The+Battle+of+Amiens

=The Battle of Amiens= media type="youtube" key="-b6my8Trt9U?fs=1" height="385" width="480" - A video with live-footage of the Battle of Amiens

Pictures:
August 8, 1918 - A group of Australian Troops posing with a British Tank at Lamotte–Warfusée

German Troops on standby - British soldiers pumping water out of their trench.

**Map of the Battle**


** Who: **

- Erich Lundendorff ||
 * Countries – Commanders/Leaders ||
 * France || - Ferdinand Foch || German Empire || - Georg von der Marwitz
 * Great Britain || - Sir Douglas Haig ||^  ||^   ||
 * Australia || - Sir John Monash ||^  ||^   ||
 * Canada || - Sir Arthur Currie ||^  ||^   ||
 * United States || - John Pershing ||^  ||^   ||

**Allied Forces** - 2nd - 3rd - 4th - 5th || - 2nd - 3rd - 4th - 32nd British Division || - 18th (Eastern) - 47th (1/2 London) - 58th - 33rd American Division || - 2nd - 3rd || - 120 supply tanks - 5 brigades of Royal Air Force: - 800 aircrafts - 8 balloons || - X - XXXI - XXXV ||
 * British Forth Army – Lead by Sir Henry Rawlinson || Australian Corps || - 1st
 * ^  || Canadian Corps || - 1st
 * ^  || British II Corps || - 12th (Eastern)
 * ^  || British Cavalry Corps || - 1st
 * ^  || Associated || - 412 tanks of the Tank Corps
 * French First Army – Lead by Marie-Eugene Debeney || Divisions || - IX
 * ^  || Cavalry Corps ||   ||

**German Forces** - 14th - 27th - 41st - 43rd Reserve - 54th - 108th - 117th - 192nd - 225th || - 109th - 243rd - Forth Division ||
 * German forces – Lead by Georg von der Marwitz || German Divisions || - 13th
 * || Reserves from German Second Army || - 107th

During the first phase of the battle, the British 18th and 58th, Australia 2nd and 3rd and Canadian 1st, 2nd and 3rd were involved. The Canadian and Australian troops were supported by 8 battalions of the Royal Tank Corps, with the strength of 216 Mark V and 72 Mark V tanks also 48 tanks that were unarmed used as supply-carrying tractors. The American 33rd Division supported the British troops just north of Somme.


 * Where: ** The battle took place in the fields of Amiens

** When: **

The battle began on August 8, 1918, the major combat lasted till August 11, 1918, although it could be said that the battle ended on September 13, 1918, which included other phases of the battle.

** Significance: **

This is one of the greatest advances of the war for the Allies, and it marked the start of the Hundred Days Offensive, which would ultimately lead to the end of trench warfare but most importantly, the First World War.

** The **** Battle **** : **

The battle began on August 8, 1918 at 4:20 am, with a dense fog that helped hide the Allies actions. What followed was an advance of 7-8 miles, of the whole 10 mile front, made of an all-armed coordinated attack with artillery, infantry, tanks, whippets, aircraft, and near the end, cavalry.

4:20am – Allied troops, with a dense fog that helped hide them, the Forth Army, the British III Corps attacked north of Somme, while the Australian Corps were at the south of the river, center of the Forth Army’s front and the Canadian Corps were south of the Australian. The Germans, even though they were aware of the attack, they were still caught in surprise since majority of the Allied was unknown to them, they were slow in reacting and only returned fire 5 minutes after the bombardment of the Allies.

7:10am – In the center, the Australian Corps reached their first objective.

7:30am – The first German position was captured. Allies advanced around 4000 yards into the German territory

8:20am – the Australian 4th and 5th with the Canadian 4th division passed through the initial German line

11:00am – By this time, the Canadian Corps and Australian Corps advanced 3 miles from their starting point.

By the end of the day, the German lines south of Somme were separated 15 miles from each other. But the area north of the river, was less successful, where the British III Crops were at, after reaching their first objective, due to only having the support of only a single tank battalion and the rough terrain, they were held up short of Chipilly spur.

German units, a total of 5, began to surrender, and by the end of the day the German losses were estimated to be 30 000; 650 - 700 officers, and 26000 - 27000 men. The British took roughly 13000 prisoners, 400 guns, and the French took 3000. Casualties of the British, Australian, and Canadian infantry, totaled up to approximately 8800 – 9000, excluding tanks and air forces. For this, German General Erich von Ludendorff called this day the “the Black Day of the German Army”.

