Battle of Hamel
Battle of Hamel The Battle of Hamel was a major turning point of World War 1. It set the centre stage for future engagements such as Amiens and was the quickest and more efficient battle in the history of the war. The Battle of Hamel took place on 4th July of 1918 and the operation was overseen by John Monash, an Australian general. It was executed by the elite soldiers of the 4th division as well as newly conscripted Americans. The objective was to take the town of Hamel, France for the Allies to straighten the Western Front. The town and the woods adjacent to it were considered of significant strategic important to the success of the later battle of Amiens. The battle of Hamel, although only for a small town, was incredibly important at the time of the war. Its location was regarded highly with a strategic importance. If the location was captured successfully it would give the Allies an important foothold in the Somme area. It was also a key defensive area in the battle of Amiens as it prevented flanking artillery from Germany. Also, the capture of Hamel unblocked Allied movements between Villers-Bretonneux and Somme and therefore mounting the Amiens offensive would’ve been a lot more difficult. The battle of Hamel lasted for only a short three minutes, but was a major breakthrough for the war, the execution of a new tactic that acted as a guide to larger scale engagements such as the battle of Amiens. The plan nowadays is named "all-arms" in its simplicity of using other forms of armed units such as airplanes and tanks. The tactic relied on heavy support of the infantry soldiers taking the ground with a wide-array of military technology. A major contribution to the success of the capturing Hamel was the plan was laid out in complete secrecy. Soldiers were not to move in daylight, dummy installations were created and planes and mortars provided distractions for the movement of tanks. General Monash’s immense amount of care and planning ultimately