The Battle of Amiens was a World War I battle fought from August 8 to August 11, 1918, between the Allied forces and the German Army. It marked the opening phase of the Allied offensive later known as the Hundred Days Offensive which led to the end of the Great War. During this battle the Allied forces advanced over 15 miles on the first day. The battle is also notable for its effects on both sides’ morale and the large number of surrendering German forces. Erich Ludendorff described the first day of the battle as "the black day of the German Army." With the Battle of Amiens the trench warfare came to an end on the Western Front as it was one of the first major battles that involved the massive use of armored vehicles. Thus fighting became mobile again until the armistice was signed on November 11, 1918.
As the German Spring Offensive ground to a halt with the Second Battle of the Marne, the German forces began to fall back on July 20, 1918, as a major offensive against the British in Flanders was called off. On July 23, the French General Ferdinand Foch disclosed a plan for reducing the Saint-Mihiel salient and liberating the railroad lines that ran through Amiens. But the commander of the British Expeditionary Force, Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, already had plans in place for an attack near Amiens. So, at a meeting on July 24, Foch agreed to the British plans but insisted that the French 1rst Army, which held the front to the south of the British 4th Army, should participate. As the French 1rst Army lacked tanks and would be forced to bombard the German positions before the infantry advance began, thus removing the element of surprise, it was agreed that the French would participate, but not launch their attack until 45 minutes after British 4th Army.
The preparations for the battle included unprecedented security in order to achieve maximum surprise. With the British holding the line north of the Somme River the Canadian Corps was secretly moved to the river area and took over the southern half of the Australian front line, while the Australian Corps was concentrated between the Canadians and the Somme River. In the early hours of August 8, 1918, the infantry moved into their assembly positions as dense fog gathered and unseen aeroplanes droned above drowned out the noise of the tanks that would support the infantry. The fog was still dense at 4.20 am when the artillery barrage opened fire and the advance began.
Under the command of Sir Henry Rawlinson, the British 4th Army attacked north of the Somme. The French 1rst Army under General Debeney opened its preliminary bombardment at the same time, and began its advance 45 minutes later, supported by a battalion of 72 Whippet tanks. Although the two forces were within 500 yards of each another, gas bombardment was very low, as the bulk of the Allied presence was unknown to the Germans. In the first phase, seven divisions attacked: the British 18th and 58th, the Australian 2nd and 3rd, and the Canadian 1rst, 2nd and 3rd. The Canadian and Australian attackers were supported by eight battalions of the Royal Tank Corps, with a strength of 216 Mark V tanks. Parts of the American 33rd Division supported the British attackers north of the Somme.
The first attacks were carried out in thick fog with infantry and tanks moving in what they hoped was the right direction. The first objective was taken by 7:30 as some German positions were bypassed and then attacked in the rear. Most of the German field artillery was overrun and quickly captured. By 8:30 the fog had lifted and German guns opened up on the Allied tanks, putting many out of action, but, bristling with bayonets, the Australian infantry kept going like an unbreakable resolute human machinery and soon overran most of the guns. The greater part of the final objective for the day, the old outer line of the Amiens defence system, had been captured. The Canadian and French attacks had gone as well as those of the Australians as 15 miles of the German front south of the Somme was swept away in a victory that far surpassed any previous success of the British Army on the Western Front. More than 13,000 Germans were made prisoners and more than 200 guns captured. The French had taken 3,500 prisoners.
The Battle of Amiens was a turning point in the war. Backed up by massive use of tanks, the Allies punched a hole through the German lines, weakening once impregnable trench positions. The British 3rd army with no armored support had almost no effect on the line while the 4th with less than a thousand tanks broke deep into German territory. Australian commander John Monash was knighted by King George V in the days following the Battle of Amiens.
[...] counteroffensive, known as the Hundred Days Offensive, began on August 8, 1918. The Battle of Amiens developed with the Fourth British Army on the left, the First French Army on the right, and the [...]