1 00:00:09,016 --> 00:00:11,092 Come on! Come on! 2 00:00:22,040 --> 00:00:24,092 Let's go! Let's go, Logan! 3 00:00:24,092 --> 00:00:27,036 Get that thing firing! 4 00:00:30,072 --> 00:00:33,044 Spring, 1918. 5 00:00:33,044 --> 00:00:38,000 A ferocious German offensive pushes the Allies to the brink of defeat. 6 00:00:40,048 --> 00:00:44,032 The shock as the Germans unleash a hurricane fire. 7 00:00:44,032 --> 00:00:48,008 It was basically the genesis of Blitzkrieg. 8 00:00:48,008 --> 00:00:51,028 Their relentless attack stuns the Allies. 9 00:00:51,028 --> 00:00:54,012 I think for a moment, the Allies think they will lose the war. 10 00:00:54,012 --> 00:00:55,068 Fire! 11 00:01:00,036 --> 00:01:02,012 With their backs against the wall, 12 00:01:02,012 --> 00:01:05,024 Allied commanders dramatically change their approach... 13 00:01:05,024 --> 00:01:06,092 Secrecy is vital. 14 00:01:06,092 --> 00:01:09,028 ..with new weapons, 15 00:01:09,028 --> 00:01:11,012 new machines, 16 00:01:11,012 --> 00:01:14,068 and radical new ways to coordinate infantry, artillery, 17 00:01:14,068 --> 00:01:16,092 air force and tanks. 18 00:01:16,092 --> 00:01:20,048 Working together, they manage to halt the German offensive... 19 00:01:20,048 --> 00:01:22,028 We're advancing all along the line. 20 00:01:24,052 --> 00:01:27,040 We have the enemy on his back foot. 21 00:01:27,040 --> 00:01:30,036 ..but they've lost huge areas of French territory 22 00:01:30,036 --> 00:01:32,036 and their enemy is still fearsome. 23 00:01:32,036 --> 00:01:34,072 There's still a lot of fight left in Germany 24 00:01:34,072 --> 00:01:36,084 and the Germans are still preparing to fight on, 25 00:01:36,084 --> 00:01:38,060 and the Allied commanders 26 00:01:38,060 --> 00:01:41,056 think that the war will probably go on to the summer of 1919. 27 00:01:41,056 --> 00:01:44,032 The German Army still don't believe they're going to lose the war, 28 00:01:44,032 --> 00:01:46,024 they still don't believe that the German Army 29 00:01:46,024 --> 00:01:48,016 is going to be destroyed on the Western Front, 30 00:01:48,016 --> 00:01:50,064 so they're still a formidable fighting force. 31 00:01:52,040 --> 00:01:56,064 The Allied commanders are a diverse and unlikely team - 32 00:01:56,064 --> 00:02:00,016 British old school Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 33 00:02:00,016 --> 00:02:02,040 French Marshal Ferdinand Foch, 34 00:02:02,040 --> 00:02:04,052 and colonial outsiders, 35 00:02:04,052 --> 00:02:06,068 Australian John Monash, 36 00:02:06,068 --> 00:02:09,052 and Canadian Arthur Currie. 37 00:02:09,052 --> 00:02:11,052 They've turned the tide, 38 00:02:11,052 --> 00:02:14,092 now, they face the supreme challenge - 39 00:02:14,092 --> 00:02:16,032 victory. 40 00:02:35,052 --> 00:02:37,036 Welcome, gentlemen. 41 00:02:37,036 --> 00:02:40,000 General Monash, good to see you. 42 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:41,040 General. 43 00:02:43,084 --> 00:02:46,084 I suppose that it rarely happens that such a distinguished gathering 44 00:02:46,084 --> 00:02:49,068 should so meet under such stirring surroundings, 45 00:02:49,068 --> 00:02:52,060 with the guns thundering all around. 46 00:02:52,060 --> 00:02:56,032 An extraordinary meeting of the Allied high command. 47 00:03:00,012 --> 00:03:04,040 Just two days earlier, using ideas from Monash and Currie, 48 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:08,072 they defeated the German Army at Amiens, 49 00:03:08,072 --> 00:03:12,052 advancing 12km in just four days, 50 00:03:12,052 --> 00:03:15,096 greater gains than any time in the past four years. 51 00:03:15,096 --> 00:03:19,056 Amiens was a significant blow against the Germans 52 00:03:19,056 --> 00:03:22,052 and I think the Allied Commander Foch realised 53 00:03:22,052 --> 00:03:24,092 that perhaps this was the moment 54 00:03:24,092 --> 00:03:28,076 where the attritional warfare had finally ground the enemy down 55 00:03:28,076 --> 00:03:30,072 and so there would be a series of battles 56 00:03:30,072 --> 00:03:33,040 to break the Hindenburg Line. 57 00:03:33,040 --> 00:03:38,004 It was a fearsome position for the Allies to face. 58 00:03:38,004 --> 00:03:41,012 This, gentlemen, is our next objective. 59 00:03:43,028 --> 00:03:48,024 The Hindenburg Line is in fact five heavily-fortified trench lines 60 00:03:48,024 --> 00:03:51,068 connected by a series of concrete bunkers 61 00:03:51,068 --> 00:03:55,016 and bristling with machine-gun nests and booby-traps. 62 00:03:55,016 --> 00:03:57,076 Stretching over 400km, 63 00:03:57,076 --> 00:04:02,000 each line is protected by vast belts of barbed wire 64 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:05,092 laid out to channel attacking infantry into killing zones. 65 00:04:05,092 --> 00:04:08,052 It's more formidable than anything the Allies 66 00:04:08,052 --> 00:04:10,016 have faced in the entire war. 67 00:04:12,016 --> 00:04:16,064 The Hindenburg Line assumed almost a mythical status 68 00:04:16,064 --> 00:04:19,056 for the Germans and for the Allies. 69 00:04:19,056 --> 00:04:23,072 For the Germans, it was their last great defensive line. 70 00:04:23,072 --> 00:04:28,024 For the Allies, they knew this was a line they would have to break 71 00:04:28,024 --> 00:04:31,012 if they wanted to break the German Army. 72 00:04:31,012 --> 00:04:33,072 The Allies create an ambitious plan - 73 00:04:33,072 --> 00:04:39,000 Supreme Commander Foch orders a series of multipronged attacks 74 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:41,020 on the German forces standing between them 75 00:04:41,020 --> 00:04:43,032 and the Hindenburg Line. 76 00:04:43,032 --> 00:04:47,000 Delivering a series of hammer blows against the Germans 77 00:04:47,000 --> 00:04:50,064 is absolutely crucial, and the idea here, of course, 78 00:04:50,064 --> 00:04:54,060 is to keep hitting the Germans in multiple battles, 79 00:04:54,060 --> 00:04:57,060 to wear them out, to wear out their reserves, 80 00:04:57,060 --> 00:05:01,036 to force them to continually fight. 81 00:05:01,036 --> 00:05:05,044 The entire strength of the Allies on the Western Front will be needed 82 00:05:05,044 --> 00:05:08,060 to break through the Hindenburg Line. 83 00:05:08,060 --> 00:05:10,068 Foch coins his famous war cry... 84 00:05:16,064 --> 00:05:19,040 American forces, now a million-strong, 85 00:05:19,040 --> 00:05:21,080 will mass in the Argonne region. 86 00:05:21,080 --> 00:05:25,004 The French in the Meuse, Champagne and Picardy. 87 00:05:25,004 --> 00:05:27,072 The Canadians, British and New Zealanders 88 00:05:27,072 --> 00:05:30,036 will attempt to break through at the Canal du Nord. 89 00:05:30,036 --> 00:05:32,092 And Australian, British and American forces 90 00:05:32,092 --> 00:05:35,084 take aim at the Saint-Quentin Canal, 91 00:05:35,084 --> 00:05:37,060 and they face tough fighting 92 00:05:37,060 --> 00:05:40,064 before they can even reach the Hindenburg Line. 93 00:05:40,064 --> 00:05:42,048 You have Foch and you have Haig 94 00:05:42,048 --> 00:05:44,080 planning battles and talking off the same page. 95 00:05:44,080 --> 00:05:49,084 You've then got the acceptance and the use of these new technologies. 96 00:05:49,084 --> 00:05:54,048 This leads to the opening up of the entrenched situation, 97 00:05:54,048 --> 00:05:56,088 and then it's fighting this new style of warfare. 98 00:05:56,088 --> 00:05:59,028 I think the fighting we see in 1918 99 00:05:59,028 --> 00:06:02,048 is a precursor to the fighting we'll see throughout the 20th century. 100 00:06:02,048 --> 00:06:04,072 There'll be new technology, of course, 101 00:06:04,072 --> 00:06:08,088 but the idea of attacking together in this combined arms warfare 102 00:06:08,088 --> 00:06:12,060 very much emerges from the trenches, from the Western Front, 103 00:06:12,060 --> 00:06:16,048 from the need to find a way to break the stalemate. 104 00:06:17,096 --> 00:06:19,096 The strategy is simple - 105 00:06:19,096 --> 00:06:22,044 keep the enemy on the move. 106 00:06:22,044 --> 00:06:25,004 Instruct all ranks to act boldly. 107 00:06:27,012 --> 00:06:29,008 Field Marshal Douglas Haig makes sure 108 00:06:29,008 --> 00:06:32,036 the 1.2 million British and dominion troops under his command 109 00:06:32,036 --> 00:06:34,052 get the message. 110 00:06:34,052 --> 00:06:38,080 Risks, which a month ago would have been criminal to occur, 111 00:06:38,080 --> 00:06:42,048 ought now to be incurred as a duty. 112 00:06:42,048 --> 00:06:44,084 And it is risky - 113 00:06:44,084 --> 00:06:48,024 the Germans still have four million men on the Western Front. 114 00:06:48,024 --> 00:06:50,032 Another one from Westminster. 115 00:06:51,076 --> 00:06:54,080 Don't tell me - Wilson from the War Office? 116 00:06:56,016 --> 00:06:59,016 Haig's reputation comes back to haunt him. 117 00:06:59,016 --> 00:07:02,040 Earlier in the war, he's presided over campaigns 118 00:07:02,040 --> 00:07:06,016 producing colossal bloodshed for very little progress, 119 00:07:06,016 --> 00:07:09,000 earning him the nickname, Butcher Haig. 120 00:07:09,000 --> 00:07:11,056 I know the War Cabinet would become anxious 121 00:07:11,056 --> 00:07:13,048 if we received heavy punishment 122 00:07:13,048 --> 00:07:16,052 in attacking the Hindenburg Line without success. 