As 1 October dawned, the objectives set two days before had not been reached. The struggle, the fighting and the casualties just to clear the Hindenburg Line must have been daunting to both General Monash and his AIF divisions, particularly given the ease of the advance after the initial offensive on 8 August. Now, eight weeks later, and so far into German territory, the enemy were offering stiff resistance and even staging counterattacks. How impossible it would have seemed that, within less than a week, all five divisions of the AIF would be withdrawn from the line and their fighting over.
The Americans were sent to the rear, and the advance was to proceed without these brave but inexperienced troops getting in the way. Now the AIF 3rd and 5th Divisions had much to do. To increase control over each brigade’s sector and to orchestrate a moderate advance, General Hobbs, Commanding Officer of the 5th Division, adjusted each brigade’s line of advance east of Nauroy, with the 8th Brigade on the right to capture the Sugar Factory and establish a line on Mill Ridge, the 14th in the centre to take the Lamp Signalling Station and the high ground around it, and the 15th on the left flank to capture the tough objective of Cabaret Wood Farm. The 3rd Division’s objective was to push forward to the canal line, to occupy the north end of the tunnel and to establish posts near Bony Point.
Zero hour was set at 6 am on 1 October. Though the night was quiet, with little enemy shelling, it had been dark and wet, and the men were cold and exhausted. When the barrage came down, it was accurate and intense and, as the men left their trenches, Germans were seen moving back from the three strongpoints designated as objectives for the 5th Division’s attack. The 58th Battalion war diary recalls:
A German soldier of the 2nd Guards Division walked in and gave himself up to one of the company commanders of the 58th Battalion. He stated he was glad to surrender as he had not eaten in three days and his understrength regiment had taken heavy casualties from the artillery barrage. He said all but thirteen of the fifty Germans in Cabaret Wood Farm were wounded and would also be willing to surrender as they all believed they were fighting inexperienced American troops and had nothing to fear.1
As a result, the wood was quickly taken.
The advancing lines moved past the shell-shattered battlefield and out into the rolling grassland, and crops that were relatively undamaged. Even the villages were near complete; undamaged, their grounds and fences remaining, their gardens in flower and fruit trees untouched.
As patrols moved forward, no enemy troops were encountered in the area south-west of Bony, but Germans were still seen in the village. By 1 pm, however, Bony was cleared by men of the 9th Brigade who went on to clear the nearby Knob and Bony Point objectives.
One man who epitomised the determination and courage of the infantry at this time was Lieutenant Norman Dalgleish of the 58th Battalion. After being wounded on the opening day of the attack, 29 September, he continued to lead his men. He was again wounded on 30 September, this time in the arm, but again continued. On 1 October, after assisting in the taking of Cabaret Wood Farm, he was wounded again, this time severely with a shell shard in the face, and was carried out. Covered in blood and unable to speak, Dalgleish first used sign language, then struggled to write and sketch what he knew of the area, the paper splattered with his blood. Later, when taken further back, he asked for his pocketbook and a pencil and wrote a report, with the aid of a nurse, to his superior, noting the advances made that day and including the recommendation of awards for two of his NCOs. He then collapsed, and died a week later on 9 October. An account of this was written up by Pompey Elliott and later read to Dalgleish’s father, who ‘broke down completely and cried like a child’.2
To the north, the 10th Brigade was advancing towards Le Catelet and taking some long-range shelling from German batteries beyond the Beaurevoir Line. German troops were seen pulling out of Le Catelet, and the Australians laid fire on them as they fell back. The 10th Brigade war diary reported that German troops ‘were not in a fit state to carry out further attack’, but concern remained about the left flank which ‘was its tender spot’ so machine guns were sent to cover this area. The war diary goes on to report that rations were good and plentiful, ‘and apart from the difficulty of supplying the numerous unattached Americans for the first night, there was little trouble’.3
At the southern end of the Australian line, the 8th Brigade’s 30th and 31st Battalions advanced towards Joncourt. The 30th reported, ‘When the barrage dropped it was well defined and fairly intense, our men moving well forward and keeping close contact.’4 Enemy artillery began to retaliate some five minutes later, with .77 and 5.9-inch guns causing casualties during the advance. At 6.15 am, an enemy aircraft flew low over the advancing Australians but was fired at and driven off, with Lewis gunners resting their weapons on their mates’ shoulders and firing at the circling aircraft. The report continued, ‘The enemy could now be seen in the vicinity of Mill Ridge. He did not wait for the bayonet, but moved out, some 70 or 80 in one body … presenting a favourable target for our men.’5
Now the battalions linked up and formed one long advancing line, along with the 32nd British Division moving up on their right. As the barrage lifted, the 30th Battalion dug in quickly in a position overlooking Joncourt. A patrol was sent into the village along the line of the railway, where it was found that the enemy had made a very hurried exit, leaving full packs and equipment behind them. The patrol sent back a runner who informed the battalion that the enemy had vacated and moved to the northern section of the village. From here, German machine-gun and rifle fire hastened the digging-in, and the Australians remained in cover for an hour. At 8.30 am, the decision was made to push on and take the village.
