Journée du 23 août 2008, Péronne (80)
LES AUSTRALIENS AU NORD DE PERONNE, LE 30 AOÛT 1918
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August 8, 1918 - Marshal Foch wanted a double thrust with the British along the line of the Somme River for two main reasons, it was suitable for tanks and the Germans in the vicinity had been considerably weakened by Australian "peaceful penetration". The attack was to use 430 British tanks which would lead a three stage advance. To achieve maximum surprise there was no preliminary bombardment.
The "Battle of Amiens" commenced at 4.20am. The Australian 2nd and 3rd Divisions had a front of about 3,600 metres. The Australian 4th and 5th stood ready to leapfrog the Australian 2nd and 3rd Divisions as the Battle commenced. With no prior bombardment the Germans were taken totally by surprise. By 7.30am the German lines were thoroughly broken that much of the field artillery had been overrun and captured. While the Australian 2nd and 3rd Divisions dug in to consolidate the ground they had won the Australian 4th and 5th Divisions leapfrogged them and at 8.20am began the second phase of the attack. In this new "open warfare" stage the Australians excelled, capturing Bayonvillers without a fight and by 11am the Australian 59th Battalion had captured Harbonniers. By the end of the day the Allies had punched a hole 20 kilometres wise and 11 kilometres deep in the German lines. The break through had driven them eastwards towards Peronne and Mont St Quentin. The Allied victory described as a "Black Day" for the German forces by German commanders. Between August 7 - 14 1918, the 5 Australian Divisions suffered a total of 6,491 casualties, which represented 20% of their strength upon entering the battle.
August 11, 1918 - General Monash is knighted by King George V at Field Marshal Haig's headquarters at Bertangles.
August 24, 1918 - Australian 4th Division is replaced in the Line by French Division and goes into reserve.
August 29, 1918 - German resistance begins to stiffen around Clery, 3 kilometres north west of Peronne.
August 30, 1918 - Australian 3rd Division commences attack of the "Battle of Mont St Quentin".
Mont St Quentin
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Battlefield location |
General Monash's objective was to render the line of the Somme River useless to the Germans as a defensive position and hasten their retreat to the Hindenburg Line. To achieve this called for an attack on the key position of the whole line of defence, on a hill called Mont St Quentin. Monash knew that his troops were under strength and badly in need of rest, but by now he considered them "invincible".
The attack was on the key positions in the German line, a dominating hill known as Mont St Quentin, 1.5 kilometres from Peronne. The hill was less than 100 metres high but heavily guarded especially along the northern and westerly approaches. The Australian 5th Division objectives were the Peronne Bridges and Peronne, while the Australian 2nd Divisions was the bridgehead at Halle then Mont St Quentin and finally the Australian 3rd Division was to capture the high ground north east of Clery, then Bouchavesnes spur. Facing the Australian Divisions at Mont St Quentin was the 2nd Prussian Guards, an elite German formation, who had orders to hold the hill "to the death".
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The barrage commenced at 5am but much of the Australian's fighting reputation proceeded them with the enemy taking panic. The 5th Brigade of the Australian 2nd Division opened the attack, comprising only 70 officers and 1,250 other ranks it was less than one third of its normal strength. The 2nd Division battalions to assault Mont St Quentin were the 17th , 18th , 19th and 20th all from NSW. The 17th battalion started along the Clery-Peronne road as the Germans retreated to more defensible ground. Within a short time they had captured, with only 550 men and 220 in support, what British generals consider "impregnable". |
However, the 5th Brigade could not hold all of its gains and part of the 2nd Prussian Guards Division drove back scattered troops from the summit of Mont St Quentin.
On the left of the attack by the Australian 2nd Division, the Australian 3rd Division attacking Bouchavesnes Spur had not successfully captured its objectives, this meant that earlier gains were threatened by German flanking moves. General Monash ordered that "Casualties no longer matter" and "We must get Bouchavesnes Spur and protect Rosenthal's left". The Spur was taken and the Mont St Quentin assault was protected. On September 1, the 6th Australian Brigade, passing through the 5th Brigade seized in a second attempt the summit of Mont St Quentin while the Australian 14th Brigade ( 5th Division ) captured woods north of Peronne and took the main part of the town. The following day ( September 2nd, 1918 ) the Australian 7th Brigade ( 2nd Division ) drove beyond the Mont and the Australian 15th Brigade ( 5th Division ) seized the rest of Peronne.
Mont St Quentin diorama at the Australian War Memorial
The result was that three weakened Australian Divisions were able to defeat five German Divisions. The action saw its fair share of heroics, with eight VC's awarded, and losses, with 20% of attacking forces becoming casualties. The battle was a true infantry victory achieved without the use of tanks or creeping artillery barrage.
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Losses Australian 2nd Division 84 Officers, 1,286 others
Memorials Australian 2nd Division The original 2nd Division memorial depicted a digger bayoneting a German eagle was erected on this site in 1925. It was removed by Germans during 1940. The current memorial dates from 1971. The memorial is on the side of N17 Bapaume-Perrone road in the village of Mont St Quentin. |