123 00:07:16,052 --> 00:07:20,048 Now, the politicians in London are getting cold feet. 124 00:07:20,048 --> 00:07:22,064 What a wretched lot of weaklings 125 00:07:22,064 --> 00:07:25,044 we have in high places at the present time. 126 00:07:25,044 --> 00:07:27,032 Haig and Wilson hate each other, 127 00:07:27,032 --> 00:07:29,076 and that was typical in the British Army, 128 00:07:29,076 --> 00:07:32,016 these personal feuds and rivalries. 129 00:07:32,016 --> 00:07:34,016 This was a famous one. 130 00:07:34,016 --> 00:07:35,096 So, all this warfare's going on 131 00:07:35,096 --> 00:07:38,020 while the rest of the warfare is going on 132 00:07:38,020 --> 00:07:39,048 on the Western Front. 133 00:07:39,048 --> 00:07:43,032 High command is very fraught by this time. 134 00:07:46,068 --> 00:07:50,048 The first target standing between the Allies and the Hindenburg Line 135 00:07:50,048 --> 00:07:52,044 is Mont Saint-Quentin, 136 00:07:52,044 --> 00:07:56,000 a pivotal German defensive position on the River Somme. 137 00:07:56,000 --> 00:07:59,024 Monash's Australians are handed the task. 138 00:07:59,024 --> 00:08:02,064 Monash was the huge advocate of carefully-planned battles 139 00:08:02,064 --> 00:08:05,052 that take place step-by-step, and having all the support in place, 140 00:08:05,052 --> 00:08:08,056 and getting the tanks up and making sure the artillery is in place. 141 00:08:08,056 --> 00:08:11,020 He kind of threw that out the window at Mont Saint-Quentin. 142 00:08:11,020 --> 00:08:12,052 He just basically said, 143 00:08:12,052 --> 00:08:14,064 "Here's a tough position, we've got some infantry - 144 00:08:14,064 --> 00:08:17,072 "I reckon we can do this." 145 00:08:17,072 --> 00:08:19,080 Sir? Monash. 146 00:08:19,080 --> 00:08:21,076 General Henry Rawlinson, 147 00:08:21,076 --> 00:08:25,004 the commander of the British Second Army, is sceptical. 148 00:08:25,004 --> 00:08:28,000 It's risky, sir, I know, 149 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:31,024 but I believe it is a sound plan. 150 00:08:31,024 --> 00:08:34,008 Mont Saint-Quentin is a formidable obstacle in his way. 151 00:08:34,008 --> 00:08:36,012 It's well-fortified. 152 00:08:36,012 --> 00:08:38,088 It's being manned by the Second Prussian guard, 153 00:08:38,088 --> 00:08:41,068 one of the elite formations within the German Army. 154 00:08:41,068 --> 00:08:43,028 Right, gentlemen... 155 00:08:44,084 --> 00:08:46,024 ..here. 156 00:08:46,024 --> 00:08:48,092 If they can take it, the Australians will command 157 00:08:48,092 --> 00:08:51,092 a perfect staging ground for an attack on the Hindenburg Line. 158 00:08:51,092 --> 00:08:53,040 You know what to do. 159 00:08:53,040 --> 00:08:56,016 They had to cross the Somme River - they were on one side of the river, 160 00:08:56,016 --> 00:08:59,004 they had to cross over before they could approach Mont Saint-Quentin, 161 00:08:59,004 --> 00:09:01,028 and everything they did was under German observation. 162 00:09:01,028 --> 00:09:02,072 The Germans were confident 163 00:09:02,072 --> 00:09:05,028 that this was where they were going to stop the Allies. 164 00:09:08,020 --> 00:09:11,040 31st of August, 1918. Dawn. 165 00:09:13,020 --> 00:09:15,056 The artillery bombardment begins. 166 00:09:24,060 --> 00:09:28,012 The Australians advance under a creeping barrage. 167 00:09:35,048 --> 00:09:38,064 "I felt a blow on the face as if struck by an axe 168 00:09:38,064 --> 00:09:41,020 "and a white mist flew before my eyes." 169 00:09:41,020 --> 00:09:43,008 "I could feel the broken jaw bone 170 00:09:43,008 --> 00:09:44,076 "and a great rush of blood 171 00:09:44,076 --> 00:09:47,068 "and I saw a little wooden cross before my eyes 172 00:09:47,068 --> 00:09:49,096 "with my name and number on it." 173 00:09:49,096 --> 00:09:52,020 GUNFIRE AND SHOUTING 174 00:09:57,092 --> 00:09:59,060 Suddenly, I saw the Sergeant drop 175 00:09:59,060 --> 00:10:03,036 like I've seen an animal drop that I've shot. 176 00:10:03,036 --> 00:10:05,028 I wasn't long in reaching him. 177 00:10:05,028 --> 00:10:07,004 Perhaps two seconds. 178 00:10:08,052 --> 00:10:11,064 Even in that time, he was black in the face, gasping for breath. 179 00:10:15,056 --> 00:10:19,076 The pressure to keep attacking weighs heavily on Monash. 180 00:10:19,076 --> 00:10:22,068 I was compelled to harden my heart. 181 00:10:22,068 --> 00:10:25,052 It was imperative to recognise a great opportunity 182 00:10:25,052 --> 00:10:28,000 and seize it unflinchingly. 183 00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:30,024 Casualties no longer mattered. 184 00:10:32,056 --> 00:10:35,060 The Australian 2nd Division storms the slopes 185 00:10:35,060 --> 00:10:37,032 of Mont Saint-Quentin. 186 00:10:37,032 --> 00:10:40,076 The reports say they charged at the Germans with rifle and bayonet. 187 00:10:40,076 --> 00:10:44,020 They yelled like bush rangers as they charged up the slope 188 00:10:44,020 --> 00:10:45,052 to make the Germans think 189 00:10:45,052 --> 00:10:48,036 there were more soldiers than actually were attacking. 190 00:10:51,080 --> 00:10:54,008 For the next 48 hours, 191 00:10:54,008 --> 00:10:56,080 the high ground on Mont Saint-Quentin is won, 192 00:10:56,080 --> 00:10:58,032 then lost... 193 00:11:00,040 --> 00:11:02,044 ..then won again by the Australians 194 00:11:02,044 --> 00:11:03,084 amid vicious fighting. 195 00:11:03,084 --> 00:11:07,012 So, this isn't killing from afar by an artillery barrage. 196 00:11:07,012 --> 00:11:09,052 This is desperate hand-to-hand fighting. 197 00:11:09,052 --> 00:11:13,008 And it's by no means clear which side is going to succeed. 198 00:11:13,008 --> 00:11:14,084 HE BLOWS WHISTLE 199 00:11:14,084 --> 00:11:17,064 MEN SHOUT 200 00:11:23,052 --> 00:11:26,084 Fighting at Mont Saint-Quentin is Edward Phillips, 201 00:11:26,084 --> 00:11:28,088 one of over a thousand indigenous Australians 202 00:11:28,088 --> 00:11:30,068 who volunteered to fight. 203 00:11:30,068 --> 00:11:34,076 And we should remember that these men are not even citizens 204 00:11:34,076 --> 00:11:36,064 of the country that they're fighting for. 205 00:11:36,064 --> 00:11:40,004 And when they're in the line, they do actually achieve equal rights 206 00:11:40,004 --> 00:11:42,024 alongside other soldiers. 207 00:11:42,024 --> 00:11:44,084 Phillips is awarded a military medal for his bravery. 208 00:11:44,084 --> 00:11:49,020 This NCO displayed great initiative and personal bravery 209 00:11:49,020 --> 00:11:51,056 in working his Lewis gun. 210 00:11:51,056 --> 00:11:55,008 He stood up on the parapet, firing from the hip, 211 00:11:55,008 --> 00:11:58,024 causing very heavy casualties. 212 00:11:58,024 --> 00:12:00,020 But in spite of his heroism, 213 00:12:00,020 --> 00:12:03,020 after the war, he will remain a non-citizen. 214 00:12:06,048 --> 00:12:09,092 The Australians have one Lewis gun for every ten men. 215 00:12:09,092 --> 00:12:13,036 A potent open warfare weapon that is light, 216 00:12:13,036 --> 00:12:16,072 compact and can fire 600 rounds per minute. 217 00:12:19,024 --> 00:12:23,052 After three days of bloody fighting, Australian forces capture 218 00:12:23,052 --> 00:12:27,040 Mont Saint-Quentin and take the town of Peronne. 219 00:12:27,040 --> 00:12:31,020 In three days, the Australians suffer 3,000 casualties. 220 00:12:33,084 --> 00:12:36,004 But their sacrifice is rewarded. 221 00:12:36,004 --> 00:12:39,028 They force the Germans to withdraw eastwards 222 00:12:39,028 --> 00:12:40,088 back to the Hindenburg Line. 223 00:12:46,020 --> 00:12:48,040 Hello? Rawlinson. 224 00:12:48,040 --> 00:12:50,040 What is it? We've done it. 225 00:12:50,040 --> 00:12:53,012 You've done what? We're on top of Mont Saint-Quentin. 226 00:12:53,012 --> 00:12:54,088 I don't believe you. Come and see. 227 00:12:54,088 --> 00:12:57,000 Mont Saint Quentin was a fantastic victory. 228 00:12:57,000 --> 00:12:59,052 In my opinion one of the greatest Australian victories 229 00:12:59,052 --> 00:13:00,060 of the First World War. 230 00:13:00,060 --> 00:13:04,024 But the victory belongs to the men, not to Monash. 231 00:13:04,024 --> 00:13:05,076 In his next step, 232 00:13:05,076 --> 00:13:09,064 Supreme Allied Commander Foch orders Currie's Canadians 233 00:13:09,064 --> 00:13:12,076 to make a risky move on another strategic defence, 234 00:13:12,076 --> 00:13:15,092 standing between the Allies and the Hindenburg Line. 235 00:13:15,092 --> 00:13:17,092 That's a crucial bit of real estate. 236 00:13:17,092 --> 00:13:20,068 Their target, a German stronghold 237 00:13:20,068 --> 00:13:23,092 called the Drocourt-Queant, or DQ Line - 238 00:13:23,092 --> 00:13:27,060 a kilometre-thick fortified barrier of dugouts, 239 00:13:27,060 --> 00:13:32,032 trenches and machine-gun nests protecting the Hindenburg Line. 240 00:13:34,060 --> 00:13:38,064 In this new, more mobile war, intelligence gathering 241 00:13:38,064 --> 00:13:40,076 and reconnaissance is crucial. 242 00:13:46,000 --> 00:13:49,068 Bombing and reconnaissance alternated and we were kept busy. 243 00:13:49,068 --> 00:13:53,036 And Jerry had his crack squadrons, with their finest machines 244 00:13:53,036 --> 00:13:56,044 against our front, and seemingly intent to prevent 245 00:13:56,044 --> 00:13:58,000 photography at all costs. 246 00:14:00,048 --> 00:14:03,020 The Allies need eyes in the sky. 247 00:14:04,052 --> 00:14:08,040 It's the only way to reveal defences that have been deployed in depth. 