Instruct: Given a question, retrieve documents that can help answer the question.
Query: How many casualties were there during the German attack on Vimy Ridge, 21 May 1916 ?
In 1932, Edmonds recorded 1,344 German casualties; 615 men in the attack and 729 during British counter-attacks. British casualties in the 47th Division from 22 to 24 May were 1,571, 2nd Division casualties were 267 and the 7th Brigade (25th Division) had 637 casualties, a total of 2,475. In 1936, the official historians of "Der Weltkrieg", the German official history, recorded that 300 British prisoners had been taken.
2/4th Londons received their introduction to trench warfare in the 'Eski' reserve line between 20 and 27 October, and suffered their first battle casualties. Thereafter they did seven-day tours of duty in the reserve line alternating with 'rest' in flooded camps in the rear. In December the battalion took over frontline trenches. Between 31 December and 8 January 1916 the battalion was evacuated to Mudros by detachments as the Gallipoli operation was closed down. From Mudros the battalion was taken to Alexandria aboard HMT "Ionian", arriving on 21 January.
Deep mining under the German galleries beneath Hill 60 began in late August 1915 with the 175th Tunnelling Company which began a gallery behind the British front line and passed beneath. The 3rd Canadian Tunnelling Company took over in April 1916 and completed the galleries, the Hill 60 mine being charged with of explosives in July 1916 and a branch gallery under the Caterpillar filled with a charge in October. The 1st Australian Tunnelling Company took over in November 1916, led in part by Captain Oliver Woodward and maintained the mines over the winter. At on 7 June 1917, a mines filled with of explosives, were detonated under the German lines. The blasts created one of the largest explosions in history, reportedly heard in London and Dublin, demolishing a large part of the hill and killing soldiers.
As the battle ensued, small units, company and less in size, often acting independently, conducted fierce local counterattacks and mounted stubborn defenses, frustrating the German's plans for a rapid advance, and badly upsetting their timetable. By 17 December, German military planners knew that their objectives along the Elsenborn Ridge would not be taken as soon as planned.
The total number of military and civilian casualties in World War I were about 40 million: estimates range from 15 to 19 million deaths and about 23 million wounded military personnel, ranking it among the deadliest conflicts in human history.
The cost of this relentless, close-quarters, intense combat was high for both sides, but the losses for Germany were irreplaceable. An exact casualty accounting for the Elsenborn Ridge battle itself is not precise. The U.S. Army's 2nd and 99th Infantry Divisions later revealed their losses, while only the German's armored fighting vehicles losses are accounted for.
Like all Australian communities, Colinton was affected by the impact of WWI. Of the 330,770 Australians who embarked for overseas service in WWI, 58,961 died and 170,909 were wounded, went missing or became prisoners of war. This meant that around 69% of embarked personnel became casualties - or 21% of eligible Australian males. To date, no previous or subsequent war has had such an impact on Australia in terms of loss of life; almost every community in every Australian state lost young people. Even before the end of hostilities, memorials were being erected by Australian communities to honour local people who had served and/or died. These memorials were a spontaneous and highly visible means of honouring those who served and expressing national grief; substitute graves for the Australians whose bodies lay in battlefield cemeteries in Europe and the Middle East.
On February 13, 1864, a force of about 350 Union troops supported by two howitzers attacked a Confederate outpost in the Indian Territory. The outpost was guarded by about 90 poorly armed Confederate soldiers. The outpost was located where the Dragoon Road crossed the Middle Boggy River. The Confederates resisted, holding off the Union troops for about half an hour, then fled on foot toward Fort Washita. The Union Army claimed victory because 49 Confederates were killed, while the Union forces suffered no deaths. The encounter had no strategic impact on the outcome of the Civil War. This was the last significant skirmish of the war in Indian Territory. It was a defeat for the Confederates, but the mistreatment of civilians and killings of wounded soldiers by the Union troops strengthened the resolve of Confederates and their sympathizers to continue the fight.
The gas used at Wulverghem was a mixture of chlorine and phosgene, which had been used against British troops on 19 December 1915 in the phosgene attack at Wieltje, north-east of Ypres. This and earlier gas attacks, beginning at the Second Battle of Ypres (21 April – 25 May 1915) had given the British time to replace improvised gas masks with effective mass-produced versions, obtain other anti-gas equipment and to establish anti-gas procedures. Helmets impregnated with chemicals to neutralise chlorine had been issued in several variants, each more effective than the last. By April 1916, British troops had PH helmets and some specialist troops like machine-gunners, were equipped with box respirators. The German gas attack at Wulverghem on 30 April, caused the defenders casualties and fatalities but German raiding parties, looking for mine entrances to destroy, were repulsed with small-arms and artillery fire. A second attempt by the Germans on 17 June caused about the same number of gas casualties but the British again easily repulsed German patrols.
In 1914, Australia joined Britain in fighting World War I, with support from both the outgoing Commonwealth Liberal Party and the incoming Australian Labor Party. Australians took part in many of the major battles fought on the Western Front. Of about 416,000 who served, about 60,000 were killed and another 152,000 were wounded. Many Australians regard the defeat of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZACs) at Gallipoli as the birth of the nation—its first major military action. The Kokoda Track campaign is regarded by many as an analogous nation-defining event during World War II.
