On what date did the German offensive of which the First Battle of Villers-Bretonneux was a part begin?
Spring Offensive The 1918 Spring Offensive or Kaiserschlacht ("Kaiser's Battle"), also known as the Ludendorff Offensive, was a series of German attacks along the Western Front during the First World War, beginning on 21 March 1918, which marked the deepest advances by either side since 1914. The Germans had realised that their only remaining chance of victory was to defeat the Allies before the overwhelming human and matériel resources of the United States could be fully deployed. They also had the temporary advantage in numbers afforded by the nearly 50 divisions freed by the Russian surrender (the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk).
Battle of Le Transloy The Battle of Le Transloy was the last offensive of the Fourth Army of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in the 1916 Battle of the Somme in France, during the First World War. The battle was fought in conjunction with attacks by the French Tenth and Sixth armies on the southern flank and the Reserve/5th Army on the northern flank, against "Heeresgruppe Rupprecht" (Field Marshal Rupprecht of Bavaria) created on 28 August, from the 1st and 2nd armies of the dissolved "armeegruppe Gallwitz-Somme" and the 6th and 7th armies. General Ferdinand Foch the commander of "groupe des armées du nord" (Northern Army Group) and co-ordinator of the armies on the Somme, was unable to continue the sequential attacks by the Anglo-French armies achieved in September, because persistent rain, mist and fog grounded aircraft, turned the battlefield into a swamp and greatly increased the difficulty of transporting supplies to the front over the few roads in the area and the land that had been devastated since 1 July.