Hindenburg Line

[PhilB]

An American claim that the AEF was given difficult tasks suggests that the Meuse - Argonne section of the Siegfried Stellung may have been stronger than elsewhere. Is there any belief that the Hindenburg was quite variable in strength? Which is now considered to have been the strongest part? (ie the most difficult to break) Phil B

[Borden Battery]

Here are a few referenced sources which might provide some additional background to your question:

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The Canadian Emma Gees (1938), p. 159

The eyes of British G. H. Q. were now focused on Cambria, but in between the spearhead thrust of the Canadians was the Drocourt--Queant line, important hinge of the famous Hindenburg system and key to the whole plan whereby it was hoped that the Germans would be blasted out of these supposedly impregnable positions and forced out into the open country behind.

It wasn't until August 22nd that Gen. Sir Arthur Currie received details of the operations planned for the 1st Army sector which was confronted with four main systems of defence: (1) the old German front line system east of Monchy-le-Preux; (2) the Fresnes-Rouvroy line; (3) the Drocourt-Queant line, and finally the Canal du Nord line, any one of which were more formidable than trench systems upon which mighty offensives of both British and French had previously been blunted.

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Official History of the Canadian Army in the First World War

- Canadian Expeditionary Force, 1914-1919, Colonel G. W. L. Nicholson, C.D., Army Historical Section

p 400

The period of rest and refitting that would normally follow participation in such

extensive operations as the Amiens battle was denied the Canadians; for in these last

hundred days of the war each major offensive so rapidly succeeded its predecessor that

unprecedented demands had to be made on the stamina of the forces employed. Back

under General Horne's command in its former position east of Arras, the Canadian Corps

was confronted by a series of formidable defence positions which the enemy was holding

in strength. Immediately in front of the Canadians, about Monchy-le-Preux, were the old

British trenches lost in the German offensive of March 1918, and to the east of these lay

the enemy's former front line. This was backed up, two miles east of Monchy, by the

so-called Fresnes-Rouvroy line, which was actually an extension south of the Scarpe of the

original line joining Rouvroy (south-east of Lens) to Fresnes (north-east of Arras). Another

mile to the east the approaches to Cambrai were blocked by the strongest position of

all-the Drocourt-Quéant line (the southernmost portion of the Wotan I-Stellung), which,

extending northward from the Hindenburg Line (Siegfried-Stellung) at Quéant, had been

constructed by the Germans to contain any Allied advance into the Douai plain. Still farther

east, crossed by the main road at Marquion, was the unfinished Canal du Nord, connecting

the Somme Canal with the Sensée Canal. Though not yet extensively fortified it formed in

conjunction with the Sensée marshes a major obstacle.

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The above would imply the section attacked by the Canadian Corps was the most strongly constructed.

However, John Keegan [The First World War] acknowledges the constructed strength of this section and then comments [p 323] that defences of the Chemin des Dames in the French sector were amongst the strongest.

However, in the final analysis one should look at the value of a position and which one would you defend with men and materiel.

Which section was the "pivitol hinge" that must be held at all cost? Which section of tthe Hindenberg line would be allocated the men and the counter-attacks at all costs - and if lost could lead to a strategic shift?

I have an opinion and some facts ... but lets see if we can get some educated debate going for all those bored Great War subscribers.

[PhilB]

Thanks, BB. Perhaps all writers tended to assume/claim their bit of the H Line was the strongest? They wouldn`t want to downgrade the achievements of their unit! Phil B

[Landsturm]

Here`s a map of German Defensive Organization in the Meuse-Argonne Region from http://www.meuse-argonne.com/

[PhilB]

thanks, L. Any idea what a stellung actually consists of in that area? Any idea how other parts of the H Line compared? Phil B

[paul guthrie]

Whether or not it was physically more difficult in Meuse Argonne the Germans had few first rate troops there. One of my US pals likes to argue the US won the war saying the French could not take Montfaucon for four years and we did it in couple of days ( but behind schedule).

He is a Francophobe by the way.

The French did not attack this area, apart from the Vosges and `1914 their offensives were in Artois, Champagne and the Somme with small exceptions such as near Verdun in 1917.

The area was relatively uninportant to them.