The Battle of Amiens opens the Hundred Days Offensive
On 8 August 1918, Allied forces launched a major combined-arms offensive near Amiens.
The Library editors
On 8 August 1918, British, Canadian, Australian and French forces attacked near Amiens with tanks, aircraft and artillery supporting infantry. Surprise and coordination produced a substantial advance.
German commander Erich Ludendorff later described the opening as a dark day for the German Army, though the campaign was not decided in a single battle. Fighting continued through a sequence of Allied offensives.
Amiens is important because it demonstrated increasingly effective combined-arms warfare and began the Hundred Days campaign that pushed German forces back before the armistice.
National commemorations can isolate one contingent’s role. A fuller account includes French forces, colonial troops, logistics, casualties and the changing operational capacity of all armies involved.
Sources and further reading
Australian War Memorial: Battle of Amiens
Imperial War Museums: How the Battle of Amiens began the Hundred Days Offensive