In an attempt to break the winter stalemate and take the initiative, the Germans launched a 1918 spring offensive. The line in the St Quentin area was seen as most favourable. This area was already familiar to the Germans as they ground had previously been covered in the earlier Somme battle, so the weaknesses in the fortifications were well known. The land that they stood on were also favoured an attacking army, the recent spell of good weather had mitigated the boggy, muddy ground that had previously been a major hurdle for those on the offensive.

 

The 21st March 1918 was marked as the beginning of the offensive at St Quentin. Thousands of soldiers comprising of 72 German divisions from 3 separate armies would advance of the British lines once the colossal artillery bombardment, including gas shells, had lifted.  Helped by low lying fog, the German troops were able to push forward at staggering pace overwhelming the British front line troops. By the end of the day’s fighting, substantial German gain had been made. By the end of fighting on the 23rd March, two days later, the swarming attacking forces had made a 40 mile breach in the British lines. The reserve forces were ordered to construct a rear defence line to shore up the seemingly unstoppable advance, such was the scale of the assault, the Germans had not only overrun the front line trenches, but they had also punched through the existing reserve sections.      

 

Over the following two days, the Germans pressed their advantage; continued favourable conditions and the now shambolic routed defenders led to continued sweeping gains. The British were forced to fall back again and again, with the occasional organised defensive rear-guard action and persistent Royal Flying Corp sorties checking their advance. Nightfall on the 25th March had seen the town of Bapaume, which had been so hard fought over and costly in capturing in 1916, was evacuated and the German Army now occupied.   

 

The 2nd Devons, attached to 8th Division, had been held in reserve at the beginning of the German offensive. The next few days would be a series of redeployments, often requiring a gruelling march, followed by frontline action aiming to stem the German advance. Although the 8th Division fared well, losses to their left flank left them exposed and the order was sounded to retire to the Rouvroy-Proyart line, which was to the left of the Rosieres position. The withdrawal was covered by the Devons, who were last to fall back under the relative safety of artillery support, which was enough to pin down the advancing army. They reached Rosieres by late afternoon.

 

The following morning of the 27th saw a continuation of the German attack. Although Eighth Army were able to rebuff these advances the line was thinner to the north of their positions and greater gains were made. This needed shoring up as a priority and the Devons were ordered to fill the gap. On arrival at the commune of Harbonnieres, it was clear that the defences were in turmoil with retreating troops reporting the enemy were close on their heels. The task was to push forward, repel the advance German unit and capture the overrun trenches. The 2nd Devons led the assault, with the 22nd Durhams to the right and a mixed unit to their left. Despite heavy opposition and casualties, they performed the manoeuvre perfectly before digging in for the night at their first objective and repulsing any counter attack. What must have been of immense frustration to the men in the trenches is the seemingly constant repetition of being commanded forward to capture a position, hopefully gaining their objective, only to be subsequently ordered to fall back again. We’ve already seen numerous examples of this ‘tactic’ on a number of occasions and this action was to follow the same course with the familiar order to fall back.

 

History would judge the German March offensive in a number of ways. The scale of the attack and the impressive amount of land captured would be offset by the high numbers of casualties sustained and equipment expended. The overall beginning aim was a knockout punch that would put victory within the German’s reach, but resourceful and stubborn resistance, such as the engagements conducted by the 2nd Devons, would ultimately lead the offensive being deemed an overall failure.