The Massive Howitzers that Shattered an Entire Army

It was 1917, the soldiers could feel the rising tension in the air. It was pitch dark, and everything was quiet and still. Gunner JR Armitage and his mates were fascinated by the spectacle surrounding them.

Over 1,500 artillery pieces, 600 tanks, and four infantry divisions had converged in Amiens near the frontline. The Germans had not spotted them.
Armitage could hear the soldiers talking to their horses and the monotonous steps of men marching as they prepared for the attack. The artillery was also ready to strike 530 German guns when zero hour came.

Lastly, at 4:20am, the attack began, and Armitage and his buddies went over the top to push the Germans back. As he later recalled: (QUOTE) “we could feel that hundreds of groups of men were doing the same thing - preparing for the heaviest barrage ever launched.”

This was the beginning of the pivotal battle of Amiens, a hard blow to German morale and a critical step towards the end of World War 1.

- As images and footage of actual events are not always available, Dark Docs sometimes utilizes similar historical images and footage for dramatic effect. I do my best to keep it as visually accurate as possible. All content on Dark Docs is researched, produced, and presented in historical context for educational purposes. We are history enthusiasts and are not always experts in some areas, so please don't hesitate to reach out to us with corrections, additional information, or new ideas. -

[aussietaipan]

My Grandfather was there, he was a runner for the Australian and British armies, he lived to tell the tale hence I am here. God bless you Granddad.

[kerrygibbs]

Good history story. What about the Howitzer that shattered an entire

[DrivermanO]

The pivotal battle of Amiens was as you said later on, in August 1918. I think you must mean 1918 in those early references and the intro beneath, because the figures you quote refer to the August 1918 battle of Amiens. The first major use of tanks used correctly was Cambrai in November 1917, where the tactics were largely formed. There had been tanks used in penny packets in 1916 and 1917 - Somme, Ypres and Villers-Bretonneux - but the results were not overwhelming. There certainly weren't 600 available in 1916!
Also, the Australians were commanded by the brilliant Sir John Monash, and the Canadians by the also brilliant Sir Arthur Currie. They surely deserve a mention!

[tedthesailor]

No mention of those "massive howitzers that shattered an entire army"....?

[kirkmorrison]

A friend of mine who fought with the Germans in WWII, drafted on the street. He said that his father had told him around this time The American troops looked healthier dead than they did alive. RIP Zig

[johnnyredux]

Disturbing to watch war footage of men taking their last steps before death catches up to them. Men with parents, siblings, girlfriends, wives and dreams. All taken away in an instant. For what? Senseless war fought for bankers. No more brother wars.

[jeffreymorris]

Those Howitzers were so effective they're hardly worth a mention. Seriously though, a small title error doesn't lessen the quality of the video itself. Good work, as usual for this splendid channel.

[HeinzGuderian_]

"Shoot-move-communicate". When I was with arty, we never sat in place very long. Even if we didn't do fire missions, we moved around. This is the best way to avoid counterfire, and definitely the way to avoid being rained on, first. The Germans were complacent.

[kyle]

In that harsh hour their leader said "4:20, blaze it"

[JimBillyRayBob]

The video seemed to say men and tanks made the difference in the battle, not "massive howitzers". I never saw the interesting one in the thumbnail, but it did get me to click and watch the video...

[Spartan]

Pure hell on earth! Old style tactics with modern weapons.

[danielsprouls]

One of the things not mentioned was air power. The fact those assets were put in place secretly without the Germans knowing must have meant that there air recon was weak. Add in that the allies knew a lot about German positions makes me think they had achieved air superiority. In some ways nothing has changed, combined arms and logistics wins.

[larryyoung]

Excellent story telling of WWI history.

[SmilingStaffyLensLane]

Ww1 where the science of artillery reality shifted beyond any other time in history
A very different kind of warfare was born

[MichaelR]

Good video, thanks for sharing, God bless !

[briancurley]

Solid video as always and one of the few I've seen that actually talks about the achievements of Canadian military, along with Australian and France and not just going on about the US doing everything with a little bit of help from the British.

[marstondavis]

All war is hell. However, The Great War was perhaps the saddest of all modern wars. The horrific conditions that both sides lived under, the poor food, the extreme loss of life, and the attacks of gas made it all the more depraved. The more you know about this war the heavier your heart will be. The French, English, and German generals didn't give a damn about human life. In The Battle of the Somme, on the FIRST day there were more than 19, 000 British dead. That's JUST the British! So, no! They didn't give a damn about their men! THIS IS THE SADDEST WAR IN MODERN TIMES.

[matthewanderson]

I love our Canadian fighting spirit, we love all, till you don't love us.

[Btester]

Tanks were as devastating as they were unreliable in their early days.

[thomasgumersell]

Truly an íncredible video on WW1. The planning to pull this off successfully. That definitely had to be done to not appraise the Germans of the upcoming battle. 💪🏻🙏🏻✨