Identifier: storyofgreatwar01brai (find matches)
Title: The story of the great war
Year: 1919 (1910s)
Authors: Braithwaite, William Stanley, 1878-1962
Subjects: World War, 1914-1918
Publisher: New York, Frederick A. Stokes company
Contributing Library: The Library of Congress
Digitizing Sponsor: The Library of Congress

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ch warfare.Fighting in the open was now a thing of the pastas far as the armies in France and Flanders were con-cerned. A new situation demanded new methods of at-tack as well as new weapons to make them. Two factorsbecame necessary to carry on a successful action. Thesewere the development of high explosive shells in batteringdown trench works and an increased use of machine gunsto repulse infantry attacks. Thus artillery became steadilymore important. And to feed the guns with an enormoussupply of ammunition was imperative. The Germans hadalready taken these things into account. The French, too,were not slow to meet the new demands which the fightingcalled for. The British, however, had to learn the needby bitter experience. They still clung to the use ofshrapnel shells almost to the point of folly; and it was onlyafter a great controversy at home, that the British WarOffice was compelled to supply the high explosives whichtheir generals at the front demanded. So the nations be- 142
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PaintitTg bv Cyrus Cnneo By arrangement with Jarrold & Sons, Ltd. THE MOPPERS UP LEFT NOTHING ALTVE BEHIND THEM THE CAMPAIGNS OF 1915 143 gan in feverish haste to manufacture high explosive shellsin great quantities and to multiply the great number ofguns they were to feed. The year opened with a small French attack in Cham-pagne, north of Soissons, and again in February, theFrench attacked on a narrow front east of Argonne andin sight of the Cathedral of Rheims on the west. Theseattacks, however, were but faint outbursts. It was notuntil the first part of March that an advance of any im-portance took place. In this advance, the British foughtthe Battle of Neuve-Chapelle between Lille and LaBassee. The object of this attack was to capture AubersRidge, a commanding position for future advance. TheBattle of Neuve-Chapelle saw the first use of massed artil-lery bombardment, which the Germans called Drum-Fire. The method was to mass artillery on a narrow frontand pour great quantities

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