First Battle of Villers-Bretonneux

First Battle of Villers-Bretonneux
Part of Operation Michael (German spring offensive)
Date30 March – 5 April 1918
Location
Villers-Bretonneux, Northern France
49°52′03″N 2°31′15″E / 49.86750°N 2.52083°E / 49.86750; 2.52083
Result British Empire victory
Belligerents

 British Empire

 German Empire
Commanders and leaders
Australia John Monash
Australia Henry Goddard
German Empire Georg von der Marwitz
Units involved
Australia 9th Australian Brigade
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 6th Battalion, London Regiment
Australia 15th Australian Brigade
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 18th (Eastern) Division
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 14th (Light) Division
Canada Canadian Cavalry Brigade

German Empire 9th Bavarian Reserve Division
German Empire Guards Ersatz Division
German Empire 19th Division
German Empire

228th Division
Strength

Australian 9th Bde: 3500;

Other units: unknown
Unknown
Casualties and losses
about 5,000–10,000 dead (Australian and British combined)[1] 8000–10,000 dead (estimated);[2]
at least 259 POW (taken by British 18th Division alone).
Villers Bretonneux is located in France
Villers Bretonneux
Villers Bretonneux
Villers-Bretonneux, a commune in the Somme department of northern France

The First Battle of Villers-Bretonneux (30 March – 5 April 1918), took place during Operation Michael, part of the German spring offensive on the Western Front. The offensive began against the British Fifth Army and the Third Army on the Somme and pushed back the British and French reinforcements on the north side of the Somme. The capture of Villers-Bretonneux, close to Amiens, a strategically important road- and rail-junction, would have brought the Germans within artillery-range. In late March, Australian troops were brought south from Belgium as reinforcements to help shore up the line and in early April the Germans launched an attack to capture Villers-Bretonneux. After a determined defence by British and Australian troops, the attackers were close to success until a counter-attack by the 9th Australian Infantry Brigade and by British troops, late in the afternoon of 4 April, restored the line and halted the German advance on Amiens.

  1. ^ Australian 9th Bde: 2400 dead; 15th Australian Brigade, numbers unknown; British 18th Division: "severe", exact numbers unknown; British 14th (Light) Division, numbers unknown.
  2. ^ 4000 German dead were recorded by the Australian 9th Brigade.