Archeological searches have established that the area had Gallic and Roman occupation, confirmed by the weapons and various domestic objects found in and around Bray.

The Imperial German Army initially occupied Bray in late August 1914 during the so-called Race to the Sea, invading from the south following the Proyart road.

In February 1915, the stained glass windows and the bell tower of Bray's Church of St Nicolas were damaged by German shelling.

On 21 March 1918 the Germans launched a massive spring offensive, code named Operation Michael, which brought Bray close to the firing line yet again, this time under British Army jurisdiction.

As a result, for the next four months the Germans would be utilising Bray as a major forward supply base and communications hub, once again making it the target of attention, in the form of periodic long range artillery and aerial bombing by both French & British forces.

In the period leading up to its arrival on the Somme in early June 1918, this division had suffered particularly - not only from the great 1918 flu pandemic, but also a typhoid epidemic while it was resting in Lille.

It further suffered disastrous losses attempting to defend the line against Australian Imperial Forces, American infantry and British Mk V tanks during the Battle of Hamel on 4 July.

Elements of the Australian 13th Light Horse Regiment had also been brought up with a view to deploying them in the event of a breakthrough; however, it ultimately performed its usual role doing scouting, messaging and prisoner escort duties.

Early on the night of 24 August, the 3rd Pioneers and men of the 37th & 40th Battalions AIF began a fresh push into the town from the west behind a rolling artillery barrage, which further damaged Bray in the process.

As was typical all along the Western Front, highly trained German machine gunners, shelling and poison gas were used once again in an attempt to repel the Australians.

By the end of the day, however, the devastated town was finally liberated by the 40th Battalion AIF, who had managed to infiltrate it from three directions, using Stokes mortars to suppress German machine guns, most notably at Bray's railway yard.

Considerable stores were seized in the railway yard, partly loaded onto carriages and mined by the Germans with the unfulfilled intention of destroying them.

Thus, apart from signal linesmen and message runners, Bray itself was too dangerous and was generally avoided by the Australians until their next thrust east, which drove the Germans out of neighbouring Suzanne.

R.I.D., due to its unsustainable losses - a pattern that was repeating across the German Army with more and more frequency, precipitating the conclusion of this terrible war with the signing of the Armistice with Germany on 11 November.

For its four years of service during The Great War the town of Bray-sur-Somme was awarded the Croix de Guerre by Minister André Lefèvre on 27 October 1920.