Allied victory[1][2] British Empire 1915 1916 1917 1918 Associated articles The Battle of Amiens, also known as the Third Battle of Picardy (French: 3ème Bataille de Picardie), was the opening phase of the Allied offensive which began on 8 August 1918, later known as the Hundred Days Offensive, which ultimately led to the end of World War I. Allied forces advanced over 11 kilometres (7 mi) on the first day, one of the greatest advances of the war, with Gen Henry Rawlinson's British Fourth Army, with nine of its 19 divisions supplied by the fast-moving Australian Corps of Lt General John Monash and Canadian Corps of Lt General Arthur Currie, and Gen Marie Eugène Debeney's French First Army playing a decisive role.

On 21 March 1918, the German Army had launched Operation Michael, the first in a series of attacks planned to drive the Allies back along the length of the Western Front.

After the signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with revolutionary-controlled Russia, the Germans were able to transfer hundreds of thousands of men to the Western Front, giving them a significant, if temporary, advantage in manpower and materiel.

Operation Michael was intended to defeat the right wing of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), but a lack of success around Arras ensured the ultimate failure of the offensive.

A final effort was aimed at the town of Amiens, a vital railway junction, but the advance had been halted at Villers-Bretonneux by British and Australian troops on 4 April.

The commander of the British Expeditionary Force, Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, already had plans in place for an attack near Amiens.

At the same time, the Australian Corps under Lieutenant General John Monash held the right flank and linked up with French armies to the south.

The Australians had mounted several local counter-attacks which both revealed the suitability of the open and firm terrain south of the Somme for a larger offensive, and established and refined the methods which were to be used.

[12][13] The plan's mastermind was Monash, who used the same innovation and mastery of modern technology, particularly tanks, that he had demonstrated five weeks earlier in the Battle of Hamel.

Rawlinson opposed this as his and Monash's plans depended on the large-scale use of tanks (now finally available in large numbers) to achieve surprise by avoiding a preliminary bombardment.

The French First Army lacked tanks and would be forced to bombard the German positions before the infantry advance began, thus removing the element of surprise.

There was to be no artillery bombardment a significant time before the attack, as was the usual practice, only fire immediately before the advance of Australian, Canadian, and British forces.

To maintain secrecy, the Allied commanders pasted the notice "Keep Your Mouth Shut" into orders issued to the men and referred to the action as a "raid" rather than an "offensive".

The Allies maintained equal artillery and air fire along their various fronts, moving troops only at night and feigning movements during the day to mask their actual intent.

[23] The German division moved back towards its original position on the morning of 7 August, but the movement still required changes to the Allied plan.

However, the two RAF squadrons detailed to take part decided it was too hazardous to order planes into the air in the unseasonably dense fog and asked for volunteers.

The French 1st Army under General Debeney opened its preliminary bombardment at the same time and began its advance 45 minutes later, supported by a battalion of 72 Whippet tanks.

[25] The Canadian and Australian forces in the centre advanced quickly, pushing the line 4.8 km (3.0 mi) forward from its starting point by 11:00 am.

There was less success north of the river, where the British III Corps had only a single tank battalion in support, the terrain was rougher, and the German incursion of 6 August had disrupted some of the preparations.

[29] The British, Australian and Canadian infantry of the Fourth Army sustained about 8,000 casualties, with further losses by tank and air personnel, and French forces.

[27][33] On the Canadian front, congested roads and communication problems prevented the British 32nd Division from being pushed forward rapidly enough to maintain the momentum of the advance.

Omanson,[36] "Their attack took place at 5:30 p.m. and, despite heavy machine gun and artillery fire pouring down on them from Chipilly Ridge, the Americans could not be driven back.

"During the 33rd U.S. Division's assault on Chipilly Ridge, Corporal Jake Allex, a Serbian immigrant from Kosovo, took command of his platoon after all the other officers had been killed.

Corporal Allex led them in an attack against a German machine gun nest, during which he personally killed five enemy soldiers and captured fifteen prisoners.

"[39] On the night of August 8–9, 1918, as Doughboys from the 33rd U.S. Division were beginning their assault on Chipilly Ridge, American war poet Lt. John Allan Wyeth and Lieut.

Thomas J. Cochrane were assigned to deliver sealed orders from Division HQ at Molliens-au-Bois to the Field Headquarters of all three battalions engaged in the attack.

But this self-contained six-sonnet sequence in particular – describing one soldier's stumblings through the metaphoric valley of death – delves most memorably into the nature of war.

The Battle of Amiens is featured as a pivotal point in season 2, episode 5 of the British period drama Downton Abbey, resulting in Mathew Crawley being severely injured and in William Mason's ultimately death.