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00:00C'mon! C'mon!
00:10C'mon! C'mon!
00:22Let's go! Let's go!
00:24Move it!
00:26Let's fire it!
00:30Spring, 1918.
00:34A ferocious German offensive pushes the Allies to the brink of defeat.
00:40The shock as the Germans unleash a hurricane fire.
00:44It was basically the genesis of Blitzkrieg.
00:48Their relentless attack stuns the Allies.
00:51I think for a moment the Allies think they will lose the war.
00:54Fire!
00:56Fire!
01:00Their backs against the walls.
01:02Allied commanders dramatically change their approach.
01:05Secrecy is vital.
01:06With new weapons.
01:08New machines.
01:10And radical new ways to coordinate infantry, artillery, air force and tanks.
01:16Working together, they manage to halt the German offensive.
01:20They're advancing all along the line.
01:24We have the enemy on his back foot.
01:26But they've lost huge areas of French territory.
01:29And their enemy is still fearsome.
01:32There's still a lot of fight left in Germany.
01:34And the Germans are still preparing to fight on.
01:36And the Allied commanders think that the war will probably go on to the summer of 1919.
01:41The German army still don't believe that they're going to lose the war.
01:44They still don't believe that the German army is going to be destroyed on the Western Front.
01:47So they're still a formidable fighting force.
01:50The Allied commanders are a diverse and unlikely team.
01:56British Old School Field Marshal Douglas Haig.
01:59French Marshal Ferdinand Foch.
02:02And colonial outsiders, Australian John Monash.
02:06And Canadian Arthur Curry.
02:08They've turned the tide.
02:11Now they face the supreme challenge.
02:14Victory.
02:16Ferdinand spoilers.
02:36Welcome, gentlemen.
02:37General Monash.
02:38Good to see you.
02:40General-
02:41I suppose that it really happens that such a distinguished gathering should so meet under such stirring surroundings, with the guns thundering all around.
02:52An extraordinary meeting of the Allied High Command.
02:59Just two days earlier, using ideas from Monash and Currie, they defeated the German army at Amiens.
03:06Advancing 12 kilometers in just four days.
03:12Greater gains than any time in the past four years.
03:16Amiens was a significant blow against the Germans, and I think the Allied Commander Foch realized that perhaps this was the moment where the attritional warfare had finally ground the enemy down.
03:28And so there would be a series of battles to break the Hindenburg Line.
03:33It was a fearsome position for the Allies to face.
03:38This, gentlemen, is our next objective.
03:40The Hindenburg Line is in fact five heavily fortified trench lines, connected by a series of concrete bunkers, and bristling with machine gun nests and booby traps.
03:55Stretching over 400 kilometers, each line is protected by vast belts of barbed wire, laid out to channel attacking infantry into killing zones.
04:05It's more formidable than anything the Allies have faced in the entire war.
04:11The Hindenburg Line assumed almost a mythical status for the Germans and for the Allies.
04:19For the Germans, it was their last great defensive line.
04:23For the Allies, they knew that this was a line they would have to break if they wanted to break the German army.
04:30The Allies create an ambitious plan.
04:34Supreme Commander Foch orders a series of multi-pronged attacks on the German forces standing between them and the Hindenburg Line.
04:43Delivering a series of hammer blows against the Germans is absolutely crucial.
04:48And the idea here, of course, is to keep hitting the Germans in multiple battles to wear them out, to wear out their reserves, to force them to continually fight.
05:01The entire strength of the Allies on the Western Front will be needed to break through the Hindenburg Line.
05:08Foch coins his famous war cry.
05:10All the people in battle!
05:11American forces, now a million strong, will mass in the Argonne region.
05:22The French in the Meuse, Champagne and Picardy.
05:25The Canadians, British and New Zealanders will attempt to break through at the Canal de Noor.
05:30And Australian, British and American forces take aim at the San Quentin Canal.
05:35And they face tough fighting before they can even reach the Hindenburg Line.
05:39You have Foch and you have Hague planning battles and talking off the same page.
05:45You've then got the acceptance and the use of these new technologies.
05:50This leads to the opening up of the entrenched situation.
05:54And then it's fighting this new style of warfare.
05:56I think the fighting we see in 1918 is a precursor to the fighting we'll see throughout the 20th century.
06:01There will be new technology, of course, but the idea of attacking together in this combined arms warfare very much emerges from the trenches, from the Western Front, from the need to find a way to break the stalemate.
06:17The strategy is simple.
06:20Keep the enemy on the move.
06:22Instruct all ranks to act boldly.
06:25Field Marshal Douglas Hague makes sure the 1.2 million British and Dominion troops under his command get the message.
06:34Risks, which a month ago would have been criminal to occur, ought now to be incurred as a duty.
06:43And it is risky.
06:45The Germans still have 4 million men on the Western Front.
06:48Another one from Westminster.
06:49Don't tell me. Wilson, from the War Office.
06:56Hague's reputation comes back to haunting.
06:59Earlier in the war, he's presided over campaigns producing colossal bloodshed for very little progress, earning him the nickname, Butcher Hague.
07:08I know the War Cabinet would become anxious if we received heavy punishment in attacking the Hindenburg Line without success.
07:15Now the politicians in London are getting cold feet.
07:20What a wretched lot of weaklings we have in high places at the present time.
07:25Hague and Wilson hate each other.
07:27And that was typical in the British Army, these personal feuds and rivalries.
07:32This was a famous one.
07:33So all this warfare's going on, well, the rest of the warfare's going on in the Western Front.
07:39The high command is very fraught by this time.
07:42The first target standing between the Allies and the Hindenburg Line is Mont Saint-Quentin, a pivotal German defensive position on the River Somme.
07:56Monash's Australians are handed the task.
07:58Monash was the huge advocate of carefully planned battles that take place step by step and having all the support in place and getting the tanks up and making sure the artillery is in place.
08:09He kind of threw that out the window at Mont Saint-Quentin.
08:11He just basically said, here's a tough position.
08:13We've got some infantry.
08:14I reckon we can do this.
08:17Sir, Monash.
08:20General Henry Rawlinson, the commander of the British Second Army, is sceptical.
08:24It's risky, sir, I know, but I believe it is a sound plan.
08:30Mont Saint-Quentin is a formidable obstacle in his way.
08:34It's well fortified.
08:36It's being manned by the Second Prussian Guard, one of the elite formations within the German army.
08:41Right.
08:42Gentlemen.
08:44Here.
08:45If they can take it, the Australians will command a perfect staging ground for an attack on the Hindenburg Line.
08:52You know what to do?
08:53They had to cross the Somme River.
08:55They were on one side of the river.
