Chapter I: Preface

The following pages, of which I began the compilation when still engaged in the arduous work of Repatriation of the Australian troops in all theatres of war, were intended to be something in the nature of a consecutive and comprehensive story of the Australian Imperial Force in France during the closing phases of the Great War. I soon found that the time at my disposal was far too limited to allow me to make full use of the very voluminous documentary material which I had collected during the campaign. The realization of such a project must await a time of greater leisure. So much as I have had the opportunity of setting down has, therefore, inevitably taken the form rather of an individual memoir of this stirring period. While I feel obliged to ask the indulgence of the reader for the personal character of the present narrative, this may not be altogether a disadvantage. Having regard to the responsibilities which it fell to my lot to bear, it may, indeed, be desirable that I should in all candour set down what was passing in my mind, and should attempt to describe the ever-changing external circumstances which operated to guide and form the judgments and decisions which it became my duty to make from day to day. It may be that hereafter my exercise of command in the field and the manner in which I made use of the opportunities which presented themselves will be the subject of criticism. I welcome this, provided that the facts and the events of the time are known to and duly weighed by the critic.

My purpose has been to describe in broad outline the part played by the Australian Army Corps in the closing months of the war, and I have based upon that record somewhat large claims on behalf of the Corps. It would have overloaded the story to include in it any larger number of extracts from original documents than has been done. I may, however, assert with confidence that the statements, statistics and deductions made can be verified by reference to authoritative sources.

The photographs have been selected from a very large number taken, during the fighting and often under fire, by Captain G. H. Wilkins, M.C. The maps have been prepared under my personal supervision, and are compiled from the official battle maps in actual use by me during the operations.

JOHN MONASH.

CONTENTS

CHAP. PAGE
PREFACE v
INTRODUCTION--THE AUSTRALIAN ARMY CORPS 1
I.--BACK TO THE SOMME 18
II.--THE DEFENCE OF AMIENS 36
III.--HAMEL 51
IV.--TURNING THE TIDE 69
V.--THE BATTLE PLAN 81
VI.--THE BATTLE PLAN (_continued_) 97
VII.--THE CHASE BEGINS 115
VIII.--EXPLOITATION 133
IX.--CHUIGNES 148
X.--PURSUIT 164
XI.--MONT ST. QUENTIN AND PÉRONNE 182
XII.--A LULL 198
XIII.--HARGICOURT 214
XIV.--AMERICA JOINS IN 235
XV.--BELLICOURT AND BONY 254
XVI.--MONTBREHAIN AND AFTER 271
XVII.--RESULTS 284
APPENDIX A 299
APPENDIX B 300
APPENDIX C 317
INDEX 345

LIST OF MAPS

A--The Advances of the Third Division--March to
May, 1918 _Facing page_ 32
B--Battle of Hamel, July 4th, 1918 " 64
C--Battle of August 8th, 1918 " 144
D--Battle of Chuignes and Bray, August 23rd, 1918 " 160
E--Péronne and Mont St. Quentin " 192
F--Advances of Australian Corps, September 2nd to
17th, 1918 " 208
G--Battle of September 18th, 1918 " 224
H--Breaching of Hindenburg Defences " 272
J--Australian Corps Campaign " 288

LIST OF PHOTOGRAPHS

Lieut.-General Sir John Monash, G.C.M.G.,
K.C.B., V.D., D.C.L., LL.D. _Frontispiece_
1.--The Australian Corps Commander--with the
Generals of his Staff _Facing page_ 14
2.--The Valley of the Somme--looking east towards
Bray, which was then still in enemy hands " 15
3.--German Prisoners--taken by the Corps at
Hamel, being marched to the rear " 40
4.--Visit of M. Clemenceau--group taken at Bussy,
July 7th, 1918 " 41
5.--Railway Gun, 11.2-inch Bore--captured near
Rosières on August 8th, 1918 " 66
6.--German Depot of Stores--captured on August
8th, 1918 " 67
7.--Tanks marching into Battle " 96
8.--Morcourt Valley--the Australian attack swept
across this on August 8th, 1918 " 97
9.--Dug-outs at Froissy-Beacon--being "mopped
up" during battle " 112
10.--Péronne--barricade in main street " 113
11.--Burning Villages--east of Péronne " 128
12.--Dummy Tank Manufacture " 129
13.--The Canal and Tunnel at Bellicourt--looking
north " 152
14.--The Hindenburg Line--a characteristic belt of
sunken wire " 153
15.--Final Instructions to the Platoon--an incident
of the battle of August 8th, 1918. The
platoon is waiting to advance to Phase B of
the battle " 176
16.--An Armoured Car--disabled near Bony, during
the battle of September 29th, 1918 " 177
17.--The Hindenburg Line Wire--near Bony " 198
18.--The 15-inch Naval Gun--captured at Chuignes
August 23rd, 1918 " 199
19.--Australian Artillery--going into action at
Cressaire Wood " 218
20.--Battle of August 8th, 1918--German prisoners
being brought out of the battle under the fire
of their own Artillery " 219
21.--Mont St. Quentin--collecting Australian
wounded under protection of the Red Cross
flag, September 1st, 1918 " 240
22.--An Ammunition Dump--established in Warfusee
village on August 8th, 1918, after its
capture the same morning " 241
23.--Australian Light Horse--the 13th A.L.H.
Regiment riding into action on August 17th, 1918 " 256
24.--The Sniper sniped--an enemy sniper disposed
of by an Australian Sharp-shooter,
August 22nd, 1918 " 257
25.--German Prisoners--captured at the battle of
Chuignes, August 23rd, 1918 " 274
26.--Captured German Guns--Park of Ordnance,
captured by the Australians during August, 1918 " 275
27.--The Toll of Battle--an Australian gun-team
destroyed by an enemy shell, September 1st, 1918 " 294
28.--Inter-Divisional Relief--the 30th American
and the 3rd Australian Divisions passing each
other in the "Roo de Kanga," Péronne,
during the "relief" after the capture of the
Hindenburg Line, October 4th, 1918 " 295
29.--Australian Artillery--moving up to the front,
through the Hindenburg wire, October 2nd, 1918 " 316
30.--Advance during Battle--Third Division Infantry
and Tanks advancing to the capture of Bony,
October 1st, 1918 " 317

The Australian Victories in France in 1918