Hindenburg Line 1917: Operation Alberich and a Booby-Trapped Retreat

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By late 1916 Verdun, the Somme, the Brusilov Offensive and Romania's entry into the war had drained the German army. Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff replaced Erich von Falkenhayn and concluded they could not attack. Instead they planned a straighter line across the base of the Noyon salient from Arras to near Soissons, shortening the front by 25 miles and freeing 13 to 14 divisions. The Hindenburg Program of August 1916 demanded triple the artillery and machine guns, and the Auxiliary Service Law conscripted civilian men aged 16 to 50 for labor, while 1.6 million soldiers had to be recalled or exempted for factory work. About 12,000 German engineers, 3,000 Belgian laborers and some 50,000 prisoners of war, mostly Russian, built the 90-mile Siegfriedstellung from 1,250 trainloads of materials.

Prefabricated concrete, wire belts up to 100 yards deep twisted in silently on screw pickets, and reverse slope trenches supported a new doctrine of elastic defense in depth. A lightly held front of small MEBU concrete shelters absorbed attacks, and battalion commanders could launch counterattacks without waiting for orders. In February and March 1917, Operation Alberich followed a 35-day timetable of destruction: roads flooded, bridges blown, wells poisoned, orchards cut down and about 150,000 French civilians removed for forced labor. Crown Prince Rupprecht objected on moral grounds and was overruled. The line held through the failed Nivelle Offensive and battles at Arras, Bullecourt and Cambrai until September 1918.

• Acid fuses ate through retaining wires over days, setting off charges long after the Germans left.
• Stoves, abandoned loot and pictures on walls were rigged to explode when touched.
• Buried shells were set to ignore marching infantry and detonate under artillery or supply lorries.
• The French lost about 60,000 men in the Nivelle Offensive's first days, and 54 divisions mutinied.
• Tanks, ground-attack aircraft and predicted artillery fire using weather data and barrel wear finally broke the line.