08:56They had to cross over before they could approach Mont Saint-Quentin.
08:58And everything they did was under German observation.
09:01The Germans were confident that this was where they were going to stop the Allies.
09:08The 31st of August, 1918.
09:10Go on.
09:13The artillery bombardment begins.
09:15The Australians advance under a creeping barrage.
09:35I felt a blow on the face as if struck by an axe, and a white mist flew before my eyes.
09:40I could feel the broken jawbone, and a great rush of blood.
09:45And I saw a little wooden cross before my eyes, with my name and number on it.
09:49Suddenly, I saw the sergeant drop, like I've seen an animal drop that I've shot.
10:04I wasn't long enough reaching him.
10:05Perhaps two seconds.
10:08Even in that time, he was black in the face, gasping for breath.
10:11The pressure to keep attacking weighs heavily on Monash.
10:19I was compelled to harden my heart.
10:22It was imperative to recognize a great opportunity and seize it unflinchingly.
10:28Casualties no longer mattered.
10:33The Australian 2nd Division storms the slopes of Mont Saint-Quentin.
10:37The reports say that they charged at the Germans with rifle and bayonet.
10:40They yelled like bush rangers as they charged up the slope,
10:44to make the Germans think there were more soldiers than there actually were attacking.
10:52For the next 48 hours, the high ground on Mont Saint-Quentin is won,
10:58then lost,
11:00then won again by the Australians, amid vicious fighting.
11:03So this isn't killing from afar by an artillery barrage.
11:07This is desperate hand-to-hand fighting.
11:09And it's by no means clear which side is going to succeed.
11:23Fighting at Mont Saint-Quentin is Edward Phillips,
11:27one of over a thousand indigenous Australians who volunteer to fight.
11:30And we should remember that these men are not even citizens of the country that they're fighting for.
11:37And when they're in the line,
11:38they do actually achieve equal rights alongside other soldiers.
11:42Phillips is awarded a military medal for his bravery.
11:46This NCO displayed great initiative and personal bravery in working his Lewis gun.
11:52He stood up on the parapet, firing his gun on the hip,
11:55causing very heavy casualties.
11:58But in spite of his heroism,
12:00after the war, he will remain a non-citizen.
12:06The Australians have one Lewis gun for every ten men.
12:09A potent open warfare weapon that is light, compact, and can fire 600 rounds per minute.
12:20After three days of bloody fighting,
12:22Australian forces capture Mont Saint-Quentin and take the town of Peron.
12:27In three days, the Australians suffer 3,000 casualties.
12:31But their sacrifice is rewarded.
12:36They force the Germans to withdraw eastwards, back to the Hindenburg Line.
12:46Hello?
12:47Rawlinson.
12:48What is it?
12:49We've done it.
12:50You've done what?
12:51We're on top of Mont Saint-Quentin.
12:52I don't believe you.
12:54Come and see.
12:55Mont Saint-Quentin was a fantastic victory,
12:57in my opinion, one of the greatest Australian victories of the First World War.
13:00But the victory belongs to the men, not to Monash.
13:04In his next step, Supreme Allied Commander Foch
13:08orders Curry's Canadians to make a risky move on another strategic defence,
13:13standing between the Allies and the Hindenburg Line.
13:16That's a crucial bit of real estate.
13:18Their target, a German stronghold called the Drohkhor-Quion, or DQ Line.
13:24A kilometre-thick fortified barrier of dugouts, trenches, and machine gun nests.
13:30Protecting the Hindenburg Line.
13:34In this new, more mobile war, intelligence gathering and reconnaissance is crucial.
13:46Bombing and reconnaissance alternated and we were kept busy.
13:49And Jerry had his crack squadrons with their finest machines against our fronts,
13:55and seemingly intent to prevent photography at all costs.
14:00The Allies need eyes in the sky.
14:03It's the only way to reveal defences that have been deployed in depth.
14:08The war in the air begins to take on a new urgency.
14:14Every day we were at it, attacked, trapped, or chased.
14:18Time after time, we ran the devils out of petrol, sneaked back, and stole the photos.
14:22Aerial photos reveal the position of German artillery.
14:29Increasingly confident in his men, his technology, and the new tactics he has developed with Monash,
14:35Canadian General Arthur Curry plans the attack in meticulous detail.
14:39Believing the Drohkort-Keont Line to be the backbone of German resistance,
14:44we have decided to put all our strength against it.
14:47Not to attack it until we are ready.
14:50And then to go all out.
14:51The Drohkort-Keont Line is the hinge of the Hindenburg Line,
14:57and really what it did is defend the flank of the Hindenburg Line.
15:02So if you can break the DQ Line, you can get in on the flank of the Hindenburg Line and then roll it up.
15:11The Canadians will fight alongside the battle-hardened Scottish troops of the 51st Highland Division.
15:18Go, boys!
15:19Go!
15:20Let's go!
15:20The fighting qualities of the 51st are second to none in all the Allied armies.
15:26All right, lads, once more on your feet!
15:38At dawn on the 2nd of September, the Canadians, Scots, and other British forces launched their attack,
15:46supported by 80 tanks.
15:47But the German army has a new weapon.
16:05The world's first anti-tank rifle.
16:07It compares 22-millimeter-thick armor plate at 100 meters,
16:14whereas German machine gun bullets just bounce off.
16:18There we were, the engine roaring, the guns blazing, the calves stacked with explosives with not even enough air to keep an oyster alive.
16:35The army was twice penetrated by an anti-tank gun.
16:42The army was twice penetrated by an anti-tank gun.
16:44We went over the top, along with a tank.
16:59Take cover!
17:01But the Germans were using these anti-tank rifles.
17:08One of our fellows got shot by one of these rifles.
17:11It made a terrible hole, big enough to put your two fists in.
17:14The barrages were terrific on both sides.
17:29We went over the top with the battalion.
17:32We passed through heavy shell fire and gas.
17:47I dressed a few wounded in a sunken road.
17:49And I kept 18 stretcher-bearers to carry them out.
17:55I got a little sleep during the night, but had to wear a gas mask for about four hours.
18:09My partner said, do you smell anything strange, Donald?
18:12I said, no, do you?
18:15Yes, it's faintly like lilac.
18:17I'm not taking any chances.
18:19I'm putting on my gas mask.
18:22It was mustard gas.
18:24And apart from blinding, it was very sore for those wearing a kilt.
18:33After ten hours fighting, with heavy casualties on both sides,
18:38the Canadians take the Droh-Cocquion line.
18:42The break-in of the record-quaint line has shaken the enemy badly,
18:46and he's hurrying back to the line of the Canal de Nord.