A message was sent from a company of the 30th: ‘Am moving through village of Joncourt. Prisoners (few) and booty captured.’6 Fleeing Germans had established a position in a sunken road, however, and fired on the Australians’ flank. The 30th Battalion continued to move forward, then turned and directed heavy fire on the Germans, ‘inflicting severe casualties’.7 The battalion war diary goes on, ‘One burst from a Lewis gun dropped four of the Boche at short range. Our rifle fire was also brought to bear to good effect. Favourable targets were being engaged up to 400 and 500 yards, and for the time being we gained superiority of fire. This was due to the excellent manoeuvring for position of the Lewis guns from hole to hole.’8
At 9.30 am, groups of Germans were seen assembling in preparation for a counterattack. The 30th Battalion immediately set up defensive positions on the northern outskirts of Joncourt and waited. During this time, two stretcher-bearers moved out into the open to collect a mortally wounded sergeant and were not fired on, but when they moved out a second time they were, and one of the bearers was wounded.
As a prelude to their anticipated counterattack, the Germans began a heavy strafe of Joncourt with high explosive and gas. Fortunately, the Australians found shelter in German dugouts and deep bunkers. After two hours, however, the men were uncomfortable in gasmasks and some tried to get out for fresh air, but they quickly returned as the artillery fire was intense. At 3 pm, the men emerged to find the village destroyed, the formerly prominent buildings a heap of rubble, and fires burning in houses. It was hours before the men could return to the underground shelters, given the lingering gas everywhere.
Keen to finish the Australians, the Germans brought up 77-millimetre guns to within 1500 yards of the village and began to fire over open sights. These guns were quickly engaged by Vickers and Lewis guns and within two minutes had been silenced, and were not used again.
By the night of 1 October, the line had advanced; Bony was taken, as were the three difficult tank forts and the village of Joncourt.
When Monash looked at the large wall map at headquarters, he realised that the objectives for the day had been achieved. His men had captured some 3000 Germans but the cost was high, with 2600 Australian casualties in the 3rd and 5th Divisions. Exhausted, these men needed to be relieved; over the night of 1–2 October, they were withdrawn to more secure areas west of the canal and replaced by the 2nd Division. It was the 2nd Division’s task on the following morning to take the last real line of German defence – the Beaurevoir Line.
At 8.30 am on 2 October, the British 32nd Division attacked towards Ramicourt under a protective barrage. This time it was the British whose flank was left unsupported as the newly arrived Australian 2nd Division had not moved forward to assist the 16th Lancashire Fusiliers. The 2nd had received no order for the attack; perhaps there had been a hurried and misinterpreted order, or poor communication. While this advance stalled, detailed plans were made for an attack the following day by both British and Australian troops on a front of 11,000 yards.
Overnight, details of the attack and the start time were passed to battalion headquarters. The plan was for an attack by the 5th Brigade on a two-battalion front: the 18th Battalion on the right and the 19th on the left, with the 17th and 20th following. The objective was the villages of Genève, Beaurevoir and Ponchaux, with the advance moving in a north-easterly direction. The 7th Brigade would also be attacking on the left, and the 46th British Division on the right. There were three phases to the attack: first, the capture and mopping-up of the Beaurevoir Line; second, the advance across the La Motte Valley and the establishment of a line on the north-east slopes; and third, the further advance to the high ground along a line stretching south-east from Beaurevoir village.
