The Battle of Neuve Chapelle began on March 10, 1915. The attack had been intended as the first offensive in a greater Allied campaign through the Northern French region of Artois. However, the redirection of resources to Gallipoli caused delays in the arrival of additional troops, and it was decided that Neuve Chapelle should be a separate and distinct action.
The assault began with a thirty-five minute bombardment of the German lines and was followed by an infantry advance from Douglas Haig’s First Army. The British Forces swiftly smashed through a section of the German lines held by a division of German Sixth Army, and within a matter of hours Neuve Chapelle had been secured.
The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) Commander-in-Chief, Sir John French, had initially intended to capture Neuve Chapelle and then quickly move to take the higher ground at Aubers Ridge. This would allow the Allies to disrupt German communications to Lille. However, the German Army launched a counter-attack on March 12, and though the British held their newly gained territory it proved impossible to move on to Aubers.
Indeed, the 1000 troops who tried to take Aubers Ridge during this skirmish all perished. This was partly because the German forces at Aubers had escaped the initial military bombardment, and French blamed a shortage of artillery shells. Aubers Ridge was one of several military failures in the early stages of the war that culminated in the “Shells Crisis” of May 1915, when The Times revealed how shortages were handicapping the efforts of BEF. The ensuing scandal led to the creation of the Ministry of Munitions and David Lloyd George’s appointment as Minister of Munitions.
The other major problem that was highlighted during the Battle of Neuve Chapelle was the ineffectiveness of real-time communications. As the army moved forward to attack the enemy they would lose contact both with the supporting artillery and the high command. Telephone wires unrolled during the advance would often be severed by shell fire. Wireless was too heavy to be carried by troops and carrier pigeons would only be effective if the weather conditions were right.
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Message runners were sent to relay information, but their mortality rate was high and, even if they did survive, the message would be old by the time it arrived.
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Patrick Wingrove is a historical researcher at the Illustrated London News
Twitter: @ilnTweet
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