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By the 18th of April 1918 the signs of a coming attack were unmistakable. The Germans attacked with mustard gas in the woods and gullies behind the town. Australian troops were relieved by troops from the British 8th Division as previously arranged, from Villers-Bretonneux to the flank of the French at Hangard in the south. On April 21, German deserters revealed that German attack preparations were nearing completion. They revealed that the attack would commence early on April 24, with the first two to three hours consisting of gas shelling. British aerial observations revealed German troops massing in trenches less than  two kilometres south of Villers-Bretonneux in Hangard Wood.

On the night of April 22-23, British and Australian artillery shelled German mustering areas. At dawn the infantry was standing ready but no attack eventuated, most of the activity on this day was in air as planes from both sides criss-crossed the battlefield, bombing, strafing and engaging in dogfights. It was during one of these dogfights that the German "Red Baron" was shot down over Australian lines, north of Villers-Bretonneux at Corbie. The strongest evidence points to Australian sergeant, Cedric Popkin of the 24th Machine-Gun Company, 4th Division as firing the actual bullet that killed Baron Manfred von Richthofen. On the afternoon of April 23, heavy shelling, mainly mustard gas, fell on the area just beyond Villers-Bretonneux, just as the German deserters had detailed earlier.

At dawn on the 24th of April the Germans attacked with 13 tanks at two points, at Villers-Bretonneux and a kilometre further south. Wherever they attacked the Germans broke through immediately. The British troops defending the area mostly fell back before strong German attacks. The majority of these British troops were composed of boys merely 18 and 19 who had  yet to fire a shot in the war. Unlike the Australians, they had received no preparation in the "nursery area" and were far from ready for battle. The Germans took over 2,400 prisoners during the engagement. Before the sector commander, Lieutenant General R.H. Butler of III Corps, had even heard of the attack, Villers-Bretonneux and Abbey Wood beyond it had been captured, along with Hangard village and Wood. South west of Hangard the German advance reached the intersection between the Avre and Luce rivers.

The most effective counter attack mounted against this German attack was with British tanks which engaged in the first tank versus tank battle in history, when 3 British Mark IV's fought three German A7V's. Even though the battle was even the Germans were the first to withdraw their machines from the battle. The British now employed light weight Whippet tanks to drive back the German infantry on the Villers-Bretonneux plateau.

The Australian 15th Brigade under Brigadier General H.E. Elliot was supposed to be the divisional reserve but Elliot was not happy being in reserve or allowing under strength troops to guard Villers-Bretonneux. He was initially prevented from counter attacking the Germans initial assault, but by mid-afternoon was informed that his Brigade would counter attack from the north, while the Australian 13th Brigade, under Brigade General T.W. Glasgow completing the pincher movement from the south. The Australian 13th Brigade, borrowed from the Australian 4th Division, was hurrying down from the north of the Somme River.

On April 26th the Moroccan Division, perhaps the best in the French Army, attempted to recapture Hangard and Hangard Wood by advancing through Australian lines in daylight. The advance was stopped with heavy losses, as was the Australian attack on May 3rd on Monument Wood, which only recaptured part of the wood..

Losses

Australian = 1,080
British = 9.849
Moroccan Division = 4,500
German = 8,000

Brigadier General Grogan VC, who saw the action, described the successful counter attack by night across unknown and difficult ground, and at short notice as "perhaps the greatest individual feat of the war". The Allied Supreme Commander, Marshal Foch, referred to the "altogether astonishing valiance" of the Australians, ( most likely meaning valour )..

The Villers-Bretonneux cemetery contains 779 Australians, 47 of whom are unidentified. The cemetery also contains 1,089 British, 267 Canadians, 4 South Africans and 2 New Zealanders.

Adelaide cemetery begun  June 1918 and contains 519 Australians ( 4 unknown ) out of a total of 864 graves. It is located on the right side of Amiens Road just beyond the railway crossing at the western end of Villers-Bretonneux. All here were killed between March and September 1918. The unknown soldier was exhumed in 1993 and reinterned within the Hall of Memory at the Australian War Memorial. Many of Australian dead in this cemetery were killed in the street fighting in Villers-Bretonneux on Anzac Day 1918.

The memorial is located a few kilometres north of Villers-Bretonneux on the D23. It commemorates the 10,982 Australians who died in France and have no known grave. It is also the site of the Villers-Bretonneux cemetery mentioned above.

April 27, 1918 - Villers-Bretoneux finally secured by Australian, never to be lost to Germans again.

May 1, 1918 - Allied forces on the Western Front had decreased  to 173 divisions, while the Germans had grown to 203. Of the Allied Divisions, 103 were French, 52 were British and Imperial forces, 12 Belgian, 2 Italian and 4 American. There were 57 Allied divisions in reserve while the Germans had 64. Much now depended on the Americans.

Early May, 1918 - Australian 3rd Division advanced the front by a mile and gained the heights to the east of Villers-Bretonneux. This only results in 15 killed and 80 wounded.

May 27, 1918 - Germans attack on the Aisne River. In three days they drive 50 kilometres towards Paris as far as the Marne River just 80 kilometres from Paris.

May 31, 1918 - Australian General Monash succeeds General William Birdwood as commander of the Australian Corps. General Birdwood was promoted to command the 5th Army.

June 10, 1918 - Australian undertake first action as a Corps. The objective was to capture the German front line defences at Morlancourt and Sailly Laurette. The attack was a success and all objectives were captured with heavy casualties being inflicted on the enemy. Australian losses were about 400 men.

July 4, 1918 - Battle of Le Hamel. The objective was to dislodge the Germans from a position where they overlooked the British lines and to also secure a point from which the Allies could take the initiative.

General Monash believed that :

"...the role of the infantry was not to expend itself upon heroic physical effort, not to wither away under merciless machine gun fire, not to impale itself on hostile bayonets, but on the contrary, to advance under the maximum array of mechanical resources in the form of guns, machine guns, tanks, mortars and aeroplanes."

For the attack Monash was given the British 5th Tank Brigade which comprised 60 brand new Mark V tanks and 4 carrier tanks. Monash's plan included the use of these tanks in close support of the infantry. His plans also called for something new - re-supply from the air. Ten companies of American troops were attached by platoons to the Australian battalions for experience. Monash could only a lot 7,500 men to the capture of Hamel and proposed to use 4 brigades, one from each of the Australian 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th Divisions. The aim was to give all Australian divisions experience with tanks.

The attack commenced without the usual artillery bombardment.. The battle lasted about 93 minutes, Monash had planned on 90 minutes. Quickly, Vare Wood fell to the 4th Brigade and le Hamel to the 11th Brigade. The Australians and Americans lost about 900 men while the Germans lost about 1,800.

On the same day, by way of diversion, the Australian 15th Brigade made an advance beyond Ville. Casualties from both actions : Australian = 1,400

There had been no other Allied offensives since the previous autumn. The victory at le Hamel provided a much need spark to the Allies. When the French President of the Allied War Committee, George Clemenceau visited the headquarters of the Australian 4th Division near Corbie and he said :

"When the Australians came to France the French people expected a great deal of you. We knew that you would fight a real fight, but we did not know from the beginning you would astonish the whole continent. I shall go back tomorrow and say to my countrymen, ' I have see the Australians. I have looked in their faces. I know that these men will fight alongside us again until the cause for which we are all fighting is safe."