The Last 100 Days by Will Davies

Author:Will Davies [Davies, Will]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780143784975
Publisher: Penguin Random House Australia

By the close of 25 August, the Allies had secured a great victory. In the north, the Third Army had driven the Germans back to Loupart Wood on the edge of Bapaume and, further south, the Fourth Army had advanced from Albert eastwards towards Pozières and across the fateful battlefields of the 1916 Somme campaign. Over these days, the Allies had captured 8000 prisoners, 2000 of whom were taken by the Australians. Haig now abandoned his methodical tactic of advance, suggesting instead that each division be given an objective which they must pursue, independent of the advance of their neighbours on the flanks. He concluded, ‘The situation is most favourable. Let each one of us act energetically, and without hesitation push forward to our objective.’21

While the AIF’s 3rd Division continued their advance on the north side of the Somme, cutting off the retreating Germans and pushing east, the 1st Division also continued moving eastwards south of the river.

By this time the Australians had been heavily involved in fighting for over two weeks and, even though short breaks behind the line had been offered, the infantry and artillery units were exhausted. Monash knew this, but was keen to push his men to the limit, towards the Somme bridgeheads and the heights of Mont St Quentin, and with the aim of clearing Péronne of the enemy. Rather than setpiece attacks, he wanted aggressive patrolling and the concentration of artillery firing on back areas and German lines of communication.

To progress the attack, Monash advocated peaceful penetration. This meant utilising the old trench systems, in particular communication trenches which radiated back and provided ideal protection. The Germans, realising the vulnerability in their line, established trench or bomb blocks which halted the ease of this advance, resulting in savage bomb fights and hand-to-hand fighting.

In an example of what could go wrong with this less centrally coordinated approach, the 12th Battalion, with the support of the 11th, pushed up the communication trench north of the Chuignes gully and through what was referred to as Canard Wood, ‘gaining bend after bend of the trench to a point, 1100 yards due east of the start’.22 They were mistaken for Germans by a company of the 11th Battalion, and were fired on and shelled. Fortunately, the 9th Battalion had pushed the enemy from the river flats, beyond Cappy, to prevent fire coming from that quarter.

Nevertheless, the pressure put on the Germans through the combined force of the infantry, artillery, tanks and aircraft was paying off. Late on the night of 24 August, the Germans again fell back to a new line along the edge of the Olympia Wood and Fontaine road. But the Germans were subjecting the Australians to shelling by high explosive and gas, possibly to expend their stock of shells rather than allow them to fall into the hands of the advancing Allies. On 25 August, the 10th and 11th Battalions relieved the exhausted 9th and 12th Battalions, and after a delay, they moved forward again at 6 am the following morning.

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