248 00:14:08,040 --> 00:14:11,060 The war in the air begins to take on a new urgency. 249 00:14:13,012 --> 00:14:15,028 Every day we were at it. 250 00:14:15,028 --> 00:14:17,096 Attacked, trapped, or chased. 251 00:14:17,096 --> 00:14:20,088 Time after time, we ran the devils out of petrol, 252 00:14:20,088 --> 00:14:23,092 sneaked back and stole the photos. 253 00:14:23,092 --> 00:14:28,056 Aerial photos reveal the position of German artillery. 254 00:14:28,056 --> 00:14:33,092 Increasingly confident in his men, this technology and the new tactics 255 00:14:33,092 --> 00:14:37,028 he has developed with Monash, Canadian General Arthur Currie plans 256 00:14:37,028 --> 00:14:39,060 the attack in meticulous detail. 257 00:14:39,060 --> 00:14:43,064 Believing the Drocourt-Queant Line to be the backbone of German 258 00:14:43,064 --> 00:14:47,024 resistance, we have decided to put all our strength against it. 259 00:14:47,024 --> 00:14:50,012 Not to attack it until we are ready. 260 00:14:50,012 --> 00:14:52,044 And then to go all out. 261 00:14:52,044 --> 00:14:58,028 The Drocourt-Queant Line is the hinge of the Hindenburg Line. 262 00:14:58,028 --> 00:15:01,088 What it did is defend the flank of the Hindenburg Line, 263 00:15:01,088 --> 00:15:06,088 so if you can break the DQ line, you can get in on the flank 264 00:15:06,088 --> 00:15:11,012 of the Hindenburg Line and then roll it up. 265 00:15:11,012 --> 00:15:15,048 The Canadians will fight alongside the battle-hardened Scottish troops 266 00:15:15,048 --> 00:15:17,080 of the 51st Highland Division. 267 00:15:17,080 --> 00:15:20,008 Go, boys, go! 268 00:15:20,008 --> 00:15:23,008 MEN SHOUT 269 00:15:23,008 --> 00:15:25,044 The fighting qualities of the 51st are second to none 270 00:15:25,044 --> 00:15:27,020 in all the Allied armies. 271 00:15:28,024 --> 00:15:31,020 GUNFIRE AND EXPLOSIONS 272 00:15:34,064 --> 00:15:37,060 All right, lads. Once more, on your feet! 273 00:15:37,060 --> 00:15:41,080 At dawn on the 2nd of September, the Canadians, Scots and other 274 00:15:41,080 --> 00:15:47,012 British forces launch their attack, supported by 80 tanks. 275 00:16:02,000 --> 00:16:05,068 But the German Army has a new weapon. 276 00:16:05,068 --> 00:16:07,068 The world's first anti-tank rifle. 277 00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:14,032 It can pierce 22mm-thick armour plate at 100 metres. 278 00:16:15,084 --> 00:16:18,036 Whereas German machine-gun bullets just bounce off. 279 00:16:26,096 --> 00:16:31,036 There we were - the engine roaring, the guns blazing, the cab stacked 280 00:16:31,036 --> 00:16:35,076 with explosives, with not even enough air to keep an oyster alive. 281 00:16:42,048 --> 00:16:44,096 The armour was twice penetrated by an anti-tank gun. 282 00:16:46,044 --> 00:16:48,052 Let's get out! Move! 283 00:16:48,052 --> 00:16:51,044 A shell pierced the rear sprocket and put us out of action. 284 00:16:57,044 --> 00:16:59,088 We went over the top, along with a tank. 285 00:16:59,088 --> 00:17:01,048 Take cover! 286 00:17:01,048 --> 00:17:03,080 But the Germans were using these anti-tank rifles. 287 00:17:08,008 --> 00:17:11,004 One of our fellows got shot by one of these rifles - 288 00:17:11,004 --> 00:17:16,020 it made a terrible hole, big enough to put your two fists in. 289 00:17:18,076 --> 00:17:21,016 MEN SHOUTING 290 00:17:25,016 --> 00:17:26,032 Stay down! 291 00:17:28,008 --> 00:17:31,028 Cover, cover! 292 00:17:31,028 --> 00:17:33,020 SHELLS WHISTLE 293 00:17:34,060 --> 00:17:36,032 Gas! Gas! 294 00:17:36,032 --> 00:17:39,004 Everybody, masks on now! Look around! 295 00:17:39,004 --> 00:17:41,024 The barrages were terrific on both sides. 296 00:17:41,024 --> 00:17:43,088 We went over the top with the battalion, 297 00:17:43,088 --> 00:17:47,012 we passed through heavy shell fire and gas. 298 00:17:47,012 --> 00:17:51,056 I dressed a few wounded in a sunken road and I kept 18 stretcher bearers 299 00:17:51,056 --> 00:17:53,016 to carry them out. 300 00:17:54,040 --> 00:17:57,040 I got a little sleep during the night, but had to wear 301 00:17:57,040 --> 00:17:58,096 a gas mask for about four hours. 302 00:18:06,032 --> 00:18:08,028 Gas, gas, gas! 303 00:18:09,044 --> 00:18:11,088 My partner said, "Do you smell anything strange, Donald?" 304 00:18:11,088 --> 00:18:14,084 I said, "No, do you?" 305 00:18:14,084 --> 00:18:17,048 "Yes, it's faintly like lilac. 306 00:18:17,048 --> 00:18:21,096 "I'm not taking any chances, I'm putting on my gas mask." 307 00:18:21,096 --> 00:18:24,012 It was mustard gas. 308 00:18:24,012 --> 00:18:27,024 And apart from blinding, it was very sore for those 309 00:18:27,024 --> 00:18:28,080 wearing their kilt. 310 00:18:33,052 --> 00:18:37,060 After ten hours fighting, with heavy casualties on both sides, 311 00:18:37,060 --> 00:18:40,092 the Canadians take the Drocourt-Queant Line. 312 00:18:42,044 --> 00:18:46,000 The breaking of the Drocourt-Queant Line has shaken the enemy badly 313 00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:48,068 and he's hurrying back to the line of the Canal du Nord. 314 00:18:48,068 --> 00:18:52,060 That line joins into the Hindenburg Line further south. 315 00:18:52,060 --> 00:18:55,044 The hinge of the German system has been broken. 316 00:18:55,044 --> 00:18:57,080 We are advancing all along the line. 317 00:18:57,080 --> 00:19:01,012 But despite the success of the Australians and Canadians, 318 00:19:01,012 --> 00:19:03,072 the Allies still have 10km of hard, 319 00:19:03,072 --> 00:19:07,000 pounding fighting before they even get to the most formidable defensive 320 00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:10,008 line in history - the Hindenburg Line itself. 321 00:19:14,056 --> 00:19:17,068 Now it is the United States' turn to lead the advance. 322 00:19:17,068 --> 00:19:22,044 Until now, General Pershing, the commander of the million strong 323 00:19:22,044 --> 00:19:27,020 American Army, has refused to fight under British or French command. 324 00:19:29,060 --> 00:19:32,084 The 26th of September, 1918. 325 00:19:32,084 --> 00:19:37,040 The biggest army in American history forms up along a 20-mile section 326 00:19:37,040 --> 00:19:41,000 of the Western Front, known as the Meuse-Argonne. 327 00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:43,016 During the Battle of Meuse-Argonne, 328 00:19:43,016 --> 00:19:48,040 you have something like 1.2 million doughboys being sent into battle. 329 00:19:48,040 --> 00:19:50,068 That's an enormous number of men. 330 00:19:50,068 --> 00:19:53,060 And they're being supported by an enormous number of guns, 331 00:19:53,060 --> 00:19:57,072 some 2,700 guns are brought into play in the first four hours 332 00:19:57,072 --> 00:19:59,080 of fighting there. 333 00:20:14,044 --> 00:20:17,076 Hundreds of thousands of untested American soldiers 334 00:20:17,076 --> 00:20:21,020 launched their attack into the milky fog. 335 00:20:21,020 --> 00:20:25,004 The Americans are making the same sorts of mistakes, 336 00:20:25,004 --> 00:20:28,060 and making mass attacks, taking huge casualties 337 00:20:28,060 --> 00:20:30,044 from machine-gun and artillery fire, 338 00:20:30,044 --> 00:20:33,040 just like the British did in 1915. 339 00:20:33,040 --> 00:20:36,024 The Germans find that the Americans are often outrunning 340 00:20:36,024 --> 00:20:39,068 their artillery, or don't have properly coordinated artillery. 341 00:20:39,068 --> 00:20:42,012 Which then gives them the opportunity to destroy 342 00:20:42,012 --> 00:20:45,080 the Americans en masse. 343 00:20:45,080 --> 00:20:47,072 The Germans will not give way, 344 00:20:47,072 --> 00:20:51,000 and General Pershing's Americans are bleeding casualties, 345 00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:54,004 losing over 2,500 men a day. 346 00:20:55,032 --> 00:20:57,072 America, of course, was reluctant to enter the conflict 347 00:20:57,072 --> 00:20:59,012 in the first place. 348 00:20:59,012 --> 00:21:02,056 Pershing can't afford to have these kind of casualties. 349 00:21:02,056 --> 00:21:05,064 He finally decides to stop the offensive, 350 00:21:05,064 --> 00:21:08,096 to spare American lives and to spare American opinion. 351 00:21:08,096 --> 00:21:12,076 With the Americans stalled, Foch instructs the Canadians 352 00:21:12,076 --> 00:21:17,016 to build on their success at the DQ Line and press ahead to make 353 00:21:17,016 --> 00:21:21,048 the first direct assault on the Hindenburg Line itself. 354 00:21:23,016 --> 00:21:25,060 They must cross the biggest single barrier 355 00:21:25,060 --> 00:21:27,044 in front of the Hindenburg Line - 356 00:21:27,044 --> 00:21:31,096 the heavily fortified, 37-metre-wide Canal du Nord. 357 00:21:31,096 --> 00:21:36,028 The Canadians had captured orders from the German High Command saying 358 00:21:36,028 --> 00:21:37,096 it must be held to the last man. 359 00:21:37,096 --> 00:21:39,080 They had issued orders like this before, 360 00:21:39,080 --> 00:21:42,084 but there is a sense here that the Germans will not give it up. 361 00:21:44,076 --> 00:21:46,096 British commanders order Currie 362 00:21:46,096 --> 00:21:49,024 to conduct a direct assault on the canal. 363 00:21:49,024 --> 00:21:52,016 The Germans have deliberately flooded the approaches, 364 00:21:52,016 --> 00:21:54,080 and Currie thinks it's suicide. 