O'Donnell attempted to probe the Viet Cong flank, and after locating it on the high ground he committed 1 Platoon—under Second Lieutenant Rod Smith—to conduct a right flanking attack. Beginning at 11:30 the Australian assault soon ran into another Viet Cong platoon conducting a similar manoeuvre, and they became involved in an intense battle at close quarters with each side blocking the manoeuvre of the other. A heavy monsoon rain began, drenching the men as they faced each other at a range of just , with seven Viet Cong machine-guns facing six Australian machine-guns at the height of the battle as the two Viet Cong platoons clashed with two Australian platoons. The Australians suffered heavily, losing two section commanders killed and a dozen men wounded in the first few minutes. The fighting continued for another two hours as both forces traded shots, with neither the Australians nor the Viet Cong able to achieve a decisive advantage.
On July 30, 1916, during World War I, German saboteurs set off a disastrous explosion on the Black Tom peninsula in Jersey City, New Jersey, in what is now part of Liberty State Park, close to Bedloe's Island. Carloads of dynamite and other explosives that were being sent to Britain and France for their war efforts were detonated, and seven people were killed. The statue sustained minor damage, mostly to the torch-bearing right arm, and was closed for ten days. The cost to repair the statue and buildings on the island was about . The narrow ascent to the torch was closed for public-safety reasons, and it has remained closed ever since.
Like all Australian communities, Woody Point was affected by the impact of WWI. Of the 330,770 Australians who embarked for overseas service in WWI, 58,961 died and 170,909 were wounded, went missing or became prisoners of war. This meant that around 69% of embarked personnel became casualties - or 21% of eligible Australian males. To date, no previous or subsequent war has had such an impact on Australia in terms of loss of life; almost every community in every Australian state lost young people. Even before the end of hostilities, memorials were being erected by Australian communities to honour local people who had served and died. These memorials were a spontaneous and highly visible expression of national grief; substitute graves for the Australians whose bodies lay in battlefield cemeteries in Europe and the Middle East.
Von Rundstedt had sacrificed most of four of the best divisions on the Western front during his repeated attempts to overrun the Elsenborn Ridge and Monschau. Unable to access the Monschau-Eupen and Malmedy-Verviers roads, he was unable to commit II Panzer Corps, which was still waiting in reserve on the east flank of I SS Panzer Corps. Von Rundstedt's hopes of reaching Liège via Verviers were stopped cold by the stubborn American resistance.On 26 December, the 246th Volksgrenadier Division made a final, forlorn, attack on the Elsenborn Ridge against units of the U.S. 99th Infantry Division. This attack by more infantry conscripts was mowed down by artillery fire virtually at the moment of its start. The vast artillery concentration of an entire American army corps made the Elsenborn Ridge position virtually unassailable.
The following morning the Australians remained in position, and at daybreak they found more than 150 North Korean dead within the 3 RAR defensive position. Coad subsequently brought the Middlesex forward to secure his northern flank, while 3 RAR moved forward to the Talchon River, taking up positions in the hills overlooking Chongju by 11:00. During the advance the Australians had clashed with a number of North Korean stragglers, killing 12 and capturing 10 in skirmishes. It became clear that organised resistance had ceased however, with the successful Australian assault and the subsequent defence of its objectives the day before breaking the North Koreans locally. In the north the Middlesex pushed forward to the riverbank, while in the afternoon the Argylls forded the river with two platoons of Shermans. Meanwhile, aerial reconnaissance reported the presence of North Korean tanks to the west of Chongju. Regardless, that afternoon the Argylls encountered no further opposition as they entered and cleared the ruined and burning town, securing it by 17:00. The brigade then moved into divisional reserve for the US 24th Infantry Division, with Church ordering the US 21st Infantry Regiment to take its place in the lead in order to give the British and Australian infantry a much needed respite. The tanks and infantry of the US 21st Infantry Regiment subsequently moved through the brigade.
The Canadian forces missed the early period of the war and the great British defeats of Black Week. The Canadians in South Africa won much acclaim for leading the charge at the Second Battle of Paardeberg, one of the first decisive victories of the war. At the Battle of Leliefontein on November 7, 1900, three Canadians, Lieutenant Turner, Lieutenant Cockburn, Sergeant Holland and Arthur Richardson of the Royal Canadian Dragoons were awarded the Victoria Cross for protecting the rear of a retreating force. Ultimately, over 8,600 Canadians volunteered to fight. Lieutenant Harold Lothrop Borden, however, became the most famous Canadian casualty of the Second Boer War. About 7,400 Canadians, including many female nurses, served in South Africa. Of these, 224 died, 252 were wounded, and several were decorated with the Victoria Cross. Canadian forces also participated in the British-led concentration camp programs that resulted in the deaths of thousands of Boer civilians.
