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00:00World War I
00:28early 1918 the German army launches a mighty offensive in a final bid to win the bloodiest war of all this was an all-night gamble for the end of the war the shock as astonishing as the Germans unleash a hurricane fire it was basically the genesis of blitzkrieg their ferocious attack stuns the Allied ranks the British and the French were overwhelmed they believe that they're going to lose the war they believe they're going to be destroyed on the Western
00:58front there is very little time before the enemy overwhelms us entirely they're smashing through our lines bloody nightmare British Field Marshal Douglas Haig and French Marshal Ferdinand Foch must come together with colonial outsiders Australian John Monash
01:28he turned on for over a thousand days he won in just one hundred
01:35the
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02:05after three and a half years and more than three million lives lost Germany has a bold new plan to win the war
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02:21all right lads place your bets
02:27that's my last French queen
02:31come on lady luck
02:33twist
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02:56we had no one
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03:04Three-and-a-half million German shells are fired in just five hours.
03:18Hello, Gordons! Hello!
03:22Lines come to Gordons! Try the Argyles!
03:26Hello, Argyles! Hello!
03:29Communications on the front line are lost.
03:33Allied artillery struggles to respond.
03:39We tried to go on, without aiming, but just firing.
03:44It was no good. Everything seemed lost or buried or blown away.
03:48We returned to the dugouts to wait.
03:51For what?
03:55Revolution has taken Russia out of the war,
03:59releasing one million battle-hardened German soldiers from the east.
04:04The Kaiser's army now outnumbers the Allies on the Western Front.
04:08But the United States army is about to enter the fight.
04:12For Germany, it's now or never.
04:17All our lines, both forward and back, became broken.
04:30Come on! Come on! Come on!
04:31The Highland Division is hanging on to the very last shreds of its reputation.
04:43The shock of the March offensive, especially 21st of March 1918, as the Germans unleash a hurricane fire of high explosive shrapnel, chemical weapons, and then surge forward and around areas of resistance.
04:56The games were breathtaking, and they broke through and caused the British to fall back in large numbers.
05:15It was unlike anything that had been seen to that point during the war.
05:22For the Allies, it's the worst crisis of the war.
05:25The front line is shattered, their infantry exhausted, and in their headquarters, the Allied generals struggle to understand the scale of the disaster.
05:34British Field Marshal Douglas Haig and French Marshal Ferdinand Foch.
05:44Lines are cracking all up and down the front.
05:46Colonial outsiders, Australian John Monash and Canadian Arthur Curry.
05:51The British are falling back fast.
05:53Four generals staring at defeat.
05:55For a moment, the Allies think they will lose the war.
05:58There's been a huge hole ripped in the Allied line.
06:01There's been a huge number of Allied casualties, a huge number of men taken prisoner, a huge amount of ground lost.
06:08All of this is terribly demoralizing for the Allies.
06:14The Canadian Motor Machine Gun Brigade is rushed in to try and stem the tide.
06:23We would open fire as the enemy was advancing.
06:26And as the enemy would come on with their artillery support and advance closer, then you'd give it to them again.
06:49Allied planes take to the air and enter a whirlwind of fire.
06:54Everywhere was a mass of smoke and flame, and we were welcomed with a bombardment of machine guns, flaming onions and field guns.
07:10I have never experienced such a volume of din about the sound of my engine before.
07:14Enemy aircraft dominate the skies.
07:18And German shells are soon exploding deep behind Allied lines.
07:23Shells were whizzing in, screaming. We were watching the shrapnel bursting in the air.
07:37Nurses are under massive pressure as Allied wounded pour into casualty clearing stations.
07:44We had four operating tables in constant use, and poor fellows lying on stretchers on the theatre floor.
07:50I'm going to change the dressing again at 3 o'clock.
07:53I gave 20 anaesthetics, finishing at 2.30 this morning.
07:56Then orders came for us to evacuate.
07:58That first day, on the 21st, with almost 40,000 casualties, the figure that really scares the British High Command is almost 21,000 or so who are prisoners of war.
08:11Because that looks like that this is the rot, that this is the thing they have feared.
08:16The Germans smash a hole 16 kilometres wide in the Allied lines, and advance more than 60 kilometres in just three days.
08:29Paris is now just 120 kilometres away, close enough to employ a deadly invasion.
08:36The biggest artillery weapon in the world, the Paris gun.
08:40It's a 106 kilogram shell, flies for three minutes before hitting its target.
08:56Over 300 shells rain down on the capital city.
09:01Parisians pack their bags, fearing the worst.
09:04German victory is so close, the Kaiser declares March the 24th, 1918, a national holiday.
09:13The British and the French were overwhelmed.
09:17The German army was an incredibly formidable force, and by the time they launched their offensive in March,
09:23they were well trained, they were rested, and they were able to attack the British and the French armed forces
09:32with an amazing power.
