German assessment of "British" divisions on the WF

[The Owlman]

Hi one and all.

Long time since I posted anything although I visit quite often.

I am doing some research for a talk on the RND and am trying to find information on the German OHL report on the effectiveness of the "British" divisions on the WF. I use the word British as I know the Germans included the Aussies, Cannuks and the Kiwis under this umbrella as they were part of the empire.

In 1916 the OHL report stated;

47th, 6th, 20th, 50th, 18th, 1st Can, 2nd Can were rated as 'Good'

11th, 39th, 41st, 3rd Can, NZ as 'Medium'

61st, 40th, 60th, 63rd, 3rd Aus, 5th Aus, 4th Can as 'Poor'

By 1918 they had a top 5 for the Divisions to be wary of facing in the front line, one was the 63rd (RN) which during the 1918 offensive was bypassed from accounts as it put up such a determined defence that the Germans were repulsed and flanked it leaving it alone.

Can anyone help with identifying the other divisions identified by the OHL?

Much appreciated

Owlman

[Colin W Taylor]

Owlman

I was under the impression that on 21 March 1918 the Flesquires Salient section of front, some of which was held by the 63rd Division, was heavily bombarded with HE and gas to fix the divisions in the area in place; 63rd Division only underwent a minor local attack to hold them in position. Presumably the German plan was for them to be outflanked and encircled all along rather than attacking them directly; I'm not sure therefore that your statement above is entirely correct.

There have been a number of threads on German lists characterizing British and Commonwealth Divisions and I'm not sure ultimately where these lists were derived from. Such lists would have been of varying levels of accuracy as sometimes the performance of a division was only considered as good as it's last battle and many had a chequered career. Of your list above a large number of divisions were omitted. I'd suggest a search of previous threads on divisional league tables as this has been discussed in detail.

That's not to say that the 63rd Division wasn't a very effective division; it just that methods of quantifying such things, such as these lists, or more recent academic studies, are open to extensive discussion.

Well, that's my view anyway.

Kind regards

Colin

[Ron Clifton]

It is also worth noting that the RND and the Australian divisions only arrived on the Western Front in about July 1916 and had not faced the Germans before. Perhaps "inexperienced" would have been a more appropriate description than "poor". Others described as poor were likewise relatively new to the Western Front.

Ron

[IRC Kevin]

The following German document was captured on 9 April 1918.

"In our attack our three regiments will be opposed by at most six companies in front and at most two reserve battalions in Festubert and Givenchy. One battalion in divisional reserve is south of the La Bassée Canal in Le Preol. It will be prevented by our powerful artillery fire from taking part in the fight for Festubert and Givenchy. Troops are elements of 55th Division, which after being engaged on the Somme has suffered heavy losses in Flanders and at Cambrai, and was described by prisoners in March 1918, as a division fit to hold a quiet sector, that is below the average quality."

Boy did they get that one wrong!

[The Owlman]

Hi

Thanks for your posts.

I agree this is a difficult topic to quantify, the Germans (as did the allies) regularly report on the effectiveness of the opposition - hence trench raids to gather information. I imagine our Aussie cousins would bristle at any slighting of the battle effectiveness of ANZAC units. The 51st Div was also criticised for its effectiveness but both divisions had fought together at Gallipoli and were pleased and reassured when they were put into the line together in France. Both were highly praised by Army commanders including Haig. Goes to show doesn't it?

I take your point Colin about the German plan, although German tactics were to bypass any stubborn opposition during this operation. I read that some other divisions also saw German attacks fade away to the flanks and these divisions also had to retreat after being isolated. I am not an expert on the WF slowly drifting into this area from Family research and researching militaria interests.

All help appreciated chaps.

Regards

Owlman

[Chris_Baker]

Owlman, the 51st (Highland) Division had not been anywhere other than France. Do you mean the RND?