The Battle of Amiens

8-17 August 1918: the Battle of Amiens. The British Fourth Army attacks alongside French forces further south and scores a notable victory and a deep advance from Amiens: Ludendorff calls 8 August ‘the black day of the German Army’.

Part of a map from the British Official History of Military Operations, France and Flanders, 1918. This map illustrates teh deep advance made by the British Fourth Army and French First Army between 8 and 20 August 1918.
Part of a map from the British Official History of Military Operations, France and Flanders, 1918. This map illustrates the deep advance made by the British Fourth Army and French First Army between 8 and 20 August 1918.

8 – 11 August 1918

Fourth Army (Rawlinson)
Cavalry Corps (Kavanagh)
1st Cavalry Division
2nd Cavalry Division
3rdCavalry Division.
III Corps (Butler)
12th (Eastern) Division
18th (Eastern) Division
47th (2nd London) Division, including 131st Infantry Regiment, 33rd American Division
58th (2/1st London) Division.
Canadian Corps (Currie)
32nd Division
1st Canadian Division
2nd Canadian Division
3rd Canadian Division
4th Canadian Division.
Australian Corps (Monash)
17th (Northern) Division
1st Australian Division
2nd Australian Division
3rd Australian Division
4th Australian Division
5th Australian Division.

Battle of Amiens. German prisoners arriving at a temporary POW camp near Amiens, 9 August 1918. Imperial War Museum image Q9193
Battle of Amiens. German prisoners arriving at a temporary POW camp near Amiens, 9 August 1918. Imperial War Museum image Q9193

Subsequent: the actions round Damery, 15 – 17 August 1918

Fourth Army (Rawlinson)
Canadian Corps (Currie)
1st Canadian Division
2nd Canadian Division
3rd Canadian Division
4th Canadian Division.

Map of ground gained in this attack

Map of ground gained by the British and French forces in the Battle of Amiens. The inset map compares the gain to that of the Germans on the Aisne in May-June 1918. But Amiens was not about ground gained, other than its effect on pushing German artillery further from the key railway junction at Amiens. It was about destruction and demoralisation of the German army, and in this succeeded brilliantly.

 

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