09:47Allied leaders gather for a crisis meeting.
09:50A meeting of men who, for years, have struggled to work together.
09:53The earlier inter-allied relationships had been fraught, there had been personal rivalries, there had been national rivalries, but the severity of the crisis meant there had to be this new concentrated effort.
10:09It wasn't enough just to be allies, it had to be a true partnership.
10:16Monsieur, we have suffered a devastating attack.
10:19The French and British have largely been fighting their own separate wars.
10:24They badly need a unified command, and one clear leader.
10:28Field Marshal Douglas Haig controls the three million strong British and Dominion army.
10:36He sees himself as the natural choice for supreme commander.
10:39Born in Scotland into great wealth, Haig is a gallant officer and friend of royalty.
10:47But one million British deaths inflicted as a result of his epic and futile offences on the Western Front have earned him the nickname, Butcher Haig.
10:56He's lost the confidence of many military commanders, but more importantly, he's lost the confidence of the British Prime Minister.
11:04There's a famous phrase that he uses, this man doesn't care for the lives of his men.
11:09The French and the British defences.
11:11With Haig's support waning, and as the war is being fought largely on French soil, there is a push to appoint Marshal Ferdinand Foch supreme Allied leader.
11:20Paris is in great danger, gentlemen.
11:25Foch has been a soldier since 1870, and is one of the French army's senior leaders.
11:32But, like Haig, the horrific losses of the war have crippled his reputation.
11:37He'd been removed from command after the heavy casualties at the Somme, and banished to the Italian Front.
11:44Foch too has been a controversial character.
11:46He's weathered a storm of controversies, but he's survived. He's prevailed. He's a true fighter.
11:53We must dig in and die where we stand.
11:56The qualities of determination and defensive mindedness, which Foch shows, are the right attributes.
12:03He's the right man in the right job in 1918.
12:06Gentlemen.
12:07Haig was not overly thrilled with the concept, but went along with it in the interest of harmony between the Allies.
12:14Both men did put aside personal, national differences, and there was this overarching idea that they should work together, and that they could work together in order to overcome.
12:24Before the unified command can take effect, the Germans launch Operation Georgette, a second massive offensive.
12:36Its aim, to push the British army back across the English Channel.
12:41They quickly advanced ten kilometres to the banks of the River Law.
12:56The Scottish troops involved there had a very difficult task to perform.
13:03OK, this is another huge offensive that's coming their way, and it's the second huge offensive that's coming in such a short period of time.
13:11Understood.
13:13So if there's a moment when Haig has to think about evacuating from the Channel ports, this is it.
13:18But Douglas Haig is a fighter through and through, and that's when he says...
13:22Every position must be held to the last man. There must be no retirement. With our backs to the wall, and believing in the justice of our cause, each one of us must fight on to the end.
13:34For some soldiers, this is inspirational stuff. This is the commander speaking directly to his soldiers.
13:40It was uncharacteristically very emotional, and it was outlining how severe the position was. It said the British army, now we have our backs to the wall.
13:48In effect, it meant fight to the finish, and that it certainly was.
14:03The Scots, under their commander, General Henry Horne, managed to stand firm.
14:09M.O. M.O. Let's go! Let's go! Load it!
14:14Their fighting spirit is well known to the Germans, who have given the kilt-wearing Scots the nickname, Ladies from Hell.
14:24Fixed bayonets!
14:26By 1918, the Highland Division is considered to be, certainly by themselves, by other people as well, to be an elite formation.
14:34I'm proud to be a Scotsman at any time, but more than ever now. It is your determination to stick it out that makes all the difference, and will win this war.
14:47To survive the latest onslaught, Foch and Haig will need all the help they can get.
15:02Which means calling on Britain's former colonies, Australia and Canada.
15:06Since the beginning, their armies and their leaders have been left out of the key decisions of the war.
15:13The Germans are on the move. There's no telling which way this will go.
15:15Now, at this moment of supreme crisis, they are about to take centre stage, with new energy and new ideas.
15:25Curry.
15:26For the first time, the 166,000 strong Australian force is placed under a single Australian command.
15:41After weeks of lobbying and debate, an unlikely but brilliant and resourceful civil engineer takes charge of the Australian Corps.
15:50General John Monash.
15:52There was a whole group of people that didn't like Monash, and they didn't want him in command of the AIF.
15:58So, throughout 1918, even earlier in his career, he was always battling against this concept that he wasn't a full-time soldier before the war,
16:05that he was of German heritage, so his motives could be questioned, and that he was a Jew, so he was a shameless self-promoter,
16:11who would get ahead at any expense like those others of his race.
16:16To be the first native-born Australian Corps commander is something to have lived for.
16:20Considering my disabilities of ancestry and religion, it is grounds for pardonable pride to have achieved such a status.
