‘The strong wire defences of the Hindenberg Line probably near Bellicourt’, 1918 (b/w photo)

‘The strong wire defences of the Hindenburg Line probably near Bellicourt’, 4 October 1918. Photograph, World War One, Western Front (1914-1918), 1918. Between February and April 1917 the German forces on the Western Front pulled back to the Hindenburg Line, a defensive position that shortened their front by 80 kilometres (50 miles). Deep belts of wire and concrete pillboxes made the line a formidable barrier but this did not deter the Allies from launching assaults at St. Quentin, Bullecourt, the Aisne, Cambrai and elsewhere with little success. The line was only was broken in September 1918 during the 100 Days Offensive. From an album of 253 photographs compiled by Charles William Stulpnagel (known as Swinton after December 1914), 1889-1920.