18:48That line joins into the Hindenburg Line, further south.
18:52The hinge of the German system has been broken.
18:55We're advancing all along the line.
18:58But despite the success of the Australians and the Canadians,
19:01the Allies still have ten kilometers of hard-pounding fighting,
19:05before they even get to the most formidable defensive line in history,
19:08the Hindenburg Line itself.
19:09Now it is the United States' turn to lead the advance.
19:18Until now, General Pershing, the commander of the million-strong American army,
19:24has refused to fight under British or French command.
19:27The 26th of September, 1918.
19:32The biggest army in American history forms up along a 20-mile section of the Western Front,
19:39known as the Meurs-Argonne.
19:40During the Battle of Meurs-Argonne, you have something like 1.2 million doughboys being sent into battle.
19:48That's an enormous number of men.
19:50And they're being supported by an enormous number of guns.
19:53Some 2,700 guns are brought into play in the first four hours of fighting there.
19:59Hundreds of thousands of untested American soldiers launch their attack into the Milky Fog.
20:21The Americans are making the same sorts of mistakes in making mass attacks,
20:26taking huge casualties from machine gun and artillery fire,
20:30just like the British did in 1915.
20:33The Germans find that the Americans often outrun their artillery
20:36or don't have properly coordinated artillery,
20:39which then gives them the opportunity to destroy the Americans en masse.
20:45The Germans will not give way,
20:48and General Pershing's Americans are bleeding casualties,
20:51losing over 2,500 men per day.
20:54America, of course, was reluctant to enter the conflict in the first place.
20:59Pershing can't afford to have these kind of casualties.
21:03He finally decides to stop the offensive,
21:05to spare American lives and to spare American opinion.
21:09With the Americans stalled,
21:11Fosh instructs the Canadians to build on their success at the DQ line
21:15and press ahead to make the first direct assault on the Hindenburg line itself.
21:20They must cross the biggest single barrier in front of the Hindenburg line,
21:27the heavily fortified, 37-metre-wide Canal du Nord.
21:32The Canadians had captured orders from the German high command saying,
21:36it must be held to the last man.
21:38Now, they had issued orders like this before,
21:40but there is a sense here that the Germans will not give it up.
21:42British commanders order Currie to conduct a direct assault on the canal.
21:49The Germans have deliberately flooded the approaches,
21:52and Currie thinks it's suicide.
21:55Instead of simply rejecting the British plan,
21:58Currie suggests a better, but even riskier one.
22:01He locates a narrow, dry choke point of the canal,
22:04just 2,500 metres long.
22:07Currie explains his plan to British commander General Henry Horne.
22:37So if the Germans laid down artillery fire,
22:40or even worse, they feared gas,
22:43the assault would stall,
22:46and the Canadians would be caught in a killing ground.
22:48When he briefs his plan to Horne,
22:51Horne says, I don't think so.
22:53That's way too risky.
22:55You've got to reconsider.
22:57Horne calls for Currie's trusted mentor,
23:00General Sir Julian Bing.
23:01And Bing said, it's too dangerous,
23:06and Currie explained his plan to him.
23:08If you fail, it means home for you.
23:11I understand, sir.
23:13And so Horne has to support this attack
23:16that I think he is really deathly afraid
23:17is going to be the end of not just his career,
23:19but Haig's career as well,
23:21and maybe even a decisive defeat on the Western Front.
23:24Currie has grown in confidence during the last few months,
23:29but he knows that his reputation
23:32and that of the entire Canadian Corps
23:34is now on the line.
23:40He masses his men in the dangerous bottleneck.
23:4460,000 of them will funnel through the dry canal.
23:47Like they did at Amiens,
23:52Currie uses the element of surprise,
23:55hiding his men in the woods
23:57until the moment is right.
24:00At zero hour,
24:22the Allied artillery commends counter-battery fire
24:25to destroy the German guns,
24:27then lays down a creeping barrage
24:30to screen the advancing infantry.
24:35I am in the state of waiting for news
24:37which is always most trying.
24:39I hope and pray that all may go well.
24:48Our third big show opened up at 5.20am
24:52on September 27th.
24:54As the barrage would lift every four minutes,
24:57the infantry would advance.
24:59And they say every gun seemed to have lifted together.
25:03The Hun retaliated heavily on our position.
25:06He's putting up an awful tough fight.
25:08The old-timers say it's the hardest nut
25:11the Canadians have ever had to crack.
25:14Currie and McNaughton,
25:15his chief counter-battery advisor,
25:18had a motto.
25:19They wanted to pay the price of victory
25:20in shells and not in life.
25:22So they used unreal amounts of artillery.
25:26And it would shock GHQ
25:27and some of Hague's staff officers
25:29because they're like,
25:30that's ridiculous amounts of artillery.
25:33But in using that much artillery,
25:35it really had a decisive effect.
25:37By the holy Moses,
25:45it was wicked.
25:46German soldiers are getting it now
25:48with their vengeance.
25:50There are no rehearsals for these attacks now
25:52for it is all open warfare
25:54and trenches are all left far behind.
25:56The Germans are rocked by the artillery barrage.
26:03On the 27th of September,
26:04the Canadians are able to cross the canal
26:06and then flood into the fields beyond.
26:09All succeeded in crossing the canal.
26:27Currie's bold gamble pays off.
26:29British, Canadian, and New Zealand forces
26:31make big gains.
26:34The Canadians have crossed the Canal du Nord
26:36and have reached the outposts of the Hindenburg Line.
26:40But the Germans dig in and hold them there.
26:45But the Allies continue to pay a high price
26:48for Foch's ferocious multi-pronged offensive.
26:51I know.
26:52We're going to change dressing.
26:53In less than three months since Amiens,
26:55the Canadians alone have suffered 30,000 casualties,
26:59with over 6,000 killed.
27:01Right across the Allied armies,
27:04manpower is running low.
27:08They are now face to face
27:10with the deadliest killing zone on the planet.
27:14The Hindenburg Line.
27:19Northern France.
27:21Late September 1918.
27:23It's nearly 60 days since Foch and Haig
27:25launched their multi-pronged all-arms attack
27:28against the German wall of iron.
27:31Despite 75,000 casualties,
27:34they're still on track.
27:37200 Allied divisions.
27:39About 2 million men gather along the Western Front.
27:43All pointed toward the Hindenburg Line.
27:46La nature et l'importance de cette opération
27:52exigent que tous ses premiers gains soient suivis sans délai.
27:56La rupture de la ligne de résistance
27:59doit être exploitée sans interruption.