16:29The son of German-Jewish immigrants, Monash has lived his whole life as an outsider, and he's seen this war at its worst.
16:38In 1915 at Gallipoli, his brigade lost half of its men, and he reproached himself bitterly for the failures of tactics and intelligence that led to their deaths.
16:51Witnesses describe him in a complete panic. I thought I could command men, he said. He fell to pieces, arguably. And that hangs over him. It's a question mark about his fitness as a commander in battle.
17:05The great essential is to entirely suppress all personal considerations. If you stop to count the cost, you simply couldn't carry on for an hour.
17:15Monash considered resigning. He was almost forced out. But he stood up to his critics and survived.
17:22But he stood up to his critics and survived.
17:34Keep your head down, mate. The snipers are out tonight.
17:37Brits doesn't know when to let up.
17:40Bastards.
17:45In 1917, Monash commanded an Australian division as it fought with distinction in one of the most brutal battles on the Western Front, Passchendaele.
17:56Men and guns are sinking into the mud. So Monash sees here men advancing beyond the support of concerted artillery fire.
18:03He sees men being exposed to danger. He thinks there's got to be a better way to fight this war.
18:10It's also at Passchendaele that Monash and the Australians get their first taste of fighting alongside another of Britain's former colonies.
18:18Canada.
18:19Canada.
18:22Come on, mate. You'll be right.
18:37This act of fighting together helps to build a sense of nationhood.
18:40And they begin to realise they're not just people of British descent who happen to be living in other parts of the world. They are somehow different.
18:47The Dominion troops demonstrated from the start that they were very aggressive fighters.
18:52I think a big part of it was they thought of themselves as special. They felt that they were going to show the Poms how to win the war.
18:58There are 275,000 Allied casualties at Passchendaele.
19:06Had these sent to Hague's office at once.
19:08But despite the horror and futility, the battle forges a strong bond between the Canadians and the Australians.
19:14To Monash.
19:15I'm sure I speak on behalf of all Canadians when I say that we'd like to finish the war fighting side by side with you.
19:26General Arthur Curry was a pre-war militia officer and real estate developer.
19:32And like Monash, he's a lifelong outsider. He's even broken the law.
19:36Faced with crippling debts from bad real estate deals. In 1914, he stole $10,000 from his own regiment.
19:47Worth over $200,000 today.
19:50At the time, he was commander of a regiment, Scottish Highlanders.
19:55And money was sent to that unit to really buy new uniforms and kilts. And he embezzled that money.
20:02And in the end, he had to rely on two junior officers to borrow money from them to pay back this money.
20:10But he was never taken to task over the embezzlement.
20:13It was pushed aside both by politicians of the day and by the soldiers who knew.
20:18Now, not very few people knew about this.
20:20It seems to me that he was focused on the war. He had left that life behind him.
20:25He worked 18-hour days. He was known for this profound work ethic.
20:32Like Monash, his early experience of war is horrific.
20:36In 1915 at Ypres, Curry's men faced a terrifying new weapon.
20:51Chlorine gas.
20:52With no gas protection, the Canadians somehow held on, suffering over 6,000 casualties.
21:06Curry was among the last to withdraw, after days of continuous combat.
21:12Curry had been recognized before the war as a fine leader of men.
21:16He had studied warfare. And he would carry that into the war.
21:20He's recognized immediately as probably the finest Canadian commander.
21:25And he was desperate to ration the lives of his soldiers.
21:28And so he demanded more guns, more material, more shells, more time to prepare for operations.
21:35And he was open to new ways of war.
21:38Two months into their devastating spring offensive, the German army continues to press forward.
21:47They advance all the way to the Marne River, less than 80 kilometers from Paris.
21:52But by the summer of 1918, a new army is gathering in France.
22:08After declaring war on Germany in April 1917, and supplying raw materials and money to the Allied war effort,
22:16the United States is now ready to commit much more.
22:19What the United States brought was, in a horrible way, fresh blood.
22:24But it also brought all these resources.
22:28And the German high command knew that the clock was running out.
22:34With no time to lose, on the 15th of July, the Germans cross the River Marne and launch yet another offensive.
22:40As four and a half million artillery shells pound the French army, stormtroopers quickly advance five kilometers.
22:50But the Allies are learning.
22:55Our line must shift to cover the French flank.
22:57The new spirit of cooperation between the French and the British has created a tightly meshed frontline that is harder to penetrate.
23:04Despite this, the German advance is relentless.
23:16There's then this idea that there needs to be a counter-attack in order to retake this ground, particularly driven by the French.
23:22This is French soil. We need to take this back.
23:25And as the French are controlling the Allied armies at this point, that's exactly what they try and do.
23:30And this time, the Americans will be fighting too.
23:33The American people would consider it a great honor to have our troops engaged in the present battle.
23:40Our infantry, artillery, flying men, all that we have is at your disposal.
