Landships

The Battle of the Soimne raged for over four months and resulted in over a million casualties to Allied and German troops, The Canadians, originally in the Ypres sector, missed the first months of the fighting, but had been moved to the Somme by early September. In the fighting to …

1916-09-15

38

The Battle of the Soimne raged for over four months and resulted in over a million casualties to Allied and German troops, The Canadians, originally in the Ypres sector, missed the first months of the fighting, but had been moved to the Somme by early September. In the fighting to come, the Canadians would benefit from a major tactical innovation: the first employment of tanks in combat. Ordered to take a sugar factory' near Courceiette the infantry ‘leaned on the barrage', in order to cross No Man’s Land before enemy troops could emerge from cover to fire at them. To assist with cutting barbed wire and silencing enemy machine-guns, two tanks (out of six) accompanied them. Mechanically unreliable and as slow as a walking person, tanks nonetheless struck fear into the enemy, many of whom surrendered when the tanks first appeared.

Courcelette, France

The Battle of Flers–Courcelette (15 to 22 September 1916) was fought during the Battle of the Somme in France, by the French Sixth Army and the British Fourth Army and Reserve Army, against the German 1st Army, during the First World War. The Anglo-French attack of 15 September began the third period of the Battle of the Somme but by its conclusion on 22 September, the strategic objective of a decisive victory had not been achieved. The infliction of many casualties on the German front divisions and the capture of the villages of Courcelette, Martinpuich and Flers had been a considerable tactical victory. The German defensive success on the British right flank made exploitation and the use of cavalry impossible. Tanks were used in battle for the first time; the Canadian Corps and the New Zealand Division fought their first engagements on the Somme. On 16 September, Jagdstaffel 2, a specialist fighter squadron, began operations with five new Albatros D.I fighters, which had a performance capable of challenging British and French air supremacy for the first time in the battle.

Wikipedia: Battle of Flers-Courcelette

German

British