Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant documents that answer the question.
Query: How many casualties were there during the German attack on Vimy Ridge, 21 May 1916 ?
The Germans attacked on 21 May and were able to consolidate their objectives, before the British could conduct counter-attacks powerful enough to recapture the ground. In the attack and its aftermath the Germans suffered 1,344 casualties against the 2,475 British losses. A British plan to recapture the front positions and take the German side of the ridge was cancelled, because of the demand for men and equipment of the forthcoming Battle of the Somme, the attack on the Gommecourt Salient taking priority. British planning continued and became the basis for the much larger attack by the Canadian Corps at the Battle of Vimy Ridge (9–12 April 1917).
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 After the beginning of the Battle of Verdun (21 February – 18 December 1916), the Tenth Army was withdrawn and the British First Army and Third Army on either flank, took over the French positions.
Spring 1916 saw the 182nd Tunnelling Company move to Berthonval and the construction of subways in Zouave Valley on Vimy Ridge. Vimy was an area of busy underground activity for much of the war. British tunnellers had taken over mining in the area progressively from the French between February and May 1916. From spring 1916, the British had deployed five tunnelling companies along the Vimy Ridge, and during the first two months of their tenure in the area, 70 mines were fired, mostly by the Germans. Between October 1915 and April 1917 an estimated 150 French, British and German charges were fired in this sector of the Western Front. In May 1916, a German infantry attack, which forced the British back , was aimed at neutralising British mining activity by capturing the shaft entrances. From June 1916, however, the Germans withdrew many miners to work on the Hindenburg Line and also for work in coal mines in Germany. In the second half of 1916 the British constructed strong defensive underground positions, and from August 1916, the Royal Engineers developed a mining scheme to support a large-scale infantry attack on the Vimy Ridge proposed for autumn 1916, although this was subsequently postponed. After September 1916, when the Royal Engineers had completed their network of defensive galleries along most of the front line, offensive mining largely ceased although activities continued until 1917. The British gallery network beneath Vimy Ridge eventually grew to a length of .
Central Avenue – Ersatz Alley sectors
25th Division (Data taken from Rogers "The German Attack at Vimy Ridge" [2010] p. 47 unless indicated.)
Vimy Ridge – the units of 47th Division were involved in frequent crater-fighting in this sector from April to July 1916, including the major German attack on 21 May.
On 29 March 1916, the 185th Tunnelling Company was relieved at Roclincourt-Chantecler by the New Zealand Tunnelling Company. During summer and much of autumn 1916, the unit further developed and expanded its mining to create an effective underground defence at Roclincourt-Chantecler. In May 1916, a German infantry attack at Vimy, which forced the British back , was aimed at neutralising British mining activity by capturing the shaft entrances. From June 1916, however, the Germans withdrew many miners to work on the Hindenburg Line and also for work in coal mines in Germany. In the second half of 1916 the British constructed strong defensive underground positions, and from August 1916, the Royal Engineers developed a mining scheme to support a large-scale infantry attack on the Vimy Ridge proposed for autumn 1916, although this was subsequently postponed. After September 1916, when the Royal Engineers had completed their network of defensive galleries along most of the front line, offensive mining largely ceased although activities continued until 1917. The British gallery network beneath Vimy Ridge eventually grew to a length of .
Northern Sector (Data taken from Rogers "The German Attack at Vimy Ridge" [2010] pp. 46–47 unless indicated.)
Edmonds wrote that the German attack showed that with plenty of artillery and observation over British positions, the Germans could capture a small part of the British defences. A British counter-attack would need a similar mass of artillery and if the guns had to be transferred from elsewhere, a counter-attack would have to wait, allowing the Germans more time to consolidate. The large amount of German artillery near the ridge and sapping forward from their new positions, led Allenby to suspect that the Vimy Ridge attack was a preliminary for an attack on Arras. With the German involved in offensive operations in Russia and at Verdun, Haig thought that a bigger attack was unlikely. The 6th Army had a plan for a more ambitious attack but this needed another 12 divisions and 40 batteries of heavy artillery, which were not available. Wilson thought that the British could leave things as they were, on the assumption that the Germans would be content to consolidate their gains. If the Germans intended to attack again, he wanted to conduct a similar operation against the Germans, to re-capture the top of the ridge and the German positions down the reverse slope as far as their mine entrances.[35]
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.
