Sgt Ralph Goode (Lilydale), 2nd Field Ambulance: In the field in France. In his diary – ‘Fritz has got the draw on us, he shelled us this afternoon and got a direct hit, killed my mate Mac Stewart. I had just walked away from him, not got more than twenty yards off, when crash and he was dead. Hundreds of shells have fallen round us this last few days and hundreds of bombs during the night, the air was full of planes’.
THE BATTLE OF VILLERS-BRETONNEUX, FRANCE
The Australians were able to hold their positions at a number of places, most notably at Villers-Bretonneux, a French village just east of Amiens. It was believed at the time that if the Germans pushed through Villers-Bretonneux they could easily take Amiens and if they took Amiens, the channel ports would be next.
On this day the Germans launched an all-out attack on Villers-Bretonneux and captured the town. As soon as the grave news reached British High Command, orders came that this vital position had to be retaken, which it was with a swift night-time counter attack. A remarkable achievement with one general calling it ‘perhaps the greatest individual feat of the war’. It marked the end of the great German offensive and was a major turning point in the war.