James Taub Profile picture
Jul 27, 2022 11 tweets 5 min read Read on X
🧵In a lot of American histories of #WWI campaigns, we hear of complaints that the French moved too slowly, causing undue casualties. A prime case study of that is the 1st and 2nd Division at Soissons. A recent history stated of the 19 July attack of the 6th Marines that;... Image
"The final hindrance for the 6th Marines was perhaps the most important. Once again, the 1st Moroccan Division, tasked with the mission of protecting the Marines’ left flank, failed to advance, as did the 38th Division on the right.
This combination of dire news meant that the #USMC and French tankers were attacking without coordinated artillery or air support, or support on either flank; moving across open wheat fields with little or no cover..."
The French regiment to the left of the 6th Marines was the 8e Régiment de Marche de Zouaves (#8eRMZ). Their regimental history records the exact opposite. As they waited on their objective they looked over their shoulders as the Americans moved forward. Image
"Unfortunately, our neighbors were unable to advance to our level. On our right, the Americans advanced slowly despite the line of tanks in front of them. On our left, the ravine still conceals machine gun nests that are impossible to impossible to reduce. Image
The regiment, strongly in the lead, could not exploit cannot exploit its success. The night arrived without any attempt being made. The enemy artillery, which had recovered since the day before, became more and more active. The roads are systematically beaten. Image
Our losses are significant. Major Callais, wounded in the morning by shrapnel, keeps the command of the regiment until the next day." Image
The 8e RMZ used 2 of its battalions as maneuver elements to surround their objective and capture it. It's a story of a costly success that differentiates our knowledge from the standard English language history of the Aisne-Marne Offensive.
#1GM #History ImageImage
The 8e RMZ also has a FANTASTIC section in their JMO (Via @DeHistorique) on this action. ImageImage
lol "Americains Americains" Image
Doughboys of the 2nd Division at Soissons, 18/19 July 1918.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with James Taub

James Taub Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @TaubHistory

Jul 8, 2022
Why are there so many #WWI memorials in #KansasCity ? Outside of our own @TheWWImuseum, there are dozens, small and large covering KS and MO. A lot of it has to do with the 5-day experience of the 35th Division in Sept 1918. Let's look at it through KC newspapers of the time. 🧵
Over the course of that time, the 35th would suffer more casualties than all units on Omaha Beach on #Dday combined. As a National Guard formation, it came under criticism for its performance from regular officers. Politicians in MO and KS eventually became involved.
On both sides of the state line, questions arose. Particularly from Kansas governor Henry Justin Allen, who pressured the War Department for answers.
Read 9 tweets
Jun 3, 2022
"Retreat? Hell, we just got here!"
🧵👇
The famous words were spoken by Cpt. Williams to a French officer as his #Marines arrived on Hill 142. What he was most likely witnessing was the withdrawal of the @152eRI from Belleau Wood. What was actually happening?

Image via @ecpa_d ImageImage
"A Belleau les heures sont graves. Tout cède devant Attila, Mais le vieux Quinze-Deux est là. La vague meurt devant ses braves."

The #152eRI was going to push the Germans back out of Torcy and Belleau. In the Regimental HQ (PC) the phone rang. Colonel Meilhan picked it up. Image
"It's understood, my general. We will do our best.

General Michel, the division commander, had just the 152e to go on the counter-attack. More than anyone else, Colonel Meilhan knew that his regiment was at the end of its tether...
Read 11 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(