During the winter of 1915–16 the 1/7th Londons carried out regular tours of duty in the Loos sector. losing a steady stream of casualties to artillery and mine attacks. In March 1916 the 47th Division took over part of the Vimy sector on the west side of the Vimy Ridge. On 21 May 140 Bde (temporarily under the command of Col Faux of the 1/7th) was subjected to a heavy bombardment, and the Germans attacked in the evening. The weight of the attack fell on 1/7th and 1/8th Londons, who were forced back from their front and support lines halfway down the slope. 1/7th made a local counter-attack, but it was too weak to succeed. After a night and day of confusion, the 1/6th and 1/7th Bns pushed forward 250 yards to reoccupy an old French trench which they consolidated and thereby prevented any further enemy advance. They were relieved in the evening of 22 May, having suffered heavy casualties.
The mine warfare waged by the French and Germans was continued by the British, exploiting the advantage of being on the dip slope and only having to dig horizontally into the ridge to undermine German positions. The Germans, on the steeper scarp slope, had to dig down before they could dig horizontally, a disadvantage made worse by a shortage of manpower and mining equipment. An attack was planned by the Germans to capture the British positions, from which mine galleries were being dug under the German defences. Success would gain more defensive depth and forestall mine attacks on the German positions, before the British had been able to organise their defences on the ridge.
Vimy Ridge extends from the Scarpe river valley east of Arras for 9mi (14km) north to the valley of the Souchez river.[1] During the winter of 1915–1916, the German and French troops on the ridge spent much time trying to drain and repair trenches. In the area of the German 17th Reserve Division, long trenches were dug to divert water from the front trenches; in January 1916, about 1,600yd (1,500m) of duckboards were laid by Reserve Infantry Regiment 76 alone. Conditions were so bad in the front line, that soldiers fraternised to alleviate the conditions; on 25 January, the German companies in the line were transferred to prevent it. Conditions became so bad that infantry units were set to work to maintain the troops in the front line.[2] The rains and French mortar fire destroyed German field fortifications almost as fast as they were built. To gain more defensive depth and to mislead the French about German offensive preparations at Verdun, the I Bavarian Reserve Corps (General der Infanterie Karl von Fasbender) conducted Unternehmen Rupprecht (Operation Rupprecht), several carefully prepared local attacks.[3]
The British XVII Corps, commanded by Lieutenant-General Sir Julian Byng, relieved the French Tenth Army in the sector in February 1916, permitting the French to expand their operations at Verdun. The British soon discovered that German tunnelling companies had taken advantage of the relative calm on the surface to build an extensive network of tunnels and deep mines from which they would attack French positions by setting off explosive charges underneath their trenches. The Royal Engineers immediately deployed specialist tunnelling companies along the front to combat the German mining operations. In response to increased British mining aggression, German artillery and trench mortar fire intensified in early May 1916. On 21 May 1916, after shelling both forward trenches and divisional artillery positions from no less than 80 out-of-sight batteries on the reverse slope of the ridge, the German infantry began operation , an attack on the British lines along a front in an effort to eject them from positions along the ridge. The Germans captured several British-controlled tunnels and mine craters before halting their advance and entrenching their positions. Small counterattacks by units of the 140th and 141st British Brigades took place on 22 May but did not manage to change the situation. The Canadian Corps relieved the British IV Corps stationed along the western slopes of Vimy Ridge in October 1916.
In 1932, Edmonds recorded 1,344 German casualties; 615 men in the attack and 729 during British counter-attacks.[34] 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.[37] In 1936, the official historians of Der Weltkrieg, the German official history, recorded that 300 British prisoners had been taken.[38]
The ridge fell under German control in October 1914, during the Race to the Sea, as the Franco-British and German forces continually attempted to outflank each other through northeastern France. The French Tenth Army attempted to dislodge the Germans from the region during the Second Battle of Artois in May 1915 by attacking their positions at Vimy Ridge and Notre Dame de Lorette. During the attack, the French 1st Moroccan Division briefly captured the height of the ridge, where the Vimy memorial is currently located, but was unable to hold it owing to a lack of reinforcements. The French made another attempt during the Third Battle of Artois in September 1915, but were once again unsuccessful in capturing the top of the ridge. The French suffered approximately 150,000 casualties in their attempts to gain control of Vimy Ridge and surrounding territory.
The ridge fell under German control in October 1914 during the Race to the Sea as the Franco-British and German forces continually attempted to outflank each other through northeastern France. The French Tenth Army attempted to dislodge the Germans from the region during the Second Battle of Artois in May 1915 by attacking their positions at Vimy Ridge and Notre Dame de Lorette. The French 1st Moroccan Division managed to briefly capture the height of the ridge but was unable to hold it owing to a lack of reinforcements. The French made another attempt during the Third Battle of Artois in September 1915 but only captured the village of Souchez at the western base of the ridge. The Vimy sector calmed following the offensive with both sides taking a largely live and let live approach. In all, the French suffered approximately 150,000 casualties in their attempts to gain control of Vimy Ridge and surrounding territory.
