Battle of Aubers Ridge

{| style="float: right; clear: right; background-color: transparent" | |- |{{Campaignbox Western Front (World War I)}} |} The '''Battle of Aubers Ridge''' was a [[United Kingdom|British]] offensive mounted on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]] in 1915 during [[World War I]]. == Background == The battle was the initial British component of the combined Anglo-French offensive known as the [[Second Battle of Artois]]. French Commander-in-Chief Joffre had enquired of [[John French, 1st Earl of Ypres|Sir John French]], Commander of the [[British Expeditionary Force (World War I)|British Expeditionary Force]] if British units could support a French offensive into the Douai Plain around late April or early May 1915. The immediate French objectives were to capture the heights at [[Notre Dame de Lorette]] and the [[Vimy Ridge]]. The British [[First Army (United Kingdom)|First Army]] was further north, between [[La Bassée]] and [[Ypres]] (Belgium). It was decided that the British forces would attack in the southern half of their front line, near the village of [[Laventie]]. Their objective in the flat and poorly drained terrain was the "Aubers Ridge", an area of slightly higher ground 2–3 kilometres south of Allied lines marked by the villages of [[Aubers]], [[Fromelles]] and [[Le Maisnil]]. This same area had been targeted in the [[Battle of Neuve Chapelle]] two months earlier. The battle marked the second use of specialist [[Royal Engineers]] [[Royal Engineer tunnelling companies|tunnelling companies]], who deployed [[mining (military)|mines]] underground to disrupt enemy defence lines through use of dug tunnels, and large amounts of explosives at zero hour. == Awards == Four [[Victoria Cross]]es were awarded for actions in the Battle of Aubers Ridge: *[[David Finlay]], [[Black Watch|Black Watch (Royal Highlanders)]] *[[John Ripley]], [[Black Watch|Black Watch (Royal Highlanders)]] *[[Charles Richard Sharpe|Charles Sharpe]], [[Royal Lincolnshire Regiment|Lincolnshire Regiment]] *[[James Upton]], [[Sherwood Foresters|Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment)]] == External links == *[http://www.1914-1918.net/bat11.htm The Battle of Aubers] {{coord missing|France}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Aubers Ridge}}