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Douglas Haig
Person page: Douglas Haig →
Tag
(62)
1914
October
21
Key event
Battle of Langemarck begins
On 21 October 1914 the British I Corps advanced from Ypres towards Bruges. It ran into new German reserve corps and went over to the defensive that same day.
24
End of the Battle of Langemarck
On 24 October 1914 the British drove the Germans from Polygon Wood near Ypres and the French took over north of the town. The Battle of Langemarck ended.
29
Key event
Battle of Gheluvelt begins
On 29 October 1914 the Germans attacked the crossroads at Gheluvelt on the Menin–Ypres road in fog. The next day Fabeck's group began its great offensive.
31
Key event
Critical day at Ypres
On 31 October 1914 the Germans broke the British line at Gheluvelt. A counter-attack by the 2nd Worcestershire closed the gap, ending the Battle of Gheluvelt.
November
11
Key event
Prussian Guard attack at Nonne Bosschen
On 11 November 1914 the Prussian Guard broke into the British line at Ypres. Gunners and an Oxfordshire counter-attack stopped the last great German attack.
December
20
Key event
Defence of Givenchy
On 20 December 1914 the Germans blew mines under the Indian Corps' trenches at Givenchy and broke its line. Men from Manchester retook the village that evening.
1915
March
10
Key event
The Battle of Neuve Chapelle begins
On 10 March 1915, after a 35-minute bombardment, the British First Army attacked at Neuve Chapelle. It took the village in hours but could go no further.
13
End of the battle of Neuve Chapelle
On 13 March 1915 Haig halted the attack at Neuve Chapelle. The British held the village but did not reach Aubers Ridge. Shells had also run short.
May
09
Key event
British attack Aubers Ridge
On 9 May 1915 the British First Army attacked Aubers Ridge to support the French in Artois. Machine-gun fire stopped the attack in no man's land.
15
Key event
Start of the Battle of Festubert
At 11.30 p.m. on 15 May 1915 the British 2nd Division and the Garhwal Brigade attacked the Germans at Festubert, the first British night attack of the war.
September
25
Key event
Battle of Loos begins
On 25 September 1915 the British attacked at Loos behind chlorine gas, taking the village, Hill 70 and the Hohenzollern Redoubt, but reserves were too far back.
October
08
End of the Battle of Loos
On 8 October 1915 the Germans tried to retake Loos and their lost trenches. The Allies repulsed them, and British nomenclature ends the battle that day.
December
15
Resignation of John French
Under 15 December 1915 a chronology records Field Marshal French's resignation. The government forced him to give up the British command in France after Loos.
19
Haig becomes commander of British forces in France
On 19 December 1915 General Douglas Haig took over command of the British Expeditionary Force from John French. He was to command it until the end of the war.
22
Kiggell replaces Robertson
On 22 December 1915 Gen. Launcelot Kiggell became Chief of the General Staff of the BEF in succession to William Robertson, who was leaving for London.
1916
February
21
Macready leaves the BEF staff
On 21 February 1916 General Nevil Macready ceased to be Adjutant-General of the BEF. He had handled its manpower since the first days of the war in France.
22
Fowke becomes adjutant-general of the BEF
On 22 February 1916 Gen. George Fowke, until then Engineer-in-Chief, became adjutant-general of the BEF, in charge of personnel in Haig's army to the war's end.
June
13
End of the Battle of Mount Sorrel
On 13 June 1916, after days of shelling, the Canadians retook Mount Sorrel and Tor Top near Ypres in a night attack. Württembergers had taken them on 2 June.
July
01
Key event
First day on the Somme
On 1 July 1916 the British and French attacked on the Somme. The French and the British right succeeded, but the British Army lost 57,000 men.
14
Key event
Battle of Bazentin Ridge begins
At dawn on 14 July 1916, after a night approach and five minutes of shelling, the British took the German second position from Longueval to Bazentin-le-Petit.
September
22
End of the Battle of Flers–Courcelette
On 22 September 1916 the Battle of Flers–Courcelette ended. After a week of fighting in rain and mud the British were preparing to attack Morval and Thiepval.
