The Battle of Arras was fought on 9 May 1915 on the Western Front in France. The so-called

Bayonne Bayonne () is a city in southwestern France near the France–Spain border, Spanish border. It is a communes of France, commune and one of two subprefectures in France, subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques departments of France, departm ...

Legion (a

French Foreign Legion The French Foreign Legion (, also known simply as , "the Legion") is a corps of the French Army created to allow List of militaries that recruit foreigners, foreign nationals into French service. The Legion was founded in 1831 and today consis ...

infantry unit which consisted of ethnic Polish volunteers) clashed with troops of the

Imperial German Army The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the leadership of Kingdom o ...

, defending the hill of

Vimy Vimy lemish: Wimi or ; ) is a commune in the French department of Pas-de-Calais. Located west of Vimy is the Canadian National Vimy Memorial dedicated to the Battle of Vimy Ridge and the Canadian soldiers who were killed during the First Wor ...

, located 10 kilometers north of

Arras Arras ( , ; ; historical ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department, which forms part of the region of Hauts-de-France; before the reorganization of 2014 it was in Nord-Pas-de-Calais. The historic centre of the Artois region, with a ...

, France. The Czechoslovak battalion ''Nazdar'' also took part in the engagement, the first battle of what would become the

Czechoslovak Legion The Czechoslovak Legion ( Czech: ''Československé legie''; Slovak: ''Československé légie'') were volunteer armed forces consisting predominantly of Czechs and Slovaks fighting on the side of the Entente powers during World War I and the ...

, and was nearly wiped out in the process.

Background

In August 1914, after the outbreak of the

Great War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, several ethnic Poles living in France volunteered to join the French Foreign Legion, hoping that a separate Polish unit would be created within that formation. On August 21, 1914, French authorities agreed to the request of the Committee of Polish Volunteers, and soon afterwards, two Polish units were formed. Some volunteers were sent to

, where a company of some 180 soldiers was formed and trained. This company came to be called the Bayonne Legion, and it became the

1st Foreign Regiment The 1st Foreign Regiment () is a depot regiment of the Foreign Legion in the French Army. It is located at Aubagne. The regiment is also responsible for running special institutions of the Legion. These include the magazine ''Képi Blanc'', the ...

's 2nd Company, which was in the 1st Infantry Division. Its officers were French, while Poles served in lower ranks. Other volunteers were sent to Rueil, where a second company was formed. On October 22, 1914, the Bayonne Legion was sent to the frontline in Champagne, where they took positions near Sillery, Marne, as part of the Moroccan Division. Until April 1915, the Poles kept their positions along the Aisne river.

Battle

On May 9, the Legion attacked the hill of Vimy, located some ten kilometers from Arras. They succeeded in capturing German

trenches A trench is a type of excavation or depression in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide (as opposed to a swale or a bar ditch), and narrow compared with its length (as opposed to a simple hole or pit). In geology, trenches res ...

, but with very heavy losses, i.e. 75% of the manpower. Only 50 soldiers survived the battle, with all officers, including the Legion's commander, major Osmonde, dying in the battle.

Aftermath

Due to these losses, the unit's remnants were withdrawn to the rear. On June 16, several soldiers died in a clash with German forces near Souchez, and in the summer of 1915, the company was dissolved. Most of the survivors joined the Blue Army in 1917.

Commemoration

The Battle of Arras is commemorated on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

with the inscription "ARRAS 9 V 1915".

Sources

* Mieczysław Wrzosek, Polski czyn zbrojny podczas pierwszej wojny światowej 1914–1918, Państwowe Wydawnictwo "Wiedza Powszechna", Warszawa 1990,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arras 1915 Battles in 1915 Battles of World War I involving France Czechoslovak Legion May 1915 in Europe Arras World War I in the Pas-de-Calais Battles of World War I involving Germany Battles of the Western Front (World War I)