“BIG PUSH” IN 1918

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30364, 13 February 1964, Page 9

“BIG PUSH” IN 1918

Part Played By sth Army

“Various correspondent have written respecting happenings on the Western Front in March, 1918,” says Mr J. K. Moloney, in a letter to the editor. “It is now possible to obtain a more just appraisal of the performance of the sth Army. “Actually, it is on record that the first British unit to stay the German advance consisted of elements of • the Ist New Zealand Rifles who were rushed up to Auchonvillers on March 26, 1918. The defence line then gradually took shape. ,1. “Later a most momentous blow was struck by two Australian brigades, the 13th and 15th, under those two great fighting Australians, Brigadier William Glasgow and Brigadier “Pompey” Elliott. This was an ambitious pincers movement to recover VillersBretonneaux, the Germain hold on which menaced Amiens.

“Without artillery and with cold steel, the Australian infantry overran gun positions and enemy strong-points and, as the third Anzac Day dawned, the German garrison only knew of their plight when their rations failed to arrive. This was held to be the greatest single exploit of the war. “Dr. C. E. W. Bean, the Australian war historian and one of the most painstaking of observers, said that the sth Army actually brought the German juggernaut to a halt, and Captain H. W. Wilkins (later Sir Hubert Wilkins), the photographer to the AI.F., who was all over the front, said that, though there was much confusion caused by the rush backwards of thousands of labour workers and refugees, it was far from being a rout. Countless groups fought and died barring the way to the enemy. “It is pleasing to know that much has been done to vindicate Sir Hubert Gough and the thousands and thousands who died to save the day.”