365 00:21:54,080 --> 00:21:58,068 Instead of simply rejecting the British plan, Currie suggests 366 00:21:58,068 --> 00:22:00,096 a better but even riskier one. 367 00:22:00,096 --> 00:22:04,024 He locates a narrow, dry choke point of the canal, 368 00:22:04,024 --> 00:22:07,028 just 2,500 metres long. 369 00:22:07,028 --> 00:22:10,092 Because it's so obvious, the Germans defend it heavily, 370 00:22:10,092 --> 00:22:14,068 and then they almost take for granted that you can't cross there. 371 00:22:14,068 --> 00:22:17,064 Like, it's impossible, nobody should even try. 372 00:22:17,064 --> 00:22:19,076 Like, we get it, that's the only place you can cross. 373 00:22:19,076 --> 00:22:21,024 But because it's so obvious 374 00:22:21,024 --> 00:22:23,096 to us and any attacker, it's crazy. 375 00:22:23,096 --> 00:22:28,020 It would be crazy to try and attack across the canal in that place. 376 00:22:28,020 --> 00:22:32,020 So that is exactly where Currie decides to attack. 377 00:22:32,020 --> 00:22:34,084 Currie explains his plan to British commander, 378 00:22:34,084 --> 00:22:37,028 General Henry Horne. 379 00:22:37,028 --> 00:22:39,092 So, if the Germans laid down artillery fire, 380 00:22:39,092 --> 00:22:43,024 or even worse, they feared, gas, 381 00:22:43,024 --> 00:22:45,028 the assault would stall 382 00:22:45,028 --> 00:22:48,056 and the Canadians would be caught in a killing ground. 383 00:22:48,056 --> 00:22:51,016 When he briefs his plan to Horne, 384 00:22:51,016 --> 00:22:54,088 Horne says, "I don't think so, that's way too risky." 385 00:22:54,088 --> 00:22:56,096 You've got to reconsider. 386 00:22:56,096 --> 00:23:01,036 Horne calls for Currie's trusted mentor, General Sir Julian Byng. 387 00:23:03,004 --> 00:23:06,016 And Byng said, "It's too dangerous." 388 00:23:06,016 --> 00:23:07,092 Currie explained his plan to him. 389 00:23:07,092 --> 00:23:10,072 If you fail, it means home for you. 390 00:23:10,072 --> 00:23:12,036 I understand, sir. 391 00:23:12,036 --> 00:23:16,028 And so, Horne has to support this attack that I think 392 00:23:16,028 --> 00:23:18,060 he is really deathly afraid is going to be the end of 393 00:23:18,060 --> 00:23:21,064 not just his career, but Haig's career as well. 394 00:23:21,064 --> 00:23:25,000 And maybe even a decisive defeat on the Western Front. 395 00:23:26,080 --> 00:23:29,028 Currie has grown in confidence during the last few months, 396 00:23:29,028 --> 00:23:31,060 but he knows that his reputation 397 00:23:31,060 --> 00:23:35,060 and that of the entire Canadian Corps is now on the line. 398 00:23:40,092 --> 00:23:44,004 He masses his men in the dangerous bottleneck - 399 00:23:44,004 --> 00:23:47,068 60,000 of them will funnel through the dry canal. 400 00:23:50,052 --> 00:23:55,000 Like they did at Amiens, Currie uses the element of surprise, 401 00:23:55,000 --> 00:24:00,012 hiding his men in the woods until the moment is right. 402 00:24:06,016 --> 00:24:10,028 FLARE WHOOSHES 403 00:24:21,020 --> 00:24:25,036 At zero hour, the Allied artillery commence counter battery fire 404 00:24:25,036 --> 00:24:27,060 to destroy the German guns, 405 00:24:27,060 --> 00:24:32,024 then lays down a creeping barrage to screen the advancing infantry. 406 00:24:35,024 --> 00:24:38,076 I am in the state of waiting for news, which is always most trying. 407 00:24:38,076 --> 00:24:42,036 I hope and pray that all may go well. 408 00:24:42,036 --> 00:24:45,004 WHISTLE BLOWS 409 00:24:45,004 --> 00:24:47,036 SHOUTING AND GUNFIRE 410 00:24:49,016 --> 00:24:53,008 Our third big show opened up at 5:20am on September 27th. 411 00:24:53,008 --> 00:24:56,096 As the barrage would lift every four minutes, 412 00:24:56,096 --> 00:24:58,072 the infantry would advance. 413 00:24:58,072 --> 00:25:02,012 And they say every gun seemed to have lifted together. 414 00:25:02,012 --> 00:25:05,004 The Hun retaliated heavily on our position. 415 00:25:05,004 --> 00:25:07,072 He's putting up an awful tough fight. 416 00:25:08,096 --> 00:25:10,016 The old-timers say 417 00:25:10,016 --> 00:25:13,008 it's the hardest nut the Canadians have ever had to crack. 418 00:25:14,040 --> 00:25:17,072 Currie and McNaughton, his chief counter battery advisor, 419 00:25:17,072 --> 00:25:19,016 had a model. 420 00:25:19,016 --> 00:25:21,036 They wanted to pay the price of victory in shells, 421 00:25:21,036 --> 00:25:22,092 and not in life. 422 00:25:22,092 --> 00:25:25,076 So they used unreal amounts of artillery. 423 00:25:25,076 --> 00:25:29,000 It would shock GHQ and some of Haig's staff officers, 424 00:25:29,000 --> 00:25:31,088 because they were like, "That's ridiculous amounts of artillery!" 425 00:25:33,020 --> 00:25:36,084 But in using that much artillery, it really had a decisive effect. 426 00:25:43,068 --> 00:25:46,020 By the holy Moses, it was wicked. 427 00:25:46,020 --> 00:25:49,056 German soldiers are getting it now with a vengeance. 428 00:25:49,056 --> 00:25:52,032 There are no rehearsals for these attacks now, 429 00:25:52,032 --> 00:25:53,096 for it is all open warfare 430 00:25:53,096 --> 00:25:57,004 and trenches are all left far behind. 431 00:25:59,016 --> 00:26:02,004 The Germans are rocked by the artillery barrage. 432 00:26:02,004 --> 00:26:05,088 On the 27th of September, the Canadians are able to cross 433 00:26:05,088 --> 00:26:09,096 the canal and then flood into the fields beyond. 434 00:26:09,096 --> 00:26:11,092 SHELLS WHISTLE 435 00:26:23,096 --> 00:26:26,072 All succeeded in crossing the canal. 436 00:26:26,072 --> 00:26:29,008 Currie's bold gamble pays off. 437 00:26:29,008 --> 00:26:32,072 British, Canadian and New Zealand forces make big gains. 438 00:26:34,084 --> 00:26:36,076 The Canadians have crossed the Canal du Nord, 439 00:26:36,076 --> 00:26:39,068 and have reached the outposts of the Hindenburg Line. 440 00:26:39,068 --> 00:26:42,056 But the Germans dig in and hold them there. 441 00:26:45,040 --> 00:26:48,072 But the Allies continue to pay a high price for Foch's 442 00:26:48,072 --> 00:26:50,088 ferocious, multipronged offensive. 443 00:26:53,004 --> 00:26:55,048 In less than three months since Amiens, 444 00:26:55,048 --> 00:26:58,072 the Canadians alone have suffered 30,000 casualties, 445 00:26:58,072 --> 00:27:01,008 with over 6,000 killed. 446 00:27:02,036 --> 00:27:06,000 Right across the Allied armies, manpower is running low. 447 00:27:08,016 --> 00:27:09,064 They are now face-to-face 448 00:27:09,064 --> 00:27:12,032 with the deadliest killing zone on the planet... 449 00:27:14,056 --> 00:27:16,020 ..the Hindenburg Line. 450 00:27:19,080 --> 00:27:22,084 Northern France, late September, 1918. 451 00:27:22,084 --> 00:27:25,032 It's nearly 60 days since Foch and Haig launched 452 00:27:25,032 --> 00:27:28,016 their multipronged, all-arms attack 453 00:27:28,016 --> 00:27:30,076 against the German wall of iron. 454 00:27:30,076 --> 00:27:36,012 Despite 75,000 casualties, they're still on track. 455 00:27:36,012 --> 00:27:40,056 200 Allied divisions, about two million men, 456 00:27:40,056 --> 00:27:43,016 gather along the Western Front, 457 00:27:43,016 --> 00:27:45,088 all pointed toward the Hindenburg Line. 458 00:27:49,000 --> 00:27:51,008 IN FRENCH: 459 00:28:03,088 --> 00:28:06,072 While the Canadians are fighting hard to break 460 00:28:06,072 --> 00:28:09,012 through the Hindenburg Line near the Canal du Nord, 461 00:28:09,012 --> 00:28:14,000 Foch and Haig aim a simultaneous hammer blow at another point - 462 00:28:14,000 --> 00:28:15,040 the St Quentin Canal. 463 00:28:15,040 --> 00:28:16,064 If they can take it, 464 00:28:16,064 --> 00:28:20,096 they will break the Hindenburg Line in two. 465 00:28:20,096 --> 00:28:23,092 The Germans understand its significance and have made it 466 00:28:23,092 --> 00:28:27,016 the best defended section of the entire line. 467 00:28:27,016 --> 00:28:30,036 As far as they are concerned, this is where the advance stops, 468 00:28:30,036 --> 00:28:34,068 this is part of northern France that they will occupy for ever. 469 00:28:34,068 --> 00:28:38,048 So it has both a symbolic as well as a strategic importance. 470 00:28:38,048 --> 00:28:44,016 Once again, Monash's Australians are chosen to spearhead the attack. 471 00:28:44,016 --> 00:28:48,072 Their recent successes have brought them and their leader praise. 472 00:28:48,072 --> 00:28:50,088 But also exhaustion. 473 00:28:50,088 --> 00:28:53,020 We slept while riding our horses. 474 00:28:53,020 --> 00:28:55,048 We slept while walking. 475 00:28:55,048 --> 00:28:57,028 And we slept while standing up. 476 00:28:58,084 --> 00:29:02,072 It's obvious to Monash that his exhausted troops have only 477 00:29:02,072 --> 00:29:05,024 one more battle left in them. 478 00:29:05,024 --> 00:29:07,024 And so does he. 479 00:29:07,024 --> 00:29:11,016 At times, when I feel very tired, I am tempted to hope 480 00:29:11,016 --> 00:29:13,008 that this will be the last serious work 481 00:29:13,008 --> 00:29:15,096 I shall ever have to do in my life. 482 00:29:15,096 --> 00:29:20,036 British and untested American units will join the Australians 483 00:29:20,036 --> 00:29:23,084 in what could be the critical battle for the Hindenburg Line. 484 00:29:23,084 --> 00:29:27,060 But Monash is given the responsibility of planning it. 485 00:29:27,060 --> 00:29:31,072 The attack on the Hindenburg Line is made for Monash because it is 486 00:29:31,072 --> 00:29:35,000 a battle that demands a methodical approach - 487 00:29:35,000 --> 00:29:37,016 and that is exactly what Monash does. 488 00:29:37,016 --> 00:29:41,024 So it's a set piece - everyone knows where the ground is, 489 00:29:41,024 --> 00:29:43,056 the Germans know where the attack's coming. 