Attack at Fromelles 1916
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 19 July 1916 – 20 July 1916 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1916 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
| Era | World War I era (1914–1918) | derived from year |
| Location | France | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Battle of the Somme | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | German Empire, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 50.6063, 2.8547 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Attack at Fromelles (French pronunciation: [fʁɔmɛl] (Battle of Fromelles, Battle of Fleurbaix or Schlacht von Fromelles) was a military operation on the Western Front during the First World War on 19–20 July 1916. The attack was carried out by British and Australian troops and was subsidiary to the Battle of the Somme. General Headquarters (GHQ) of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) had ordered the First Army (General Charles Munro) and Second Army (General Herbert Plumer) to prepare attacks to support the Fourth Army on the Somme, 50 mi (80 km) to the south, to exploit any weakening of the German defences opposite. The attack took place 9.9 mi (16 km) from Lille, between the Fauquissart–Trivelet road and Cordonnerie Farm, an area overlooked from Aubers Ridge to the south. The ground was low-lying and much of the defensive fortification by both sides consisted of building breastworks, rather than trenches.
The operation was conducted by XI Corps (Lieutenant-General Richard Haking) of the First Army with the 61st (2nd South Midland) Division and the 5th Australian Division of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) against the 6th Bavarian Reserve Division, supported by the two flanking divisions of the German 6th Army.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Attack at Fromelles (revision 1371597527), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Battle of Aubers 1915 · 3 km
- Battle of Neuve-Chapelle 1915 · 6 km
- Attack on the Boar's Head 1916 · 9 km
- Battle of La Bassée 1914 · 9 km
- Battle of Armentières 1914 · 9 km
- Defence of Festubert 1914 · 11 km
Other battles of the Battle of the Somme
- Battle of Albert (1916) 1916
- Battle of Bazentin Ridge 1916
- Battle of Delville Wood 1916
- Battle of Flers–Courcelette 1916
- Battle of Guillemont 1916
- Battle of Le Transloy 1916
- Battle of Morval 1916
- Battle of Thiepval Ridge 1916
- Battle of the Ancre 1916
- Battle of the Ancre Heights 1916
All 19 battles of the Battle of the Somme →
Browse more: battles in France · Europe · World War I era battles