To provide support, five field artillery brigades were to lay down a barrage for six minutes and move forward 100 yards every four minutes until the high ground was reached, and the artillery barrage would cease at 11 am. Eight tanks were also provided to follow the barrage, four per battalion, along with eight Whippets to assist the 17th and 20th Battalions; available tank numbers were low given the losses of the previous two months. The new anti-tank weapons, in particular a large Mauser anti-tank rifle9 capable of firing a 13.2-millimetre armour-piercing round through the flimsy British tank armour, had seen tanks easily put out of action. Also to assist the attack of the 5th Brigade were ‘gallopers’ from the 13th Australian Light Horse Regiment, who would run messages and provide help where required. In the hope of a Haig-style breakthrough, a squadron of light horse was also attached to each battalion headquarters, but these were never used.
By 5.30 am, the men were lined out on the start tapes on the southern outskirts of Estrées waiting for zero hour, set for 6.05 am. The barrage started well and on time, and the men rose and advanced. The German barrage that came down between the jumping-off tapes and the Beaurevoir Line was reported as scattered, and ‘did not give much trouble’.10 The advance saw the 18th and 19th Battalions consolidate a position in the support line of the Beaurevoir system by 7.15 am. The centre companies, however, struck thick wire and heavy machine-gun fire. As no tanks were available, and after a failed attempt to clear the German post, the decision was made to withdraw and call for artillery. At 10.30 am, after the men had been withdrawn, an intensive five-minute barrage fell on the forward section of the German line. Immediately after the barrage stopped, two companies of the 19th Battalion attacked and, after joining with the 18th, who mopped up with them, the trench was secured with 200 prisoners taken, including four officers, along with eighteen machine guns and three trench mortars.
Further to the north, the 7th Brigade also began moving forward. The 25th Battalion had an advance across 1200 yards of open farmland on a 1400-yard frontage to attack a particularly strong section of the German line at Mushroom Quarry. When the barrage fell, they hugged the line of falling shells and, for the first 500 yards, they encountered little resistance. Advanced enemy posts ‘surrendered fairly freely … the advance was checked here for a few minutes, but the dash and initiative displayed by all ranks succeeded in surrounding and overcoming all resistance … the Beaurevoir line was rushed and captured.’11 The Australians captured a large number of prisoners and machine guns before taking their objective by 7.15 am.
At one point, a company of the 25th came upon 100 Germans lining a bank and firing on advancing British troops of the 151st Brigade further north. They quickly turned Lewis guns on the German position, killing forty and capturing sixty prisoners. The 26th Battalion then passed through the 25th and assisted in the capture of L’Ormisset and Mushroom Quarry.
The 7th Brigade war diary makes mention of the work of the snipers:
The Brigade Sniping Section was used with great effect in the advance. They moved off with the infantry on independent sniping missions, working in pairs. The section claimed 146 direct hits, of which 111 were claimed to be killed. Five enemy machine guns were put out of action by it and three German officers – one a captain, was killed. It reluctantly captured five Germans. A 77mm battery firing at 500 yards range was engaged and silenced for prolonged periods.12
As the attack continued, German resistance up to the Beaurevoir Line was not serious but, within the line, German machine gunners in particular held out. The 7th Brigade war diary goes on to state, ‘The enemy morale was apparently very mixed; a large proportion did not relish the close fighting. On the other hand, our men used their bayonets with very good result.’13 Australian casualties were two officers and sixty-one men killed, fourteen officers and 271 men wounded and thirty-seven missing. An estimated 500 Germans were killed and a further 705 captured. Bean records a captured German officer complaining, ‘You Australians are all bluff. You attack with practically no men and are on top of us before we know where we are.’14
The 7th Brigade now held a line just to the east of Beaurevoir village, north-west of nearby Guisancourt Farm. On the night of 3–4 October, the brigade was relieved by the 7th British Infantry Brigade and moved back to the Nauroy area.
Meanwhile, 5th Brigade’s 20th Battalion and two companies of the 17th Battalion had moved through Estrées and pushed past the Beaurevoir Line, which ran along the ridge above the village, with few casualties. They were held up here by a field gun firing from White Cottage as well as a number of concrete pillboxes, some with twenty machine guns.
Nearby, 22-year-old Lieutenant Joe Maxwell of the 18th Battalion had taken charge of his company when the company commander was severely wounded. At 7.15 am, he had sent a message saying he had been held up by heavy machine-gun fire and barbed wire. Having no available tanks to assist, Maxwell then led his men through the dense wire, taking German machine-gun positions as he went15 by capturing the most dangerous gun and killing and capturing the crew, before taking out other machine guns holding up the advance.
