The Battle of Hamel was an attack by Australian Army and US Army infantry, supported by Royal Tank Regiment tanks, against German positions in and around the town of Le Hamel, in northern France, during World War I. The attack was planned and led by Lieutenant General John Monash, commander of the Australian Corps, and took place on 4 July 1918.
Many of the tactics employed, such as the use of combined arms, illustrated the evolution of military tactics, from the massed attacks mounted earlier in the war. The objectives were achieved within 93 minutes, just three minutes longer than Monash's calculated battle time.
To give the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) combat experience, the five Australian infantry brigades involved were augmented by ten companies from US Army battalions. Six of these US infantry companies were withdrawn from the front line before seeing action. Hamel was the first time during the war that elements of the AEF were commanded operationally by non-American officers.
Background
Military situation
In early 1918, as a result of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk the capitulation of Russia, the Germans began concentrating the bulk of their forces on the Western Front. Over the space of four months, up to 48 divisions were moved to the west. Concentrating their efforts on the Somme Valley, the Germans began the Spring Offensive against the British southern flank on 21 March. After pushing the Allies back towards the railhead at Amiens, the German advance in the sector was checked at the First Battle of Villers-Bretonneux in early April. As the German offensive exhausted itself, in June the Allies began to prepare an offensive, conducting small advances which became known as "peaceful penetrations".
After the first use of the technique around Morlancourt during the First Battle of Morlancourt, Second Battle of Morlancourt and the Third Battle of Morlancourt, the commander of the Fourth Army, Lieutenant General Henry Rawlinson, decided that the next attack would come at the village of Le Hamel. The German advance earlier in the year had created a "bulge" in the front line around the village, a salient that exposed Allied troops in the sector to enfilading fire and enabled the Germans to observe Allied rear areas. Capturing the village would help set an "aggressive posture" and relieve pressure in the sector. Lieutenant General John Monash, commander of the Australian Corps, was chosen to plan the attack. Most of the initial planning was done by Brigadier General Anthony Courage, commander of 5th Tank Brigade.
Geography
Located south of the River Somme, about north-east of Villers-Bretonneux on a spur between two hills, Hamel was strategically important to both the Allies and Germans. The high ground offered the Germans good observation of the sector, which they had been using to fire artillery bombardments on Villers-Bretonneux and control of the village was vital if they wished to continue their offensive in the sector, and would enable them to continue to threaten Amiens, distant. The Allied line was positioned on the reverse slope of a hill to the west of the village, and securing the village would enable the Allies to stiffen their defensive line. The village also acted as an obstacle to the proposed eastward advance through the Somme planned for later in the year and its capture would facilitate future offensive operations in the sector.
Prelude
Plans
The Allied victory owed much to detailed planning and to the briefing of all the troops on their objectives. However, the battle was Monash's first as commander of the Australian Corps, and his initial plan was rejected following opposition from his subordinates.