 |
| Lt. Rupert Downes, MC, Addresses His Platoon Prior to the Attack |
A mighty battle began in France at
4.20 am on 8 August 1918
On 1 June 1918 Lieutenant General John Monash took up command of the Australian Corps from General Sir William Birdwood. It was intended that he would have under him five Australian Divisions; but for the moment four were with him on the Somme and the other, the 1st Australian Division, was in Flanders. On 4 July, Monash mounted an attack against the German line at Le Hamel. Using a composite division-strength Australian force, with four companies of Americans attached and with heavy artillery and tank support, he struck a limited but decisive blow which signaled that the enemy had not only been held but was now being forced back. Monash established his reputation as an outstanding corps commander at Le Hamel, and confirmed it in the larger battles that followed. The first of these battles was the Battle of Amiens, launched on 8 August 1918.
It was an exciting moment for the Aussies in these exciting moments of finally being on the offensive, and successfully so, at that. The day before the battle, Monash sent a message to all of his troops. It said, in part:
For the first time in the history of our Corps, all five Australian Divisions will to-morrow engage in the largest and most important battle operation ever undertaken by the Corps. Because of the completeness of our plans and dispositions, of the magnitude of the operations, of the number of troops employed, and of the depth to which we intend to over-run the enemy’s positions, this battle will be one of the most memorable of the whole war. The work to be done to-morrow will perhaps make heavy demands upon the endurance and the staying powers of many of you; but I am confident that, in spite of excitement, fatigue, and physical strain, every man will carry on to the utmost of his powers until his goal is won; for the sake of AUSTRALIA, the empire and our cause.
 |
| Men of the 8th Brigade at the First Day's Objective |
Meanwhile the divisions moved into place. Included among their number were some men who had been in action since the Gallipoli days. Sergeant Dave Roberts, MM, of the 17th Battalion was one. He wrote in his diary:
I am just about sick of this game now. I’ve been at it too long … God grant it may be a great success and I pull through alright. In his pocket he stuck a note that said: To the finder. In the event of my being killed in this hop over will you kindly send all of my personal (sic) to my mother.
Roberts did survive the day, declaring it ‘a glorious victory’, but the following day, while resting in a captured village, he was killed by an enemy shell. He was twenty-one.
 |
| German Field Gun Captured on the First Day |
Corporal Edgar Morrow of the 28th Battalion described the hours leading up to the battle:
After a day of drizzly rain, we had moved up to the front line. A broad white tape was stretched along the ground … and we stayed on that, lying flat on the ground without removing any equipment. As the time approached I found myself trembling with nervous excitement and the cold. There was a strange silence over all the line. Not a gun was firing. My teeth began to chatter and I clamped them on my unlighted pipe. Word passed along that there was half a minute to go.
Private John Smith of the 31st Battalion, later to die of pneumonia in October, wrote to his mother:
Our battalion hopped the top on the 8th at 4.20 in the morning. It was very foggy and we could hardly see twenty yards on account of the smoke of the barrage. The row the guns kicked up was terrific and the whole earth was shaking. As soon as our guns started Fritz started his but his gunfire was nothing compared to ours. We were accompanied by tanks—evidently Fritz was taken by surprise and we swept forward in great style.
 |
| 5th Brigade with Supporting Tanks |
On one part of the battlefield, a scene occurred that [correspondent and future historian] Charles Bean said could never be forgotten by anyone who saw it:
At 8 o’clock … like elephants accompanying an Oriental army, were processions of the tanks, sixty machines in all … many having the colours of their infantry painted on their sides or on plaques hanging by chains from their fronts. Further back in the gully about forty other tanks, which had already taken part in the first phase, were assembling to follow and assist in the second. Behind these … came battery after battery of field and horse artillery, chains jingling, horses’ heads and manes tossing. A great shout went up as some of the field batteries … arrived at a gallop and in a few minutes their guns were banging, to the delight of the troops. In the opposite direction moved a few lame tanks, and, along the roads droves of prisoners moved wide-eyed through the throng, astonishment evident on their faces. The attacking troops were in grand spirit—the casualties were obviously few.
Meanwhile, surviving German artillery posed the most serious threat to the tanks. Captain Daniel Aarons of the 16th Battalion wrote:
The most thrilling thing I saw was our artillery galloping into action, unhitching the guns and the drivers galloping the horses away again and almost within a few seconds … the guns were in action. I saw quite a few instances of very brave action on the part of the Fritz guns, where they stuck to them to the last ditch and fired point blank at our troops. The same thing was done by their machine guns.
 |
| Victorious Diggers with Captured Equipment |
After further advances, with declining numbers of tanks, more ground was taken. Lieutenant William Carne, recorded the feeling within his company when it was sent off for a well-earned rest:
After eleven days of memorable line duty, everyone felt weary—for even victories become exhausting—and glad of a respite; one which was sweetened by the knowledge of participation in what was probably the greatest most successful blow of the A.I.F
Source: Amiens to the Hindenburg Line: Australians on the Western Front—1918; Australian Department of Veterans Affairs
No comments:
Post a Comment