At one point, as Maxwell was charging and firing his revolver, he leapt into a German post only to find he was out of ammunition. He is reported as saying, ‘When the Germans before us shouted, Kamerad, I was the most pleased and relieved man in France.’16 One of the surrendering Germans fired and killed an Australian, a cowardly act that brought swift and deadly retribution to these prisoners. Further into the advance, an Australian also shot a surrendering German prisoner. Others about to surrender then hesitated and Maxwell, feeling he needed to apologise and sort out the problem, walked into the group of Germans, taking with him a prisoner and two privates. He soon realised his mistake when a German officer in the trench ordered his men not to surrender, and to capture Maxwell instead. Immediately weapons were pointed at Maxwell, forcing his surrender. He suggested the German officer surrender as there was no way out for him, but he refused, asking Maxwell instead to join him in a drink. At that moment an Australian barrage fell on the trench, killing the German officer and allowing Maxwell to make his escape. Maxwell had already been awarded a Distinguished Conduct Medal and a Military Cross, but his actions on this day were to see him awarded the Victoria Cross.
The 17th and 18th Battalions continued their advance, next coming to the crossroads just on the western outskirts of Beaurevoir village, where they came under artillery fire from a German 77-millimetre gun. This was quickly put out of action by the Lewis gunners and riflemen, and the gun crew was killed. The other two companies of the 17th Battalion passed through the Beaurevoir Line and captured Wiancourt at 9 am, but found they came under heavy fire as they left the village from a battery of field guns and machine guns firing at a range of 1200 yards.
To press the advance, the 6th Brigade was now brought up, with three battalions – the 22nd, 23rd and 24th – pushing forward to an objective line to the south-west of Beaurevoir village. To assist them, an artillery barrage was arranged for 4.15 pm with eight brigades of Australian artillery. This came down on Beaurevoir and other targets as the three battalions advanced. The right and left battalions met very little resistance, ‘but in the centre sector there was several instances where determined resistance was offered by small groups of machine gunners, and an examination of the ground after the attack evinced the fact that bayonets had been used by the men to a greater extent than usual’.17 Nearby, four 77-millimetre guns were captured ‘though the enemy made determined efforts to prevent them falling into our hands’.18 By 8.30 pm, the battalions were on their objectives and had made contact with their flanking battalions.
By the end of 4 October, the Australians held a 6000-yard front from north of Joncourt to Prospect Hill. On the Australian right flank, the British IX Corps held a further 5000-yard front from Joncourt south to Sequehart. During the attack, the Australians had captured 634 unwounded prisoners, including eleven officers, eight 77-millimetre guns, seven minenwerfers, six anti-tank rifles and about sixty-eight machine guns. Enemy dead were estimated to be well over 500. The 5th Brigade had fifty-eight men killed, 391 wounded, 159 gassed and thirty-five missing.
Attention now turned to completing the attack on the surviving sections of the Hindenburg and Beaurevoir lines, and past the remaining undeveloped German defensive lines. Haig still harboured his desire to push his cavalry through the yawning gaps along this new line, but Rawlinson, realising the exhausted state of the Australians, sought to relieve them and secure the lines before further advances could be made. This relief relied on American II Corps, who could not be brought up quickly enough, so the 22nd and 23rd Battalions would remain in place until the Americans’ arrival the following night. Monash decided this was a good opportunity to use these battalions, along with the 2nd Pioneer Battalion, to take the fortified Montbrehain, after which they too would withdraw and return to the rear for rest.
The plan was for the two attacking battalions, the 21st and 24th, with the 22nd and 23rd following to mop up, to assemble on the jumping-off tapes at 5.25 am ready to start at zero hour, 6.05 am. Four tanks would be allocated to the two mopping-up battalions plus four tanks, if available, for the 2nd Pioneer Battalion. The attack would be supported by an artillery barrage falling 300 yards to the east, which would then creep forward 100 yards every four minutes. A heavy artillery barrage would also be laid on the village and then, as the battalions closed in, fall on selected targets in the Montbrehain vicinity. The barrage would also include smoke, as this had proved effective over the advance of the previous two months.
Going into this battle were two great mates, Captains Harry Fletcher and Austin Mahony. They had enlisted together from rural Victoria, joined the 24th Battalion as privates and had served at Gallipoli. Fletcher was a Bendigo schoolteacher, while Mahony was a clerk. They had suffered through the fighting at Pozières in July and August 1916, where Mahony was awarded the Military Cross, and each had risen through the ranks. By late 1918, they were both company commanders in the 24th Battalion and, though their company strength was well below that of a usual platoon, they were still together for the attack on Montbrehain.
