The Final 100 Days: September 14, 1918

56 Days Until Armistice

Two resoundingly successful operations had taken place the day before, 

The capture of Havrincourt had been difficult, but less difficult than General Julian Byng had expected. Although the Germans’ 4 Divisions had outnumbered Byng’s 3, the diminished size and morale of the German Army had certainly made the British victory an easier one. Moreover, the subsequent occupation of the town stood as the first Allied victory beyond the Hindenburg Line. 

The 14th of September saw relatively weak counterattacks by German forces at Havrincourt repelled. The town remained in British hands. 

Similarity, the first American offensive at St. Mihiel was by no measure “easy”, but a number of factors - such as the Americans launching an assault in the middle of a German retreat - played into the assault, and removed obstacles in the way of the Americans. 

The offensive moved with such haste that by the morning of the 13th, the American 1st Division (advancing from the east) had met with the 26th Division (advancing from the west). By nightfall, each and every objective based on the salient had been secured. Although a push to the city of Metz had originally been planned, A.E.F Commander John J. Pershing reconsidered the idea and nixed it. The units originally intended for this push would be used for the Meuse-Argonne Offensive instead.