A view from the roof of the White Chateau, when the Australians held the white chalk line of ...

A view from the roof of the White Chateau, when the Australians held the white chalk line of trenches as their front line, and the enemy trenches were in front of Monument Wood (on the left) and the isolated tree on the sky line to the right. Hangard wood is seen in the distance. Near the enemy lines may be noticed a derelict British tank, which formed an enemy machine gun post; a German cooker, and a smashed aeroplane, each an important land mark to the front line troops. Caption approved by CEW Bean and published with image at page 311, Vol V of Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-1918 reads: "The view is south-east from Villers Bretonneux. In the distance on left are Monument Wood and the poplars along the Demuin road; beyond these Lancer Wood. The advance of the 36th Battalion started from the valley immediately south of the town and was directed on both sides of Monument Wood. (The trenches seen on the plateau did not then exist, the front having lain a mile beyond them)". The image illustrates Captain Bean's meticulous approach to documenting the war . As a matter of routine he would visit a battlefield as soon as practicable and direct AWRS photographers to important points In this example the importance of the image is lost without its developed caption and that it was taken "six weeks after the battle of the afternoon of the 4th of April 1918"