23:46The French, Americans and the 51st Highland Division spearhead the counter-attack.
23:53You have Scottish soldiers who have been sent from the British forces alongside Americans, and they attack on the Marne Valley.
24:03And they immediately see some very important and very influential successes.
24:09And they push back the Germans.
24:13In spite of great losses, over 100,000 men are killed or wounded at the Marne.
24:17The Allies finally halt the four-month-long German advance.
24:24But reclaiming the huge swathes of territory they've lost will require a bolder move.
24:30Tanks, aircraft, artillery, infantry...
24:35July 1918. Flixicore, France.
24:39Curie, Monash and members of Haig's general staff gather for a top-secret meeting
24:44to discuss a new daring plan of attack.
24:48I want new ideas. Smart, bold, aggressive, understood.
24:53Yes, sir. Understood.
24:55One of the things that this war does is it throws up new talent.
24:58So although the senior generals are all basically British regulars,
25:02the Dominion divisions come with citizen soldiers, Arthur Currie, John Monash.
25:07And they bring completely new skills and a completely new atmosphere.
25:10So they're bringing fresh ideas, they're bringing a fresh perspective,
25:13and they're approaching the problems of warfare on the Western Front
25:16from a completely different angle.
25:18Our plan has to rely on speed and surprise.
25:21And no preliminary bombardment.
25:23We won't show our hand.
25:25Using tactics developed earlier in the war and their own fresh ideas,
25:29Monash and Currie combine infantry, tanks, artillery and aircraft as never before.
25:35We'll do what we tested at Hamel. The infantry won't have to fight their way forward.
25:39They'll get protection from tanks, artillery.
25:42Their objective now, to push the Germans back from the vital rail junction at Amiens.
25:46This full-scale attack will be spearheaded by the Canadians and the Australians.
25:51Get to work on the maps, see to the roads, the railways, the movement plants,
25:55accommodation, food, water, medical supplies and personnel.
25:58It's a revolutionary battle plan, using new weapons and tactics, called all-arms warfare.
26:05There was an evolution in tactics throughout the First World War.
26:19I think most people thinking about the war have a vision of the Battle of the Somme.
26:22There was 120,000 British soldiers rising from their trenches and marching forward through the barbed wire and being gunned down.
26:30In fact, there was a continual learning process.
26:33You can term this 3D warfare.
26:35You have tanks, you have airplanes, you have a huge artillery bombardment and a creeping barrage which comes in here.
26:42And you've got all of these things working in tandem with different armies, different formations, all thinking of the same page.
26:50And the Allies also have new 20th century technology.
26:57Sound ranging, developed by Australian scientist Lawrence Bragg, is designed to pinpoint a hostile battery by recording the sound of enemy guns using an array of microphones.
27:08If a gun fires, it makes a sound, and if you have microphones out, you can triangulate where that gun precisely or almost exactly is.
27:19Once you know where the gun is, you can hit it with highly accurate artillery.
27:27And to help the Allies own batteries, a newly expanded Meteorological Division provides gunners with instant updates on wind strength and direction.
27:42What that allowed you to do is, under different conditions, without actually having to fire an adjusting round, to test the gun.
27:50To increase accuracy even more, each artillery piece is now electrically calibrated.
27:57Technicians set up wire screens 100 meters apart and feed a current through them.
28:02The gun fires a shell through the screens, breaking the electrical current, calculating the exact muzzle velocity.
28:10You could be very, very accurate on the first round, because you knew exactly how fast the round was going to leave and exactly the trajectory, so you could be pinpoint accurate.
28:19Monash and Currie hope these combined systems will allow their artillery to destroy the huge German batteries before they can fire a shot.
28:34They present Haig with their new plan for the Battle of Amiel.
28:38Damn it all, this is it. The new way forward.
28:41Yes, sir. And we are well prepared for it.
28:43This must have been a remarkable moment when Monash and Currie meet to finalise the plan for the offensive.
28:50Here these two outsiders are, and they're suddenly at the centre of all the action.
28:54I hope so. I expect you gentlemen to perform, and your men too.
28:59And here we have these colonials, these misfits, actually, literally, calling the shots in the advance of Amiens.
29:05This is tipping the old Imperial world upside down.
29:08It's now up to these maverick generals to do something the Allied Command has failed to do for nearly four years.
29:17Find a way to win the war.
29:19In these darkest of hours, after four years of bloodshed, each general finds their own way to settle their nerves, as they wait to strike a canter blow against the German army.
29:46The stage is set for the most crucial battle of the war.
29:58The colonial general's vision for a new kind of mobile, multifaceted warfare, combining tanks, artillery, aeroplanes and infantry, is for Monash almost musical.
30:12The perfect modern battle plan is like nothing so much as a score from an orchestral composition, where the various arms and units are the instruments, and the tasks they perform are their respective musical phrases.
