Tour of the Battle of Loos  

Posted by CommissarHarris

Six divisions of British army were thrown in to loos against two German divisions. In less than one months operations the British took an estimated 50,000 casualties; the Germans took half that.
Standing in the ground it is easy to see why Sir John French decided to prosecute a battle here, he must have had commanding views of the ground from he slag heaps behind British lines, good sighting for artillery. Seemingly easy command and control. However on the ground, at the front, it's billiard table flat. Standing on Dud corner cemetery tower (the jump off point if I have read the map correctly) looking north towards St Mary's advanced dressing station just behind the final stopping point of the offensive, it is a farmers field. Dead flat with no obstructions. One division was destroyed taking it. You can walk between the two cemeteries in less than 10 minutes across country.
It is difficult to see from the cemetery how this ground made any sense for an attack.