28:02While the Canadians are fighting hard
28:06to break through the Hindenburg Line
28:08near the Canal du Nord,
28:10Foch and Haig aim a simultaneous hammer blow
28:12at another point,
28:14the San Quentin Canal.
28:16If they can take it,
28:17they will break the Hindenburg Line in two.
28:19The Germans understand its significance
28:23and have made it the best defended section of the entire line.
28:27As far as they're concerned,
28:29this is where the advance stops.
28:31This is part of northern France
28:32that they will occupy forever.
28:34So it has both a symbolic
28:36as well as a strategic importance.
28:40Once again,
28:41Monash's Australians
28:42are chosen to spearhead the attack.
28:44Their recent successes
28:46have brought them and their leader praise,
28:48but also exhaustion.
28:51We slept while riding our horses.
28:53We slept while walking.
28:55And we slept while standing up.
28:59It's obvious to Monash
29:00that his exhausted troops
29:02have only one more battle left in them.
29:05And so does he.
29:07At times when I feel very tired,
29:09I am tempted to hope
29:11that this will be the last serious work
29:13I shall ever have to do in my life.
29:16British and untested American units
29:19will join the Australians
29:20in what could be the critical battle
29:22for the Hindenburg Line.
29:24But Monash is given the responsibility
29:26of planning it.
29:27The attack on the Hindenburg Line
29:29is made for Monash
29:30because it's a battle that demands
29:33a methodical approach.
29:35And that's exactly what Monash does.
29:38So that it's a set piece.
29:40Everyone knows where the ground is.
29:41The Germans know where the attack's coming.
29:43It calls on all the skills
29:45that Monash has perfected.
29:47The battle is more a matter of engineering
29:50and organization than of fighting.
29:54Monash's engineer's brain analyzes the task.
29:58He plans to break the German defenses
29:59set on top of the canal
30:01where it runs underground
30:02for over five kilometers at Bellicore.
30:05And he tries another of the Allies' tactical innovations,
30:11the Leapfrog.
30:12The Americans will launch the initial attack.
30:15Then the Australian divisions
30:17move forward through their lines
30:18to maintain the advance.
30:21And the Allies now have a major advantage.
30:25Enormous artillery resources
30:26that can be unleashed
30:28with deadly mathematical accuracy.
30:30Monash's superior, General Rawlinson,
30:33revises Monash's plan,
30:36ordering a British formation,
30:37the 46th North Midland Division,
30:40to launch a head-on assault
30:41directly across the canal.
30:44Now, crossing the canal
30:45is an incredibly dangerous task.
30:47And it's part of the strategy
30:49that Monash is nowhere near in agreement with.
30:52He argues fiercely with Rawlinsonaga
30:54whether this is necessary.
30:56Imagine those rafts crossing exposed to fire.
31:00The 29th of September,
31:065.50 a.m.
31:07Monash unleashes
31:09the greatest artillery bombardment of the war.
31:14Aircraft and tanks wait to attack.
31:18A thunderous attack opened up at dawn,
31:21and four times that day our guns advanced.
31:24Talk about work.
31:25The noise was terrible,
31:30with hundreds of guns,
31:32aeroplanes,
31:32and hundreds of machine guns screaming.
31:34It was a scene never to be forgotten,
31:49with infantry, tanks, guns,
31:52everything in action,
31:53in a sort of inferno of smoke and shell bursts.
31:56The explosive curtain of artillery fire creeps forward,
32:03protecting the first wave of American infantry.
32:08But the inexperienced Americans advance too fast
32:11and leave some well-defended German positions untouched behind them.
32:16It wasn't anything to do with the Americans being bad troops.
32:18They were just inexperienced troops.
32:19By this stage,
32:21the Australians had had four years of warfare
32:22and knew a lot about it.
32:25They knew a lot about how to fight this war
32:26and how to stay alive.
32:28Machine guns opened up on us,
32:40and this puzzled us,
32:41as we knew the Yanks were on ahead,
32:44until we discovered that they had not mopped up the dugouts.
32:49We found ourselves out of the frying pan and in the fire.
32:53The air was thick with bullets.
32:55Our boys were falling like apples from branches in a gale.
33:02I saw many Huns still in the Hindenburg line,
33:05and a good number of tanks burning in front of it.
33:07Called for flares, but none were shown.
33:10No advance appears to be made.
33:12The whole situation is very obscure and dangerous.
33:19The American advance is stalled.
33:25Tell our boys to keep moving.
33:37Whatever it takes.
33:40In this battle,
33:41the Americans demonstrated their inexperience in war.
33:45For these shortcomings,
33:46they paid a heavy price.
33:47But Monash's powerful artillery
34:00is pulverizing German defenses
34:02right along the San Quentin Canal.
34:07Every kilometer is hit with 250 shells.
34:11Every minute, for eight hours.
34:13A total of a quarter of a million shells.
34:15There are still tens of thousands of German soldiers
34:26defending the Hindenburg line
34:27as the British North Midland Division
34:29launches its attack across the San Quentin Canal.
34:32The opposite bank was pitted with machine-gun nests.
34:39How any of us even reached the water beats me,
34:41but a surprising number did.
34:42Holding a gun above my head was bad enough,
34:44without being machine-gunned as well.
34:46I still don't know how we got away with it.
34:50It's an astonishing moment.
34:52The British don't just cross the canal.
34:55Supported by Monash's artillery,
34:56they smash through the main defenses
34:58of the Hindenburg line itself.
35:04It's broken.
35:06The bloody Hindenburg line is broken.
35:10It's the most extraordinary feat of arms,
35:13and it's done by a division
35:15that is basically a run-of-the-mill
35:17British territorial division
35:18at the very end of the war,
35:20mixed in with conscripts
35:21and jaded and experienced volunteers.
35:24And it's the demonstration
35:25that for all of Monash's
35:28methodical genius
35:30and the Australians' tactical skill,
35:33this is an army that's learned
35:35how to fight on the Western Front in 1918,
35:37so it's a British territorial division
35:40that actually breaks through
35:41the toughest bit of the Hindenburg line.
35:44And that's telling us something very important.
35:46It's not actually the particular national uniform
35:49that you wear that matters.
35:50It's not actually the individual attributes
35:52of those soldiers.
35:54In the Great War,
35:55it's a question of where
35:56the artillery works the best.
35:58Get this to the 46th at once.
36:01The 46th North Midland Division
36:03draws a special mention
36:04in his dispatches
36:05from Field Marshal Haig.
36:07So thorough and complete
36:09was the organization for this attack.
36:12And so gallantly, rapidly
36:14and well was it executed by the troops
36:17that this one division
36:19took on this day
36:21over 4,000 prisoners
36:23and 70 guns.
