter aircraft were introduced. He has appeared on The History Channel as a featured expert. The German retreat from 9 to 13 September marked the end of the attempt to defeat France by crushing the French armies with an invasion from the north through Belgium and in the south over the common border. Place of the Battle of the Marne: France, to the east of Paris. Moltke is said to have reported to the Kaiser: "Your Majesty, we have lost the war." The right wing of the Fifth Army attacked on 6 September and pinned the 2nd Army in the Battle of the Two Morins, named for the two rivers in the area, the Grand Morin and Petit Morin. In fact, during World War I, an estimated 1.3 million had died from the use of chemical weapons. The Vickers machine-gun (above)was famed for its reliability and could fire over 600 rounds per minute and had a range of 4,500 yards. [40], German attacks continued through 8 September but soon began to taper off as Moltke began shifting troops to the west. Tunnels would be dug under no-mans land to lay explosive mines beneath enemy positions. This message streamer was dropped on 9 September 1914 during the Battle of the Marne. The slow pace of the BEF's advance enraged d'Esperey and other French commanders. Artillery was the most destructive weapon on the Western Front. Only the back lights of the taxis were lit; the drivers were instructed to follow the lights of the taxi ahead. 1900s. Here are the facts and trivia that people are buzzing about. On the left, the Cavalry Corps of General Sordet linked up with the BEF at Mons. During the Battle of Ypres, also in 1915, the Germans used chlorine gas for the first time. There were over 1,400,000 German soldiers under the leadership of General Helmuth von Moltke. [23], On 6 September, General Gallieni gathered about six hundred taxicabs at Les Invalides in central Paris to carry soldiers to the front at Nanteuil-le-Haudouin, fifty kilometres away. Field telephones and sound equipment was also used to find the enemy's location. The First Battle of the Marne marked the end of the German sweep into France and the beginning of the trench warfare that was to characterise World War One. However, the comparatively small number of prisoners raised doubts in Moltkes mind and led him to a more sober estimate of the situation. The goal of the plan was to quickly defeat France before the Russians could fully mobilize their forces. [43] French casualties totalled 250000 men, of whom 31,376 were killed. Mortars of all sizes were used on the Western Front. The First Battle of the Marne was fought September 6-12, 1914, during World War I (1914-1918) and marked the limit of Germany's initial advance into France. The curation of this content is at the discretion of the author, and not necessarily reflective of the views of Encyclopaedia Britannica or its editorial staff. Updated on March 19, 2020 The Second Battle of the Marne lasted from July 15 to August 6, 1918, and was fought during World War I. But it provided the Army with a tough lesson in how to fight a large-scale modern war. After the battle at the Marne River, the German and Allied troops realized old-fashioned battle was not the way to win this war. Reaching the Aisne, the Germans halted and occupied the high ground north of the river. On September 7 and 8, Maunourys forces were reinforced by about 3,000 infantrymen who were transported to the battle from Paris by some 600 taxis, the first automotive transport of troops in the history of war. The first units of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) landed in France and French troops crossed the German frontier. Watch this video to understand the significant role trench warfare played in conflicts from 17th century France through World War I. The next day, with some difficulty, Gallieni won Joffres sanction. It could fire 20 bombs per minute and had a range of 1,100 metres. The Germans suffered ca. The German 3rd, 4th and 5th Armies attacked the French Second, Third, Fourth and Ninth Armies in the vicinity of Verdun beginning 56 September. Even with all the new technology being introduced, much of World War I was fought in trenches, especially the Western Front. Later that day, the first orders were issued for a retreat effectively negating the Schlieffen Plan. [25] The Fifth Army by 8 September crossed the Petit Morin, which forced Blow to withdraw the right flank of the 2nd Army. Before acceding, Kluck deferred to Moltke. A more modern tank was developed by the end of the war that could seat up to ten men and reach four mph. This forced the Germans to halt their advance and retreat behind the Aisne River. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). As gunnery practice improved the British were able to use this lightmachine gun to give effective mobile support to their ground troops. By the next day, French attacks north of the Aisne led Falkenhayn to order the 6th Army to repulse the French and secure the flank. Utilizing the new technology of aviation, Allied reconnaissance planes quickly spotted this gap and reported it to Joffre. [62], French troops had begun to move westwards on 2 September, using the undamaged railways behind the French front, which were able to move a corps to the left flank in 56 days. At first most aircraft were unarmed, although some pilots did carry weapons with them including pistols and grenades. It ranged in size from the French 75-mm field gun to the massive 420-mm Big Bertha and the 210-mm Paris Gun. The Germans were pursued by the French and British, although the pace of the exhausted Entente forces was slow and averaged only 19km (12mi) per day. The man with the goggles belongs to the Intelligence Corps. Exploiting this, the Allies attacked into the gap and threatened to encircle the German First and Second Armies. Historians' interpretations characterise the Entente advance as a success. The reinforced Sixth Army held its ground. By 10 September the German armies west of Verdun were retreating towards the Aisne. Planes also made their debut in the First World War. Machine gun. On July 18 the German offensive was called off just as a great Allied counteroffensive began that same day. As the war progressed aircraft were fitted with machine guns and strafed enemy trenches and troop concentrations. Also on that day, French troops counterattacked in the Battle of the Ourcq 512 September, marking the end of the Great Retreat of the western flank of the Franco-British armies.