Amiens

The Battle of Amiens (also known as the 'Black day for the German Army') started at 4:20am on the 8th of August 1918. Dense fog had fallen that morning but the men of all five divisions Australians were ready for battle. The Canadian corps had the right flank while 2 divisions of the British army covered the left flank. The 2nd and the 3rd Divisions of the Australian forces were the main attacking force with about 3.6km to cover. The 4th and 5th stood ready in support of these troops.  Two brigades  from the 2nd and 3rd crept forward to within about 80m of the enemy trench line. Behind these four brigades were other infantry units and pioneers and behind them still were tanks ready to take to the front as soon as the fighting started.

Without the usual bombardment to warn them, the Germans were taken completely by surprise and by 7:30am the troops had broken through the German line with such force that much of the German field artillery was taken. This surprising attack ensured that there were fewer casualties among the attacking force.

For the First time during the war the supporting troops kept pace with the attacking force and when the 2nd and 3rd reached their final objectives and dug in, the 4th and 5th kept going with the assault. The infantry was now charging from extended lines, with men spread out left and right trying to strive forward.

The third part of the attack was to involve he big mark v tanks. These were huge tanks which were capable of carrying up to 20 men.

After wards, 16 armoured cars raced ahead and caused havoc among the Germans.     The 58th Battalion captured Bayonvillers with out a fight and the 59th successfully drove out the Germans from Harbonnieres and rose the Australian flag on top of the church tower at 11:00am.

By the 29th of August the German forces had retreated across the Somme at Peronne.

Mont St Quentin

The capture of Mont St Quentin was considered one of the "finest feats of the war". Lt General Sir John Monash wanted what he called "An exclusive Australian victory." . Monash knew that if only Australians took the charge then the Germans would be demoralized. Demoralize the German defenses it did. When the seriously depleted 2nd and 5th Divisions attacked with a roar the German forces either surrendered or tried to retreat to the more defendable northern and southern points of the hill. When the Germans retreated the men of the 17th and 20th battalions ran after them stopping for occasional shots, while Lewis gunners fell to the ground to get a more accurate shots. Most of the men in the German elite force had run themselves into a state of exhaustion - they could not even talk when they were captured. After the battle was over a total of 700 Germans were taken prisoner by 550 Australian troops with 200 troops in support. The victory of Mont St Quentin was made particularly sweet because the hours of planning, and the actual battle itself was carried out only by Australian forces.

 

Montbrehain

The objective at the battle of Montbrehain was to take the Beaurevoir line and the to take the heavily fortified town of Montbrehain. The Beaurevoir line was taken before 3:00 pm on October 3rd, 1918.   Two days later on October 5th at 6:50am Major General Rosenthal, with the help of tanks, started his assault on the town of Montbrehain. The A company of the 24th had the right flank, D company had the left flank and B company had the front on assault. B company, which was led by Lieutenant George Ingram, was held up early in the battle by a strong point. When they finally broke through, Ingram led the way and killed 42 men and also captured 9 machine guns. Ingram also burst through a cellar door and single handedly captured a garrison of 30 men. By half way through the battle the casualties of the 24th Battalion were so great that they had to borrow men from the 27th Battalion. Finally at 8:00pm, 14 hours after the fighting started, the final objective was taken and Montbrehain fell to the might of the AIF. For his actions Lieutenant George Ingram won a Victoria Cross.  This Victoria Cross was the last Victoria Cross won in the war by the Australians and Montbrehain was the last battle the AIF  was involved in during World War 1. 

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