36:27We were right in among the Germans,
36:32firing point-blank
36:33and bombing machine gun posts.
36:35They came popping out of holes like rabbits
36:37and as thick as rabbits.
36:39With hands up,
36:40they called for mercy.
36:42Sometimes they got it,
36:42and sometimes they did not.
36:48Soon after,
36:49the Australians break through,
36:51capturing the remaining
36:52German trench systems.
36:54At the same time,
36:55the Canadians, Scots
36:57and other British forces
36:58break through the line
36:59at the Canal du Nord.
37:02Outflanked,
37:03the Germans have two choices,
37:05surrender
37:05or withdraw
37:07from their prized
37:08defensive position.
37:12As the Australians
37:13get through the Hindenburg Line,
37:15Monash pushes the Australians
37:16into one last fight
37:18on the Western Front.
37:195th of October 1918,
37:21they attack a village
37:22called Montbrien.
37:25And 135 Australians die
37:27in a battle
37:28that was totally unnecessary.
37:30The village
37:30had no tactical significance.
37:35No one can imagine
37:43the loss of life
37:43or the horror of war
37:45unless they were in it.
37:47For the last three days,
37:48we had to pretty well
37:49live in our gas masks.
37:51The dead on the battlefield
37:52is a horrific sight to behold.
37:55Some of the men
37:55killed at Montbrien,
37:57the last battle of the war,
37:59had survived the war thus far,
38:00had fought all the way
38:01from Gallipoli,
38:02only to be killed
38:03at that furthest-most point
38:05of the line.
38:06And the sadness here
38:07is that that's a place
38:08unlike the great cemeteries
38:09of the Somme
38:10and Belgium
38:11that Australians seldom visit.
38:14It's a forgotten place
38:15and it's a pity.
38:16This demonstrates
38:17that Monash really did
38:18regard his men
38:19as units,
38:21as production units,
38:22as symbols on a map.
38:25He didn't really care
38:26about the men
38:27that he was ordering
38:28into action.
38:29And I think it's
38:30one of the greatest
38:31criticisms of Monash,
38:33greatest, greatest flaws
38:35in Monash
38:35that he ordered that attack.
38:40The Australians
38:41have fought
38:41their last battle.
38:43After four years of war,
38:45214,000 Australian casualties
38:48and over 60,000 dead
38:50from a population
38:51of just 5 million.
38:53Without conscription,
38:55enlistments have dwindled.
38:57After their great successes
38:58along the Hindenburg Line,
38:59Australia,
39:01against Haig's wishes,
39:02must pull back
39:03from the front line.
39:05We have the highest
39:07desertion rates
39:08of the war
39:08amongst Australian forces
39:10during 1918.
39:11A lot of men
39:11are simply unable
39:13to fight anymore.
39:15It had always been
39:16Monash's strategy
39:17to preserve
39:18the strength of his men.
39:19It had always been
39:19his strategy
39:20to rotate divisions,
39:22to relieve men
39:23so that they're not
39:24exposed to the trauma
39:25of fighting for too long.
39:271918 is where he begins
39:29to push his men
39:30just that bit too far.
39:31The Hindenburg Line
39:33has been pierced,
39:34but the Kaiser
39:35and Ludendorff
39:36still command
39:37three million men
39:38and an air force
39:39of fearsome skill.
39:41The Allies must press ahead
39:43with their war of movement.
39:46In early October,
39:47the Canadians,
39:48New Zealanders
39:49and Scots
39:49target the city
39:51of Cambrai.
39:52Currie knew
39:53that his corps,
39:54though battered
39:55and bruised,
39:56could deliver
39:57another victory.
39:58And the prize
39:59was Cambrai,
40:00the major logistical town
40:02that the Germans
40:03were using
40:03to supply the whole front.
40:05What Currie and Horn
40:06don't know
40:07is Cambrai
40:08is defended
40:09by three German lines
40:10spanning some
40:11six kilometers,
40:13manned by 200,000
40:14battle-hardened veterans,
40:16all protecting
40:17this last great hub
40:18of German communications.
40:20If you threaten
40:22that hub,
40:23or even better,
40:24if you can take it away,
40:25the Germans
40:27lose their strategic
40:28mobility,
40:29their ability
40:29to reinforce
40:30all along the front.
40:31The Canadians
40:32and British
40:33will send
40:33324 tanks
40:35at the German lines,
40:37closely supported
40:38by infantry
40:39and aircraft,
40:40but they lack
40:41detailed intelligence
40:42on the enemy's
40:43strength and position.
40:45It's a huge risk.
40:46The armoured units
40:47will converge here.
40:49We hear General Currie
40:50has said
40:51he will have Cambrai,
40:52though he'd lose
40:5375% of his corps.
40:55If so,
40:56he is a fool
40:57and a murderer.
40:59You hear?
41:01Make sure
41:01we're in Cambrai.
41:03Cambrai,
41:04Jesus,
41:05whatever end.
41:07Chin up.
41:08It won't be long now.
41:10Cambrai can be taken,
41:12but we do not need
41:13to be slaughtered
41:13to capture it.
41:15And really,
41:16it comes down
41:17to those infantry battalions
41:18fighting for their lives
41:20against the German
41:20counterattacking forces
41:22in attack and counterattack.
41:24And I think
41:25it's an indication
41:26that the Germans,
41:27though they've suffered
41:28tremendous defeats
41:29all along the Western Front,
41:31they were still fighting
41:32fiercely for key positions
41:33and Cambrai itself
41:34was an absolutely crucial one.
41:41Mahmoud,
41:42during 1918,
41:43was one of black despair.
41:44which tried to mask itself
41:46on a spirit
41:46of carefree military enterprise.
41:48I was in a frenzy
41:50for something to happen.
41:52Wounds.
41:53Death.
41:54Anything.
41:55You know,
41:56after they start to win
41:57some of these battles,
41:58there's that sense of,
41:59I might just survive.
42:01So please,
42:02let's not do another attack.
42:03Let's not do another frontal.
42:05Please,
42:05you know,
42:06we've got the Germans on the run.
42:07Let's not push it too hard
42:08so that we have to risk lives.
42:12The end of the war
42:13feels close
42:14but the fighting
42:15will be as bloody as ever.
42:19The attack began at 1.30
42:22and has proved
42:23a brilliant success.
42:25By 8 o'clock this morning,
42:27troops of the 3rd Division
42:28had passed through Cambrai,
42:30North,
42:31South,
42:31East and West.
42:34Caught the Germans asleep
42:35and we got through Cambrai.
42:37It was a great thing,
42:38Gedeemar, Cambrai,
42:38but the brute
42:39has looted and destroyed
42:41a great deal of the town
42:42and started many fires.
