Battle of Loos
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The Battle of Loos was one of the major British offensives mounted on the Western Front in 1915 during World War I. The battle was the British component of the combined Anglo-French offensive known as the Second Battle of Artois. General Douglas Haig, then commander of the British First Army, directed the battle however his plans were limited by the shortage of artillery shells which meant the preliminary bombardment, essential for success in the emerging trench warfare, was weak. The British also released 140 tons of chlorine gas with mixed success—in places the gas was blown back onto British trenches.
The battle opened on September 25 and the British were able to breakthrough the weaker German trenches and capture the town of Loos. However the inevitable supply and communications problems and the late arrival of reserves meant that the breakthrough could not be exploited. When the battle resumed the following day, the Germans were prepared and repulsed attempts to continue the advance. The fighting subsided on September 28 with the British having retreated to their starting positions.
Charles Sorley, a British poet, died in this battle.
In another interesting turn of events during the battle of Loos, ten thousand inexperienced British troops were sent in a frontal charge against German positions.
The British commander lied to his own men, telling them that they were being sent to pursue routed German defenders.
Instead, the British marched directly into entrenched German machine guns, which mowed down 8000 of them. The British could not break through because their leaders had provided them with no wire cutters. German casualties during this "Picket's charge"?
None.