30:27Each unit must make its entry precisely at the proper moment, and play its phrase in the general harmony.
30:34And part of that harmony includes an audacious deception he has devised for Currie, exploiting their enemies' fear of Canadian troops.
30:45The Canadians had a reputation as shock troops, troops that were thrown into the line to deliver victory.
30:51And the Germans were on the lookout for them. Their intelligence staff were always tracking the Canadians as they were other combat formations.
30:58The secrecy plan for Amiens to be a success, the Germans had to think the Canadians were elsewhere.
31:05July the 27th, 1918.
31:10Canadian troops are shifted north to Ypres, Belgium, in broad daylight and in full view of German spotter planes.
31:17Then, over the course of several nights, Currie moves them all the way back to the woods, near Amiens.
31:29The only thing audible was the soft sound of men jostling in the dark, the swish of feet and grass.
31:36Pass it down the line. Anyone so much as lights a match, they'll face a court-martial.
31:43In all, 100,000 men of the Canadian Corps travel 150 kilometres, completely undetected by German reconnaissance.
31:53Part of the brilliance of it is, Currie doesn't even tell his own subordinates.
31:57So, for instance, he doesn't even tell his own logistics commanders until, like, a week before the attack.
32:03There was something in the night that seemed pregnant with sudden violence,
32:08as if at any time some crashing chaos might envelop the entire landscape.
32:16They were ready for battle, the tanks were brought in, there was a preponderance of air power,
32:21and this would be the counter-strike.
32:33Oh, how I waited for the barrage to open up.
32:39The door full of suspense, just waiting, waiting,
32:42and listening to the wit-wit of a few stray machine gun bullets about.
32:47Listen up. Oi! Listen up, you blokes.
32:55We're here to take part in the biggest defensive of the war.
32:59We'll have the Canadians on our right, and the railway line dividing us.
33:03You don't get a sense that they're frightened, you simply get a sense that they know this has to be done.
33:09I'm not gonna lie to you boys. It's gonna be bloody rough.
33:12I mean, what is extraordinary to me is how people know that they've got to go and that they might die.
33:17They don't talk about dying.
33:18If we give it our best, we might just get a little bit closer to going home.
33:25They just have ordinary conversations, they have a quiet drink with their friends,
33:28and, of course, friendships on the front lines are often intense,
33:31because these are the people you rely on.
33:33These are the people you trust, literally, with your life.
33:46Enjoy that fresh air while you can, lads.
33:51Tactics and weapons have evolved.
33:55The new Mark V tank has a more powerful engine.
33:58Two six-pounder cannons, one on either side of the tank.
34:04And four machine guns, enveloped in 16-millimeter armor plating.
34:09Make sure those tracks fit well.
34:11I want this tank going all the way across no man's land.
34:14We'll show those Huns what our tanks can do, eh?
34:17So far, tanks have had mixed success.
34:20All right, lads. It's time to saddle up.
34:23But Monash and Curry want to try them in a new way.
34:25Come on.
34:26Working closely together with the infantry, artillery and aircraft.
34:32Tank crews will have to traverse shell holes, ditches and barbed wire,
34:38dodging bursting artillery shells,
34:41before they can train their guns on German pillboxes,
34:44bristling with machine guns.
34:46And the noisy engines threaten the secrecy of the attack
34:50as they move up to the start line.
34:52But the new Allied cooperative approach to battle
34:56has a solution, using something even noisier.
34:58The sound of the tanks has been concealed by low-flying aircraft,
35:09another great technological innovation of war.
35:14Watches were synchronized, and a final inspection of the tank was made
35:18to make sure everything was ready for the attack.
35:20It seems certain from reports of prisoners that the enemy have no knowledge of our presence.
35:32An air of subdued excitement prevailed.
35:36The rumble of distant gunfire broke the silence,
35:40only to be submerged by the sound of our engines starting up on the aerodrome.
35:44I want that engine humming.
35:47These German flyboys know what they're doing.
35:50Busy mechanics with torches were warming up the engines,
35:53which this day would never cool.
35:55Our job was to bomb and shoot up aerodromes,
35:59stumps, roads and railways from dawn to dusk.
36:02All right, gentlemen, synchronize on my mark.
36:06And mark.
36:09Good luck, gentlemen.
36:13On much of our good work depended the fate of the infantry.
36:23By the 7th of August,
36:25the Allies have secretly assembled 200,000 men on the outskirts of AMIA,
36:30spearheaded by the Canadian and Australian Corps,
36:33backed by 500 tanks, 800 planes and over 2,000 artillery guns.
36:39In the HQs, telegraph operators sit by their instruments,
36:45bracing themselves for the rush of signal traffic.
36:49And in the casualty clearing stations,
36:52nurses and doctors prepare for the rush of wounded.
36:54For the first time in our history, all five Australian divisions will tomorrow engage in the largest and most important battle operation ever undertaken by the army.
