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The Last Hundred Days

Alec MacDougall
Trench Warfare (condensed) (Transcript)

Operation: The Advance in Picardy - 8 August to 3 September 1918

Operation: The Advance in Picardy - 8 August to 3 September 1918

August 08

Day: 1 - The Battle of Amiens, Opening DayAllie Image

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By day's end, the Canadian Corps[1] advances as much as 12 kilometers, and is credited with capturing more than 5,000 German prisoners and 161 guns.

General Ludendorff of the German army, writes that "August 8th was the black day of the German Army in the history of this war."

Victoria Cross recipients:

[1] By this time, the Canadian Corps was made up of four divisions.

Statement of Service for John Bernard Croak, recipient of the Victoria Cross for his actions on 8 August 1918, the opening day of the Battle of Amiens.

Statement of Service for John Bernard Croak, recipient of the Victoria Cross for his actions on 8 August 1918, the opening day of the Battle of Amiens.

August 09

Day: 2 - The Battle of AmiensAllie Image

The Canadian Corps advances 6.5 kilometers, while suffering 2,574 casualties[2], about two-thirds of the previous day's total.

Victoria Cross recipients:

[2] Casualties are soldiers killed, injured or missing in action.

Cap badge of the 22nd Battalion (French Canadian), which later became the Royal 22<sup>e</sup> Régiment.

Cap badge of the 22nd Battalion (French Canadian), which later became the Royal 22e Régiment.

August 10

Day: 3 - The Battle of AmiensAllie Image

In taking the village of Hallu, troops of the Canadian Corps advance furthest east than any formation of the British Fourth Army, under whom the Canadian Corps is fighting.

A Canadian armoured car going into action. Battle of Amiens. August 1918. Photo: Library and Archives Canada/PA-003015

A Canadian armoured car going into action. Battle of Amiens. August 1918. Photo: Library and Archives Canada/PA-003015

August 11

Day: 4 - Official end of the Battle of AmiensAllie Image

During the previous night and in the morning, troops of the Canadian Corps beat off three German counterattacks on Hallu, but as no further advance is planned, and being in an exposed position, they withdraw to a consolidated line.

August 12

Day: 5 Allie Image

During the 12th, 13th and 14th, the troops of the Canadian Corps are engaged in clearing the maze of enemy trenches between the villages of Fouquescourt and Parvillers.

Victoria Cross recipient:

August 13

Day: 6 Allie Image

In patrol encounters and local trench fighting, troops of the Canadian Corps slowly push forward to close in on the village of Parvillers.

Victoria Cross recipient:

  • Sgt Robert Spall
    Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, 3rd Canadian Infantry Division

August 14

Day: 7 Allie Image

Troops of the Canadian Corps gain entry into Parvillers, but cannot occupy the village due to a violent German counterattack.

August 15

Day: 8 - Actions around DameryAllie Image

Parvillers is finally secured and held against counterattack by troops of the Canadian Corps. Other troops enter Damery, which, against shelling and counterattack, they are able to hold, taking some 200 prisoners.

August 16

Day: 9 - Actions around DameryAllie Image

Troops of the Canadian Corps occupy the village of Fransart, between Fouquescourt and Hattencourt. Three attempts by other Canadian troops to get into La Chavatte fail, in spite of substantial artillery support, nor can strong patrols penetrate Fresnoy-les-Roye.

August 17

Day: 10 - Actions around DameryAllie Image

By morning, patrols of the Canadian Corps clear troublesome trenches north of La Chavatte and troops are able to secure the village. Attempts to reach Fresnoy are abandoned.

August 18

Day: 11

The French 10th Army, under Général Mangin, advances between the Oise and the Aisne rivers, and capture the village of Morsain, in the Ru d'Hozier Valley.

August 19

Day: 12 Allie Image

Troops of the Canadian Corps improve their position in a minor operation north of Chilly, and in the afternoon, they win back some of the ground it had lost earlier east of the Chilly-Lihons road. They hold it against four German counterattacks during the night.

