At 3:10 a.m. on July 4, 1918, American soldiers climbed out of their trenches in northern France. Most had never seen combat before. They had arrived in Europe weeks earlier. Now they were attacking German positions alongside battle-hardened Australian troops and were under the command of an Australian general.
For the first time in American history, U.S. soldiers would fight under a foreign command. In 93 minutes, they would help win what military historians call the first modern battle and forge a relationship with Australia that has lasted ever since.
The Battle of Hamel was an important learning curve for the inexperienced American forces and a turning point in World War I tactics. Roughly 1,000 American doughboys from the 33rd Division joined Australian and British troops in a meticulously planned assault that integrated infantry, tanks, artillery and aircraft in ways never before attempted. Together, they proved combined arms warfare could break the deadlock of trench warfare.
Americans Under Foreign Command
American Expeditionary Force commander General John J. Pershing had resisted British and French demands to use American troops as replacement units in Allied armies. He wanted the Americans to fight as an independent force under American command. When he learned that ten companies of his soldiers were ordered to join Australian Lieutenant General John Monash at Hamel, he ordered their immediate withdrawal.
On July 3, the day before the scheduled attack, six American companies received orders to pull back. Some obeyed, but many refused. Two Americans in the 42nd Battalion switched into Australian uniforms and stayed. The sudden withdrawal forced Monash to reorganize his battalions. The 16th Battalion's strength dropped by half. The 11th Brigade shrank from 3,000 men to 2,200.
At 4 p.m. on July 3, Monash received another order demanding the withdrawal of all remaining American troops. He confronted his British superior, General Henry Rawlinson. The Americans were essential, Monash argued. Pulling them out hours before the attack would devastate his carefully coordinated plan. Rawlinson supported him. Field Marshal Douglas Haig, commander of British forces in France, intervened. The four remaining American companies would stay.
Pershing later wrote that the battle came as "somewhat of a surprise" and its immediate effect was "to cause me to make the instructions so positive that nothing of the kind could occur again."
But the Americans who fought at Hamel later praised the experience. Captain Gale spoke for many when he said that "more real good was done by this small operation with the Australians than could have been accomplished in months of training behind the lines."
Planning the Perfect Battle
Monash had planned the Hamel operation with extraordinary precision.
"A perfected modern battle plan is like nothing so much as a score for an orchestral composition," he wrote, "where the various arms and units are the instruments, and the tasks they perform are their respective musical phrases."
He calculated the attack would take 90 minutes. On June 30, he held his final planning conference with two hundred fifty of his officers. The agenda included 133 items and lasted four and a half hours. Everyone explained their role. Monash resolved conflicts and doubts immediately. No changes would be permitted after the conference ended.
The German position at Hamel created a bulge in the Allied line south of the Somme River. The high ground gave German observers clear views of Allied rear areas and allowed their artillery to fire on Villers-Bretonneux. Capturing Hamel would straighten the line and provide a springboard for future offensives toward Amiens.
Monash planned to attack on a six-kilometer front with three Australian brigades from the 4th Division, reinforced by the 6th and 11th Brigades. Sixty Mark V and Whippet tanks from the British 5th Tank Brigade would support the infantry. More than 600 guns would provide artillery support. Aircraft would bomb German positions, photograph enemy movements and parachute ammunition to advancing troops.
The attack would begin at dawn to reduce visibility and protect troops from German fire. Secrecy was absolute. Dummy installations deceived German observers. Harassing fire continued during troop movements. No daylight movement was allowed. Aircraft flew constantly over German lines on the night of July 3 to mask the sound of tanks moving into position.
Americans and Australians Together
The inexperienced Americans joined the Australian units just days before the attack.
Australian Lieutenant Edgar Rule described their arrival, "Twelve were put in each platoon, and believe me they were some men. This was the first time that they had been in the line, and they were dead keen; and apart from that it bucked our lads up wonderfully."
The enthusiasm was mutual. The Australian veterans were grizzled and hardened. But the Americans arrived eager for information.
"Everyone was smiling or laughing," Rule wrote. "The Yanks were out for information and our boys were very willing teachers, and it speaks well for the future to see one set so eager to learn and the other so willing to teach."
American and Australian runners and stretcher-bearers were paired to assist in training. The 41st Battalion had lost A Company to a gas attack at Villers-Bretonneux. Americans were embedded as X Company. Each American platoon integrated into an Australian company. Tank crews and infantry trained together and formed friendships. Australian battalions painted their insignia on specific tanks so each unit would advance together.