42:45This is a brutal occupation
42:47and it ends in a terrible way.
42:49As the Germans withdraw from Cambrai,
42:51there's a scorched earth policy.
42:53They will leave nothing
42:54that the Allies
42:55might take advantage of.
42:56German occupation was not nice.
42:58It was often very harsh
42:59and the Germans
43:00did not treat the civilians well.
43:03After years of occupation,
43:05French citizens rejoice
43:07at the arrival
43:07of Allied troops.
43:10But in spite of Foch's
43:11brutally effective assault
43:12on the Hindenburg Line
43:13and the loss
43:15of the strategic hub
43:16of Cambrai,
43:17the Germans refuse
43:18to give up.
43:20It will be a fight
43:21to the finish.
43:24October 1918.
43:28The Hindenburg Line
43:29has been broken
43:30and the war itself
43:32will be over
43:33in 30 days.
43:35For the commanders
43:37of the Allied armies
43:38on the Western Front,
43:39the focus remains
43:40on one objective.
43:42Ultimate victory.
43:44Foch aims to drive
43:45the Germans
43:45out of France
43:46and Belgium
43:47and force them
43:48to cede everything
43:49to the Rhine River.
43:51Germany knows
43:52that it is beaten
43:52and demands
43:53peace.
43:56You will be
43:56going to die
43:57and you will deliver
43:58humanity.
43:59You will be
44:00going to die.
44:01Freedom,
44:01in front of it.
44:04We have got
44:05the enemy down.
44:07In fact,
44:08he has a beaten army.
44:11And Haig wants
44:12nothing more
44:13than to press
44:13the Allied advantage.
44:15And my plan
44:16is to go on
44:17hitting him
44:18as hard
44:19as we possibly
44:19can
44:20till he begs
44:21for mercy.
44:26Dispelling all doubt
44:27that the war
44:27will continue.
44:29On the 25th of October
44:301918,
44:31German commander,
44:33General Ludendorff,
44:34issues a proclamation
44:35to his men.
44:37For us as soldiers
44:38is not acceptable
44:39to us as soldiers.
44:41We have to
44:42give up with all
44:43strength.
44:45Haig still sees
44:46the Germans
44:46as a threat
44:47and after meeting
44:48Monash on the
44:4927th of October
44:50orders the Australians
44:52to return to battle.
44:54On the 5th of November,
44:55three Australian divisions
44:56are moving back up
44:57to the front line.
44:58And although
45:01the Allied advance
45:02continues at a
45:03ferocious pace,
45:04the Germans resist
45:05them every step
45:06of the way.
45:08The Germans
45:09place their machine
45:10guns in light
45:10artillery so as
45:11to delay our advance.
45:13And as soon as
45:13we begin to press,
45:14he moves off
45:15to the next
45:15suitable position.
45:21Machine guns
45:22were waiting
45:22for us
45:23and never experienced
45:25so intense fire.
45:30Field gunners
45:31from the Royal
45:32Artillery
45:32pursue the Germans
45:33east of the
45:34Hindenburg line
45:35towards Germany.
45:38We took risks
45:38in this advance.
45:40Sometimes we were
45:40ahead of the
45:41foot sloggers.
45:42We were shooting
45:43with rapid fire
45:44and blasting
45:45machine gun nests,
45:46transports and
45:47German troops
45:48running back
45:48along the roads.
45:50It was an
45:50artilleryman's
45:51paradise.
45:53By the first
45:54week of November,
45:54France has been
45:56liberated.
45:58And since
45:59August 1918,
46:00some 375,000
46:03German soldiers
46:03have been taken
46:04prisoner.
46:05There were
46:06rumors swirling
46:07among the soldiers
46:08that the war
46:08was coming to an
46:09end.
46:09And there had
46:10been rumors
46:10like this
46:11from the start
46:11of the war.
46:12No one really
46:12believed them,
46:13but they could
46:13look around.
46:14They could see
46:14the German army
46:15was defeated.
46:16What becomes
46:17in the mind
46:18of the German army,
46:19the Canadian
46:20Corps, the BF,
46:22become unbeatable.
46:23We can't
46:24stop them.
46:26Our troops
46:27have again
46:27made good
46:28progress,
46:29advancing an
46:30average depth
46:31of 5,000 yards,
46:33being tonight
46:33within six
46:35miles of
46:35Maul.
46:40One of the
46:41soldiers fighting
46:41town to town,
46:42pursuing the
46:43German forces
46:44toward Maul,
46:45is Captain
46:45Charles Smith.
46:46Hand up!
46:47Hand up!
46:47Captain Smith
46:48led his platoon
46:49forward with
46:50such rapidity
46:51that he surprised
46:52a party
46:52of enemy
46:53sappers
46:53preparing to
46:54blow up
46:55a roadmine.
46:56Smith is a
46:57Haudenosaunee
46:58of the Cayuga
46:59Nation,
47:00one of more
47:00than 4,000
47:01indigenous Canadians
47:02to serve
47:03in World War I.
47:04By defusing
47:05the mine,
47:06he saves
47:06dozens of
47:07his comrades'
47:08lives,
47:08and for his
47:09valour,
47:10wins the
47:10military cross.
47:13In the final
47:14days,
47:14British and
47:15Belgian forces
47:16pursue the
47:16Germans
47:17across Belgium.
47:17In the
47:19Argonne,
47:20the Americans
47:20and French
47:21have forced
47:21them out
47:21of France.
47:23The Canadians
47:24in General
47:25Horn's
47:25First Army
47:26move into
47:27Mons,
47:28the town
47:28where the
47:29war began
47:29for the
47:29British.
47:32It would
47:33be a great
47:33satisfaction
47:34to me
47:34to take
47:34Mons,
47:35as I
47:35commanded
47:36the rear
47:36guard
47:36of the
47:37First Corps
47:37when we
47:38left it
47:38four years
47:38ago,
47:39last August.
47:40The town
47:41of Mons
47:41in southern
47:42Belgium
47:42did hold
47:43a very
47:44important
47:44place,
47:45I think,
47:45for the
47:46memory of
47:47Henry
47:47Horn,
47:49he had
47:50been in
47:51Mons in
47:511914,
47:52in August
47:531914,
47:54when it
47:54was lost.
47:55He
47:55participated
47:56in what
47:56was called
47:56the retreat
47:57from Mons.
47:57So if you
47:58think about
47:58it,
47:58the sublime
47:59irony of
48:00this cataclysm,
48:01this huge
48:02thing that
48:02changed the
48:03entire world,
48:05and it
48:05begins and
48:06ends for
48:07the British
48:07Empire in
48:08exactly the
48:09same place.
