The "Step-by-Step" Approach: British Military Thought and Operational Method on the Western Front, 1915-1917

• Autores: Paul Harris, Sanders Marble
• Localización: War in history, ISSN-e 1477-0385, ISSN 0968-3445, Vol. 15, Nº. 1, 2008, págs. 17-42
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • The British Expeditionary Force of the First World War did not fight a deliberately attritional war, despite the heavy casualties and slow gains it experienced. Before the BEF launched a single trench-warfare attack, senior officers argued for a methodical and clearly attritional operational approach, accepting limited gains and slow overall progress to get a favourable casualty exchange rate. The idea quickly had senior adherents, especially Sir William Robertson. Sir Douglas Haig, however, was consistently optimistic, thinking breakthroughs were possible; this prejudiced him against lesser, attritional, attacks. Not until mid-1917 did the BEF substantially adopt methodical step-by-step attacks.