Everything about Battle Of Neuve Chapelle totally explained
The
Battles of Neuve Chapelle and Artois was a battle in the
First World War. It was a British offensive in the
Artois region and broke through at
Neuve-Chapelle but they were unable to exploit the advantage.
The battle began on 10th March 1915. By this time, a huge influx of troops from Britain had to some extent relieved the French situation in Flanders and enabled a continuous British line stretching from
Langemarck to
Givenchy. The ultimate aim of the battle was to cause a rupture in the enemy lines which would then be exploited with a rush on the
Aubers Ridge and possibly even
Lille, a major enemy communications centre. A simultaneous French assault on the
Vimy Ridge was also planned although the situation in
Champagne soon led to this particular part of the operation to be postponed. This was to be the first time that
aerial photography was to play a prominent part in a major battle with the entire German lines being mapped by the air.
The battle
Despite poor weather conditions, the early stages of the battle went extremely well. The
Royal Flying Corps quickly secured aerial dominance and set about bombarding German reserves and transportation en route to defend the area. By noon, Neuve Chapelle itself had been secured. It was at this point that the advance ground to a halt. Though the aerial photography had been useful to an extent, it was unable to efficiently identify the enemy's strong defensive points. Primitive communication also meant that British commanders had been unable to keep in touch with each other and the battle thus became uncoordinated and this in turn disrupted the supply lines. On 12th March, German forces commanded by
Crown Prince Rupprecht launched a counter-attack which, although unsuccessful, did at least manage to end any chance of further advancement; the campaign was officially abandoned on 13th March. 40,000 Allied troops took part during the battle and of these 11,200 (7,000 British, 4,200 Indian) failed to return. The Germans lost around the same number. In total, the British succeeded in recapturing just over 2km of lost ground.
Aftermath
After the failure of the Battle of Neuve Chapelle, the British Commander-in-Chief
Field Marshal Sir
John French claimed that it failed due to a lack of shells. This led to the
Shell Crisis of 1915 which brought down the
Liberal British government under the
Premiership of
H. H. Asquith. He formed a new coalition government dominated by Liberals and appointed
Lloyd George as
Minister of Munitions. It was a recognition that the whole economy would have to be geared for war if the Allies were to prevail on the Western Front.
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