Thursday 25 April 1918 – N’oublions jamais l’Australie

Meanwhile in France…

In a remarkable military achievement on Anzac Day 1918, British and, particularly, Australian forces retook Villers-Bretonneux from German forces who had taken the town the previous day, in the Second Battle of Villers-Brettoneux.

Although this action was in the Somme sector before Greg arrived in France, an oblique aerial photograph of Villers-Bretonneux found its way into his collection.  It’s being published today on Anzac Day in honour of the events 100 years ago:

Villers-Brettoneux
Oblique aerial view of Villers-Brettoneux from the North East.  Click or tap for larger image (opens in new tab).  Image credit: Greg’s War Collection.

For comparison, here is a broadly similar, contemporary view generated from Google Maps:

Villers-Brettoneux on Google Maps
Villers-Brettoneux on Google Maps.  Click or tap for larger image (opens in new tab)

For more about the Second Battle of Villers-Brettoneux on 24 and 25 April 1918, see the new ‘Setting the Scene’ article:

https://gregswar.com/setting-scene-background-articles/the-battles-for-villers-bretonneux/

 

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