490 00:29:43,056 --> 00:29:47,012 It calls on all the skills that Monash has perfected. 491 00:29:47,012 --> 00:29:48,092 The battle is more a matter 492 00:29:48,092 --> 00:29:52,048 of engineering and organisation than of fighting. 493 00:29:53,064 --> 00:29:57,028 Monash's engineer's brain analyses the task. 494 00:29:57,028 --> 00:30:01,008 He plans to break the German defences set on top of the canal, 495 00:30:01,008 --> 00:30:05,064 where it runs underground for over 5km at Bellicourt. 496 00:30:07,008 --> 00:30:10,060 And he tries another of the Allies' tactical innovations - 497 00:30:10,060 --> 00:30:12,048 the leapfrog. 498 00:30:12,048 --> 00:30:15,016 The Americans will launch the initial attack, 499 00:30:15,016 --> 00:30:18,048 then the Australian divisions move forward through their lines 500 00:30:18,048 --> 00:30:20,092 to maintain the advance. 501 00:30:20,092 --> 00:30:24,048 And the Allies now have a major advantage - 502 00:30:24,048 --> 00:30:27,076 enormous artillery resources that can be unleashed 503 00:30:27,076 --> 00:30:30,080 with deadly mathematical accuracy. 504 00:30:30,080 --> 00:30:33,056 Monash's superior, General Rawlinson, 505 00:30:33,056 --> 00:30:37,012 revises Monash's plan, ordering a British formation, 506 00:30:37,012 --> 00:30:39,064 the 46th North Midland Division, 507 00:30:39,064 --> 00:30:43,072 to launch a head-on assault directly across the canal. 508 00:30:43,072 --> 00:30:47,024 Crossing the canal is an incredibly dangerous task. 509 00:30:47,024 --> 00:30:49,020 It's part of the strategy 510 00:30:49,020 --> 00:30:52,036 that Monash is nowhere near in agreement with. 511 00:30:52,036 --> 00:30:55,064 He argues fiercely with Rawlinson over whether this is necessary. 512 00:30:55,064 --> 00:30:59,072 Imagine those rafts crossing, exposed to fire. 513 00:30:59,072 --> 00:31:01,068 EXPLOSIONS 514 00:31:03,020 --> 00:31:07,000 The 29th of September, 5:50am. 515 00:31:07,000 --> 00:31:11,032 Monash unleashes the greatest artillery bombardment of the war. 516 00:31:13,084 --> 00:31:17,016 Aircraft and tanks wait to attack. 517 00:31:19,028 --> 00:31:21,012 A thunderous attack opened up at dawn. 518 00:31:21,012 --> 00:31:23,080 And four times that day, our guns advanced - 519 00:31:23,080 --> 00:31:25,084 talk about work! 520 00:31:25,084 --> 00:31:27,056 SHELLS WHISTLE 521 00:31:29,004 --> 00:31:31,072 The noise was terrible, with hundreds of guns, 522 00:31:31,072 --> 00:31:34,072 aeroplanes and hundreds of machine-guns screaming. 523 00:31:47,016 --> 00:31:50,032 It was a scene never to be forgotten, with infantry, 524 00:31:50,032 --> 00:31:53,024 tanks, guns, everything in action 525 00:31:53,024 --> 00:31:56,076 in a sort of inferno of smoke and shell bursts. 526 00:32:00,020 --> 00:32:03,060 The explosive curtain of artillery fire creeps forward, 527 00:32:03,060 --> 00:32:06,084 protecting the first wave of American infantry. 528 00:32:08,044 --> 00:32:11,076 But the inexperienced Americans advance too fast 529 00:32:11,076 --> 00:32:14,040 and leave some well defended German positions 530 00:32:14,040 --> 00:32:16,032 untouched behind them. 531 00:32:16,032 --> 00:32:18,052 It wasn't that the Americans were bad troops, 532 00:32:18,052 --> 00:32:20,004 they were just inexperienced. 533 00:32:20,004 --> 00:32:23,004 By this stage, the Australians had had four years of warfare, 534 00:32:23,004 --> 00:32:25,008 and knew a lot about it. 535 00:32:25,008 --> 00:32:28,028 They knew a lot about how to fight this war and how to stay alive. 536 00:32:38,012 --> 00:32:39,072 Machine-guns opened up on us 537 00:32:39,072 --> 00:32:43,036 and this puzzled us, because we knew the Yanks were on ahead. 538 00:32:43,036 --> 00:32:46,024 Until we discovered they had not mopped up the dugouts. 539 00:32:49,080 --> 00:32:53,072 We found ourselves out of the frying pan, into the fire. 540 00:32:53,072 --> 00:32:55,080 The air was thick with bullets. 541 00:32:55,080 --> 00:32:59,016 Our boys were falling like apples from branches in a gale. 542 00:33:01,056 --> 00:33:04,048 I saw many Huns still in the Hindenburg Line, 543 00:33:04,048 --> 00:33:07,036 and a good number of tanks burning in front of it. 544 00:33:07,036 --> 00:33:09,064 Called for flares, but none were shown - 545 00:33:09,064 --> 00:33:11,096 no advance appears to be made. 546 00:33:11,096 --> 00:33:15,032 The whole situation is very obscure and dangerous. 547 00:33:18,076 --> 00:33:20,064 The American advance has stalled. 548 00:33:32,028 --> 00:33:34,040 Tell our boys to keep moving. 549 00:33:36,060 --> 00:33:38,048 Whatever it takes! 550 00:33:41,000 --> 00:33:43,060 In this battle, the Americans demonstrated 551 00:33:43,060 --> 00:33:45,028 their inexperience in war. 552 00:33:45,028 --> 00:33:48,000 For these shortcomings, they paid a heavy price. 553 00:33:58,064 --> 00:34:02,072 But Monash's powerful artillery is pulverising German defences 554 00:34:02,072 --> 00:34:05,044 right along the St Quentin canal. 555 00:34:07,028 --> 00:34:13,068 Every kilometre is hit with 250 shells every minute for eight hours. 556 00:34:13,068 --> 00:34:15,096 A total of a quarter of a million shells. 557 00:34:18,032 --> 00:34:19,064 WHISTLE BLOWS 558 00:34:19,064 --> 00:34:21,004 MEN SHOUT 559 00:34:22,092 --> 00:34:26,028 There are still tens of thousands of German soldiers 560 00:34:26,028 --> 00:34:28,000 defending the Hindenburg Line 561 00:34:28,000 --> 00:34:31,008 as the British North Midland Division launches its attack 562 00:34:31,008 --> 00:34:33,056 across the St Quentin canal. 563 00:34:35,044 --> 00:34:38,032 The opposite bank was pitted with machine-gun nests. 564 00:34:38,032 --> 00:34:40,072 How any of us even reached the water beats me, 565 00:34:40,072 --> 00:34:42,012 but a surprising number did. 566 00:34:42,012 --> 00:34:44,032 Holding a gun above my head was bad enough 567 00:34:44,032 --> 00:34:46,036 without being machine-gunned as well. 568 00:34:46,036 --> 00:34:48,076 I still don't know how we got away with it. 569 00:34:50,020 --> 00:34:51,072 It is an astonishing moment. 570 00:34:51,072 --> 00:34:54,016 The British don't just cross the canal - 571 00:34:54,016 --> 00:34:57,004 supported by Monash's artillery, they smash through 572 00:34:57,004 --> 00:35:00,008 the main defences of the Hindenburg Line itself. 573 00:35:05,000 --> 00:35:06,060 It's broken. 574 00:35:06,060 --> 00:35:09,044 The bloody Hindenburg Line is broken! 575 00:35:09,044 --> 00:35:13,052 It's the most extraordinary feat of arms. 576 00:35:13,052 --> 00:35:17,008 And it's done by a division that is basically a run-of-the-mill 577 00:35:17,008 --> 00:35:20,028 British territorial division, at the very end of the war, 578 00:35:20,028 --> 00:35:21,084 mixed in with conscripts 579 00:35:21,084 --> 00:35:24,020 and jaded and experienced volunteers. 580 00:35:24,020 --> 00:35:29,040 It's the demonstration that, for all of Monash's methodical 581 00:35:29,040 --> 00:35:34,004 genius and the Australians' tactical skill, this is an army 582 00:35:34,004 --> 00:35:37,060 that's learned how to fight on the Western Front in 1918. 583 00:35:37,060 --> 00:35:40,028 So it's a British territorial division that actually 584 00:35:40,028 --> 00:35:44,016 breaks through the toughest bit of the Hindenburg Line. 585 00:35:44,016 --> 00:35:46,048 That's telling us something very important. 586 00:35:46,048 --> 00:35:49,000 It's not actually the particular national uniform 587 00:35:49,000 --> 00:35:50,052 that you wear that matters. 588 00:35:50,052 --> 00:35:53,076 It's not actually the individual attributes of those soldiers. 589 00:35:53,076 --> 00:35:57,092 In the Great War, it's a question of where the artillery works the best. 590 00:35:57,092 --> 00:36:01,052 Get this to the 46th at once. 591 00:36:01,052 --> 00:36:04,012 The 46th North Midland Division draws a special mention 592 00:36:04,012 --> 00:36:06,064 in his dispatches from Field Marshal Haig. 593 00:36:06,064 --> 00:36:12,064 So thorough and complete was the organisation for this attack, 594 00:36:12,064 --> 00:36:17,080 and so gallantly, rapidly and well was it executed by the troops, 595 00:36:17,080 --> 00:36:21,004 that on this one division took, on this day, 596 00:36:21,004 --> 00:36:24,016 over 4,000 prisoners and 70 guns. 597 00:36:29,052 --> 00:36:31,076 We were right in among the Germans, 598 00:36:31,076 --> 00:36:35,012 firing point-blank and bombing machine-gun posts. 599 00:36:35,012 --> 00:36:37,064 They came popping out of holes like rabbits, 600 00:36:37,064 --> 00:36:39,036 and as thick as rabbits. 601 00:36:39,036 --> 00:36:42,088 With hands up, they called for mercy - sometimes they got it, 602 00:36:42,088 --> 00:36:44,092 and sometimes they did not. 603 00:36:48,004 --> 00:36:51,044 Soon after the Australians break through, capturing 604 00:36:51,044 --> 00:36:54,000 the remaining German trench systems. 