Welcome back to the Somme

The return of Australian soldiers to the Somme valley in March 1918 was a cause for celebration among the local population. At Villers-Bretonneux, to the east of the Allied communications centre at Amiens, Australian troops would successfully halt the great German offensive Operation MICHAEL (21 March – 5 April 1918). Stricken French villagers, who had been abandoning their homes retraced their steps as marching Australians uttered such reasssurances as ‘Fini retreat mate … beaucoup Australiens ici’. (‘No more retreat mate … there are many Australians here’). Perhaps in no other year have Australians influenced the destiny of the world as much as Australian soldiers did by their achievements in these (and later) weeks of 1918.