[9]. These early trenches were built quickly and tended to be simple affairs that offered little protection from the elements. With proper handling, it could sustain a rate of fire for hours. This included about 3,000 men from the Seventh Division who were transported in a fleet of Paris taxicabs requisitioned by General Gallieni. The next day Lanrezac had word of the fall of Namur and of the presence of the German Third Army under Gen. Max von Hausen on his exposed right flank near Dinant, on the Meuse. On 5 September, the Battle of the Ourcq commenced when the Sixth Army advanced eastwards from Paris. The introduction of gas warfare in 1915 created an urgent need for protective equipment to counter its effects. The German armies attacked from Verdun westwards to Reims and the Aisne at the Battle of Flirey (19 September11 October), cut the main railway from Verdun to Paris and created the St. Mihiel salient, south of the Verdun fortress zone. [66], From 17 September17 October the belligerents made reciprocal attempts to turn the northern flank of their opponent. Every year, bomb-clearing units remove more than 40 tons of unexploded munitions from the Verdun area alone. The BEF retreated to the outskirts of Paris, before it counter-attacked in concert with the French, in the Battle of the Marne. . This often involvedclose-quarters fighting in confined spaces so many experienced soldiers preferred to use improvised clubs, knives and knuckledusters rather thancumbersome rifles. The machine guns available at the start of World War I needed four to six men to operate them. Rattles, horns and whistles were also soon adopted as means of warning troops and giving them time to put on protective equipment during gas attacks. [45] He resisted counter-attacking until the time was right then put his full force behind it. The Stokes mortar (above) was the most successful British mortar. The bloody. On 29 August, the Fifth Army counter-attacked the German 2nd Army south of the Oise, from Vervins to Mont-d'Origny and west of the river from Mont-d'Origny to Moy towards St. Quentin on the Somme, while the British held the line of the Oise west of La Fre. The Germans used it first during the war, against the French. Mustard gas proved more effective. On 5 September German troops reached Claye-Souilly, 15 kilometres (10mi) from Paris, captured Reims, and withdrew from Lille, and the BEF ended its retreat from Mons. The Belgian government withdrew from Brussels on 18 August. Thestandard British rifle was the Short Magazine Lee Enfield Rifle Mk III. The taxis, following city regulations, dutifully ran their meters. [38] On 7 September German advances created a salient south of Verdun at St. Mihiel, which threatened to separate the Second and Third Armies. For the most accurate and up-to-date information, consult individual encyclopedia entries about the topics. Australians loading a 9.45 inch trench mortar on the Somme, August 1916, The Hawthorne Ridge mine detonating during the Battle of the Somme, 1916. Joffres optimism might have been again misplaced but for German decisions. They were the only army to wear any form of a camouflage uniform; the value of drab clothing was . We've got you covered with our map collection. The retreating armies were pursued by the French and British. Pursued by the British and French, they defeated Allied attacks against this new position. Itconsisted of a metal tube fixed to an anti-recoil plate. For, in order to ease the pressure on the British, Joffre had ordered Lanrezac to halt and strike back against the pursuing Germans, and Blow, shaken by the threat, called on Kluck for aid. [19] At dinner that night he received word of dEsperey's plan for the counter-attack. Our editors update and regularly refine this enormous body of information to bring you reliable information. Having implemented the Schlieffen Plan at the war's outset, German forces swung through Belgium and into France from north. The Short Magazine Lee Enfield was usually fitted with a bayonet which gave the Tommy a one-metre reach in hand-to-hand combat. The 1916 Somme offensive was one of the bloodiest battles of the First World War. On 9 September, Hentsch reached the 1st Army's HQ, met with von Kluck's chief of staff, and issued orders for the 1st Army to retreat to the Aisne River. Heavy guns, such as the Maxim and Hotchkiss, made "no man's land" a killing zone, and Isaac Newton Lewis 's light machine gun saw widespread use at the squad level and as an aircraft armament. Joffre ordered Entente troops to pursue, leading to the First Battle of the Aisne (see below). Even on September 5, when the French on either flank were turning about, the British continued a further days march to the south. 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Medium machine gun, 1910 and verify and edit content received from contributors gas as a featured expert at! Near Verdun and Nancy of aviation, Allied reconnaissance planes quickly spotted this gap reported. Widely used machine-gun value of drab clothing was first orders were issued for a retreat negating. In World War. use this lightmachine gun to the same conclusion on 3 September and had started the... The Ourcq commenced when the Sixth Army east give effective mobile support to ground. Reinforce the opposite wing that was attacking fortifications in the region near Verdun and Nancy was replaced Chief... Battle of Haelen was fought in trenches, especially the Western Front to new. Ground north of the British and French troops crossed the German offensive was one of Aisne... And fell back toward Belfort.303 inchClass C medium machine gun had the firepower of a tube! French troops crossed the German offensive was called off just as a Allied! 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