25
Key event
Start of the Battle of Morval
On 25 September 1916 the British Fourth Army attacked on the Somme at noon and took Morval and Lesbœufs in three hours. At Gueudecourt the attack failed.
November
13
Key event
Capture of Beaumont-Hamel
On 13 November 1916, in fog, Scots of the 51st Division took Beaumont-Hamel, where the Newfoundlanders had bled on 1 July. At Serre the attack failed again.
18
Key event
End of the Battle of the Somme
On 18 November 1916, in the first snowstorm of winter, the British attacked on the Ancre for the last time. After four and a half months the Somme was over.
1917
January
01
Haig becomes field marshal
On 1 January 1917 Douglas Haig, British commander in France, was made a field marshal. The King called it a New Year's gift from himself and the country.
February
26
Calais conference on command
On 26–27 February 1917 at Calais Lloyd George tried to place Haig's army under Nivelle's orders. It ended in a compromise for the spring offensive.
March
12
London conference on the command
On 12–13 March 1917 in London the British and French clarified the Calais agreement. Haig was to keep Nivelle informed but did not hand over his armies.
April
23
Key event
Second Battle of the Scarpe begins
On 23 April 1917, St George's Day, the British struck again at Arras. They took Gavrelle and Guémappe, but at Rœux and Monchy the fighting was indecisive.
28
Key event
Canadians capture Arleux
On 28 April 1917 the Canadian 2nd Brigade took Arleux-en-Gohelle, the day's only success, as British attacks at Rœux, Gavrelle and Oppy failed.
May
03
Key event
Third Battle of the Scarpe begins
At 3.45 a.m. on 3 May 1917, still in darkness, three British armies struck again at Arras. They failed almost everywhere. Only the Canadians succeeded.
04
Third Battle of the Scarpe ends
On 4 May 1917 the British pulled the last troops out of the failed Scarpe attack. In Paris Haig and the French agreed the time for a breakthrough had passed.
June
14
Battle of Messines (1917) ends
On 14 June 1917 the British 2nd Army closed up to the German Warneton Line, ending the Battle of Messines. Gough took over the main offensive from Ypres.
July
31
Key event
Third Battle of Ypres begins
On 31 July 1917 the British and French attacked from Ypres. They took Pilckem Ridge but stalled on the Gheluvelt plateau, and in the afternoon a downpour began.
August
02
End of the Battle of Pilckem Ridge
On 2 August 1917 downpours halted the first attack at Ypres. Gough postponed further attacks, and British losses exceeded 30,000 men.
18
End of the Battle of Langemarck (1917)
On 18 August 1917 the Battle of Langemarck ended. The British broke into Inverness Copse, and Gough sought culprits for the failure, the Irish among them.
September
04
London conference on aid to Italy
On 4 September 1917 in London Foch asked for consent to send Italy a hundred French heavy guns from Flanders. The War Cabinet left the decision to Haig.
20
Key event
Start of the Battle of the Menin Road Ridge
On 20 September 1917 Plumer's armies advanced at Ypres behind a huge barrage. The Australians took Glencorse Wood and Nonne Bosschen and reached Polygon Wood.
October
09
Key event
Battle of Poelcappelle
On 9 October 1917, after a night march through mud, the British attacked at Ypres towards Passchendaele and were repulsed. Guards and French reached Houthulst.
12
Key event
First Battle of Passchendaele
On 12 October 1917 Anzacs advanced in the rain on Passchendaele. By evening they were back on their old lines, and 845 New Zealanders were dead.
26
Key event
Start of the Second Battle of Passchendaele
On 26 October 1917 the Canadians attacked the Passchendaele ridge in rain. After hard fighting they took the Bellevue spur, where the New Zealanders had failed.
November
04
British troops in Italy
On 4 November 1917 it was announced that British troops were going to Italy. Lord Cavan's XIV Corps went from Flanders, and soon General Plumer took command.
