Battle of the Ancre 1916
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 13 November 1916 – 18 November 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 | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 50.0667, 2.7000 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of the Ancre (13–18 November 1916), was fought by the British Fifth Army (Lieutenant-General Hubert Gough), against the German 1st Army (General Fritz von Below). The Reserve Army had been renamed the Fifth Army on 30 October. The battle was the last of the big British attacks of the Battle of the Somme. After the Battle of Flers–Courcelette (15–22 September) the Anglo-French armies tried to press their advantage with smaller attacks in quick succession, rather than pausing to regroup and give the Germans time to recover. Subsequent writers gave discrete dates for the Anglo-French battles but there were considerable overlaps and continuities of operations until the weather and supply difficulties in mid-November ended the battle until the new-year.
The British attack was to fulfil complementary objectives. Political discontent in London would be muted by a big victory, as would doubts of British commitment by its allies and British loyalty to the Chantilly strategy of 1915 would be upheld. The capture of Beaumont Hamel and Serre would go some way to redeem the failure of 1 July and obtain ground on which the British would have a tactical advantage.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of the Ancre (revision 1371577839), 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 Thiepval Ridge 1916 · 2 km
- Fighting for Mouquet Farm 1916 · 2 km
- Battle of Flers–Courcelette 1916 · 4 km
- Capture of Ovillers 1916 · 4 km
- Leipzig Salient 1916 · 6 km
- First day on the Somme 1916 · 6 km
Other battles of the Battle of the Somme
- Attack at Fromelles 1916
- 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 Heights 1916
All 19 battles of the Battle of the Somme →
Browse more: battles in France · Europe · World War I era battles