The Great War - WW1
The Black Day of the German Army
On the 24th of July 1918, Foch, the British Commander, assembled the three Allied Commanders-in-chief - Haig, Petain and Pershing - at his headquarters. He told them, 'The moment has come to abandon the general defensive attitude forced on us until now by numerical inferiority and pass to the offensive'.
The blow fell on the 8th of August. Once more the British attacked on the Somme, but this time around their preparations had been concealed from the Germans with the greatest skill. Learning the lessons of Cambrai, the British and French avoided a preliminary bombardment and supported the attack with 462 tanks. Fog masked the initial thrust, which within 24 hours had driven 10 miles into the German lines. Ludendorff wrote: '8 August was the black day of the German Army in the history of war'. The Germans fell back on the Hindenburg Line after suffering at least 100'000 casualties.
On the 11th of August Ludendorff tendered his resignation to the Kaiser - Wilhelm the 2nd, who refused it but nevertheless observed, 'I see that we must strike a balance. We have nearly reached the limit of our powers of resistance. The War must be ended'.