A century on … Margaret Adams continues her series of articles on the centenary anniversaries of major battles of World War I
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Bullecourt April 1917 – The Hindenburg Line
As a result of the horrendous number of casualties suffered by the Germans during the first battle of the Somme and at Verdun in 1916 the German High Command – Generals Paul von Hindenburg and Erich von Ludendorff - decided to build a fortified line during the winter of 1916–1917 on the Western Front . It was built well behind the then existing front line - i.e. between 10 and 50 km (six and 30 miles) – to act as a retreat of last resort. It was not continuous but a system of linked fortified areas extending from the North sea to Verdun in mid-France.
It was believed to be a superior defensive position and as it straightened out the defence line it released more infantrymen and artillery for active service
The area between the former defence line and the Hindenburg Line was totally devastated, by completely destroying all roads and bridges as well as levelling any buildings- a 'scorched earth' policy. Mines were laid to make the area even more dangerous and inhospitable to the Allies.
The Hindenburg Line consisted of deep trenches - some 5 metres deep and 4 metres wide - and dug-outs protected by a wall of barbed wire 20 metres (60 feet) wide Three kilometres in front of these strong, steel-reinforced, concrete fortifications, was placed a lightly defended outpost line about one kilometre (1,100 yards) in depth. This was intended to slow down, fragment and ultimately disorganise the advancing troops. Behind this was another two-kilometre (one a quarter mile) 'Battle Zone' backed by an intensive barrage of machine guns and artillery which would eliminate any infantry that managed to cross the battle zone. Later, when the tank became a serious tactical weapon, anti-tank ditches were added to the first line of defence.
Bullecourt, a village in northern France, was one of several villages to be heavily fortified and incorporated into the defences of the Hindenburg Line in1917.
In March 1917, the German army withdrew to the Hindenburg Line to shorten their fighting front and make their positions easier to defend.
On April 11th 1917, an attack was launched on Bullecourt on 11 April 1917 by the 4th Australian and 62nd British Divisions under the command of Sir Hubert Gough. The attack was hastily planned and resulted in disaster. Rather than wait until he had sufficient artillery resources Gough decided to employ a dozen tanks to lead the troops through the enemy’s barbed-wire. Tanks which were supposed to support the attacking Australian infantry either broke down or were quickly destroyed leaving the troops exposed to murderous machine-gun and artillery fire. The Australians were forced back to their own lines while tanks stood burning on the battlefield. The two brigades of the 4th Division that carried out the attack, the 4th and 12th, suffered over 3,300 casualties; 1,170 Australians were taken prisoner - the largest number captured in a single engagement during the war.
Bullecourt, more than any other battle, shook the confidence of Australian soldiers in the capacity of the British command; the errors, especially on April 10th and 11th, were obvious to almost everyone'. – Charles Bean, Official Historian.
Despite this, a further attack across the same ground was ordered for 3 May. The Australians broke into and took part of the Hindenburg Line but no important strategic advantage was ever gained; in the two battles the AIF lost 10,000 men.