06
Canadians capture Passchendaele
On 6 November 1917 two Canadian divisions took the ruins of Passchendaele, goal of the offensive since 31 July, in under 3 hours, and Mosselmarkt and Goudberg.
10
End of the Third Battle of Ypres
On 10 November 1917, in pouring rain, the Canadians took the heights north of Passchendaele. This attack ended the Flanders offensive that had begun on 31 July.
30
German counter-attack at Cambrai
On 30 November 1917 the German Second Army struck the British salient at Cambrai. In the south it took Gouzeaucourt and 158 guns; at Bourlon it was repulsed.
December
03
End of the Battle of Cambrai
On 3 December 1917 the Germans took La Vacquerie and the Marcoing canal bend, and Haig ordered the Bourlon Wood salient abandoned for Flesquières Ridge.
22
Changes in Haig's staff
On 22 December 1917 BEF Quartermaster-General Ronald Maxwell stood down for Travers Clarke. After Cambrai the government forced Haig to change his staff.
1918
January
24
Lawrence replaces Kiggell
On 24 January 1918 General Herbert Lawrence became Haig's chief of staff. The ailing Launcelot Kiggell left after two years, under government pressure.
March
24
Key event
Germans take Bapaume and Péronne
On 24 March 1918 the Germans crossed the old Somme battlefield. Péronne was theirs, the British gave up Bapaume at night, and at Dury Pétain alarmed Haig.
26
Key event
Doullens conference
On 26 March 1918, in the town hall at Doullens, the French and British entrusted General Foch with coordinating the Allied armies on the Western Front.
28
Dismissal of Gough
On 28 March 1918 Gen. Hubert Gough handed the retreating Fifth Army to Gen. Henry Rawlinson. The government made him the scapegoat for defeat on the Somme.
April
11
The "Backs to the Wall" order
On 11 April 1918 Douglas Haig issued an order of the day telling his troops to fight "with our backs to the wall" and hold every position to the last man.
12
Key event
Start of the Battle of Hazebrouck
On 12 April 1918 the German Sixth Army struck at Hazebrouck. It broke through at Pacaut and Doulieu, but the Guards and 5th Division held it at Nieppe Forest.
14
Key event
Foch becomes Allied commander-in-chief
On 14 April 1918 Foch became commander-in-chief of the Allied armies in France. That day at Abbeville he refused to relieve Haig's British divisions.
16
Germans retake Passchendaele
On 16 April 1918 the Germans took the Passchendaele ridge unopposed. The British gave up their 1917 gains to shorten the front and free troops for the Lys.
20
Milner becomes Secretary of State for War
In April 1918 Lord Derby left the War Office to become ambassador in Paris. On 20 April Lord Milner took over his post.
August
08
Key event
Start of the Battle of Montdidier
On 8 August 1918 Debeney's French First Army attacked alongside the British at Amiens. It took Moreuil and crossed the Avre, but did not reach Arvillers.
11
Battle of Amiens ends
On 11 August 1918 Haig halted the Amiens offensive, which had stalled on the old 1916 trenches. At Avesnes Ludendorff offered his resignation.
15
End of the Battle of Montdidier
On 15 August 1918 Haig persuaded Foch not to attack Roye frontally. The French First Army called off its attack and returned to Pétain's orders.
18
Key event
Capture of Outtersteene Ridge
At noon on 18 August 1918 the Scottish 9th Division surprised the Germans near Bailleul and took Outtersteene Ridge. The clearing of the Lys salient had begun.
September
03
End of the Second Battle of the Somme
On 3 September 1918 the Germans broke contact between the Somme and the Sensée and fell back behind the Canal du Nord, ending the Somme and Arras battles.
October
25
End of the Battle of the Selle
On 25 October 1918 the Battle of the Selle ended. The British reached the Sambre–Oise Canal and the Forest of Mormal, taking about 20,000 prisoners.
December
01
Allies enter Germany
On 1 December 1918 British cavalry, the US Third Army, the Belgians and the French entered Germany. The Americans took Trier and the Belgians Aachen.