the batle of loos Flashcards
between which dates and where did the batle of loos take place
the battle of loos took place at Loos
21 - 28 September 1915
who commanded the battle and why did it take place
General Haig
battle took place to divert german forces and attention away from french troops
what was the initial battle plan and why was lord Kitchener concerned
initial battle plan was to launch an artillery bombardment lasting 4 days and then release gas at first light before attacking
Kitchener was concerned his new army’s where not yet fully trained as they where made up of young men who volunteered at the start of the war
how many scottish battalions where involved and which battalion successfully captured the town of loos
of the 72 battalions involved in the battle half of them belonged to Scottish regiments and it was the 15th Scottish devision who successfully captured the town of loos
what happened with the BEF (british expeditionary force)
they where kept in reserve but not used in good effect - they marched 40 miles to the front and when they assembled on the mourning of the morning of the 26th they where tired hungry and had lost the element of surprise
the initial BEF of 1914 was made up of how many scots of the 247,000 soldiers who made up the BEF how many where scot’s
of the approx 247,000 soldiers approx 20,000 where scottish
how was scotland effected by loos
most of the country was effected by losses at loos
press reports where heavily censored - newspapers reported casualty lists and heroic descriptions of the fighting
war correspondence where kept clear of the actual fighting and had to first submit their story’s for military censorship
progress of the battle
21st sep
23 + 24th sep
21st - British began heavy artillery bombardment of german positions
23 + 24th - heavy rain and thunderstorms flood communication trenches turning the front line and no man’s land into a muddy bog
25th september
5:30 am
6:30 am
5:30 - despite wind being an obviously unfavourable condition for the use of gas Haig ordered it. Some gas moved slowly towards no mans land and some remained stationary before the wind changed and blew the gas back into the faces of the scots. (no gas made it past no mans land)
6:30 - the artillery barrage lifted from aiming at the german front line onto their second line and the infantry went over the top advancing across no mans land
26th - 27th sep
the british attack had lost the element of surprise and when the reserves joined the battle they where met by heavy machine gun fire and artilary
27th - any hope of a ‘big push’ had gone
