Post by rlaughton on May 28, 2016 12:49:55 GMT
This is a Google Earth show that provides the story and maps of the Canadian attack on Hatchet Wood during the Great War (First World War) Battle of Amiens, during the period known as "Canada's Hundred Days".
If you need further details on this historic battle period, you can download a LibriVox audio version of the book that I prepared:
Canada's Hundred Days Story
Download the KMZ file here and open it with Google Earth. I have provided instructions for those that are not familiar with running shows and also for me as I too often forget! The most common mistake users make is to CHECK ALL the boxes. ONLY one box gets checked, as shown in the image below.
Hatchet Wood Article KMZ File
The process to view this show is to place a CHECK MARK only in the box that shows the camera and then DOUBLE CLICK that, as shown here:
Battle of Amiens - Attack on Hatchet Wood
This is a KMZ Google Earth Tour that accompanies an article by Richard Laughton that describes the events surrounding the "Attack on Hatchet Wood" by the 8th Battalion of the 2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade, 1st Canadian Division in August 1918. This was a small but historic component of the larger "Battle of Amiens".
In the Nicholson Map 11 Google Earth file we summarized the events of the Battle of Amiens.
Late in July 1918 the Allies came to the decision to turn their defensive actions into offensive actions. Included in these offensive actions were the removal of the German threat on the Paris-Amiens railway and the Paris-Avricourt Line. In preparation for this, the Canadian forces moved by train from Arras to the areas south-west of Amiens, all under strict security measures.
The attack would have superior artillery and air support and this time, proper tank support. The Canadians left from the Amiens-Roye Road at Hourges, north east a half mile to the River Luce, then east to the red line. The 3rd Division assault commenced on 8 August and with great success they reached the blue dotted line, but alas with only 8 of their original 42 tanks still in service! The 1st and 2nd Canadian Divisions moved east as well, on the left flank of the 1st Division.
From the 10th to the 19th there was a lull in the fighting, but they had gained 14 miles and widened from 7,500 to 10,000 yards (67 square miles) with the liberation of 27 villages. Over 9,000 prisoners and 200 guns were captured and General Currie announced “This magnificent victory has been won”. They now packed their bags and boarded the trains, to return once again to the Arras sector in the north.
In the December 2010 article on the "Attack on Hatchet Wood" we provide the details of that event, augmented with this Google Earth Tour:
There are numerous on-line and off-line maps that provide a layout as to where the action was happening on August 8th and 9th, 1918. Nicholson 1 and Livesay 2 provide excellent battle summary maps of most of the major events, which can then be compared to the operation “Trench Maps” that were produced for specific periods during the Great War. Many of these are now available in private collections as well as on the public collection at the “McMaster University Lloyd Reeds Map Collection”.
Livesay’s 2 map from 1919 shows the relationship of the CEF to the French Corps to the south and the Australian Corps on the north, as well as the front lines as they stood on August 8th and August 9th, 1918. Hatchet Wood is clearly distinguishable in the centre of the map, in the path of the 2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade, as previously depicted in the sketch provided by Christie 4 for the employment of troops of the 1st Canadian Division.
For a more detailed layout of the area of Hatchet Wood, we have to move on to the private trench map collections of other researchers or the collections made available from the Lloyd Reeds Collection at the McMaster University (Hamilton, ON Canada). The area of discussion is shown in Trench Map 62d and specifically in the blocks E.23 and E.24.
With circa 2010 computer systems, we can now overlay this map on current day satellite images provided by Google Earth.
If you need further details on this historic battle period, you can download a LibriVox audio version of the book that I prepared:
Canada's Hundred Days Story
Download the KMZ file here and open it with Google Earth. I have provided instructions for those that are not familiar with running shows and also for me as I too often forget! The most common mistake users make is to CHECK ALL the boxes. ONLY one box gets checked, as shown in the image below.
Hatchet Wood Article KMZ File
The process to view this show is to place a CHECK MARK only in the box that shows the camera and then DOUBLE CLICK that, as shown here:
Battle of Amiens - Attack on Hatchet Wood
This is a KMZ Google Earth Tour that accompanies an article by Richard Laughton that describes the events surrounding the "Attack on Hatchet Wood" by the 8th Battalion of the 2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade, 1st Canadian Division in August 1918. This was a small but historic component of the larger "Battle of Amiens".
In the Nicholson Map 11 Google Earth file we summarized the events of the Battle of Amiens.
Late in July 1918 the Allies came to the decision to turn their defensive actions into offensive actions. Included in these offensive actions were the removal of the German threat on the Paris-Amiens railway and the Paris-Avricourt Line. In preparation for this, the Canadian forces moved by train from Arras to the areas south-west of Amiens, all under strict security measures.
The attack would have superior artillery and air support and this time, proper tank support. The Canadians left from the Amiens-Roye Road at Hourges, north east a half mile to the River Luce, then east to the red line. The 3rd Division assault commenced on 8 August and with great success they reached the blue dotted line, but alas with only 8 of their original 42 tanks still in service! The 1st and 2nd Canadian Divisions moved east as well, on the left flank of the 1st Division.
From the 10th to the 19th there was a lull in the fighting, but they had gained 14 miles and widened from 7,500 to 10,000 yards (67 square miles) with the liberation of 27 villages. Over 9,000 prisoners and 200 guns were captured and General Currie announced “This magnificent victory has been won”. They now packed their bags and boarded the trains, to return once again to the Arras sector in the north.
In the December 2010 article on the "Attack on Hatchet Wood" we provide the details of that event, augmented with this Google Earth Tour:
There are numerous on-line and off-line maps that provide a layout as to where the action was happening on August 8th and 9th, 1918. Nicholson 1 and Livesay 2 provide excellent battle summary maps of most of the major events, which can then be compared to the operation “Trench Maps” that were produced for specific periods during the Great War. Many of these are now available in private collections as well as on the public collection at the “McMaster University Lloyd Reeds Map Collection”.
Livesay’s 2 map from 1919 shows the relationship of the CEF to the French Corps to the south and the Australian Corps on the north, as well as the front lines as they stood on August 8th and August 9th, 1918. Hatchet Wood is clearly distinguishable in the centre of the map, in the path of the 2nd Canadian Infantry Brigade, as previously depicted in the sketch provided by Christie 4 for the employment of troops of the 1st Canadian Division.
For a more detailed layout of the area of Hatchet Wood, we have to move on to the private trench map collections of other researchers or the collections made available from the Lloyd Reeds Collection at the McMaster University (Hamilton, ON Canada). The area of discussion is shown in Trench Map 62d and specifically in the blocks E.23 and E.24.
With circa 2010 computer systems, we can now overlay this map on current day satellite images provided by Google Earth.
