German attack on Vimy Ridge, 21 May 1916
In 1932, Edmonds recorded 1,344 German casualties; 615 men in the attack and 729 during British counter-attacks. British casualties in the 47th Division from 22 to 24 May were 1,571, 2nd Division casualties were 267 and the 7th Brigade (25th Division) had 637 casualties, a total of 2,475. In 1936, the official historians of "Der Weltkrieg", the German official history, recorded that 300 British prisoners had been taken.
German attack on Vimy Ridge, 21 May 1916
British army, corps and divisional boundaries were changed in early 1916, when divisions from the First Army, Second Army and Third Army were withdrawn to reinforce the Fourth Army on the Somme. On Vimy Ridge, the Berthonval and Carency sectors were transferred to the First Army, IV Corps (Lieutenant-General Henry Wilson) from the Third Army, XVII Corps (Lieutenant-General Sir Julian Byng) and from the 25th Division to the 47th (1/2nd London) Division, which extended its right flank southwards to P sector. The positions were high along the western slope of Vimy Ridge and down the north-facing slope between Souchez and Givenchy-en-Gohelle. From south to north the communication trenches to the British front line on the ridge were Grange Ave and Lassalle Ave–Royal Ave in P sector. In the Berthonval sector, access was by Central Ave–Cannon Street, Wortley Ave–International Ave, Landwehr Ave and in the Carency sector, the communication trenches were Ersatz Ave–Ersatz Alley, Uhlan and Coburg alleys. Neither side controlled the crest and to the south of the Berthonval sector, the British intended to treat the front line as the main line of resistance, to protect Zouave Valley, which rose southwards from the valley of the Souchez river, about back from the front line. German gunners continually bombarded the "Talus de Zouaves" (Zouave embankment) in Zouave Valley, which could cut off British contact with the front line. The British could see the Douai Plain behind Vimy Ridge from Loretto Ridge to the north-west but the pit villages dotted around the Lens coalfield gave easy concealment to the German artillery.