The Battle of Loos formed a part of the wider Artois-Loos Offensive conducted by the French and British in autumn 1915, sometimes referred to as the Second Battle of Artois.
He was much concerned at both a marked shortage in available shells (sparking the shell shortage scandal in Britain in 1915), and at the fatigued state of his troops; he was further concerned at the nature of the difficult terrain that would need to be crossed.
It was during this battle Rudyard Kipling's son, John, was lost believed killed; the fact that he was listed as missing sparked a crusade by his parents to locate his body and give it a proper burial, without success.
The battle at Loos was part of Marshal Joffre's campaign in Artois that was designed to push back the Germans in a two-pronged offensive.
What is certain is that when the reserves got to the front at Loos, their inexperience meant that they could not cope with the German counter-attack and the British, having gone from near success, narrowly avoided a retreat only as a result of the arrival of the Guards Division.
The Artois offensive was also to be a two-pronged affair with the British 1st Army attacking just north of Lens at Loos and the French 10th Army just south of Lens.
General Haig toured the area allocated for the 1st Army’s attack and declared it to be unfavourable because the flat open ground would be swept by machine gun fire from the enemy’s front trenches.
At first, despite their tiredness, when they did eventually arrive the reserve divisions had some success but German counter-attacks forced them back, only the arrival of the Guards Division on 27 September preventing what might have been a headlong retreat of the novice soldiers.
Taking place on ground not of their choosing and before stocks of ammunition and heavy artillery were sufficient, the opening of the battle was noteworthy for the first use of poison gas by the British Army.
The preliminary bombardment gave away all elements of surprise regards location of the battle, but all steps were to be taken to keep some surprise with regard to the time of the attack.
Another heavy German attack against the 7/Royal Scots Fusiliers, on the Eastern side of the Loos Crassier, was repulsed with the assistance of the 11th Motor Machine-Gun Battery.
What many do not realise is that just behind those giant coal tips lies the area of the Loos battlefield where the British Army first used gas in warfare on 25 September 1915.
The ill fated battle of Loos (Which in French is pronounced more as Loss than Loose) was in fact planned as an accompanying assault to a French attack on the Vimy Ridge.
A more unpromising scene for a great offensive battle can hardly be imagined; and on 25th September 1915 the surface was a barren prairie or rank grass, intersected by trenches whose white chalk parapets defied concealement.
iaokim network(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-02)
Battle of Hemmingstedt - 1500 - Denmark invasion in Dithmarschen, Germany
Battle of Neaje - 1016- Olaf II of Norway
Battle of Warsaw (1939), at the outset of World War II Battle of Warsaw (1944), near the end of World War II Battle of Waterloo - 1815 - War of the Seventh Coalition
The war was only a year old and the French had already witnessed the loss of hundreds of thousands of men to the machinery of war.
From the heights of Notre Dame de Lorette, General Maistre's 21st Corps pushed down into the outskirts of Souchez Village whilst the 33rd Corps had taken the fortress of Château de Carleul and Souchez village cemetery.
Both Allied commanders wanted to push on with what they had gained but the moment had been lost at Loos and German counter attacks were threatening to recuperate all of their lost territory.
Western Front Association Contributed Articles(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-02)
Joffre's lack of success in the Battle of Artois - Loos did not deter him from renewing the offensive on a grand scale later in the year.
With the growth of British and French forces during the summer and the large number of German troops absent in Russia, he planned a simultaneous advance on both sides of the German salient - the major thrust being in Champagne, with a subsidiary attack in Artois.
As a result 'a great door was to opened to the Meuse and Belgium', with a breakthrough signalling a general attack along the whole front.
They describe our bombardment as "unspeakable" and say the first thing they knew about the assault was the appearance of lines of British troops streaming away over their trenches to the right and, the next moment, the inrush of a horde of khaki-clad figures upon their trenches from three sides.
The Battle of Loos was a ghastly failure after the first smash through.
Again it seemed to us (war correspondents) that the guiding idea behind the censorship (at the Battle of Loos) was, not to conceal the truth from the enemy, but from the nation, in defence of the British high command and its tragic blundering.
While the 2nd Battle of Ypres was taking place, the French Commander-in-Chief, Joseph Joffre, decided to try and break through German lines on the Western Front at Artois.
After a five-day preliminary bombardment of German positions, Henri-Philippe Petain and 9th Army launched an attack on 9th May, 1915.
General Auguste Dubail and the French Tenth Army made some progress and one division managed to reach the crest of Vimy Ridge on 29th September.