48:11The final
48:12fight for
48:13Mons sees
48:14house to
48:14house,
48:15hand-to-hand
48:15combat in
48:16their medieval
48:16city streets.
48:18Around 5,000
48:19men die on
48:20what will be
48:21the last day
48:22of the war.
48:25Ludendorff and
48:25Hindenburg were
48:26finally having to
48:27admit that they
48:28couldn't carry on
48:29the war if
48:29victory was
48:30getting more
48:30and more
48:31elusive,
48:32and so they
48:33suddenly turned
48:33to their
48:34civilian government
48:34and said,
48:34by the way,
48:35things haven't
48:35been going
48:35very well,
48:36you have to
48:36try and get
48:37some sort of
48:37armistice.
48:39On the
48:39morning of the
48:3911th of
48:40November at
48:407 a.m.,
48:41word arrives at
48:43the front lines.
48:44All fighting
48:45will cease
48:46at 11 o'clock.
48:49I had the
48:50honor of being
48:51the first
48:51machine over
48:52newly captured
48:52ground.
48:53From every
48:54house,
48:54civilians
48:55waved madly
48:55and in some
48:56cases,
48:57went as far
48:57as to
48:58wave tablecloths.
49:00We were
49:01flying very low,
49:02below the
49:02treetops sometimes.
49:06When we
49:07marched through
49:07a French village,
49:08the inhabitants
49:09were almost
49:09delirious with
49:10joy.
49:11They lined the
49:12road and
49:12waved at us,
49:13and the
49:13children ran
49:14alongside,
49:15crying,
49:16Bon,
49:16Canada.
49:23I'd like to
49:23be in
49:23Blighty
49:24tonight.
49:25It'd be a
49:26grand evening
49:26to be home.
49:28I bet
49:28there'd be
49:28something doing
49:28too.
49:30Aye.
49:32I bet
49:32there'd be
49:32a few
49:33good tears
49:33too.
49:33Scottish
49:42troops in
49:42the same
49:42vein as
49:43everybody
49:44else
49:44participated
49:45in all
49:45of the
49:45main
49:45points.
49:46I don't
49:47think any
49:47evidence
49:48exists which
49:49says that
49:50the Scottish
49:50formation
49:51performed any
49:52better or
49:52worse than
49:53anybody else.
49:55They just
49:55did the thing
49:56that they were
49:56supposed to
49:57do, which
49:57was to
49:58fight and
49:58often to
49:59die.
50:03The moment
50:05that great
50:06silence falls
50:06across the
50:07Somme, a
50:08nurse is
50:08serving in
50:09the Australian
50:09Field Hospital
50:10at Villers
50:11Bretonneux
50:11and alongside
50:12her is a
50:13boy who
50:13they all
50:14call Sonny
50:14Jim.
50:15One very
50:16young boy
50:17who has
50:17been suitably
50:18nicknamed
50:18Sonny
50:19Jim was
50:20practically
50:20dying when
50:21we went
50:21on duty
50:22this morning.
50:25When the
50:25celebration
50:26started at
50:2611am he
50:27wanted to
50:28know the
50:28meaning of
50:28it.
50:29He thought
50:29it was the
50:30commencement
50:30of a
50:31barrage.
50:32When we
50:32told him
50:33that the
50:33war was
50:33over he
50:34seemed
50:35unable
50:35to
50:35realise
50:36it.
50:42And
50:42during the
50:42next few
50:43hours
50:43remaining
50:44to him
50:44called
50:44to us
50:45frequently
50:45and
50:46asked
50:46is it
50:47really
50:47over?
50:48Won't
50:49I have
50:49to go
50:49back?
50:52He
50:52seemed
50:53so happy
50:53each
50:53time we
50:54reassured
50:54him.
50:56This
50:56poor
50:57little
50:57lad
50:57finished
50:57his
50:58battle
50:58towards
50:58evening.
51:00He
51:00was
51:00barely
51:0118
51:01years
51:01and
51:02we
51:02were
51:02all
51:02so
51:02fond
51:03of
51:03him.
51:04He
51:05was
51:05a
51:05sunny
51:05gym
51:05to
51:06the
51:06last.
51:12The
51:13Great War
51:13has ground
51:14on for
51:14four years
51:15claiming
51:1616 million
51:17lives
51:18and inflicting
51:1923 million
51:21casualties.
51:22In 1918
51:23the Allies
51:24fight as
51:25one under
51:26fresh leadership
51:27using revolutionary
51:28tactics
51:29and end
51:30and end it
51:30and end it
51:30in just
51:31100 days
51:32but every
51:33yard
51:33is paid
51:34for in
51:34blood.
51:35If you
51:36compare the
51:36hundred days
51:37to the
51:37Somme
51:38the casualty
51:40rates are
51:40quite similar
51:41in many
51:42formations
51:42you've got
51:43an awful
51:43lot of
51:43casualties
51:44but the
51:45operational
51:45success
51:46is there
51:46victory
51:47is there
51:47and that's
51:48what's
51:48remembered.
51:51And as
51:51politicians
51:52at Versailles
51:53redraw the
51:53map of the
51:54world
51:54millions of
51:56front line
51:56soldiers try
51:57to get on
51:58with their
51:58lives
51:58and come
52:00to terms
52:00with the
52:01terrible
52:01losses
52:01that
52:02continued
52:02to the
52:03very last
52:03day of
52:04the war.
52:08General
52:08Monash returns
52:09to Australia.
52:11He receives
52:12an enthusiastic
52:12welcome from
52:13a grateful
52:14nation.
52:16But tragedy
52:17does not leave
52:18him alone
52:18for long.
52:20Within a
52:20year his
52:21wife succumbs
52:22to cancer
52:22and his own
52:24health begins
52:25to suffer.
52:26After a
52:27decade of
52:27supporting
52:28returned
52:28soldiers
52:29and working
52:30in important
52:31government
52:31and academic
52:32posts
52:32Sir John
52:33Monash dies
52:35in 1931
52:36aged 66.
52:39His state
52:39funeral
52:40with crowds
52:41of at least
52:41250,000
52:42a quarter
52:43of the
52:43population
52:44of Melbourne
52:45is the
52:45largest in
52:46Australia
52:46to that
52:47time.
52:48Monash
52:48was a
52:49fantastic
52:50general.
52:50He was
52:51one of our
52:52greatest
52:52leaders we've
52:52ever seen
52:53on the
52:53battlefield.
52:54It took
52:54us a
52:54while to
52:55remember
52:55that after
52:56the war
52:56but I
52:57think it's
52:57really come
52:57full circle
52:58now.
