The Great War - WW1
1915 - Year of the Big Push
In the opening campaign of the war the Germans had occupied much of Belgium and parts of the industrial region of northern France. This enabled them to assume a defensive posture in the west while pursuing territorial ambitions in the east. The British and French had no such luxury. For them, the winning back of the territory lost in 1914 was a strategic necessity.
The British launched their first attempt to break the German line at Neuve Chapelle in March 1915. The battle saw a number of innovations; the extensive aerial photo-reconnaissance of the German positions; the co-ordination of artillery fire by timetable to fit the projected lines of advance; and the laying of an experimental network of field telephones before the attack went in. After a short 'hurricane' bombardment the British attacked on a narrow front with a numerical advantage of 35:1. They (we) achieved an initial breakthrough before communications broke down, ammunition ran out and the advance stuttered to a halt, which became the pattern for future battles on the Western Front.
The British lost 13'000 men at Neuve Chapelle. In September, amid the slagheaps and ruined mining towns of Loos, they lost another 65'000 men supporting a major French offensive in Champagne which suffered 190'000 casualties. There had been no strategic gain, only mass slaughter. In Britain, the shortage of shells caused a public outcry which led to the establishment of a Ministry of Munitions under David Loyd George.