Somme, 1918
The Second Battle of the Somme of 1918 was fought during the First World War on the Western Front from late March to early April, in the basin of the River Somme. It was part of a series of successful counter-offensives in response to the German Spring Offensive, after a pause for redeployment and supply.
The Honour is borne on the Guidon of the 3rd Hussars.
Detail
The Second Battle of the Somme
The battle was fought from late August to early September, in the basin of the River Somme. It was part of a series of successful counter-offensives in response to the German Spring Offensive, after a pause for redeployment and supply.
The most significant feature of the 1918 Somme battles was that with the first Battle of the Somme of 1916 having halted what had begun as a large German offensive, the second formed the central part of the Allies’ advance to the Armistice of 11 November.
The 3rd Hussars arrived in the early hours of the 22nd at Humbercourt, fourteen miles southwest of Arras. The battle had already begun. The 2nd Cavalry Division was ordered to support the 6th Corps in their drive beyond the Arras-Bapaume road.
Three days later, when the 6th Corps was relieved, the brigade was withdrawn and split up, the 3rd Hussars remaining at Humbercourt until the 3rd of September.
During their ten days at Humbercourt, the regiment had to watch from the sidelines as the Allied offensive gathered momentum.
The Germans were in retreat to the Hindenburg Line.