Major McGill and assistants, 5th Canadian Field Ambulance, dressing wounded outdoors, Battle of Amiens. Photo: Library and Archives Canada/PA-002890

Major McGill and assistants, 5th Canadian Field Ambulance, dressing wounded outdoors, Battle of Amiens. Photo: Library and Archives Canada/PA-002890

The Advance to the Hindenburg Line and the Canal du Nord, 20 August to 26 September

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August 20

Day: 13 Allie Image

By the 20th, the Canadian Corps had penetrated up to 22.5 kilometers, on a front which had widened from seven to more than nine kilometers, and had liberated 27 villages. The Corps had captured more than 9,000 prisoners, nearly 200 guns of various calibres, and more than one thousand machine-guns and trench mortars. Casualties during the period of 8 to 20 August numbered 11,822.

August 21

Day: 14

Troops of the British Third Army capture the villages of Beaucourt, Aichet-le-Petit and Courcelles. Troops of the French Third Army capture the village of Lassigny.

August 22

Day: 15 Allie Image

General Arthur Currie, Commander of the Canadian Corps, outlines his plans for an attack east, on either side of the Arras-Cambrai road, to his divisional commanders. This would be known as the Battle of the Scarpe.

August 23

Day: 16 Allie Image

In a daylight raid, troops of the Canadian Corps capture a sugar factory south of Neuville-Vitasse, and gain partial control of the town the following evening.

August 24

Day: 17

Troops of the British army storm Thiépval Ridge, a heavily defended German strong point.

August 25

Day: 18

Troops of the British army capture the villages of Mametz, Martinpuich and Le Sars.

The Second Battles of Arras, August 26 to September 3, 1918

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August 26

Day: 19 - The Battle of the Scarpe, Opening DayAllie Image

Troops of the Canadian Corps advance as much as 5.5 kilometers and capture the towns of Monchy-le-Preux and Wancourt.

Victoria Cross recipient:

August 27

Day: 20 - The Battle of the ScarpeAllie Image

Heavy rains during the night make for slippery ground, difficulties in assembling troops and late starts. Combined with stiff resistance by the Germans and their heavily defended positions, the advance gains at most 3.2 kilometers.

Canadian troops advancing through a German barrage east of Arras. Photo: Library and Archives Canada/PA-003145

Canadian troops advancing through a German barrage east of Arras. Photo: Library and Archives Canada/PA-003145

August 28

Day: 21 - The Battle of the ScarpeAllie Image

In three days of intense fighting, the 2nd and 3rd Canadian Infantry Divisions[3] reported their total casualties as 254 officers and 5,547 other ranks. They captured more than 3,300 prisoners, 53 guns and 519 machine guns, and had seized an important portion of the Germans strong Fresnes-Rouvroy defence system.

Victoria Cross recipient:

[3] A division is a section of a Corps, made up of two or three brigades.

August 29

Day: 22 - The Battle of the ScarpeAllie Image

In the northern sector, Brutinel's Brigade[4], under the orders of the British army, advance the line roughly one kilometer by seizing Bench Farm and Victoria Copse, with the Canadian Corps Cyclist Battalion establishing posts right up to the Scarpe River.

[4] Brutinel's Brigade was the first fully motorized unit within the forces of the British army, made up of machine guns mounted on armoured vehicles.

August 30

Day: 23 - The Battle of the Scarpe, Official EndAllie Image

Troops of the Canadian Corps clear portions of the Fresnes-Rouvroy trench system in their sector, including Upton Wood. After holding all day under heavy fire, they drive off a German counterattack, capturing 50 prisoners and five machine guns.

August 31

Day: 24 Allie Image

In a surprise dawn attack, troops of the Canadian Corps seize the Ocean Work, a strong point in the German trenches south of Haucourt which had held out the previous day.

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