Important Events.

Following hard upon the Battle of St. Quentin, the enemy had opened the Battle of the Lys on the morning of April 9th and made substantial progress; on May 27th a formidable attack was launched against the French Sixth Army on the Aisne, forcing the line of the Aisne River along a wide front and finally reaching the Marne in the centre of the attack; on July 15th there followed a further great drive east and south-west of Rheims, in which the crossing of the Marne was again effected. All this was startling evidence of the ability of the enemy to embark on fresh offensives and prosecute them with great vigour and strength, notwithstanding the enormous expenditure of effort which the Battle of St. Quentin had involved.

But more startling still, and more damaging and dramatic in its consequences, was the great counter-stroke launched by Marshal Foch on July 18th between Chateau Thierry, at the apex, and Soissons, on the northern flank, against the deep German salient which resulted from the Battle of the Aisne two months previously. From this master stroke might be said to date the turning point of the War, and the commencement of a sequence of events, following in rapid succession, which signally and completely changed the whole complexion of the conflict.

The British Forces had now almost entirely recovered from the shock sustained in March and April, and the American Army was growing rapidly in numbers and efficiency. The sweeping successes which attended Marshal Foch's counter-offensive, and the fact that the German reserve of strength had been largely drawn upon in these several great attacks, presented overwhelming argument in favour of a broad Allied scheme of offensive. The first phase was the Battle of Amiens. The plan of operation decided upon was page 322 to strike in an easterly and south-easterly direction, with the primary object of gaining the line of the outer defences of Amiens and thereby disengaging the main Paris-Amiens Railway. The attack was then to be pushed forward in the direction of Roye, with the object of capturing the railway junction of Chaulnes, which would have the effect of cutting the communications of the enemy forces in the Lassigny and Montdidier areas, south-east of Amiens.

The attack by the Fourth Army was launched early on the morning of August 8th, on a front of over 11 miles, the Australian Corps operating in the centre, the Canadian Corps on the right, and the III. Corps on the left. Over 400 tanks supported the attack. One hour later the French First Army advanced on a front of five miles between Moreuil and the British right. The success achieved in this five days' battle was represented by the capture of close on 22,000 prisoners and over 400 guns, the complete disengaging of Amiens and the converging railways, and the penetration of the enemy's defences to a depth of 12 miles. This deep advance, combined with the operations of the French on the right, compelled the immediate evacuation by the enemy of considerable territory to the south. August 8th, the day on which was accomplished the delivery of this swift and decisive stroke, has been referred to by Ludendorff as "Germany's Black Day."

There followed a series of great battles and enforced enemy withdrawals north and south, in which, in three months of continuous fighting, our Armies advanced without check from one victory to another until the enemy was finally overwhelmed and fell back in utter confusion and disorder.