Battle of Hamel

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Hamel
partof=the Western Front of World War I


caption=American and Australian troops dug in together during the Battle of Hamel
date=4 July 1918
place=Hamel, France
casus=
territory=
result=Allied victory
combatant1=flagicon|Australia Australia
combatant2=flagicon|German Empire German Empire
combatant3=
commander1=John Monash
commander2=
commander3=
strength1=
strength2=
strength3=
casualties1=976 KIA, 338 WIA
casualties2=2000 KIA, 1600 POW
casualties3=
notes=The Battle of Hamel (4 July, 1918) was a planned attack launched by the Australian Corps of the Australian Imperial Force against German positions in the town of Hamel in northern France during World War I.

The battle was planned and commanded by Lieutenant General John Monash (later knighted). It was significant not for its strategic value but rather because the tactics used drastically departed from the traditional tactics of massed frontal assaults being used at that time. The German defenders of Hamel were deeply dug in, and their position commanded a very wide field of fire. The Australians had used surprise rather than weight at Hamel. The artillery had opened fire only at the moment the infantry and tanks advanced.

The battle was a success; only 92 minutes were needed to attain all the objectives, as compared to the many months of previous battles, e.g. the similar defensive position that had resisted capture for two months in the Battle of the Somme. There were 1062 Australian casualties (including 800 dead), as well as 176 American casualties (almost 100 dead), while there were probably 2000 Germans killed and 1,600 captured, along with much enemy equipment.

Monash's detailed planning of the battle as well as the briefing of all troops on their objectives were instrumental in the victory. It also marked the novel use of a number of tactics such as aerial resupply (parachute drops) and advanced coordination between infantry and armour. For example, the tanks were also used as a creeping barrage, where the artillery barrage moves slowly in front of the advancing troops, and they also supplied food, weapons and medicine to the advanced troops. Monash was adamant that infantry should not be sacrificed in an unprotected advance, hence his care to see that they were well covered.

While it was a small-scale battle, it was to have far-reaching consequences on trench warfare, as it provided a practical demonstration of how the prevailing deadlock could be broken. The strategy was then successful on a much larger scale in the Battle of Amiens, and was a major factor in Allied successes later in the war. Field Marshal Montgomery, the famous World War II British army commander later credited John Monash as the best World War I general on the western front in Europe.

A contingent of four companies of American troops from the 131st and 132nd Infantry regiments participated in the battle under the supervision of Australian veterans. [(Huidekoper,p.38)] This was one of the first times that Americans participated in a planned attack in the First World War.

References

*C.E.W. Bean [http://www.awm.gov.au/histories/chapter.asp?volume=7 Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-1918. Volume VI - The Australian Imperial Force in France during the Allied Offensive, 1918] . Huidekoper, Fredrick L. "The History of the 33rd Division, A.E.F." Springfield, Ill.: Illinois State Historical Society, 1921.
* [http://hamelfriends.free.fr/start.html The Battle of Hamel: History and Memory]