Victory at Villers-Bretonneux

Download or read book Victory at Villers-Bretonneux written by Peter FitzSimons and published by Random House Australia. This book was released on 2016 with total page 786 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Across a 45-mile front, no fewer than two million German soldiers hurl themselves at the Allied lines, with the specific intention of splitting the British and French forces, and driving all the way through to the town of Villers-Bretonneux, at which point their artillery will be able to rain down shells on the key train-hub town of Amiens, thus throttling the Allied supply lines. For nigh on two weeks, the plan works brilliantly, and the Germans are able to advance without check, as the exhausted British troops flee before them, together with tens of thousands of French refugees. In desperation, the British commander, General Douglas Haig, calls upon the Australian soldiers to stop the German advance, and save Villers-Bretonneux. If the Australians can hold this, the very gate to Amiens, then the Germans will not win the war. 'It's up to us, then, ' one of the Diggers writes in his diary. .