On October 24, 1914, the BEF was reaching its physical breaking point. Recognising that the British could not hold indefinitely. French General Ferdinand Foch agreed to reinforce the sector, deploying the French IX Corps to Ypres to relieve some of the bleeding British units.
🇮🇹⚔️🇦🇹 “Battle Against the Venetians” from “The Triumphal Arch of Maximilian” ca. 1508-1515
Woodcut Print by Hans Springinklee (1495-1522) depicting Maximilian I and Habsburg Armies fighting the Venetians during The War of the League of Cambrai (1508-1516), a phase of the broader “Italian Wars.”
On 23 October 1916, French heavy artilery guns of the ALGP (Artillerie Lourde à Grande Puissance) were used against Fort Douaumont ahead of the infantry assault.