Chocques and Awe
On 17 October 1918, Greg and Lt Scarterfield went on an afternoon reconnaissance flight from Chocques, for which the log book entry is:
The squadron had returned to Chocques only days before (13th), the location at which they had been briefly stationed during the frantic responses to the German offensives beginning in the spring. October’s stay at Chocques was also very brief, with 42 Squadron moving on to Ascq on 22nd. For Greg and his observer, this flight was a foray over German-occupied territory, some miles beyond the British front lines. It illustrated that on the Western Front, it was now, for certain, a war of movement, of Allied advances. For French and Belgian civilians under occupation, this was the time of liberation!
In a truly Allied effort, British and empire forces, in collaboration with French, Belgian, US and other armies all under the direction of the generalissimo Marshal Foch, were assaulting the German forces along a broad stretch of the Western Front.[1] From the vicinity of Metz in the south, to the sea at Nieuwpoort/Nieuport, the Allies were defeating their German opponents by applying all of the bitter lessons of four years of near-stalemate. The Allied co-ordination of armies drawn from around the world, with their artillery, air power, tanks and – above all – abundant supplies, made the attacks possible; the courage and determination of the men doing the fighting, achieved the victories. German resistance remained often skilful, determined and effective, so that again and again, it had to be overcome by even greater skill, determination and effectiveness.[2] Firepower was a very necessary, but never sufficient, ingredient. Courage remained essential and casualties – on all sides – were substantial.
Liberation of Lille
Also on 17 October, General Birdwood (whose visit to 42 Squadron we recounted on 12 July) was commanding the British Fifth Army as it entered Lille.[3] Captured by the Germans on 13 October 1914, after a siege and heavy shelling, Lille and its inhabitants had endured further suffering themselves, whilst also witnessing the consequences of the War carried on only a few miles to their west. For four years, German troops marched through Lille en route to the Front, German casualties were brought in the opposite direction, and Allied prisoners were paraded on the city’s streets. Even the Kaiser visited the city, as it was the location of the German Sixth Army’s HQ.
Birdwood and Fifth Army’s entry, however, proved to the civilians not only that the War might end, but that it might do so with their occupiers driven out rather than with German forces withdrawn during “negotiations”. Earlier in October, the new German government[4] had contacted US President Wilson to explore a peace settlement, based on Wilson’s Fourteen Points of January 1918, which the German leadership now hoped would allow them to avoid having to come to terms with the French and British directly and permit them to retain at least some of their conquests. Such talks, if pursued, might NOT include a cessation of hostilities or even a ceasefire: peace might yet be a long way off, with many more casualties whilst the politicians haggled. IF, however, the situation on the ground could be altered before the politicians could compromise, what might be the outcome?[5]
Liberation in Restoration
Elsewhere on 17th, British and empire forces attacked on a nine-mile front to begin the battle of the River Selle, crossing the river and capturing Le Cateau by the end of that day. The Belgian army re-entered Ostend by land and welcomed their King and Queen arriving by sea, whilst Belgian cavalry arrived at the outskirts Bruges. American forces pushed the Germans out of the Argonne Forest while the French army reached the River Aisne. In these places, liberation meant the return of conquered territories to their internationally recognised sovereign states, the restoration of former governments, laws and nationalities. Elsewhere, ‘liberation’ could mean so much more.
Liberation in Creation
Elsewhere in these days of October, the empires of the Central Powers, Germany’s allies, were collapsing. On 15th, British cavalry had seized Homs, in the Turkish empire’s province of Syria. On 24th, a major Allied offensive would begin in northern Italy, becoming the battle of Vittorio Veneto and leading to the heavy defeat in the field of Austro-Hungarian forces. In the Washington Declaration, a Czech Republic was proclaimed, ending the nearly four centuries of rule by the Habsburgs of the lands of Bohemia and Moravia, soon to be joined by Slovakia. For Poland, in place of the puppet state devised by the Germans, a truly independent state was being created for the first time since 1795. Out of the war-torn ruins of Serbia and the neighbouring territories of the collapsing Austro-Hungarian empire, Yugoslavia was being created, while Serbian and French forces liberated Peć, in Kosovo. In Siberia, British forces occupied Omsk.
But in all of these places, the fighting and dying carried on. When the British War Office and Air Ministry published the weekly casualty list for 15-22 October 1918, it was 61 pages long.[6]
Further reading
For a fuller account of the experiences of Lillois during the War, the web pages put up by the departmental government are highly recommended, starting at http://www.remembrancetrails-northernfrance.com/history/the-department-of-nord-and-the-coal-basin-under-german-occupation/lille-under-german-rule.html but readers are advised to look at all of the pages, in order to appreciate fully the sufferings of those under occupation.
For an account of these days from a British perspective, see Nicholas Lloyd Hundred Days: the End of the Great War (London, 2013).
For a wider, international perspective, see Gregor Dallas 1918: War and Peace (London, 2000, but also subsequent editions).
References
[1] Agreement to serve under – as opposed to with – a Allied single commander, had been achieved only in the summer of 1918.
[2] Despite instances of large-scale surrender by German troops, discipline had not collapsed in the way it had in Tsarist armies at the start of the revolutions in Russia.
[3] For two images of the British troops on arrival, see for example http:/www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/firstworldwar/brit-lille-liberate.htm For the victory parade held on 28th, see https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1060008230
[4] Now led by Prince Max von Baden, and seeking to reduce the power of the military in these decisions.
[5] Baden argued with Ludendorff in cabinet about the continuation of war/rejection of American contacts, on 17th – see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Maximilian_of_Baden
[6] https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/search/results/1918-10-15/1918-10-21?NewspaperTitle=Weekly%2BCasualty%2BList%2B(War%2BOffice%2B%2526%2BAir%2BMinistry%2B)&IssueId=BL%2F0001953%2F19181015%2F&County=London%2C%20England