The Battle of Hamel, 4 July 1918
This was a joint infantry and tank assault, backed by an extremely careful artillery plan seen in three maps. These are copies of the maps issued to the Australian artillery beforehand, except that the front line has been added as a thick line and the names of the two armies and the direction of the Australian attack have also been included.
Map 3: Field artillery barrage map, Hamel
Map 4: Heavy artillery barrage map, Hamel
Map 5: Machine gun barrage map, Hamel
Things to note
- Monash had the heavy artillery barrage go forward in a series of five big lifts while the field artillery barrage moved in a series of nine smaller ones.
- Both stopped at a joint halt line (marked for the infantry by a thick smoke screen). The barrage paused here for ten minutes so that the soldiers could mop up any remaining Germans and prepare for the next advance.
- The heavy and field artillery then combined in fourteen lifts at the rate of 100 yards every four minutes to a final "protective line".
- Even then Monash was cautious. The field artillery stayed there, but the heavy artillery ranged forward for up to 3000 yards (to break up possible counter-attacks) before pulling back.
- The machine gun barrage was carefully coordinated with the artillery.
It was all planned with great care and in great detail. All three maps overlay one another to form one coherent fire plan. It had a limited practicable objective.
Additional points
Monash was helped by his engineering education and experience, which had given him the ability to recognise a technical problem and work out a practical solution. He used all forms of technology available to him, particularly wireless and tanks (not only for leading the attack, but also as ammunition carriers), to save the troops. Four carrier tanks hauled ammunition and supplies that it would have taken 1200 men to shift. He used planes, not only for observation, bombing enemy formations and intelligence in battle, but also to fly over the lines to drown out the noise of the tanks lining up, and to drop ammunition by parachute.
He also used smoke extensively (cf. White in the second battle of Bullecourt). Monash fired a mixed smoke and gas barrage daily before Hamel, so that the German soldiers always thought of gas when they saw smoke. On the morning of the attack he used smoke only; the Germans assumed the usual mixture and wore their masks, while the attacking Australians were free.
Monash was also keenly aware of the importance of the timing of the attack. He had tests held to work out the exact hours of darkness, and enforced an early start so that the men did not attack when the sun was rising. Finally, great stress was laid on secrecy so that the element of surprise operated in this battle, unlike others in the First World War.
The result
The battle was over in an hour and a half, with the Australians capturing approximately 1400 prisoners and gaining all their objectives for just over 1000 total casualties and possibly 150 dead. It was a brilliant success and used as a model by the British high command. It shows how effective the ANZAC Corps had become under Monash in 1918.