JFK+50: Volume 7, No. 2380
U.S. OFFICERS SAY GERMAN LINE VIRTUALLY IMPREGNABLE
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) One hundred years ago today, July 24, 1917, nine military officers who accompanied General John J. Pershing on a tour of the Western Front* returned here to Washington "prepared to submit a report" that would reveal their astonishment at conditions along the battle line.
It was the view of the officers that the German line "is virtually impregnable" without "tremendous assistance by the United States."
The report would also indicate that the officers saw no evidence that Germany was "about to be broken because of internal dissension, or shortage of foods."
*The Western Front was the primary theater of WWI. It stretched through Belgium, Northeastern France, Alsace-Lorraine & Western Germany. It was the site of the Battle of the Marne, the Battle of Verdun & the Battle of Somme.
SOURCE
"Allies Cannot Crush Foe, U.S. Officers Report", The Chicago Daily Tribune, July 25, 1917.
U.S. OFFICERS SAY GERMAN LINE VIRTUALLY IMPREGNABLE
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) One hundred years ago today, July 24, 1917, nine military officers who accompanied General John J. Pershing on a tour of the Western Front* returned here to Washington "prepared to submit a report" that would reveal their astonishment at conditions along the battle line.
It was the view of the officers that the German line "is virtually impregnable" without "tremendous assistance by the United States."
The report would also indicate that the officers saw no evidence that Germany was "about to be broken because of internal dissension, or shortage of foods."
*The Western Front was the primary theater of WWI. It stretched through Belgium, Northeastern France, Alsace-Lorraine & Western Germany. It was the site of the Battle of the Marne, the Battle of Verdun & the Battle of Somme.
SOURCE
"Allies Cannot Crush Foe, U.S. Officers Report", The Chicago Daily Tribune, July 25, 1917.
Map of the Western Front (1914)
World War I
The History Department
United States Military Academy
