Amiens: Dawn of Victory

Sidney Allinson is Canadian news correspondent for Britain’s The Army
Quarterly and Defence. He is the author of The Bantams: The Untold Story
of World War I, Jeremy Kane, and Kruger’s Gold: A Novel of the
Anglo-Boer War.

This book examines the historic Battle of Amiens, which took place in
August 1918. Though little-known today, it was a massive and decisive
clash of arms that employed soldiers of five Allied countries—Britain,
Canada, Australia, France, and the United States—against opposing
German forces. While also giving due to other nations, this account
emphasizes the Canadian effort. According to the authors, the Canadian
Corps had the only Commonwealth troops up to full strength and capable
of spearheading the attack.

The corps’ commander was General Arthur Currie of Victoria, who was
admired for his military ability. His Canadians played a prominent part
in this battle that turned the tide of the First World War, but at heavy
cost. In four days of combat, Allied casualties totaled 9074 Canadian,
6250 British, 5991 Australian, and 24,343 French. (Inexplicably, the
number of American casualties is not provided.) German losses were even
greater: 75,000 casualties and 29,000 who surrendered.

After describing the strategic circumstances on the Western Front in
the summer of 1918, the authors present the Allied plan of attack. They
detail the ambitious preparations that were made within a few weeks and
entailed the assembly of troop reinforcements and a huge buildup of
supplies and ammunition behind the lines. The planners’ main challenge
was to preserve secrecy without alerting the nearby German forces. There
is a modern-day feel to the elaborate deception methods used to quietly
assemble 1729 aircraft, 634 tanks, and 29 infantry divisions into
position near the ancient town of Amiens.

Eyewitness stories by those who fought there effectively describe the
fighting, day by day, and the ebb and flow of battle. Included as well
are official records that portray hellish conditions in the muddy
trenches, cramped tanks, and aircraft open cockpits. Maps clarify the
battlefield movements and a glossary translates military acronyms for
readers not familiar with them.