At 3 am on 5 October, the men of the 24th were turned out of their shelters and ordered to prepare for the attack. As their battalion history states, ‘The morning was frosty with the moon shining from a clear sky, and once they were astir the lads were eager for some activity to get their blood circulating with a little more warmth. A few hours later, when they were charging up the slope in the face of heavy fire, their blood was at boiling point.’19
The three companies formed up on the tapes one hour before zero hour, shivering and waiting for the barrage to come down. On the right, ‘A’ Company under Captain Mahony, MC; in the centre, ‘B’ Company under Captain G. D. Pollington, MM; and on the left, ‘D’ Company under Captain Fletcher. The men were still feeling the effects of the gas the Germans had laid down at 5.15 am, but by zero hour were keen to move.
At 6.05 am, as planned, the barrage fell ahead of the waiting Australian battalions, but it was thin and inaccurately placed. As telephone lines were quickly laid down and maintained, the first reports came back at 6.20 am from the Pioneers, which stated ‘everything seems to be going well’,20 and the CO of the 21st sent a similar message. The Allied barrage provoked a light German retaliatory barrage and an enfilading heavier barrage on the right of the line, which followed the Australian advance. The two attacking battalions continued without the promised tank support, which was late in coming up. As the battalions entered Montbrehain, heavy machine-gun fire raked the 21st Battalion, with one gun firing ‘from a window in the first house in the village; two Lewis gunners sliced out the windows with their bullets’.21 From that point, however, resistance weakened on the 21st’s front.
The 24th Battalion came under fire after they left their start line, and they emerged from the railway cutting with heavy fire coming from the north-east of Montbrehain. An enemy strongpoint in this area contained ‘numerous MG’s and 42 Germans. This post put up a desperate resistance. The enemy fought fiercely until our troops were within three yards of their guns. They were eventually overcome and the garrison killed to the man.’22 Fire then came from a nearby quarry, where more than 100 Germans with forty machine guns were shooting into the advancing lines of the 24th Battalion. After brutal fighting, this strongpoint was taken, along with sixty prisoners plus others in the immediate area. Nearby, a tank firing canister shots helped eliminate four German posts that were holding up Captain Mahony’s advance.
Lieutenant George Ingram was awarded the Victoria Cross for his gallantry. His citation mentioned his actions during the attack on Montbrehain; for example, when his platoon was held up by a German strongpoint early in the advance and a heavy fight ensued, he eliminated nine machine guns, killing forty-two Germans.
The Germans began fighting back. The centre company of the 24th became isolated by intense machine-gun fire and a concentrated barrage which inflicted heavy casualties. The Australians established a line of posts and tried to connect them with the companies on their flanks, building a line around the southern side of the village. During this advance, Lieutenant Horrie Clough, while pushing through a hedge, struck his helmet on the barrel of a German machine gun, whereupon his batman, Private John Blankenberg, ‘shot the crew as “cowards”’.23 He had been wounded in action earlier that year, and was to be killed in the fighting that day.
A tank, attempting to relieve the situation, was quickly put out of action. After all the officers of the 24th were either killed or wounded, the senior NCO, Sergeant Major Adrian Burke, decided to dig in on the line they were holding.
A gap now existed between the companies of the 24th Battalion. The Germans counterattacked, pushing the Australians back. Lieutenant Willie McConnochie was fighting for his life, with Germans pushing in from three directions. ‘Having a sticky time. Send us a platoon to come up on our right,’24 he messaged his CO. Two platoons moved forward. ‘Am going to hold on till supported,’ he sent back. To make matters worse for the Australians, civilians began emerging from cellars; poor, desperate wretches who had been under German occupation for years, and who now crowded around the Australians, elated at their liberation.
Casualties in both battalions were heavy, and two companies of the 19th were brought up; one to support the 21st and one to support the Pioneers. The Pioneers and the 6th Machine Gun Company had followed to the rear of the two battalions as ordered, but as they advanced, they came under heavy fire from the railway line, the quarry and the sunken road, where they dropped into the waist-high crop and out of sight. The Pioneers, though not trained infantry, succeeded in securing the objective, capturing forty Germans and then digging in. They also, with the aid of two tanks, silenced other German posts, but fire from Doon Mill forced them back over the crest of the ridge, where they dug in. An attempt was made to get around the mill, but heavy German fire fell upon any movement by the Australians.
