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Archiver > GREATWAR > 2005-10 > 1128965867


From: "TOM TULLOCH-MARSHALL" <>
Subject: Re: [WW1] World War Standard Time
Date: Mon, 10 Oct 2005 18:37:54 +0100
References: <6.2.1.2.0.20051010074928.01cf30b0@pop.earthlink.net>


Rock - the Western Front is in the same time zone as GMT so essentially the
British Army used GMT or "SummerTime" (Daylight Saving Time) as applicable
after its introduction 21/5/1916. I'm afraid I don't know if the US Army
conformed to that, but I suspect it may be a bit academic anyway if the
purpose of your question isn't so much about the actual time zone being
observed as the fact that the attack you refer to happened during the hours
of darkness ???

If it is the latter then the fact that it was dark isn't at all "unusual" -
in fact it reflects very deliberate policy, certainly on the part of the
British Army ....... for example elements of the British 32nd and 34th
Brigades attacked under an artillery barrage at Aubencheul au Bac at
midnight (!) during the night of 2-3/10/1918, the darkness giving them an
advantage that every attacking Infantryman craves for - "cover" ........ I'm
sure that the US Troops were equally confident that the difficulties of
attacking in the dark were often outweighed by the difficulty which the
enemy would have in identifying exactly where they were and hence being able
to concentrate fire on them.

The employment of the night / darkness attack by the British Army increased
quite dramatically during the 1916 Somme battles and remained a prominent
tactic for the remained of the war. Another sometimes overlooked aspect of
the darkness / early light attack was that the allies were generally
attacking from the western aspect towards the east, and the dawn light was
to their advantage because the Germans were more often than not silhouetted
against the dawn.
regards
-
Tom Tulloch-Marshall
WW1 Military Research
website > http://www.btinternet.com/~prosearch/index.html

----- Original Message -----
From: "Rockne Johnson" <>
To: <>
Sent: Monday, October 10, 2005 4:31 PM
Subject: [WW1] World War Standard Time


> What time did the Allies in France keep? Was it Greenwich or European,
> Daylight or Standard, or based on a non-standard meridian such as that of
> Paris?
>
> An assault was launched at 5:40 a. m. on 4 October 1918 in the
> Meuse-Argonne Campaign. In Dun-sur-Meuse last week it was pitch black at
> that time and still dark at seven. I realize that the Germans would have
> fired flares to illuminate the battlefields but how good is that
> (especially in the woods)?
>
> Rock


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