Battle
The barrage opens a breach; reliefs sustain the advance, then support struggles to keep up.
Military history
On 8 August 1918, Rawlinson’s Fourth Army attacks east of Amiens behind a sudden barrage. Australians and Canadians advance in the centre, the British north of the Somme; Debeney’s French army joins the action in the south after a short preparation. The depth gained depends on infantry reliefs, tanks, fire, and communications. Results are uneven: Chipilly holds the northern flank, then German reinforcements, the devastated 1916 terrain, and dwindling tank numbers slow the exploitation. Amiens opens the Hundred Days without producing a continuous pursuit to the armistice.
The Germans did not take Amiens in the spring. Their salient remains exposed to an Allied attack. Rawlinson prepares the Fourth Army’s operation with British, Australian, and Canadian corps; Debeney covers its southern flank. The immediate aim is to threaten communications and push back the front, within the Allied strategy of successive offensives.
Troops and ammunition arrive at night. Calibrating guns to the rear limits revealing registration fire on the attack front. Aircraft mask the noise of tanks moving into position. Secrecy therefore depends on routes, timetables, and control measures well before the guns open fire.
Within the Australian Corps, the 2nd and 3rd Divisions are to take the first objective; the 4th and 5th then pass through them. A scheduled pause allows men and mobile batteries to catch up. This depth does not depend on a single infantry line advancing without interruption, but on successive tasks and reassigned support.
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Military history
Ch. V, pp. 81–90, échelons et artillerie mobile ; ch. VI, pp. 99–108, secret, calibration et chars ; ch. VII, pp. 120–128, messages et Chipilly ; ch. VIII, pp. 133–143, reprise vers Lihons et limites.
Australian plan and execution, material mechanisms, reliefs, flank fire and 1916 terrain; a situated account, not presumed neutral.
View ↗Carte C face à la p. 144 : limites du corps, objectifs du 8, Chipilly, Harbonnières, Vauvillers et Lihons.
Fine geography and limits of Australian and Canadian sectors; full map inspected.
View ↗Description, paragraphes sur la concentration, les limites railway/route, les échelons, Le Quesnel et la reprise du 9 ; champ Date 8–11 août.
Canadian deployment, cooperation with neighbouring forces and the battle-honour boundary.
View ↗Paragraphes d’ouverture sur 4 h 20 et l’artillerie ; témoignage de la patrouille de contact d’Edward Bice à 11 h 05.
Weapon missions and aircraft reconnaissance role.
View ↗PDF pp. 20–23, pagination imprimée 38–45 : Advances, Combined Arms, Results, 9–11 August 1918.
Sector differences, Chipilly, support and first-day tally; casualty scopes distinguished.
View ↗PDF pp. 1–3, Preliminaries, The Battle of Amiens, Aftermath ; note 3 pour les pertes discutées.
8–12 August scope, tank categories, command and correction of the prisoner figure.
View ↗Section Le 8 août 1918 : la bataille de Picardie ; paragraphes sur XXXIe à 5 h 05, Moreuil, IXe à 9 h, XXXVe le 9 et Montdidier le 10.
French sequence and Debeney’s role south of the Amiens–Roye road.
View ↗Panneau droit 21b : situation du 8 août et réduction du saillant ; distinguer les lignes du 8 de celles d’août et septembre ultérieures.
Overall geography, army sectors and direction check; map inspected.
View ↗Notice technique initiale, poste arrière et poutre ; section sur le Mark V H41 présent à Amiens.
Male Mark V type; silhouette is not assigned to the museum’s individual vehicle.
View ↗Objet consacré au casque Brodie, distribution à partir du début de 1916.
British steel-helmet type.
View ↗Passages sur uniformes 1915–1916, bleu horizon, Adrian et casque allemand 1916.
French and German types and helmet transition.
View ↗Photographie MIKAN 3405685, reproduite dans la notice Cambrai, 1917 du ministère canadien de la Défense.
Mounted silhouette and steel helmet; the small reproduction does not support precise attribution of each equipment item.
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