37:12I am confident every man will carry on to the utmost of his powers until his goal is won, for the sake of Australia, the Empire and our cause.
37:28Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
37:36Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
37:42Unser tägliches Brot gib uns heute.
37:45Und vergib uns unsere Schuld.
37:48Wie auch wir vergeben unseren Schuldigern.
37:51Among the troops facing them is a cracked German division, the 117th.
37:57Just returned from four months leave.
38:00One of the freshest, most battle ready divisions on the front.
38:04Currie and Monash both knew that this would likely be a successful operation.
38:13The secret element, the marshalling of artillery guns, of air power, of tanks,
38:19made something unique about MEN.
38:21But they also knew that under their command, thousands of their countrymen would be killed.
38:26That tremendous weight of responsibility of command, I think, is difficult to understand a hundred years later.
38:31Even when you were winning, you were always losing soldiers.
38:36And I think it must have weighed heavily on them.
38:42Each crew's world centered around his gun.
38:46But we could feel that hundreds of groups of men were doing the same thing.
38:50Preparing for the heaviest barrage ever launched.
38:54At 4.19am, silence reigned everywhere.
38:57Jerry appeared to be sleeping peacefully, unaware that hundreds of men had their fingers on hundreds of triggers.
39:15Fire!
39:16Fire!
39:26Every gun shot together and the thing was off.
39:29I never heard anything like it in my life.
39:32Neither has anyone else.
39:34As it was about the biggest show that had ever been staged on the Western Front.
39:37The Allies launch their great counter-offensive, and the 100 days to victory begins.
39:44Fear rises to the saturating point, and then you resign yourself to the apparent inevitable.
40:05And then you resign yourself to the apparent inevitable.
40:06Whistling
40:07Whistling
40:08Overhead, the air was full of the singing sounds of shells intermingled with the squeals of tanks' odd loose driving bands.
40:10Overhead, the air was full of the singing sounds of shells intermingled with the squeals of tanks' odd loose driving bands.
40:11Like a river rushing down onto his line.
40:28Like a river rushing down onto his line.
40:31full of the singing sounds of shells intermingled with the squeals of tank's odd loose driving
40:36bands, like a river rushing down onto his line. Behind was a continuous low crashing
40:43rumble, like a forest falling up, and in front one could hear the plug and burst of the shells.
40:51It was beyond imagination. I never thought there were so many shells in the world.
40:57The tanks moved forward and we followed.
41:01Bang. Clang. Blatter. No words can describe it. Just the whole world heaves, rocks, tumbles, turns upside down, ricochets, and runs off at a tangent.
41:14I depress the pedal and she roars magnificently like the great man-eater that she is.
41:21The advance was unprecedented.
41:38The hunts were no match for our men who went into battle with perfect coolness as if they were on the parade ground.
41:45Come on, camarades!
41:48Their indifference before death was little short of sublime.
41:52Push on!
41:53It was weird, mystic, wonderful. The landscape was a mass of flame. The stabs of fire from guns and shells only lighting up a haze of smoke.
42:16It was an inspiring sight, and many were the shells that swept unseen past our planes.
42:31The sound rangers have done their job.
42:34The opening barrage is more accurate than ever before.
42:37Something like 95% of the German guns are taken out before the Allies advance into the field.
42:45Pull the down, lad!
42:47Take cover and wait for my signal!
42:51Now the artillery launches a creeping barrage, designed to provide a moving curtain of steel to protect the advancing infantry.
42:58If you're a German soldier in the front line, and you can hear the creeping barrage coming towards you, you think, okay, where are my guns?
43:13You know, where's my artillery support? And it's not there.
43:19All right, lads! One more on your feet! Forward! Quick fire!
43:25Quick fire!
43:25Quick fire!
43:28The artillery should be firing on targets that goes backwards in the same way as the infantry advances.
43:38So that you have the infantry advancing very close on the heels of an artillery bombardment.
43:42You have artillery falling on the enemy's head until you can literally leap on top of them.
43:47Curry used to say, you know, the advancing infantry must follow the barrage as closely as a horse follows its feedback.
43:54So you could stay behind that cloak, that shield of steel as it moved forward, and it would get you right into the enemy's trenches, would get you right into the hand-to-hand combat.
44:03Our guns opened up to the very minute. With our own shells falling, but a very short distance ahead, so close indeed that we had to be careful we did not advance into our own barrage.
44:16Away we went.
44:17We reached one of his trenches just in time to see him getting out the other side.
44:33The creeping barrage is one of many Allied battlefield innovations.
44:40Aircraft fly low over the ground, getting a close look at the battle's progress.
44:48Artillery spotters go up into planes and then view what's happening on the battlefield.
44:59With the developments in radio communications, you're then able to communicate those things back to the ground.
45:04All personal fear vanished in the tremendous thrill and fascination of the task.
