In 1915, the French army made two attempts to capture Vimy Ridge: the Second (9 May - 18 June) and Third (25 September - 14 October) Battles of Artois. Of the two battles, the second was the larger and more successful. Both were part of a frenzy of activity up and down the front in 1915, as the French furiously threw men at the Germans in lieu of throwing the shells, grenades and mortars that were still being built.
Despite how unready the French were for the scale and character of the fighting they would endure on the Western Front from 1914-18, they nearly pulled off a historic victory in May 1915 with a well co-ordinated attack against Notre Dame de Lorette and Vimy Ridge.
In the centre of the attack was XXXIII CA (Corps d'armée) commanded by later Marshal of France, and later still president and Nazi collaborator, Philippe Pétain. Under his leadership were three remarkable divisional commanders: the competent General Ernest Blondlat of the Moroccan Division, stoic and beloved General Ernest Barbot of the 77th, and the bitterly acerbic General Marie Emile Fayolle of the 70th. (Fayolle would go on to command over 50 divisions in the Reserve Army Group, and became a Marshal of France after the war.) Here we will primarily focus on the exploits of these divisions as they struggled up the slopes of Vimy Ridge during the Second Battle of Artois.
The battle erupted on 9 May 1915 to the sound of 783 field guns and 293 heavy
