Battle of Mont Saint-Quentin
Mont Saint-Quentin, near Péronne, Somme, France
What happened
The Australian Corps under Lieutenant General John Monash fought German forces of the 2nd Army. In the last months of the First World War, Australian troops crossed the River Somme. When their first plan failed in the marshes, Monash switched to a fast flanking attack. Small Australian battalions charged and took the hill, lost it, retook it, and then captured the town of Péronne.
Why it matters
Why it matters: The hill guarded the approaches to Péronne, and taking it helped force a wide German retreat toward the Hindenburg Line. The British general Henry Rawlinson called the Australian advance 'the greatest military achievement of the war'.
What came next
The German army kept falling back eastward toward the Hindenburg Line.
Did you know?
John Monash was a civil engineer before the war, and his face is on Australia's $100 note.
Timeline
- 4 July 1918Monash's troops win at Hamel.
- 8 August 1918The Battle of Amiens begins.
- 12 August 1918King George V knights Monash.
- 31 August-3 September 1918The Battle of Mont Saint-Quentin.