Rui’s Renditions
A German MG 08 machine gun section advances up an embankment on the Montdidier-Noyon sector during Operation Gneisenau, 8-14 June 1918.
Operation Gneisenau, also known as Battle of the Matz, was the fourth German Offensive, part of Germany’s ‘Kaiserschlacht’, the last desperate effort to win the war in the spring of 1918.
Warned in advance, the Allies put up a defense in depth that rendered the German preliminary bombardment ineffective. The Germans managed to advance 12 (to 14) km in two days but the French and Americans counter-attacked on the 11th, stopping the German advance. By the 14th the offensive was over.
Original: IWM (Q55349)