605 00:36:54,000 --> 00:36:58,056 At the same time, the Canadians, Scots and other British forces 606 00:36:58,056 --> 00:37:01,080 break through the line at the Canal du Nord. 607 00:37:01,080 --> 00:37:04,072 Outflanked, the Germans have two choices - 608 00:37:04,072 --> 00:37:09,012 surrender, or withdraw from their prized defensive position. 609 00:37:11,076 --> 00:37:14,052 As the Australians get through the Hindenburg Line, 610 00:37:14,052 --> 00:37:17,056 Monash pushes the Australians into one last fight 611 00:37:17,056 --> 00:37:19,020 on the Western Front. 612 00:37:19,020 --> 00:37:23,028 5th of October, 1918, they attack a village called Montbrehain. 613 00:37:25,000 --> 00:37:29,068 And 135 Australians die in a battle that was totally unnecessary. 614 00:37:29,068 --> 00:37:32,036 The village had no tactical significance. 615 00:37:41,080 --> 00:37:45,000 No-one can imagine the loss of life or the horror of war 616 00:37:45,000 --> 00:37:47,000 unless they were in it. 617 00:37:47,000 --> 00:37:48,028 For the last three days, 618 00:37:48,028 --> 00:37:51,008 we had to pretty well live in our gas masks. 619 00:37:51,008 --> 00:37:54,036 The dead on the battlefield is an horrific sight to behold. 620 00:37:54,036 --> 00:37:58,048 Some of the men killed at Montbrehain, last battle of the war, 621 00:37:58,048 --> 00:38:01,076 had survived the war thus far - had fought all the way 622 00:38:01,076 --> 00:38:03,088 from Gallipoli, only to be killed 623 00:38:03,088 --> 00:38:06,052 at that furthermost point of the line. 624 00:38:06,052 --> 00:38:09,020 The sadness here is that's a place, unlike the great cemeteries 625 00:38:09,020 --> 00:38:13,040 of the Somme and Belgium, that Australians seldom visit. 626 00:38:13,040 --> 00:38:16,036 It's a forgotten place. And it's a pity. 627 00:38:16,036 --> 00:38:20,084 This demonstrates that Monash really did regard his men as units, 628 00:38:20,084 --> 00:38:24,068 as production units, as symbols on a map. 629 00:38:24,068 --> 00:38:29,020 He didn't really care about the men that he was ordering into action. 630 00:38:29,020 --> 00:38:33,028 I think it's one of the greatest criticisms of Monash, 631 00:38:33,028 --> 00:38:37,076 the greatest flaws in Monash, that he ordered that attack. 632 00:38:40,012 --> 00:38:43,008 The Australians have fought their last battle. 633 00:38:43,008 --> 00:38:48,000 After four years of war, 214,000 Australian casualties, 634 00:38:48,000 --> 00:38:52,076 and over 60,00 dead from a population of just five million. 635 00:38:52,076 --> 00:38:56,068 Without conscription, enlistments have dwindled. 636 00:38:56,068 --> 00:39:00,004 After their great successes along the Hindenburg Line, 637 00:39:00,004 --> 00:39:05,024 Australia, against Haig's wishes, must pull back from the front line. 638 00:39:05,024 --> 00:39:08,008 We have the highest desertion rates of the war 639 00:39:08,008 --> 00:39:10,080 amongst Australian forces during 1918. 640 00:39:10,080 --> 00:39:14,040 A lot of men are simply unable to fight any more. 641 00:39:14,040 --> 00:39:19,008 It had always been Monash's strategy to preserve the strength of his men. 642 00:39:19,008 --> 00:39:22,008 It had always been his strategy to rotate divisions, 643 00:39:22,008 --> 00:39:25,024 to relieve men so that they're not exposed to the trauma 644 00:39:25,024 --> 00:39:27,016 of fighting for too long. 645 00:39:27,016 --> 00:39:31,040 1918 is where he begins to push his men just that bit too far. 646 00:39:31,040 --> 00:39:34,028 The Hindenburg Line has been pierced, 647 00:39:34,028 --> 00:39:38,072 but the Kaiser and Ludendorff still command three million men 648 00:39:38,072 --> 00:39:41,016 and an air force of fearsome skill. 649 00:39:41,016 --> 00:39:45,052 The Allies must press ahead with their war of movement. 650 00:39:45,052 --> 00:39:49,036 In early October, the Canadians, New Zealanders and Scots 651 00:39:49,036 --> 00:39:51,024 target the city of Cambrai. 652 00:39:52,072 --> 00:39:56,016 Currie knew that his corps, though battered and bruised, 653 00:39:56,016 --> 00:39:58,036 could deliver another victory. 654 00:39:58,036 --> 00:40:01,068 And the prize was Cambrai - the major logistical town 655 00:40:01,068 --> 00:40:05,004 that the Germans were using to supply the whole front. 656 00:40:05,004 --> 00:40:08,076 What Currie and Horne don't know is Cambrai is defended by 657 00:40:08,076 --> 00:40:12,068 three German lines spanning some 6km, 658 00:40:12,068 --> 00:40:16,064 manned by 200,000 battle-hardened veterans. 659 00:40:16,064 --> 00:40:21,032 All protecting this last great hub of German communications. 660 00:40:21,032 --> 00:40:25,008 If you threaten that hub, or even better, if you can take 661 00:40:25,008 --> 00:40:28,020 it away, the Germans lose their strategic mobility, 662 00:40:28,020 --> 00:40:31,012 their ability to reinforce all along the front. 663 00:40:31,012 --> 00:40:36,068 The Canadians and British will send 324 tanks at the German lines, 664 00:40:36,068 --> 00:40:39,088 closely supported by infantry and aircraft. 665 00:40:39,088 --> 00:40:44,012 But they lack detailed intelligence on enemy strength and position. 666 00:40:44,012 --> 00:40:46,032 It's a huge risk. 667 00:40:46,032 --> 00:40:48,068 The armoured units will converge here. 668 00:40:48,068 --> 00:40:52,084 We hear General Currie has said he will have Cambrai, 669 00:40:52,084 --> 00:40:55,040 though he'd lose 75% of his corps. 670 00:40:55,040 --> 00:40:58,004 If so, he is a fool and a murderer. 671 00:40:59,048 --> 00:41:03,016 You hear? Next show is in Cambrai. 672 00:41:03,016 --> 00:41:04,072 Cambrai. Jesus! 673 00:41:04,072 --> 00:41:06,092 Will it ever end? 674 00:41:06,092 --> 00:41:08,056 Chin up. 675 00:41:08,056 --> 00:41:10,012 Won't be long now. 676 00:41:10,012 --> 00:41:11,068 Cambrai can be taken, 677 00:41:11,068 --> 00:41:15,020 but we do not need to be slaughtered to capture it. 678 00:41:15,020 --> 00:41:18,036 Really, it comes down to those infantry battalions fighting 679 00:41:18,036 --> 00:41:21,096 for their lives against the German counterattacking forces, 680 00:41:21,096 --> 00:41:24,024 in attack and counterattack. 681 00:41:24,024 --> 00:41:26,096 I think it's an indication that the Germans, 682 00:41:26,096 --> 00:41:30,092 though they have suffered tremendous defeats all along the Western Front, 683 00:41:30,092 --> 00:41:33,048 they were still fighting fiercely for key positions. 684 00:41:33,048 --> 00:41:36,028 And Cambrai itself was an absolutely crucial one. 685 00:41:41,004 --> 00:41:44,032 My mood during 1918 was one of black despair, 686 00:41:44,032 --> 00:41:46,084 which tried to mask itself in a spirit 687 00:41:46,084 --> 00:41:48,072 of carefree, military enterprise. 688 00:41:48,072 --> 00:41:51,056 I was in a frenzy for something to happen - 689 00:41:51,056 --> 00:41:54,096 wounds, death, anything. 690 00:41:54,096 --> 00:41:58,000 After they start to win some of these battles, 691 00:41:58,000 --> 00:42:00,092 there's that sense of, "I might just survive. 692 00:42:00,092 --> 00:42:03,044 "So, please, let's not do another attack, 693 00:42:03,044 --> 00:42:05,032 "let's not do another frontal. Please. 694 00:42:05,032 --> 00:42:08,020 "We've got the Germans on the run, let's not push it too hard 695 00:42:08,020 --> 00:42:10,068 "so that we have to risk lives." 696 00:42:12,056 --> 00:42:14,036 The end of the war feels close, 697 00:42:14,036 --> 00:42:17,052 but the fighting will be as bloody as ever. 698 00:42:19,060 --> 00:42:25,004 The attack began at 1:30 and has proved a brilliant success. 699 00:42:25,004 --> 00:42:27,080 By eight o'clock this morning, troops of the 3rd Division 700 00:42:27,080 --> 00:42:32,048 had passed through Cambrai - north, south, east and west. 701 00:42:33,096 --> 00:42:36,024 Caught the Germans asleep, and we got through Cambrai. 702 00:42:36,024 --> 00:42:39,040 It was a great thing getting them out of Cambrai, but the brute 703 00:42:39,040 --> 00:42:42,004 has looted and destroyed a great deal of the town, 704 00:42:42,004 --> 00:42:44,024 and started many fires. 705 00:42:45,084 --> 00:42:49,004 This is a brutal occupation and it ends in a terrible way. 706 00:42:49,004 --> 00:42:51,048 As the Germans withdraw from Cambrai, 707 00:42:51,048 --> 00:42:53,004 there's a scorched earth policy. 708 00:42:53,004 --> 00:42:56,028 They will leave nothing that the Allies might take advantage of. 709 00:42:56,028 --> 00:42:58,020 German occupation was not nice. 710 00:42:58,020 --> 00:42:59,028 It was often very harsh 711 00:42:59,028 --> 00:43:01,068 and the Germans did not treat the civilians well. 712 00:43:02,092 --> 00:43:06,096 After years of occupation, French citizens rejoice 713 00:43:06,096 --> 00:43:09,028 at the arrival of Allied troops. 714 00:43:09,028 --> 00:43:12,048 But in spite of Foch's brutally effective assault 715 00:43:12,048 --> 00:43:15,044 on the Hindenburg Line, and the loss of the strategic hub 716 00:43:15,044 --> 00:43:19,060 of Cambrai, the Germans refuse to give up. 717 00:43:19,060 --> 00:43:21,084 It will be a fight to the finish. 718 00:43:23,032 --> 00:43:26,072 October, 1918. 719 00:43:26,072 --> 00:43:31,044 The Hindenburg Line has been broken, 720 00:43:31,044 --> 00:43:34,028 and the war itself will be over in 30 days. 721 00:43:35,052 --> 00:43:38,072 For the commanders of the Allied armies on the Western Front, 722 00:43:38,072 --> 00:43:43,004 the focus remains on one objective - ultimate victory. 