Battle of Festubert 1915
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 27 May 1915 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1915 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | World War I era (1914–1918) | derived from year |
| Location | France | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | World War I | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 50.5439, 2.7361 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Festubert (15–25 May 1915) was an attack by the British army in the Artois region of France on the western front during World War I. The offensive formed part of a series of attacks by the French Tenth Army and the British First Army in the Second Battle of Artois (3 May – 18 June 1915). After the failure of the breakthrough attempt by the First Army in the attack at Aubers Ridge (9 May 1915) tactics of a short hurricane bombardment and an infantry advance with unlimited objectives, were replaced by the French practice of slow and deliberate artillery-fire intended to prepare the way for an infantry attack.
A continuous three-day bombardment by the British heavy artillery was planned, to cut wire and demolish German machine-gun posts and infantry strong points. The German defences were to be captured by a continuous attack, by one division from Rue du Bois to Chocolat Menier Corner and by a second division 600 yd (550 m) north, which was to capture the German trenches to the left of Festubert. The objectives were 1,000 yd (910 m) forward, rather than the 3,000 yd (1.7 mi; 2.7 km) depth of advance attempted at Aubers Ridge. The battle was the first British attempt at attrition.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Festubert (revision 1378613586), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Defence of Festubert 1914 · 0 km
- Winter operations 1914–1915 1914 · 2 km
- Attack on the Boar's Head 1916 · 3 km
- Third Battle of Artois 1915 · 5 km
- Second Battle of Artois 1915 · 5 km
- Battle of La Bassée 1914 · 5 km
Other battles of the World War I
- Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby 1914
- Siege of Przemyśl 1914
- Sinking of SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse 1914
- Skirmish at Joncherey 1914
- Winter operations 1914–1915 1914
- Action off Noordhinder Bank 1915
- Battle for No.3 Post 1915
- Battle of Arras (1915) 1915
- Battle of Bitlis 1915
- Battle of Bukoba 1915
All 138 battles of the World War I →
Browse more: battles in France · Europe · World War I era battles