The German Offensives of 1918: The Last Desperate Gamble. Ian Passingham.

[Crunchy]

The German Offensives of 1918: The Last Desperate Gamble. Ian Passingham. Pen & Sword, Barnsley, 2008. 179pp.

 

Pitched at the lay reader and the popular market of military history, and with only 142 pages of narrative, Ian Passingham's The German Offensives of 1918: The Last Desperate Gamble offers an overview of the offensives undertaken by the Germans on the Western Front during the spring and summer of 1918. Following the format of Pen & Sword's Campaign Chronicles series, it has no chapters but is presented in two parts: the background to the campaign, and, by far the longer portion, a chronicle of the events as they unfolded.  Written in a pacy, easy style that glides along to provide sufficient information without delving into too much detail, the narrative is punctuated by the extensive use of first hand accounts to give a flavour of the fighting at ground level, together with analyses along the way highlighting the key issues to be considered in judging the impact of the campaigns and the command decisions taken.

 

While narrating each of the offensives Passingham seeks to highlight several themes: the stubborn, courageous defence and fighting withdrawal of the British; that while the Germans achieved remarkable tactical success in some areas, overall the offensives were operational and strategic failures that tore the heart of the German Army; and that failure rested largely on General Eric Ludendorff's shoulders and the stout Allied resistance. That many British units fought courageously in attempting to stem the German juggernaut is amply demonstrated by the examples and first hand accounts given. In doing so Passingham has shown that although the Germans made great gains, the offensives were not as one-sided as is often portrayed, and they suffered enormous casualties.

 

While there has been a tendency in the popular history to focus on the spectacular success of Operation Michael against the British Fifth Army, Passingham relates that not all the German attacks were successful. Where they did succeed spectacularly was against weak points in the Allied defence, or in the case of Operation Blucher-Yorck against a defensive posture whereby the French packed the forward positions with troops, only to have them smashed by an overwhelming artillery bombardment. In contrast, Operation Mars failed to breakthrough the strong defences of the British Third Army and the Germans incurred staggering losses, while Operation Marneschutz foundered from the start. Overall Passingham argues the German offensives of 1918 were a case of operational and strategic failure and, that as Ludendorff lost focus on his aim, they showed ever diminishing returns, and paved the way for Allied success.

 

Clearly, this book is intended as a once over lightly, however, it is unbalanced in its coverage. Operation Michael receives by far the most attention, with over thirty pages, while Operation Georgette receives a scant seven and is incomplete in its description; rather the narrative peters out before the offensive concludes. Similarly, it is Anglo-German centric in its approach. While the later offensives were against the French we read little of their fighting efforts. Operation Blucher-York was launched against an Anglo-French force, yet the narrative revolves largely around a few British units that fought gallantly, and one is left to ponder what occurred elsewhere during its course. Hence one gains the impression that Passingham's central purpose is to rehabilitate the undeserved reputation the British have received in the popular genre.  While his use of first hand accounts vividly bring to life the desperate fighting and individual courage of participants, these again are unbalanced and overdone to the extent the reader tends to have an incomplete picture of some of the offensives.

 

As an overview of these climactic events, The German Offensives of 1918: The Last Desperate Gamble achieves a reasonable if unbalanced result, and offers an easily read and engaging primer for those new to the subject. For those wishing to delve deeper and gain a better understanding they will need look elsewhere, such as Martin Middlebrook's The Kaiser's Battle for Operation Michael, and more recently David T. Zabecki's The German 1918 Offensives: A case study in the operational level of war for a detailed study of the background and execution of them.

[Marilyne]

Read that one on my kindl somewhere around this period last year... very good read to fill the long hours on "Whisky Kilo" duty.

I found it indeed, as you say, a good start into the campaign and a good "first read" before going on to a more detailed account.

But one of the main reasons I got that one, is that is was one of the rare books I managed to find on Kindl (was ann imperative during those months) , not too expensive and actually about the Offensive. There's far more out there about the last 100 days, but very little detailed accounts about the background of the German offensive.

 

Marilyne