At this point, Lieutenant Norm Wilkinson crawled along the embankment, where he was astonished to see 100 German machine gunners lined along the bank 200 yards ahead. Unseen, he carefully brought up two Vickers guns. They quietly eliminated the two German machine guns protecting the flank, then poured fire into the Germans lining the bank. As Bean says, ‘The Germans seemed to melt. Pushing on, Wilkinson and his men found 14 enemy machine guns out of action, 30 Germans killed and 50 wounded. The rest had fled.’25 A captured German said at the time that if they had they known they were fighting Australians, ‘they would not have fought at all’.26
The Germans, too, were having a hard day, and they showed great bravery and determination even though no organised counterattacks were mounted. When the Germans observed the Australians were not going to push far past the village, they brought artillery and machine guns forward and fired over open sights into the Australian posts. The 6th Brigade war diary states, ‘His MG’s were handled very expertly and courageously and pushed far forward while his very heavy losses did not in any way deter him in his efforts to reach and wipe out our posts. It is impossible to accurately estimate the number of enemy killed in this operation, but all ranks say that they have never seen so many enemy dead in such a small area.’27 Estimates of Germans killed during the day ran well past 500. Over 600 prisoners were also taken, with eight officers and 327 men captured by the Pioneers. The 24th Battalion report on the battle states, ‘It is impossible to estimate the number of enemy killed, but never before has it [the battalion] inflicted such heavy casualties.’28 A German regimental historian wrote, ‘only a few survivors came through to bring to regimental headquarters the news of the fearful catastrophe.’29 The history also noted that the relentless Australian attack saw the Germans run ‘in wild flight before the attack’,30 but also that they did resist at various points including the communal cemetery.
The fighting was so severe and intense that the battalions ran out of ammunition and relied on captured German weapons, especially machine guns, to conserve their own ammunition. The 24th Battalion report noted, ‘Vickers Gun, Lewis Gun, Rifle and Revolver ran out of ammunition repeatedly. Extra supplies were sent forward and much was salved from casualties. German guns were freely used on the enemy, and the battlefield was littered with German dead.’31 Vickers guns played an important part in the fighting, particularly in the 24th Battalion sector. Two Vickers posts each claimed over 100 Germans killed, a claim borne out by the infantry in this area: ‘All ranks are unanimous in their praise of the work done by the Vickers M. guns.’32
The artillery, after a bad start with a ragged and inaccurate opening barrage, also took credit for a large part of the success of the attack, especially for shelling German artillery, breaking up potential counterattacks and inflicting heavy casualties on the Germans firing from the ridges beyond Montbrehain. At 8 pm, the objectives had been captured and consolidated, and the lines between the battalions linked up and secured.
The outstanding success of the attack on Montbrehain was put down to the aggressive nature of the Australian battalions, in particular the 2nd Pioneer Battalion, which had not been involved in complex infantry operations before. This battalion had no time for any reconnaissance of the forward area, had moved up into position on a dark night and, for the duration of the day, had shown determination in taking German strongpoints and in holding their positions often under heavy artillery and machine-gun fire.
The Australians had captured 150 machine guns plus minenwerfers, and vast amounts of artillery pieces and stores. However, the casualties in the three attacking battalions, the 21st, the 24th and the Pioneers, were nine officers and eighty-four other ranks killed, nineteen officers and 271 other ranks wounded, and one officer and sixteen other ranks missing. Among the dead were the great mates Fletcher and Mahony: Fletcher had been killed instantly in the blast of a 77-millimetre shell; Mahony was shot through the temple by a sniper and died two days later.
Montbrehain was a major Australian victory and a severe defeat for the Germans. The enemy was prepared for the attack and had up to 1500 troops in the vicinity, many of them fresh and recently transferred to the area. The smattering of different German regiments – at least ten, it was reported – indicated the confusion that existed in the German army at the time, with men pulled from remnant units under different officers. Such was the defeat at Montbrehain that the Germans were quiet overnight, showed little stomach for a fight, and made no attempt to retake the village the following day. Meanwhile, to the north, the 25th British Division had also captured Beaurevoir to complete the defeat and secure the northern flank.
Unbeknown to the AIF, this was to be the last Australian infantry battle in the war. Although none of them knew it at the time, the war was at last over.