The Attack on Hamel
At 3:02 a.m., Allied artillery opened up with its usual harassing fire. German defenders, conditioned to expect gas attacks, pulled on their masks. The masks restricted movement and communication. At 3:10 a.m., the barrage intensified. At 3:14 a.m., Australian and American infantry climbed from their trenches and advanced behind the creeping barrage.
The Americans were eager to keep up with experienced Australians. Some ran into the shellfire. Australian Corporal Mick Roach was killed while turning back an American platoon that had pushed too far forward into the barrage. But the Americans' aggressiveness impressed the Australians.
One observer noted their "excessive keenness" but praised their “dash.”
The attack hit three main German strongpoints. Pear Trench formed the center of the front. The 15th Battalion encountered heavy resistance when barbed wire delayed their advance. Tanks arrived late but helped clear the position once they caught up.
At Hamel village, the 43rd Battalion attacked straight into fortified German defenses. Some defenders began withdrawing as Australians and Americans outflanked their positions through Notamel Wood. One group of Australians with their attached American platoon killed 15 Germans and captured 40 more.
In Vaire and Hamel Woods, Lance Corporal Thomas Axford single-handedly assaulted a German machine gun position holding up his platoon. He killed ten German gunners and captured six more. Axford received the Victoria Cross.
Private Henry Dalziel also won the Victoria Cross for his actions at Pear Trench, repeatedly crossing open ground under fire to secure ammunition for his Lewis gun.
Corporal Thomas Pope became the first American awarded the Medal of Honor in World War I for his actions at Hamel. When German machine gun fire halted his company's advance, Pope rushed forward alone. He bayoneted several German gunners, stood beside their machine gun and held off others until reinforcements arrived.
King George V personally awarded Pope the Distinguished Conduct Medal on August 12, 1918. General Pershing presented him the Medal of Honor on April 22, 1919.
Victory in 93 Minutes
By 4:47 a.m., all objectives were secured. The battle lasted just 93 minutes. Reconnaissance aircraft began photographing the new front line for mapmaking. At 6 a.m., supply aircraft began parachute drops to troops on the ground. The first use of aerial resupply in combat proved successful.
Allied casualties totaled roughly 1,400 killed or wounded. Australian losses numbered 1,062, including 800 dead. American casualties reached 176, including between 13 and 26 killed. German losses exceeded 2,000 killed or wounded. Another 1,600 Germans were captured, along with 171 machine guns, 32 trench mortars, two field guns and a new anti-tank rifle.
The Allies also recovered 73,000 rounds of British ammunition and boxes of grenades the Germans had captured when they took Hamel in April.
On July 5, Monash publicly thanked the American companies and praised their "dash, gallantry and efficiency." He noted the historic significance that "soldiers of the United States and Australia should have been associated for the first time in such close cooperation on the battlefield."
French Premier Georges Clemenceau visited the battlefield on July 7.
"I have come here just for the very purpose of seeing the Australians," he told the troops. "When the Australians came to France, the French people expected a great deal of you. We knew that you would fight a real fight, but we did not know that from the very beginning you would astonish the whole continent."
A New Way of War
The tactics employed at Hamel changed how the British and Allied forces fought for the rest of the war. The integration of infantry, tanks, artillery and aircraft demonstrated that combined arms warfare could achieve decisive results with relatively low casualties.
Previous battles over similar positions had lasted weeks or months with massive losses. Hamel proved that meticulous planning, surprise and coordination could break entrenched defenses in minutes.
The lessons of Hamel were applied on a larger scale at the Battle of Amiens on August 8, 1918. That attack became what German commander Erich Ludendorff called "the black day of the German Army." The tactics continued through the Hundred Days Offensive that ended the war in November 1918.
For American forces, Hamel provided invaluable combat experience. The doughboys learned infantry tactics, combined arms coordination and the realities of modern warfare from battle-tested Australian veterans. They returned to their units with knowledge that would save American lives in the battles to come.
Fourteen Americans received British decorations for their performance at Hamel, including four Distinguished Conduct Medals, four Military Crosses and six Military Medals. Eight Americans also received the Distinguished Service Cross.
The American-Australian partnership forged at Hamel continued through the rest of the century and ever since. The two nations would fight together in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq.
On the 100th anniversary of Hamel in 2018, Australian and American forces conducted joint training exercises honoring the battle that began their century-long military relationship.
The Australian Corps Memorial stands today on the high ground east of Hamel where the Australians achieved their final objective on July 4, 1918. The memorial overlooks the battlefield where inexperienced American soldiers first learned modern warfare under the command of an Australian general who planned the perfect battle.
