| Home > Battle
Histories > Western
Front > Operation Hush - planned landing on the Belgian coast - 1917 |
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| Context: Spring, 1917 | ||||
| The Germans had withdrawn from the battlefields of the Somme to the Hindenburg Line. General Nivelle was about to launch a massive offensive on the Chemin des Dames. As their part of this, the British and Dominion forces would attack Vimy Ridge and either side of the River Scarpe in what became the Battle of Arras. Meanwhile, British attention also quietly turned to the Belgian coast. | ||||
| The need to recapture the Belgian coast | ||||
| The Germans occupied
most of the Belgian coast after the 'Race to the Sea' in 1914.
The Marines Korps Flandern was created by the
German navy to protect the coast and to create naval bases. Antwerp
could not be used for German naval operations but Ostend, Zeebrugge
and Bruges were all used for submarine and surface raiders. German
U-boats sank British ships with torpedo attacks and by laying
mines. German A-class torpedo boats, along with G- and S- Class
destroyers also harrassed British ports and supply routes across
the Channel. The German threat to British naval supremacy resulted in several countermeasures. Attempts were made to bombard the German bases with monitors but the German coastal batteries, assisted by MarinesKorps Flandern spotter planes, proved too powerful. Antisubmarine barriers, comprising mines and nets that were constantly patrolled at night, had a limited effect. Aircraft were used to spot submarines in the daytime, forcing them to submerge. Eventually, systematic bombing raids were carried out. However, early in 1917 Admiral Sir Reginald Bacon proposed that an amphibious landing should be made on the Belgian coast, supported by a breakout attack from Nieuport and the Yser bridgehead. It was called Operation Hush. |
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Planning for the
landings, codenamed Operation Hush, began almost immediately.
Three huge pontoons, each 700 feet long, were built to accommodate
the landing forces, which included 13,750 all ranks from
the 1st Division, with supporting
artillery, tanks, motor machine guns, cyclists, and trench
mortar batteries. Each pontoon was pushed along by two monitors,
which were also tasked with attacking shore positions during
the landing. Aerial photographs and submarine sorties were
used to map the profile of the beaches. This information was
used to shape the hulls of the pontoons, so that they would
slide easily up the beaches and get as close to the sea wall
as possible. The whole landing was to be screened with smoke
from eighty boats, each with three burners, and a total of
fifty tons of phosphorus. |
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Training for the landings took place in great secrecy. Frank Mitchell, a tank driver who later won the MC in the first tank vs. tank battle in 1918, took part in training. "The [Belgian coast sea] wall had not been long built, and luckily the Belgian architect who had designed it was a refugee in France. When he was traced the military authorities found to their delight that he had his drawings with him, so a model was built in an isolated camp near Dunkirk, where the infantry patiently practised and re-practised the assault. A similar concrete model was erected in the lonely sand dunes at Merlimont, and a detachment of tanks, manned by volunteers, set about the difficult task of climbing the wall." The tanks were fitted with "special shoes on the tracks. The difficulty of the overhanging coping still remained. Many experiments were made by the engineers, and at last a solution was found. Each tank was fitted with a large steel ramp... When the tank reached the foot of the wall, the ramp was lowered by means of tackle until the wheels rested on the slope. The tank then trundled it up the incline and [then] after disengaging itself, was able to climb up over the ramp on to the esplanade." |
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The
plan for Operation Hush became an integral part of the thinking
that eventually took the form of the Third
Battle of Ypres. This attack, which was eventually launched
on 31 July 1917, was aimed initially at capturing and clearing
the Belgian coast. |
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| The landing force is assembled | ||||
On
22 May 1917, Sir
Douglas Haig gave Sir
Henry Rawlinson command
of the coastal sector of operations. He placed his HQ at
Malo-les-Bains near Dunkirk. XV Corps moved
up from the Somme, to become the operational formation that
would undertake the army's part of Operation Hush. On 20
June 1917, 32nd
Division took
over the Nieuport bridgehead from a French Corps. 1st
Division and 66th
(2nd West Lancashire) Division moved up before the end
of June, and 49th
(West Riding) and 33rd
Divisions joined them by the end of July. These formations
began intensive training in locations along the coast. In
addition, 189 heavy guns moved up from Second and Third Army
areas, as did IV Corps of the Royal Flying Corps, and a similar
sized force of the Royal Naval Air Service. |
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The Germans were well prepared for an invasion. The MarinesKorps Flandern had built 24 coastal batteries, including eight large calibre naval gun batteries capable of engaging ships up to 30 kilometres off the coast. A line of trenches and wire extended along the coast, supported by 33 concete machine gun nests spaced every 1,000 metres. Mobile infantry and artillery reserves were available from 4th Army. War games were held to simulate invasions and the Germans felt confident they could contain any attempt.
The British chose Middelkerke as the site for the landings. This was the area that was least well defended and it was within easy reach of Nieuport. Despite the thorough preparations, the amphibious assault never went ahead. The expected gains from the Third Battle of Ypres never materialised. The MarinesKorps Flandern detected the British take-over of the Yser bridgehead and launched a pre-emptive attack (Operation Strandfest), depriving the British of their platform for a supporting attack along the coast. Hush was cancelled and no landing ever took place. |
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| This article was kindly submitted by Robert Dunlop. |
