Order of battle at Jutland Pentland Firth (between the Orkneys and the Scottish mainland): During the battle the Germans used the Zeppelin airships of the Naval Airship Section "(Marine Luftschiff Abteilung)" for scouting, although in the prevailing overcast conditions they were not particularly successful. The commander of the Naval Airship Section was Lt Cdr Peter Strasser, and they flew from bases at Nordholz and Hage in north-west Germany and Tondern (then part of Schleswig; the town became part of Denmark in 1920). Sortied on 31 May Sortied on 1 June Did not sortie during the Battle of Jutland Abbreviations for Officers’ Ranks (German ranks translated
Battle of the Somme "What remained of the old first-class peace-trained German infantry had been expended on the battlefield". A war of attrition was a logical strategy for Britain against Germany, which was also at war with France and Russia. A school of thought holds that the Battle of the Somme placed unprecedented strain on the German army and that after the battle it was unable to replace casualties like-for-like, which reduced it to a militia. The destruction of German units in battle was made worse by lack of rest. British and French aircraft and long-range guns reached well behind the front-line, where trench-digging