45:10The lines of moving troops were spotted and the map locations determined.
45:15Improvements in air-to-ground radio mean that vital messages can reach the generals in minutes.
45:21We're on the move.
45:22The brigade has already advanced two kilometers.
45:24The creeping barrage is affected.
45:26Carry on.
45:27Don't let up.
45:37Send guards! Guards!
45:39As well as modern technology and tactics, Monash has another conjurist trick up his sleeve.
45:47Flavoured smoke.
45:48Let's go!
45:50Smoke shells laced with harmless chemicals to give it a strong odor and even a taste.
45:56German troops are sure it's some kind of poison gas and it creates panic in the lines.
46:02Once you put on a gas mask, you can't see, you can't hear, you can't breathe.
46:08It's a really terrible thing to have to wear in the battlefield.
46:11And then you're expected to fight against troops who emerge out of the smoke and the dust.
46:15So it was a really clever way of giving a huge advantage to the attacking infantry.
46:20We got to the front line and dozens of Germans put their hands up and said, mercy, comrade.
46:35We let some go, but not all.
46:41We shot them down like dogs.
46:43They become something other, at least briefly, and they are prepared to kill.
46:52You know, they are out there.
46:53That is their job to kill.
46:54And so if someone surrenders, you may not be able to pull back and turn into your other person as quickly.
47:00It's like Jekyll and Hyde.
47:02It's a war of no mercy.
47:03It's a war of brutality and it dehumanizes men on both sides.
47:07The battle was raging at its height.
47:14Batches of Germans could be seen being sorted out of their trenches,
47:18as our tanks mercilessly rode over their strongpoints,
47:21dealing death and destruction on every side.
47:25The boys rushed them for their souvenirs.
47:28Watches, medals, field glasses, helmets, caps, cigars,
47:32and other souvenirs were soon changing hands.
47:37This incident took but a few minutes, and we pushed on.
47:42The Germans were completely surprised at the Battle of MEN.
47:46There are German general officers captured at their breakfast table that tell the Canadians,
47:49it's impossible, you can't beat Canadians, the Canadians are in the north.
47:52For several hours, the Germans were overwhelmed, but then they began and they recovered.
47:57And then, of course, we saw really terrifically difficult, hard-pounding warfare beyond that.
48:03It had developed into the kind of war that I'd always dreamt about.
48:09Open country with no trenches or barbed wire.
48:12The surprise is over, and the Germans get their fearsome air force into action.
48:24I'm going to chase the Englander.
48:29Now I've caught him.
48:31Splitter flying in all directions.
48:33I have to pull my machine up high,
48:35to not get hit from flying flying.
48:38How we avoided collisions, I do not know.
48:48You would get your sights on a hunt for a second,
48:50and have to pull out to avoid being rammed by another SE-5 converging on the same target.
48:55I fired at several, but could only be sure of one chap.
48:58He was about 30 yards in front, firing at one of our machines.
49:02And by some lucky chance, I managed to get 40 rounds right into his cockpit.
49:06All day long we kept it up.
49:23Flight succeeded flight as each arrived and left.
49:27As soon as a flight landed, mechanics swarmed over the machines,
49:30filling with petrol, bombs and ammunition.
49:33Day was one of excitement, such as I had never knew in France.
49:40Enhanced greatly about midday, when reports came in of the success of the Australians and Canadians.
49:55Of all the battlefield innovations, none is more important than the tank.
50:00At Amiens, they are used in mass numbers for the first time, and in close cooperation with the infantry.
50:10The tank will lead the infantry through the wire, through the obstacles, and right on top of the enemy.
50:16And then the infantry can deal with the close combat, the hand-to-hand stuff in the trenches.
50:21It's like cavalry used to be, only about ten times as powerful,
50:25because you've got this large, powerful thing coming at you inexorably.
50:30You can't stop it, and it's going to kill you.
50:33We had taken the enemy completely by surprise.
50:45Whenever a tank was sighted, they ran forward with their hands well up,
50:48and we allowed the infantry to deal with them.
50:50For the infantry, tanks are a godsend.
50:54But for the crews inside them, they can be hell on earth.
51:00They're literally trapped in this tin can, this iron coffin that's smoky, that's loud, that's dangerous.
51:08It's also, of course, a physical and a psychological ordeal in that you know that you're exposed to fire.
51:17Allied tank crews suffer from cuts and grazes caused by shrapnel from bullet fragments,
51:22burns from the engines and exhausts, and confusion and exhaustion brought on by carbon monoxide poisoning and petrol fumes.
51:32I can only imagine the fear that these guys must have gone through waiting to be hit by artillery round.
51:37The fire that would then, of course, consume all the oxygen inside the tank.
51:41You're very much a sitting duck. You're a target as well, an active target for German gunners.
51:50Come on, lad!
51:53No! No!
51:55Move!
