The Australian Corps Memorial at Le Hamel marks the spot of a savage fight and a quick victory.

Even though a minor one, it gave Allied leaders then meeting in Paris a distinct morale boost.

The Battle of Hamel on 4 July 1918, it is usually claimed, took 93 minutes. According to one source in their official 'War Diary' the 44th Australian Infantry Battalion required only 85 minutes to take all their objectives. Starting at 3.10 am, then moving around Le Hamel village, the Western Australians advanced uphill, and by 4.35 had driven the Germans from a series of trenches and dugouts on top of the hill. There today stands the Australian Corps Memorial, with sweeping views across the valley of the Somme, a fitting place at which to remember the victories of the Australian Corps in France in 1918.

The quick victory at Le Hamel, even though a minor one, gave Allied leaders then meeting in Paris a distinct morale boost.

This is the view from the hill to the east of the village of Le Hamel looking back over the valley of the Somme River.

On the skyline at [A] the top of the tower at the Australian National Memorial at Villers–Bretonneux is just visible. Slightly to the right, at [B], is the twin tower of Corbie church and the Somme itself is hidden in the trees running along the bottom of the hills to the right. In the early hours of 4 July 1918, the Australian attack on the German defences along the hill line beyond Le Hamel started from so-called 'jumping off' positions a few hundred metres beyond the village towards Corbie. It was mid-summer, and the tape laid out to show the start line, according to an American officer serving with the Australians, 'ran through waist-high wheat and clover fields'. The 43rd Australian Infantry Battalion took on the enemy in the village. The 44th Battalion split in two and came round the sides of Le Hamel and, with attendant tanks, moved up the hill to attack and capture the German hill top trenches. The battalion's war diary recorded the weather as fine and, despite the death and destruction around them, the men of the 44th probably found the view back over the Somme valley in the morning sunshine as splendid as it is to this day.

… the tanks … smelt out the vicious machine guns … and dealt with them in their own quaint manner.

[44th Australian Infantry Battalion, War Diary, July 1918, AWM4, 23/61/22 Pt 1.]

The 44th Australian Infantry Battalion captures the ridge above Le Hamel village

4 July 1918

At ten minutes past three our barrage came down with ferocious suddenness upon the enemy's front line area, and pounded, battered, and chopped it to pieces with shells of every caliber—light, medium, heavy, gas, shrapnel, high explosive, and phosphorous shells. The Boche [German] here suffered four-minutes' hell before the barrage began to lift in hundred yards' stages every minute, allowing our first wave (43rd Battalion) to advance to the attack with the cooperation of the 'tanks' which smelt out the vicious machine guns in the enemy strong-points, and summarily dealt with them in their own quaint manner.

Not many minutes passed before the first waves (43rd Battalion) had taken the first objective, and the on-coming tide of the 44th Battalion swept over it and on up the coveted ridge, 'A' and 'B' companies working round the left and 'C' and 'D' companies round the right of the village of Hamel, leaving the village to the mercies of Hotchkiss and the Pounder aboard six 'tanks'. Three 'tanks' accompanied each half of the battalion around the village.

Whilst our advance was in progress the enemy followed his usual procedure by filling the air with Verey lights and rockets—white, red, green, golden and showers—but whatever their significance, this barrage remained particularly feeble, and our boys advanced with practically no resistance from artillery, the machine guns giving the most trouble. A kind spurt from the uncanny 'tank', however, soon disposed of the defending 'gallants'.

A feature of the offensive was the effectiveness of the smoke barrages which were used on either flank to cover our advance. These consisted of thick white clouds of smoke which were worked across the front by the action of the wind.

The first 'tank' flying the Tricolour [French flag] denoting its return, was seen moving back at ten minutes past four apparently delighted with its success and leaving the village behind blazing furiously.

As darkness gave place to day, our men could be seen working their way steadily but surely to the crest of the ridge, whilst eight tanks wobbled here and there over the slopes and summit of the ridge clearing the Boche out of his strong defences commanding our old forward area.

By twenty-five minutes to five the ridge was ours, and, with 'C' Company in support, the remainder of the battalion commenced to consolidate their new front line, an old Boche trench just below the summit on the eastern slope. No.1 Platoon moved out on the left and dug an outpost about a hundred yards in front of the front line. 'B' Company in the centre also pushed out an outpost whilst 'D' Company secured the right flank.

[From 'Narrative of Hamel Offensive, July 4th–6th 1918', War Diary, 44th Australian Infantry Battalion, 23/61/22 Part 1, July Appendices, AWM4.]

This panorama is a 360-degree view of the landscape as seen from the Australian Corps Memorial at Le Hamel.

On the extreme left and right of the image—both marked [A]—are the last surviving trenches of the German position on these heights, seized by the 44th Australian Infantry Battalion at the Battle of Hamel on 4 July 1918. It was known as the 'Wolfsberg'—the wolf's mountain or lair. The top of the tower of the Le Hamel church is visible at [B] while the memorial itself dominates the centre of the panorama. Beyond the memorial wall, on the far right of the image at [C], is the tower of the church at Lamotte–Warfusée to the south-east. It was from the trenches to the north and south of where the memorial now stands that the AIF began its great advance to the east and south-east against the Germans on 8 August 1918, the Battle of Amiens, also called the 'black day' of the German Army by one of its supreme commanders, Chief of the General Staff, Eric von Ludendorff.