The Union officers were criticized for not sending skirmishers in front of the train which had moved slowly along the track and for disregarding the warning given to them by the local Union sympathizer. The Battle of Vienna followed the Union defeat at the Battle of Big Bethel only a week earlier and historian William C. Davis noted that "the press were much agitated by the minor repulse at Vienna on June 17, and the people were beginning to ask when the Federals would gain some victories."
On 1 January 1917, Haig was made a field marshal. The King (George V) wrote him a handwritten note ending: "I hope you will look upon this as a New Year's gift from myself and the country". Lloyd George, who had become Prime Minister in December 1916, infuriated Haig and Robertson by placing the BEF under the command of the new French Commander-in-Chief Robert Nivelle, at a stormy conference at Calais. The failure of the Nivelle Offensive in April 1917 (which Haig had been required to support with a British offensive by the Third and First Armies at Arras) and the subsequent French mutiny and political crisis, discredited Lloyd George's plans for Anglo-French co-operation for the time being. During the second half of 1917, Haig conducted an offensive at Passchendaele (the Third Battle of Ypres). Haig hoped to break through and liberate the North Sea coast of Belgium from which German U-Boats were operating, provided that there was assistance from the French, support from Britain and that Russia stayed in the war.
Coulter knew the NK 15th Division had crossed the Taegu lateral corridor at Yongch'on and was heading in the direction of Kyongju. On September 6, he ordered the US 21st Infantry to attack the next day up the valley and bordering hills that lead northwest from Kyongju into the high mountain mass in the direction of Yongch'on. When it attacked there on September 7 the 21st Infantry encountered virtually no opposition.
Shortly after midnight on 6 June 1944, known otherwise as D-Day, men of Major John Howard's 'D' Company of the 2nd Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (2 OBLI), a glider infantry unit forming part of the 6th Airlanding Brigade, landed in glider and took part in Operation Deadstick. The operation was given the objective of capturing the Bénouville canal bridge (now known as Pegasus Bridge) in a coup de main, and was achieved with light casualties, as was the bridge over the river Orne. The two parachute brigades, the 3rd and 5th, landed soon after and landed, for the most part, where intended, although numbers of paratroopers dropped in the flooded countryside. The Merville Gun Battery also fell, although with heavy losses to Lieutenant Colonel Alastair Pearson's 8th Parachute Battalion. At dawn, Gale himself landed in Normandy by glider. By midday on D-Day elements of Brigadier Lord Lovat's 1st Special Service Brigade had landed at Sword Beach, with the British 3rd Infantry Division following, and began to relieve the airborne troops at the bridges. The arrival of the rest of the 6th Airlanding Brigade in the evening, in Operation Mallard, completed the 6th Airborne Division's concentration in Normandy.
The battle of the Marne was a major turning point of World War I. By the end of August 1914, the whole Allied army on the Western Front had been forced into a general retreat back towards Paris. Meanwhile, the two main German armies continued through France. It seemed that Paris would be taken as both the French and the British fell back towards the Marne River. The war became a stalemate when the Allied Powers won the Battle of the Marne. It was the first major clash on the Western Front and one of the most important events in the war. The German retreat left the Schlieffen Plan in ruins and Germany had no hope of a quick victory in France. Its army was left to fight a long war on two fronts.
The 47th Division conducted effective mining operations against Vimy Ridge on 3 May and 15 May 1916, but a German attack on the evening of Sunday 21 May moved forward 800 yards, capturing 1,000 yards of the British front line, and the Division performed badly during a counterattack on 23 May. The 47th Division conducted a carefully planned single battalion raid on the night of 27–8 June, claiming to have killed 300–600 Germans for only 13 British casualties.
The German attack on Vimy Ridge, 21 May 1916 ("Unternehmen Schleswig-Holstein"/Operation Schleswig-Holstein) was a local attack on the Western Front during the First World War. The Germans intended to prevent mines being blown under German positions by capturing the British front line and mine gallery entrances. After the Third Battle of Artois (25 September – 4 November 1915) The French Tenth Army had held positions on the western slope of Vimy Ridge and the German 6th Army ("Generaloberst" [Colonel General] Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria) occupied positions on the steeper eastern slope. After the beginning of the Battle of Verdun (21 February – 18 December 1916), the Tenth Army was withdrawn and the British First Army and Third Army on either flank, took over the French positions.
Orders of battle for The German Attack on Vimy Ridge, 21 May 1916 (Unternehmen Schleswig-Holstein/Operation Schleswig-Holstein), 21 May 1916. The operation was a local German attack on Vimy Ridge on the Western Front during the First World War. At the Third Battle of Artois (25 September – 4 November 1915) the French Tenth Army captured positions on the western slope of Vimy Ridge and the German 6th Army was forced back to positions on the steeper eastern slope. Both sides resorted to a continuous underground offensive. The Tenth Army was transferred south by March 1916, during the Battle of Verdun (21 February – 18 December 1916) and the British First Army and Third Army on either flank extended their lines to take over Vimy Ridge.
Northern Sector (Data taken from Rogers "The German Attack at Vimy Ridge" [2010] pp. 46–47 unless indicated.)