Place | Europe: France, Picardie, Somme, Amiens Harbonnieres Area, Hamel Area, Hamel |
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Accession Number | RELAWM00891.001 |
Collection type | Heraldry |
Object type | Heraldry |
Physical description | Cotton |
Maker |
Unknown |
Place made | United Kingdom: England |
Date made | c 1918 |
Conflict |
First World War, 1914-1918 |
Tape marker, Infantry Start Line at Hamel, 8 August 1918 : 3 Australian Infantry Division, AIF
Length of coarse herringbone cotton tape that is discoloured and dirty. It is loosely wound and is close to 10 metres in length.
One of two 'jumping off' cloth tapes which defined the start point on 8 August 1918 for troops of the 9th Brigade (33, 34, 35 and 36 Battalions) and the 11th Brigade (41, 42, 43 and 44 Battalions) of the 3rd Australian Division, in their assault on German positions along the Somme. They were placed just to the east of the newly captured village of Hamel and faced German positions between Lamotte to the south and Cerisy to the north.
Each battalion was assigned a frontage of 1,000 yards (about 900 metres) for their advance and due to the movement of large numbers of men, battalions were moved up to the start tape between 11.00 pm on 7 August to 3.00 am on 8 August, A heavy mist descended around this time and was so thick by 3.30 am that it was difficult to see more than twenty yards (about 18 metres). While this caused directional confusion later in the attack, it also masked the movement of the Australian troops and contributed materially to the success of the assault. An initial bombardment of the German lines by some 2,000 Fourth Army artillery pieces which started at 4.20 am produced an 'astonishing' sound and marked the start of the assault. Lieutenant Harold Binder of 59 Battalion later described the bombardment, 'I had the feeling of being behind a curtain of rushing noise'.
The two tapes were recovered from the ground to the east of Hamel by Lieutenant Sidney Woltan Gullet, Australian War Records Section, on 8 August 1918 in the wake of the Australian advance.