51:57Move!
51:59No!
52:01No!
52:08And then, of course, men are incinerated. They're incinerated when a direct hit actually lands on a tank.
52:14So being in a tank is a perilous position, and it's telling, I think, when you look at the figures themselves.
52:20Most of the tanks committed to battle are disabled in some way or other during the Battle of Amiens.
52:25The battlefield is soon littered with burnt-out tanks, but they've done their job.
52:35Without the tanks, I'm afraid it would have been a hopeless task.
52:39Certainly there would have been more casualties. Many more casualties.
52:42A man's rifle is stuck into the ground, and his tin hat on top to show he's wounded.
52:52And it also indicates to the tanks that they must not go over him or make mincemeat or sausage roll.
52:57The element of surprise, the creeping barrage, the new tactics, techniques and weaponry proved to be hugely effective.
53:15For the first time, we have seen the destructive effect of all-arms warfare.
53:20The effect on the troops of the successful breakthrough was extraordinary.
53:30It was the first time that we were attacking and advancing in terms of miles instead of yards.
53:37After years of crawling, of dugouts and shell holes and mud, hope stirred in our hearts.
53:44Australian flag hoisted over enemy HQ near Frommerville shortly after noon today.
53:57Should be glad if Chief would cable this to our Governor-General on behalf of Australian Corps.
54:0510,000 prisoners have passed through our cages and casualty clearing stations, a number greatly in excess of our total casualties.
54:1125 towns and villages have been rescued from the invaders.
54:15The surprise has been complete and overwhelming.
54:19The Canadian and Australian armies, led by their own generals, advanced 12 kilometers in a single day.
54:27More progress than the Allies have achieved in any previous battle.
54:31But success comes at a price.
54:34Of the 200,000 Allied soldiers sent into battle, 40,000 are missing, wounded or dead.
54:43Perhaps the most impressive sights I saw were the burnt-out wrecks on the ground.
54:49I wondered which of these collections of steel contained the remains of an old friend.
54:54L'ennemi était complètement surpris par la violence et la rapidité de l'attaque.
55:05Il se repliait dans un profond désarroi, abandonnant une quantité de matériel.
55:10Il fallait vigoureusement poursuivre le succès en maintenant l'action entreprise.
55:15The 11th of August. The Battle of Amiens is now in its third day, and the German army is reeling.
55:25Field Marshals Haig and Foch want to try to end the war right here.
55:30We must press the advantage.
55:32But Curry and Monash have a different idea.
55:35We believe that's not the right course.
55:36But surely we have the enemy on his back foot.
55:40Yes, but the situation has changed.
55:42The element of surprise is gone, sir.
55:45The one thing the Germans were always outstanding at was counter-attacking.
55:48They were brilliant at bringing troops in, recognising where there had been a breakthrough,
55:52and bringing troops in to plug the gap.
55:54And Monash and Curry look at this on the third and the fourth day of battle,
55:58and they realise we shouldn't keep going.
56:00There's no use in pushing this battle.
56:02We have achieved a significant victory here.
56:03But to keep fighting will only waste an important resource,
56:08which is the infantry at the sharp end.
56:10The Huns know we're coming.
56:11We need to regroup.
56:13Modify our tactics.
56:14Keep them guessing.
56:16The important point here is that both Monash and Curry call a stop to this.
56:21They're willing to challenge Haig.
56:22They're willing to say, now is the time to consolidate.
56:25Let's not take this gamble too far.
56:28Very well, gentlemen.
56:30The offensive will be halted.
56:31Excellent.
56:33The Battle of Amiens is a great victory.
56:36Victoire totale. Bravo!
56:38We've done it, gentlemen. We've done it.
56:40No attack has ever advanced so far.
56:44Over the course of the battle, the Allies capture 50,000 German soldiers
56:49and seize 500 heavy guns.
56:50But the Allied generals know their enemy is far from ready to give up.
56:59The German army is still a very formidable army.
57:02There's no massive loss in standard in terms of their power to be able to fight a good battle.
57:08Standing between the Allies and victory is the most powerful defensive position in the world, the Hindenburg Line.
57:18Under construction since 1916, it is an unbroken 600 kilometers of interlinking concrete pillboxes and machine gun nests, densely covered by artillery and surrounded by thousands of acres of barbed wire.
57:34The Hindenburg Line is Germany's final frontier.
57:38And they've chosen that ground in a political sense as well.
57:41This is going to mark the boundaries of the new Germany.
57:44As far as they're concerned, this is where the advance stops.
57:48This is part of northern France that they will occupy forever.
57:51So it has both a symbolic as well as a strategic importance.
57:56If the Allies have any hope for victory, they'll need to fight through hell to even reach the Hindenburg Line.
58:03Gentlemen, this is our next challenge.
58:05Then use all their military might and modern know-how to smash through the most formidable defensive position in history.
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