‘Prisoners coming in after the repulse at Hangard and Villers-Bretonneux in the ‘Kaiser’s Battle”’, 1918...

‘Prisoners coming in after the repulse at Hangard and Villers-Bretonneux in the ‘Kaiser’s Battle”’, 1918. Stereoscopic photograph, World War One (1914-1918), 1918. This photograph was taken during the German Spring Offensive or ‘Kaiserschlacht’ (Kaiser's Battle) of 1918, which was launched on 21 March. Using troops released from the Eastern Front following the Russian Revolution in 1917, the Germans attempted to win the war before the Americans arrived in France and strengthened the Allies. A series of attacks were launched in the Arras region, on the Lys in Flanders and then on the Aisne. Despite sweeping early gains, the Germans suffered huge casualties and eventually outdistanced their supply lines. They exhausted themselves during the fighting. The final German advances were repulsed at the Marne in mid-June 1918, and the stage was then set for the Allied counter-offensives of the summer. From a collection of 96 stereoscopic photographs entitled ‘The Great War’ including the official series.