52:58We recognise
52:58that now
52:59of just
53:00the great
53:00work that
53:01he did
53:01on the
53:01battlefield.
53:03Field Marshal
53:03Hague was
53:04immensely popular
53:05in the
53:05immediate
53:05aftermath of
53:06the war.
53:08He served
53:09as President
53:09of the
53:10British
53:10Legion
53:10and devoted
53:12himself to
53:12lobbying
53:13government
53:13for better
53:14treatment
53:14of veterans.
53:16Aged 66
53:17Hague suffers
53:19a fatal
53:19heart attack
53:20in January
53:201928.
53:23He receives
53:23a state
53:24funeral in
53:24London.
53:24Marshal
53:26Foch comes
53:27to say
53:27goodbye to
53:28a rival
53:29who became
53:29a comrade.
53:31The scenes
53:31around his
53:32funeral were
53:33rather like
53:34Princess Diana.
53:35It was a mass
53:35morning.
53:36He lay in
53:37state in
53:37London and
53:39then was
53:39brought to
53:39Edinburgh
53:40and it's
53:42estimated 100,000
53:43people filed
53:44past his
53:45coffin in
53:45Edinburgh,
53:46a lot of
53:46them ex-servicemen.
53:49Curry,
53:50dogged by
53:50years of
53:51allegations that
53:52he needlessly
53:52sacrificed Canadian
53:53lives to raise
53:54his own profile,
53:56fights a court
53:57case in
53:571928 that
53:58clears his
53:59name.
54:00Those rumours
54:01had been
54:01repeated by a
54:02small-town
54:03newspaper in
54:04Ontario that
54:05accused him of
54:05being a butcher
54:06and that was
54:07the time when
54:08Curry struck and
54:08he sued for
54:09libel and it
54:10was Curry
54:10fighting for
54:11his reputation.
54:13He won but
54:14he suffered a
54:15stroke afterwards.
54:16He never
54:16recovered from
54:17that and he
54:17died five years
54:18later in 1933.
54:19Marshal
54:22Foch, the
54:24hard-driving
54:24supreme
54:25Allied
54:25commander, dies
54:27in 1929.
54:29He is
54:29entombed in
54:30Les Invalides,
54:31the pantheon of
54:32French military
54:33heroes, next
54:34to Napoleon.
54:36Having seen
54:37France invaded
54:37twice by Germany
54:38in his own
54:39lifetime, he had
54:40insisted on harsh
54:41reparations for the
54:42German people in
54:43the Treaty of
54:43Versailles.
54:45There was a
54:45fundamental
54:46mishandling of the
54:47German people in
54:48the German state
54:49towards the end
54:49of the peace
54:51conferences in
54:521919, the idea
54:53that there should
54:55be reparations,
54:56that there should
54:56be retribution,
54:58that the German
54:58people should pay
54:59back what they
55:01started was
55:01perceived to be
55:02that, right, you
55:03started it, you
55:04actually have to
55:04now pay this back
55:05to us, you owe
55:06us.
55:06Really more
55:07damaging to the
55:09future peace of
55:10Europe than any
55:11particular treaty was
55:13that the war
55:13itself tragically had
55:15left terrible damage
55:16and not settled all
55:17that much.
55:18So it had
55:18destroyed lives, it
55:19had destroyed
55:20societies, it had
55:22destroyed four great
55:23empires, it had
55:24left a Europe that
55:26was not in
55:27particularly good
55:28shape.
55:29This is not an
55:29honourable peace at
55:30all, it's a piece
55:31of victors and
55:32it's a piece of
55:33villains and that
55:34means of course that
55:35there are old
55:36scores to be settled
55:37in 1939 and the
55:39Germans who
55:40marched to that
55:40war are of course
55:42the same Germans who
55:43marched to war in
55:441914.
55:45the Germans
55:47learned from their
55:47World War I
55:48defeat.
55:5321 years later
55:55General Heinz
55:56Guderian, the
55:57architect of
55:58Germany's blitzkrieg
55:59in World War II
56:00would point to a
56:02single battle as a
56:03crucial influence.
56:04The great allied
56:06fight back that
56:07began the hundred
56:07days to victory.
56:09The Battle of Amiens
56:10war, on the 8th of
56:12August 1918.
56:15The Germans learned
56:28the right lessons from
56:29Amiens and from the
56:31hundred days and the
56:32allies in the rush to
56:34forget about the war,
56:36forget the lessons and
56:37they wind up having to
56:39learn some of those
56:40harsh, important lessons
56:42on the Western front in
56:45the second war.
56:46The tactics of 1914
56:47would have been
56:47recognizable to
56:48Napoleon and the
56:49tactics of 1918 would
56:51be recognizable to a
56:52modern soldier.
56:53That's how much they
56:54advanced.
56:55So by 1918, by these
56:56attacks, this is the
56:57birth of modern warfare.
56:58This is the way we
56:59still fight wars today.
57:00Our lines are broken
57:02here and here.
57:04Four years of fighting
57:05the deadliest war in
57:07history transformed
57:08these commanders.
57:09Some of them were men
57:10of another age.
57:12Others, misfits from
57:14the corners of the
57:15British Empire.
57:18By November 1918, they
57:21had all become
57:22innovators and masters
57:23of war.
57:26Today, we remember
57:28the Somme, Passchendaele
57:30and Gallipoli.
57:31With catastrophic numbers
57:33of dead, all were
57:35failures.
57:37But in the 100 days
57:39from Amiens to the
57:40Hindenburg Line, the
57:42Allies did something
57:43different.
57:44They abandoned old
57:46methods and old
57:46rivalries, and they
57:49learned how to win.
57:52Forward!
57:53Forward!
57:53Go!
57:54Go!
57:54Go!
57:54Go!
57:54Go!
57:54Go!
57:55Go!
57:55Go!
57:55Go!
57:55Go!
57:56Go!
57:56Go!
57:57Go!
57:57Go!
57:57Go!
57:58Go!
57:59Go!
57:59Go!
57:59Go!
58:00Go!
58:00Go!
58:01Go!
58:02Go!
58:03Go!
58:04Go!
58:05Go!
58:06Go!
58:07Go!
58:08Go!
58:09Go!
58:10Go!
58:11Go!
58:12Go!
58:13Go!
58:14Go!
58:15Go!
58:16Go!
58:17Go!
58:18Go!
58:19Go!
58:20Go!
58:21Go!
58:22Go!
58:23Go!
58:24Go!
58:25Go!
58:26Go!
58:27Go!
58:28Go!
58:29Go!
58:30Go!
58:31Transcription by CastingWords
59:01CastingWords
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