August 8th, 1918 - The Amiens Offensive

Conflict: World War I

Combatants: Allies vs. Germans

Location: France

Outcome: Allied victory

The first phase of the Amiens Offensive began on this day in 1918. British Imperial and French troops managed to drive the German line back 10 miles in the first three days of fighting. Continued fighting over several weeks eventually forced the Germans back to the Hindenburg line. The Germans had taken 100,000 casualties in the offensive. The Allied losses were about 42,000 combined.

60-pounder guns in action at the Battle of Amiens,1918 by William Rider-Rider

Points of Interest:

• The initial Allied attack of the Amiens Offensive was supported by 400 tanks.

• The Amiens Offensive witnessed the first time in the war that entire German units collapsed. General Erich Ludendorff, the German Commander-in-Chief, called it a "black day" for this reason.

Erich Ludendorff 1918 by an unknown photographer

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Sources:

Dupuy, Trevor N., Johnson, Curt, & Bongard, David L. (1992). The Harper's Encyclopedia of Military Biography. New York: Castle Books (HarperCollins).

Dupuy, R. Ernest & Dupuy, Trevor N. (1993). The Harper's Encyclopedia of Military History. New York: HarperCollins.

Eggenberger, David (1985). An Encyclopedia of Battles: Accounts of Over 1,560 Battles from 1479 B.C. to the Present. New York: Dover Publications, Inc.