Category | Defensive action |
---|---|
Conflict |
First World War, 1914-1918 |
Hindenburg Line
In part as a consequence of the tremendous losses incurred during the Somme Offensive in 1916, German forces on the Western Front between Cambrai and St Quentin withdrew to a new defensive line during February and March 1917. Called the "Siegfried Stellung (Line)" by the Germans, this complex system of defensive fieldworks and mutually supporting fortifications was named the "Hindenburg Line" by the Allies. This withdrawal straightened the German line, reducing its length by 25 miles and releasing 13 Divisions for service in the reserve.
In fact the near central "Siegfried Stellung" was only one of a series of highly sophisticated linked defensive trench lines constructed by the Germans. The entire defensive line from the coast to Verdun comprised: the "Wotan Stellung", between the Belgian coast and Cambrai; the "Siegfied Stellung" ("Hindenburg Line", the oldest and most complex central system) between Cambrai amd St Quentin; the "Alberich Stellung", between St Quentin and Laon. The "Brunhilde Stellung" protected the German front in Champagne and the "Kriemhilde Stellung" between the Argonne Forest and Metz.
Collection items
Media
The Riqueval entrance to the St Quentin Canal Tunnel, captured on 29 September 1918. This tunnel, ...
A panoramic view showing Le Catelet and Govy, two fortified villages in the Hindenburg Main Line ...
A panoramic view showing Le Catelet and Govy, two fortified villages in the Hindenburg Main Line ...
A tank put out of action when crossing a deep communication trench running from a dugout near the ...
Eterpigny. Camouflaged huts of the 4th Army Headquarters, showing the entrance of the Commander's ...
A HOUSE IN THE VILLAGE OF HAPPLINCOURT, ON 1917-04-05. THIS VILLAGE WAS DESTROYED BY THE GERMANS ...
The German withdrawal. Noreuil (beyond Vaulx-Vraucourt and near the Hindenburg Line), showing the ...
Smoke rising from a burning dump, fired by the retreating Germans, at Tincourt. On this date the ...
A group of 12 unidentified German engineers preparing mines in a French village before they began ...
A mine exploding in a French village before the Germans evacuated the village and withdrew to the ...
Australian sergeants attached to an American Machine Gun Company for instructional duties. Before ...
View of the village of Joncourt, from the west. It was the centre of severe fighting by troops of ...
View of the St Quentin Canal, Tunnel in the Hindenburg Main Line, looking towards the Bellicourt ...
Troops of D Company, 45th Battalion, at their newly captured objective between Bellenglise and Le ...
Near Hargicourt, France. 1 October 1918. Australian soldiers searching their German prisoners for ...
Hindenburg Line Area, France. 1918-09-10. The ruins of the village of Nauroy. A watering place is ...
Reference image only to provide position detail for those named. This image is not for sale. The ...
Observers (on the left) watching Australian artillery shelling the Germans in the Hindenburg Line ...
Barbed wire entanglements along the Hindenburg Line, between Bullecourt and Riencourt, demolished ...
The village of Bellenglise, from the front line held by the 46th Battalion. The village remained ...
The Riqueval entrance to the St Quentin Canal Tunnel which ran for three and a half miles between ...
The bridge on the main Bellenglise St Quentin Road, after it had been destroyed by the retreating ...
A view illustrating the dominating position of Cologne Ridge in the Hindenburg Defence System. It ...
A view illustrating the dominating position of Cologne Ridge in the Hindenburg Defence System. It ...
A view illustrating the dominating position of Cologne Ridge in the Hindenburg Defence System. It ...
A view illustrating the dominating position of Cologne Ridge in the Hindenburg Defence System. It ...
A German machine gunner killed at his post established on the Knoll, a big, irregular ridge near ...
Unidentified stretcher bearers of the 2nd Australian Division carrying a wounded soldier through ...