Battles of the First World War Podcast · Mike Cunha

Second Marne - Blücher-Yorck

·40 min·1 clip

3,700 guns opened fire on a 43km front creating a sea of flames—soldiers were blinded by firestorm and pressed flat by air pressure.

Ludendorff states the object plainly. Blücher-Yorck is meant to disturb the united Entente front opposite Crown Prince Ruprecht's army group and make another offensive against the British possible. Then the episode moves closer to the ground. German intention gives way to assembly areas, crossroads, and troops waiting under French guns. Hans Schiller supplies the soldier's view. His memoir has men pinned by shellfire, too stunned to think straight and convinced that standing up would get them killed. The front stops being a line on the map. Near Schiller, an aide-de-camp reads the moment with bitterness, saying the Germans had meant to exterminate the French and now felt it coming back on them. The assault goes ahead anyway. At 01.00 on May 27th, 1918, more than 3,700 guns open across 43 kilometers of front. Bruchmuller's methods shape the barrage. From Chavignon in the west to Berriobach in the east, known French and British positions take heavy fire. The bombardment also reaches 12 kilometers behind the front, hitting positions well behind the line. Schiller remembers the attack as flashes, crashes, pressure, blindness, and bodies pressed into the earth. By the end, the Germans have driven deep into a new salient and reached Chateau-Thierry. The position looks like success, but it is hard to supply and exposed on three sides. The host leaves the episode pointed back toward the Marne, where an unlikely French officer, described as having cunning instincts of a killer, will see the chance for a counterstroke.

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Battles of the First World War Podcast