Dury, Compiègne and Abbeville meetings

The Dury, Compiègne and Abbeville meetings were held by the Allies during World War I to address Operation Michael, a massive German assault on the Western Front on 21 March 1918 which marked the beginning of the Kaiser's Spring Offensive.

During the winter of 1917-1918, approximately 50 German divisions in Russia were secretly transported by train to France for use in a massive, final attack to end the war.

[1][2] The battle that followed, Operation Michael, totally surprised the Allies and nearly routed the French and British armies from the field.

[5][6] The German attack pierced a part of the line recently taken over by the British from the French (see the top map), and Haig was in desperate need of reinforcements to close the breach.

[18][19][20] It was arranged by Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau to settle a vexing command problem of the Allies.

[32] General Haig handed Wilson an order, which his headquarters had prepared, that authorized an immediate withdrawal of B.E.F.

Although the plan meant abandoning the Western Front line as a defense and leaving a breach open to the Germans, it was the best the Allies could do under the circumstances without avoiding the wider catastrophe of encirclement and surrender.

Weygand left the meeting with the order, and that evening hand delivered it to General Mordacq, Prime Minister Clemenceau's military aide.