The first phase of the battle ended on August 11th, when the Germans had to retreat to the lines before the Battle of Somme (1916). By August 13th the British had advanced by a total of 12 miles into German lines.

** Key factors of success: **

Element of Surprise: In the front lines, unusual movement was only made by night, paved roads were sanded over so as to make less noise, dumps were camouflaged, and there were special missions given to aircraft to insure that nothing was being done to alert the Germans. In the rear lines, a strong air barrage discouraged enemy observation and reconnaissance. The attack began with no preliminary artillery bombardment, so as not to give the Germans a chance for a counter-bombardment. The Allies also destroyed German lines of communication, which isolated command positions and prevented any counter attacks.

Tanks: The usage of tanks not only aided the Allies but changed the face of war; from trench warfare to armoured warfare. On a flat terrain specifically chosen for this task, tanks supported by infantry and a creeping barrage of artillery 700 guns made their advance, at the same time as an artillery fire. The first shot of artillery was made as a target direct using, mathematics to calculate the needed range and distance of fire, rather than a target find. Heavy tanks attacked the strong German defensive positions, while whippets probed other defenses. Five miles into the front line, the tanks reached hills in which they had difficulties operating, so 20 000 cavalry troops were ordered to advance. Despite earlier failures of cavalry use in trench warfare, this attack helped take much land, despite heavy casualties.

Interesting facts:
- The Canadian and Australian forces advanced so quickly, that they captured some German officers and divisional staff while they were eating breakfast, - In some units, retreating German troops shouted "You're prolonging the war!" to the officers which tried to rally them, showing that their morale changed in favor of ending the war even if they had to surrender, - Although German intelligence reported to Erich Ludendorff of the Allied build-up, in his ignorance he denied them to be true, - The Royal Air Force used phosphorous bombs on the Germans - On August 12th, Erich Ludendorff told Wilhem II that the war was lost, - When preparing for the battle, Rawlinson's policy on secrecy was so strict that he printed a notice reading "Keep Your Mouth Shut" and had every one carry it in their pay-books and such, - To insure their safety, the inhabitants of Amiens were evacuated out of the city during the March offensive, and the French set up a gendarmerie (police force) to insure nobody went into the battle zone, - The Canadian and Austrlians were chosen to make the most effort in the battle, which proved to be a wise decision as they were in better condition than the other soldiers

- The British Official History states that the "leading of the Canadian and Australian officers and NCO's was superior to British regimental cadres"!

Questions:
1) When did this battle start? 2) What is so significant about this battle? 3) Why was this described as the 'black day of German Army'? 4) Why were the Canadians and the Australians the main force in this battle? 5) How were the Allies successful in this battle?


 * Good Links to look at:**

@http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Amiens_(1918)

@http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/battle_amiens.htm

@http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_amiens.html

Cacadores. "Battle of Amiens - Two Fat Lardies". 7 Nov. 2007. __ilovewargameing.21.forumer__ 13 Oct. 2010 <[]>.
 * Sources**:

Rickard, J. "Battle of Amiens, 8 August-3 September 1918." 5 Sep. 2007. History of War 24 Oct. 2010 

Simkin, John. "Battle of Amiens". N/A. spartacus.schoolnet. 14 Oct 2010 <[]>

Trueman, Chris. "The Battle of Amiens." History Learning Site 24 Oct. 2010 

Source- The Battle of Amiens; Germany's Black Day pg. 21909from The Marshall Cavendish Illustrated Encyclopdeia of World War I Editor-in-Chief: Brigadier Peter Young, Editorial Board: Lt.-Col. A.J. Barker, Dr. John Bradley, Professor John Erickson, Lt.-Cdr. Peter Kemp, John Keegan, Kenneth Macksey, S.L. Mayer, Lt. - Col. Alan Sheppard, Norman Stone, Revision Editor: Mark Dartford Reference Edition Publish in 1986 by Marshall Cavendish Limited 1986

Kearsey, A. //The Battle of Amiens 1918//. Aldershot [|Gale & Polden] Limited, February 1950. Reprinted on the Naval & Military Press. 15 Oct 2010

The Long, Long Trail. [|"The British Army in the Great War: Battle of Amiens"]. 1914-1918.net17 Oct 2010

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. "Battle of Amiens (1918)." 23 Sep. 2010. Wikipedia 24 Oct. 2010 