Carency sector
By spring 1916, the 184th Tunnelling Company was active at Vimy, an area of busy underground activity for much of the war. British tunnellers progressively took over mining in the area from the French between February and May 1916. In addition to 184th Tunnelling Company, other units active around Vimy were 172nd, 175th, 176th, 182nd and 185th Tunnelling Companies. From spring 1916, the British had deployed five tunnelling companies along the Vimy Ridge, and during the first two months of their tenure in the area, 70 mines were fired, mostly by the Germans. Between October 1915 and April 1917 an estimated 150 French, British and German charges were fired in this sector of the Western Front. In May 1916, a German infantry attack, which forced the British back , was aimed at neutralising British mining activity by capturing the shaft entrances. From June 1916, however, the Germans withdrew many miners to work on the Hindenburg Line and also for work in coal mines in Germany. In the second half of 1916 the British constructed strong defensive underground positions, and from August 1916, the Royal Engineers developed a mining scheme to support a large-scale infantry attack on the Vimy Ridge proposed for autumn 1916, although this was subsequently postponed. After September 1916, when the Royal Engineers had completed their network of defensive galleries along most of the front line, offensive mining largely ceased although activities continued until 1917. The British gallery network beneath Vimy Ridge eventually grew to a length of .
Neuville-Saint-Vaast was close to the German "Labyrinth" stronghold between Arras and Vimy and not far from Notre Dame de Lorette. British tunnellers progressively took over work on the shafts in the area from the French between February and May 1916. As part of this process, the New Zealand Tunnelling Company took over a sector between Roclincourt and Écurie from the French "7/1 compagnie d'ingénieurs territoriaux" during March 1916. On 29 March 1916, the New Zealanders exchanged position with the 185th Tunnelling Company and moved to Roclincourt-Chantecler, a kilometre south of their old sector. 172nd Tunnelling Company seems to have shared the Neuville-Saint-Vaast sector with the 176th and 185th Tunnelling Company until it was relieved there in May 1916 by the 2nd Australian Tunnelling Company. Also in May 1916, a German infantry attack, which forced the British back , was aimed at neutralising British mining activity by capturing the shaft entrances. From June 1916, however, the Germans withdrew many miners to work on the Hindenburg Line and also for work in coal mines in Germany. In the second half of 1916 the British constructed strong defensive underground positions, and from August 1916, the Royal Engineers developed a mining scheme to support a large-scale infantry attack on the Vimy Ridge proposed for autumn 1916, although this was subsequently postponed. After September 1916, when the Royal Engineers had completed their network of defensive galleries along most of the front line, offensive mining largely ceased although activities continued until 1917. The British gallery network beneath Vimy Ridge eventually grew to a length of .
The relief of the French Tenth Army by the British First Army (General Charles Monro) and Third Army (Lieutenant-General Edmund Allenby) was accomplished by early March 1916.[6] The French had held about 20mi (32km) of front line from Ransart in the south, to the east of Arras, west of Vimy, east of Souchez, west of Lens and east of Loos. The southern portion of the line up to Arras had been quiet since the battles of manoeuvre in September 1914 and an informal truce had emerged. Further north, in the area of the three great battles of Artois in 1914 and 1915, hostilities had continued and on 8 February, the Germans captured 0.5mi (0.80km) of trench south of Central Avenue (Ave). On 21 February, the first day of the Battle of Verdun, the Germans captured Hill 145 (the Pimple), the only ridge-top position still held by the French from the offensives of 1915. The German positions on the ridge gave excellent observation over the positions inherited by the British and made finding sites for artillery appear most difficult. The maze of derelict and active trenches and artillery positions on and behind the ridge turned out to an advantage, because the German artillery lacked the ammunition to bombard every position and many empty ones were hit and then repaired as a deception.[1]
Reinforcements
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.
From spring 1916, the British had deployed five tunnelling companies along the Vimy Ridge, and during the first two months of their tenure in the area, 70 mines were fired, mostly by the Germans. Between October 1915 and April 1917 an estimated 150 French, British and German charges were fired in this sector of the Western Front. In May 1916, a German infantry attack, which forced the British back , was aimed at neutralising British mining activity by capturing the shaft entrances. From June 1916, however, the Germans withdrew many miners to work on the Hindenburg Line and also for work in coal mines in Germany. In the second half of 1916 the British constructed strong defensive underground positions, and from August 1916, the Royal Engineers developed a mining scheme to support a large-scale infantry attack on the Vimy Ridge proposed for autumn 1916, although this was subsequently postponed. After September 1916, when the Royal Engineers had completed their network of defensive galleries along most of the front line, offensive mining largely ceased although activities continued until 1917. The British gallery network beneath Vimy Ridge eventually grew to a length of . 
Berthonval sector