723 00:43:43,004 --> 00:43:47,016 Foch aims to drive the Germans out of France and Belgium, 724 00:43:47,016 --> 00:43:50,040 and force them to cede everything to the Rhine river. 725 00:43:50,040 --> 00:43:52,056 IN FRENCH: 726 00:44:04,044 --> 00:44:07,008 We have got the enemy down. 727 00:44:07,008 --> 00:44:09,060 In fact, he is a beaten army. 728 00:44:11,068 --> 00:44:15,028 And Haig wants nothing more than to press the Allied advantage. 729 00:44:15,028 --> 00:44:20,000 My plan is to go on hitting him as hard as we possibly can, 730 00:44:20,000 --> 00:44:22,048 until he begs for mercy. 731 00:44:24,092 --> 00:44:28,060 Dispelling all doubt that the war will continue, 732 00:44:28,060 --> 00:44:31,048 on the 25th of October 1918, 733 00:44:31,048 --> 00:44:36,088 German commander General Ludendorff issues a proclamation to his men. 734 00:44:36,088 --> 00:44:38,056 IN GERMAN: 735 00:44:44,056 --> 00:44:47,064 Haig still sees the Germans as a threat, 736 00:44:47,064 --> 00:44:50,032 and after meeting Monash on the 27th of October 737 00:44:50,032 --> 00:44:53,096 orders the Australians to return to battle. 738 00:44:53,096 --> 00:44:56,064 On the 5th of November, three Australian divisions 739 00:44:56,064 --> 00:44:59,016 are moving back up to the front line. 740 00:45:01,016 --> 00:45:03,088 And although the Allied advance continues at a ferocious pace, 741 00:45:03,088 --> 00:45:08,020 the Germans resist them every step of the way. 742 00:45:08,020 --> 00:45:11,004 The Germans placed their machine guns and light artillery 743 00:45:11,004 --> 00:45:12,060 so as to delay our advance. 744 00:45:12,060 --> 00:45:14,060 As soon as we begin to press, 745 00:45:14,060 --> 00:45:16,040 he moves off to the next suitable position. 746 00:45:21,008 --> 00:45:23,048 Machine-guns were waiting for us. 747 00:45:23,048 --> 00:45:26,012 I never experienced so intense fire. 748 00:45:29,088 --> 00:45:34,012 Field gunners from the Royal Artillery pursue the Germans east 749 00:45:34,012 --> 00:45:37,024 of the Hindenburg Line, towards Germany. 750 00:45:37,024 --> 00:45:39,044 We took risks in this advance. 751 00:45:39,044 --> 00:45:42,036 Sometimes, we were ahead of the foot sloggers. 752 00:45:42,036 --> 00:45:45,092 We were shooting with rapid fire and blasting machine-gun nests, 753 00:45:45,092 --> 00:45:49,040 transports and German troops running back along the roads. 754 00:45:49,040 --> 00:45:52,032 It was an artilleryman's paradise. 755 00:45:53,032 --> 00:45:57,084 By the first week of November, France has been liberated. 756 00:45:57,084 --> 00:46:00,068 And since August 1918, 757 00:46:00,068 --> 00:46:05,036 some 375,000 German soldiers have been taken prisoner. 758 00:46:05,036 --> 00:46:07,064 There were rumours swirling among the soldiers 759 00:46:07,064 --> 00:46:09,024 that the war was coming to an end. 760 00:46:09,024 --> 00:46:11,084 There had been rumours like this from the start of the war. 761 00:46:11,084 --> 00:46:14,024 No-one really believed them, but they could look around, 762 00:46:14,024 --> 00:46:16,044 they could see the German Army was defeated. 763 00:46:16,044 --> 00:46:19,060 What becomes in the mind of the German Army - 764 00:46:19,060 --> 00:46:23,032 the Canadian Corps, the BEF become unbeatable. 765 00:46:23,032 --> 00:46:25,028 We can't stop them. 766 00:46:26,052 --> 00:46:29,056 Our troops have again made good progress, 767 00:46:29,056 --> 00:46:32,096 advancing an average depth of 5,000 yards, 768 00:46:32,096 --> 00:46:36,012 being tonight within six miles of Mons. 769 00:46:40,036 --> 00:46:42,044 One of the soldiers fighting town to town, 770 00:46:42,044 --> 00:46:45,008 pursuing the German forces towards Mons, 771 00:46:45,008 --> 00:46:47,020 is Captain Charles Smith. 772 00:46:47,020 --> 00:46:51,008 Captain Smith led his platoon forward with such rapidity 773 00:46:51,008 --> 00:46:53,088 that he surprised a party of enemy sappers preparing 774 00:46:53,088 --> 00:46:56,004 to blow up a road mine. 775 00:46:56,004 --> 00:46:59,024 Smith is a Haudenosaunee of the Cayuga Nation, 776 00:46:59,024 --> 00:47:03,096 one of more than 4,000 indigenous Canadians to serve in World War I. 777 00:47:03,096 --> 00:47:05,060 By defusing the mine, 778 00:47:05,060 --> 00:47:08,048 he saves dozens of his comrades' lives, 779 00:47:08,048 --> 00:47:12,052 and for his valour, wins the Military Cross. 780 00:47:12,052 --> 00:47:16,004 In the final days, British and Belgian forces pursue 781 00:47:16,004 --> 00:47:18,020 the Germans across Belgium. 782 00:47:18,020 --> 00:47:20,096 In the Argonne, the Americans and French 783 00:47:20,096 --> 00:47:23,008 have forced them out of France. 784 00:47:23,008 --> 00:47:27,052 The Canadians, in General Horne's 1st Army, move into Mons - 785 00:47:27,052 --> 00:47:31,008 the town where the war began for the British. 786 00:47:32,064 --> 00:47:35,032 It would be a great satisfaction for me to take Mons, 787 00:47:35,032 --> 00:47:38,048 as I commanded the rearguard of 1st Corps when we left it 788 00:47:38,048 --> 00:47:40,040 four years ago, last August. 789 00:47:40,040 --> 00:47:42,080 The town of Mons in southern Belgium 790 00:47:42,080 --> 00:47:46,012 did hold a very important place, I think, 791 00:47:46,012 --> 00:47:48,084 in the memory of Henry Horne. 792 00:47:48,084 --> 00:47:54,044 He had been in Mons in August 1914, when it was lost. 793 00:47:54,044 --> 00:47:57,080 He participated in what was called the retreat from Mons. 794 00:47:57,080 --> 00:48:01,044 If you think about it, the sublime irony of this cataclysm, 795 00:48:01,044 --> 00:48:04,036 this huge thing that changed the entire world, 796 00:48:04,036 --> 00:48:07,076 and it begins and ends for the British Empire 797 00:48:07,076 --> 00:48:10,000 in exactly the same place. 798 00:48:11,076 --> 00:48:14,048 The final for Mons sees house-to-house, 799 00:48:14,048 --> 00:48:17,088 hand-to-hand combat in the medieval city streets. 800 00:48:17,088 --> 00:48:20,004 Around 5,000 men die 801 00:48:20,004 --> 00:48:22,056 on what will be the last day of the war. 802 00:48:24,052 --> 00:48:27,052 Ludendorff and Hindenburg were finally having to admit 803 00:48:27,052 --> 00:48:29,052 that they couldn't carry on with the war, 804 00:48:29,052 --> 00:48:31,088 victory was getting more and more elusive. 805 00:48:31,088 --> 00:48:34,008 So they suddenly turned to their civilian government 806 00:48:34,008 --> 00:48:36,048 and said, "By the way, things haven't been going very well. 807 00:48:36,048 --> 00:48:38,044 "You have to try and get some sort of armistice." 808 00:48:38,044 --> 00:48:41,052 On the morning of the 11th of November, at 7am, 809 00:48:41,052 --> 00:48:43,096 word arrives at the front lines. 810 00:48:43,096 --> 00:48:47,028 All fighting will cease at 11 o'clock. 811 00:48:49,088 --> 00:48:53,028 I had the honour of being the first machine over newly captured ground. 812 00:48:53,028 --> 00:48:56,012 From every house, civilians waved madly, 813 00:48:56,012 --> 00:48:59,052 and in some cases, went as far as to wave tablecloths. 814 00:49:00,060 --> 00:49:04,028 We were flying very low, below the treetops sometimes. 815 00:49:06,024 --> 00:49:09,040 When we marched through a French village, the inhabitants were almost 816 00:49:09,040 --> 00:49:10,096 delirious with joy. 817 00:49:10,096 --> 00:49:12,096 They lined the road and waved at us, 818 00:49:12,096 --> 00:49:17,052 and the children ran alongside, crying, "Bonne Canada!" 819 00:49:22,088 --> 00:49:24,068 I'd like to be in Blighty tonight. 820 00:49:24,068 --> 00:49:27,052 It'd be a grand evening to be home. 821 00:49:27,052 --> 00:49:29,076 I bet there would be something doing too. 822 00:49:29,076 --> 00:49:31,080 Aye. 823 00:49:31,080 --> 00:49:34,024 I bet there'd be a few good tears too. 824 00:49:41,016 --> 00:49:44,024 Scottish troops, in the same vein as everybody else, 825 00:49:44,024 --> 00:49:46,044 participated at all of the main points. 826 00:49:46,044 --> 00:49:49,096 But I don't think any evidence exists which says that the Scottish 827 00:49:49,096 --> 00:49:54,080 formations performed any better or worse than anybody else. 828 00:49:54,080 --> 00:49:57,036 They just did the thing that they were supposed to do - 829 00:49:57,036 --> 00:49:59,084 which was to fight, and often, to die. 830 00:50:04,048 --> 00:50:07,032 The moment that great silence falls across the Somme, 831 00:50:07,032 --> 00:50:09,076 a nurse is serving in the Australian field hospital 832 00:50:09,076 --> 00:50:11,028 at Villers-Bretonneux. 833 00:50:11,028 --> 00:50:15,040 Alongside her is a boy who they all call "Sunny Jim". 834 00:50:15,040 --> 00:50:19,056 One very young boy, who has been suitably nicknamed Sunny Jim, 835 00:50:19,056 --> 00:50:22,092 was practically dying when we went on duty this morning. 836 00:50:24,084 --> 00:50:27,088 When the celebrations started at 11am, he wanted to know 837 00:50:27,088 --> 00:50:29,072 the meaning of it. 838 00:50:29,072 --> 00:50:31,096 He thought it was the commencement of a barrage. 839 00:50:31,096 --> 00:50:34,040 When we told him that the war was over, 840 00:50:34,040 --> 00:50:36,048 he seemed unable to realise it. 841 00:50:41,020 --> 00:50:44,064 And during the next few hours remaining to him, 842 00:50:44,064 --> 00:50:48,040 called to us frequently and asked, "Is it really over? 843 00:50:48,040 --> 00:50:49,080 "Won't I have to go back?" 844 00:50:51,060 --> 00:50:55,088 He seemed so happy each time we reassured him. 845 00:50:55,088 --> 00:50:59,068 This poor little lad finished his battle towards evening. 846 00:50:59,068 --> 00:51:04,028 He was barely 18 years and we were all so fond of him. 847 00:51:04,028 --> 00:51:06,096 He was a Sunny Jim to the last. 848 00:51:12,012 --> 00:51:15,044 The Great War has ground on for four years, 849 00:51:15,044 --> 00:51:18,032 claiming 16 million lives 850 00:51:18,032 --> 00:51:21,092 and inflicting 23 million casualties. 851 00:51:21,092 --> 00:51:27,048 In 1918, the Allies fight as one under fresh leadership, 852 00:51:27,048 --> 00:51:32,072 using revolutionary tactics, and end it in just 100 days. 853 00:51:32,072 --> 00:51:35,036 But every yard is paid for in blood. 854 00:51:35,036 --> 00:51:37,092 If you compare the 100 Days to the Somme, 855 00:51:37,092 --> 00:51:42,024 the casualty rates are quite similar in many formations. 856 00:51:42,024 --> 00:51:44,028 You've got an awful lot of casualties. 857 00:51:44,028 --> 00:51:46,076 But the operational success is there. 858 00:51:46,076 --> 00:51:49,004 Victory is there. And that is what's remembered. 859 00:51:50,068 --> 00:51:54,084 And as politicians at Versailles redraw the map of the world, 860 00:51:54,084 --> 00:51:59,020 millions of front-line soldiers try to get on with their lives 861 00:51:59,020 --> 00:52:02,048 and come to terms with the terrible losses that continued 862 00:52:02,048 --> 00:52:04,044 to the very last day of the war. 863 00:52:08,068 --> 00:52:10,096 General Monash returns to Australia. 864 00:52:10,096 --> 00:52:14,096 He receives an enthusiastic welcome from a grateful nation. 865 00:52:16,076 --> 00:52:19,080 But tragedy does not leave him alone for long. 866 00:52:19,080 --> 00:52:23,092 Within a year, his wife succumbs to cancer and his own health 867 00:52:23,092 --> 00:52:26,020 begins to suffer. 868 00:52:26,020 --> 00:52:30,036 After a decade of supporting returned soldiers and working 869 00:52:30,036 --> 00:52:32,088 in important government and academic posts, 870 00:52:32,088 --> 00:52:37,044 Sir John Monash dies in 1931, aged 66. 871 00:52:38,080 --> 00:52:42,004 His state funeral, with crowds of at least 250,000, 872 00:52:42,004 --> 00:52:45,092 a quarter of the population of Melbourne, is the largest 873 00:52:45,092 --> 00:52:48,004 in Australia to that time. 874 00:52:48,004 --> 00:52:50,032 Monash was a fantastic general. 875 00:52:50,032 --> 00:52:54,000 He was one of our greatest leaders we've ever seen on the battlefield. 876 00:52:54,000 --> 00:52:56,024 It took us a while to remember that after the war, 877 00:52:56,024 --> 00:52:58,016 but I think it's really come full circle now. 878 00:52:58,016 --> 00:53:00,040 We recognise that now, of just the great work 879 00:53:00,040 --> 00:53:02,008 he did on the battlefield. 880 00:53:02,008 --> 00:53:04,084 Field Marshal Haig was immensely popular 881 00:53:04,084 --> 00:53:07,068 in the immediate aftermath of the war. 882 00:53:07,068 --> 00:53:10,088 He served as President of the British Legion 883 00:53:10,088 --> 00:53:13,020 and devoted himself to lobbying Government 884 00:53:13,020 --> 00:53:16,012 for better treatment of veterans. 885 00:53:16,012 --> 00:53:19,072 Aged 66, Haig suffers a fatal heart attack 886 00:53:19,072 --> 00:53:22,032 in January, 1928. 887 00:53:22,032 --> 00:53:25,056 He receives a state funeral in London. 888 00:53:25,056 --> 00:53:30,064 Marshall Foch comes to say goodbye to a rival who became a comrade. 889 00:53:30,064 --> 00:53:34,072 Scenes at his funeral were rather like Princess Diana, 890 00:53:34,072 --> 00:53:36,028 it was mass mourning. 891 00:53:36,028 --> 00:53:40,040 He lay in state in London and then was brought to Edinburgh 892 00:53:40,040 --> 00:53:43,076 and it was estimated 100,000 people filed past 893 00:53:43,076 --> 00:53:46,004 his coffin in Edinburgh. 894 00:53:46,004 --> 00:53:48,036 A lot of them ex-servicemen. 895 00:53:48,036 --> 00:53:52,028 Currie, dogged by years of allegations that he needlessly 896 00:53:52,028 --> 00:53:55,068 sacrificed Canadian lives to raise his own profile, 897 00:53:55,068 --> 00:53:59,088 fights a court case in 1928 and clears his name. 898 00:53:59,088 --> 00:54:04,056 Those rumours had been repeated by a small-town newspaper in Ontario 899 00:54:04,056 --> 00:54:06,048 that accused him of being a butcher, 900 00:54:06,048 --> 00:54:09,088 and that was the time when Currie struck and he sued for libel. 901 00:54:09,088 --> 00:54:12,080 It was Currie fighting for his reputation. 902 00:54:12,080 --> 00:54:16,000 He won, but he suffered a stroke afterwards. 903 00:54:16,000 --> 00:54:17,088 He never recovered from that 904 00:54:17,088 --> 00:54:20,004 and he died five years later, in 1933. 905 00:54:21,068 --> 00:54:26,008 Marshall Foch, the hard-driving Supreme Allied Commander, 906 00:54:26,008 --> 00:54:28,044 dies in 1929. 907 00:54:28,044 --> 00:54:30,060 He is entombed in Les Invalides, 908 00:54:30,060 --> 00:54:34,080 the pantheon of French military heroes, next to Napoleon. 909 00:54:35,092 --> 00:54:39,072 Having seen France invaded twice by Germany in his own lifetime, 910 00:54:39,072 --> 00:54:42,060 he had insisted on harsh reparations for the German people 911 00:54:42,060 --> 00:54:44,092 in the Treaty of Versailles. 912 00:54:44,092 --> 00:54:48,052 There was a fundamental mishandling of the German people and 913 00:54:48,052 --> 00:54:52,084 the German state towards the end of the peace conferences in 1919. 914 00:54:52,084 --> 00:54:55,072 The idea that there should be reparations, 915 00:54:55,072 --> 00:54:59,076 there should be retribution, the German people should pay back 916 00:54:59,076 --> 00:55:02,068 what they started was perceived to be, "You started it, 917 00:55:02,068 --> 00:55:06,028 "you actually have to now pay this back to us, you owe us." 918 00:55:06,028 --> 00:55:11,052 Really more damaging to the future peace of Europe than any particular 919 00:55:11,052 --> 00:55:15,092 treaty was that the war itself tragically had left terrible damage 920 00:55:15,092 --> 00:55:17,068 and not settled all that much. 921 00:55:17,068 --> 00:55:21,008 So it had destroyed lives, it had destroyed societies, 922 00:55:21,008 --> 00:55:23,052 it had destroyed four great empires. 923 00:55:23,052 --> 00:55:28,076 It had left a Europe that was not in particularly good shape. 924 00:55:28,076 --> 00:55:30,088 This is not an honourable peace at all - 925 00:55:30,088 --> 00:55:33,056 it's a peace of victors and it's a peace of villains. 926 00:55:33,056 --> 00:55:37,016 And that means, of course, there are old scores to be settled 927 00:55:37,016 --> 00:55:41,068 in 1939, and the Germans who marched to that war are, of course, 928 00:55:41,068 --> 00:55:45,036 the same Germans who marched to war in 1914. 929 00:55:45,036 --> 00:55:48,048 The Germans learn from their World War I defeat. 930 00:55:52,088 --> 00:55:57,012 21 years later, General Heinz Guderian, 931 00:55:57,012 --> 00:56:00,048 the architect of Germany's blitzkrieg in World War II, 932 00:56:00,048 --> 00:56:04,072 would point to a single battle as a crucial influence - 933 00:56:04,072 --> 00:56:08,064 the great Allied fightback that began the 100 Days to Victory, 934 00:56:08,064 --> 00:56:12,072 the Battle of Amiens on the 8th of August, 1918. 935 00:56:15,004 --> 00:56:17,044 IN GERMAN: 936 00:56:27,016 --> 00:56:30,064 The Germans learned the right lessons from Amiens 937 00:56:30,064 --> 00:56:35,012 and from the 100 Days, and the Allies, in the rush to forget 938 00:56:35,012 --> 00:56:39,044 about the war, forget the lessons, and they wind up having to learn 939 00:56:39,044 --> 00:56:42,032 some of those harsh, important lessons 940 00:56:42,032 --> 00:56:45,080 on the Western Front in the second war. 941 00:56:45,080 --> 00:56:49,004 The tactics of 1914 would have been recognisable to Napoleon, 942 00:56:49,004 --> 00:56:53,008 and the tactics of 1918 would be recognisable to a modern soldier. 943 00:56:53,008 --> 00:56:54,072 That's how much they advanced. 944 00:56:54,072 --> 00:56:58,064 So by 1918, by these attacks, this is the birth of modern warfare, 945 00:56:58,064 --> 00:57:00,064 this is the way we still fight wars today. 946 00:57:00,064 --> 00:57:03,092 Our lines are broken here and here. 947 00:57:03,092 --> 00:57:07,040 Four years of fighting the deadliest war in history 948 00:57:07,040 --> 00:57:08,096 transformed these commanders. 949 00:57:08,096 --> 00:57:11,068 Some of them were men of another age. 950 00:57:11,068 --> 00:57:16,000 Others, misfits from the corners of the British Empire. 951 00:57:18,008 --> 00:57:22,032 By November 1918, they had all become innovators 952 00:57:22,032 --> 00:57:23,092 and masters of war. 953 00:57:26,048 --> 00:57:31,052 Today, we remember the Somme, Passchendaele and Gallipoli - 954 00:57:31,052 --> 00:57:35,080 with catastrophic numbers of dead, all were failures. 955 00:57:37,080 --> 00:57:41,040 But in the 100 days from Amiens to the Hindenburg Line, 956 00:57:41,040 --> 00:57:44,056 the Allies did something different. 957 00:57:44,056 --> 00:57:48,060 They abandoned old methods and old rivalries 958 00:57:48,060 --> 00:57:50,096 and they learned how to win. 959 00:57:52,052 --> 00:57:53,076 Forward!